Round 3 & 4 update

Round 3 & 4 of the basketball games are complete and according to the email sent this morning, HT is tied for 1st place with three other people to take home the big prize with my March Madness bracket! There are still a couple of games left to play this weekend as well as the NCAA Championship game so come next week we will see who ends up winning! I have a pretty good chance of placing in the top 3 so hopefully they will "show me the money" :) Wish me luck!

Winter Wonderland

This photo of our home was taken at 7am Friday morning on my way to work. I knew we were going to be getting a snow storm on Saturday so I wanted to capture a "before the storm" picture. It was 58 degrees, slightly humid and the start to another beautiful day. You can notice how there are signs of "spring" all over in this picture if you look closely - the grass starting to turn green, the Bradford Pear tree blooming on the right, the daffodils have bloomed all around the tree rings....true signs that spring is around the corner.

This is the sight I woke up to this morning after Mother Nature came in yesterday and wreaked havoc all over the KC metro area with her thunderstorm/sleet/ice-storm/blizzard:

This morning it is a brisk 21 degrees out, there is now 5 inches of snow covering what used to be green grass, the trees are covered in ice and snow and I could not see the daffodils under the blanket of snow this morning :( But as much of a bummer as it was to see, I couldn't help but look around and capture the beauty of what was surrounding me...

It is supposed to be 50 degrees today so all this will melt away quickly. I just hope it doesn't do any damage to all our trees that are starting to bud & bloom! I guess that is what we get for living in the Midwest - where it can be 80 degrees one day and blizzarding the next! There is an old saying around here that goes "if you don't like the weather here, just stick around - it will change tomorrow"! Ain't that the truth!

"It Could Be Bigger"

This morning as I was in the family room enjoying catching up on all my DVR'd shows from the week, the hubby yells down from the computer room and says "Get dressed...we are going to Nebraska Furniture Mart to pick up a new Plasma TV". What the?!? Uh....ok.

We have been wanting to get one for awhile - wait, let me rephrase that - the hubby has been wanting to get the "new & improved" model of Panasonic for ahwile to put in the family room and then move the one we have down there already into the bedroom. Like we need a 42 inch plasma in the bedroom but whatever - it is Shane's deal. Well it just so happened that the new model of Panasonics were in stock at NFM this week and on sale so Shane just had to go right that minute to get it. Never mind that it is sleeting outside, the temperature is teetering at 31-32 degrees and NFM is at least a 45 minute drive north.

At this point, I'm irritated because 1) I was looking forward to going nowhere and watching TV all morning and 2) any sane human is crazy to be driving out in that weather risking there life let alone for a TV we don't need. So after much grumbling by me, at 9:30am we make our way out into the storm and get the TV. We get back safely almost 2 hours later. Shane got everything ready to mount the old TV up in the bedroom which consisted of moving electrical boxes and cable lines, sawing holes into the sheetrock and god knows what else that I don't want to know. 3 hours later he had his friend Chris (aka: Goose Killer) come over to help since I am worthless when it comes to lifting heavy things. The TV looks way to big in the bedroom but again - it is Shane's deal and who am I to argue?!? They then move downstairs to mount the new TV with no troubles. All three of us are staring at it on the wall and in unison we all say "It is too small"! It is the same size as the old one but the old one had 2.5" speakers on each side of it adding 5 inches to the width. This one didn't and we all agreed that "it could definitely be bigger"! Which when you say those words to my husband it instantly puts a smile on his face and makes him giddy!

SO - the new TV comes down, gets put back into the box and we are going to return it tomorrow - or so I thought. It is now 5pm and I am just about to get dinner out of the oven. The temperature is at 30 degrees, and it is sleeting/snowing out and Shane just can't wait until tomorrow to take the TV back so I take dinner out of the oven, cover it with tin foil and off we go in near blizzard conditions back to NFM.

At this point, I don't know who is crazier - my husband for driving out in this mess or me for agreeing to go with him! Anyway, we return the TV, get the other TV with no problems and back home we go...35 miles/hour in the freezing rain up north and blizzard down south. It is now 8:30 pm, the TV is finally mounted and I would have to agree that it definitely looks much better. All is happy in the Taylor house once again. Now can we eat dinner???

Drumroll please...

The 1st & 2nd round NCAA basketball games are over and the results are in: HT is #4 & Shane is #14 out of 75 brackets - woo hoo :) Hopefully my picks to win the Sweet 16 games will keep me in the top 3! Until next week...

Catching up with "D"

Since last night ended up being such a late evening, I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in today! Once I was up and about, I cleaned the house, did laundry and made my way to Wal-Mart for the weekly grocery shopping. Fun Fun!

KU was playing Dayton today so I was excited to get to watch the game and keep track of all my "wins" on my bracket picks. I am doing really well on one bracket in particular so I am crossing my fingers I take home some $$$ when it is all said and done. The results of the 1st & 2nd rounds will be emailed to us tomorrow!

My girlfriend Deanna was in town from Austin, TX this weekend and was wanting to see the girls before she headed back, so we had made plans to all meet downtown at Gordan Biersch in the Power & Light District for drinks and dinner. We enjoyed sitting outside in the 70 degree weather, catching up and watching some NCAA basketball on the big screen. It was SO great catching up with her and hearing all about her life in Austin. Of course the day wouldn't be complete without a few pictures of the occasion:

*L to R: HT, HK, Keri and Deanna

*It was Deanna's B-day on Friday so we all shared some B-day cake...YUM :)

*L to R: HK, Deanna and HT

Good Times

Today Shane left for St. Paul, MN for work :( It's been a long time since he was gone for the weekend but I somehow managed to keep busy in his absence.

The day started off by paying bills, then running errands and doing a little shopping. I later met the game-night girls and their husbands out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse where we all dined on some great food & as always, shared in great conversation. Besides Shane not being able to join in the fun, we were also short one couple from the "regular" group - Melissa & Nick - and they were all greatly missed.

After dinner, we all decided to head back to Rob & Michelle's for some beverages around the bonfire. The boys got everything set up outside for us & got cozy around the fire but somehow the ladies all ended up staying inside gathered around the kitchen table for the majority of the evening laughing and talking the night away. The boys didn't seem to mind too much that we were inside and neither did we - seeing how the girls left all warm & cozy and not smelling like smoke! Nick ended up joining the group later that evening but unfortunately Melissa was away in Wichita for the weekend! It was definitely another great evening with good friends!

*Keri & Heather at Texas Roadhouse

*Michelle & Rob

"Can I interest anyone in some "Gentleman Jack"?

March Madness

March Madness - an annual three-week-long event held in March between 65 college basketball teams to crown a national champion.

This week I have been a bit crazed and obsessed. For the last 3 days I have been researching college basketball teams, stats, coach reviews & whatever I could find on the NCAA 2009 season just so I can hopefully make some good decisions when I fill out my brackets. It is quite ironic really, seeing how before I met Shane I didn't even know what "March Madness" was! But through the years, I have followed KU basketball along with my husband and now I am even more of a fan than I think he is....if that is even possible!?

So every year we end up doing a "pool" at work where we fill out a bracket for $5, submit them and hopefully pick the most number of wins out of the 65 teams as well as choosing the winner of the final two games. This year there were 75 brackets submitted so the 1st place winner will get $200, 2nd place-$100 and 3rd place-$50. Last year I got 2nd place so I'm hoping to take the 1st place prize this year! So - wish HT some luck & let the "madness" begin :)

One 'Rita Too Many

This evening after work I met my dear friend Heather (aka: HK) out at our favorite mexican restaurant - Rudy's - for dinner and 'ritas. Shane was out of town and I needed to eat so I figured why not! We managed to eat, drink and chat our way through two hours before I even knew it. When we got our bill I looked and thought that mine seemed ridiculously high for what I had ordered! They had charged me for dinner as well as 3 margaritas! I swore up and down that I only consumed 2! Then I looked at the empty glasses on the table.....1, 2, 3, um...yah, HT drank 3 margaritas! Damn, I need to start paying closer attention to how many 'ritas I drink! I almost needed to call a cab to take me home :)

Game Night

This month's game night get-together was hosted by Keri - who provided a "twist" to our usual festivities. Since Keri is getting married in May, she thought it would be fun to have a "Wedding Theme" game night. She asked everyone to dress up in wedding attire whether it be your wedding dress, accessories or a bridesmaid dress and bring along our wedding album to share with others.

Since my wedding dress had been preserved and boxed up, I decided to wear the bridesmaid dress from my sister's wedding - which was over 5 years ago. I was unsure if it was even going to fit me after all these years but miraculously enough all the zippers zipped up without any trouble. The top was a bit more snug than I had remembered but all in all if fit pretty well!

We started the evening gathered round the island in the kitchen drinking, eating and catching up as usual. Later we made our way around the dining room table to share in each others wedding stories and photo albums. It was so much fun hearing all about everyone's "big day" and seeing their pictures. We of course couldn't let the evening pass us by without a few pictures of our own! Thanks Keri for being such a fun "hostess with the mostest"! The wedding-theme was a great idea!

Pictured L to R: Heather, Jill, Michelle, Keri and Melissa

*Heather & Jill striking a pose!

What NOT to say...

Today was my first day back to work since the whole ordeal last week and I was never so happy to be punching out at 4:30pm this afternoon. I knew it was going to be tough to face everyone's comments and questions today but I don't think I was really prepared for what the day had in store for me...or maybe it's the fact that my hormones are so out of whack making me an emotional mess!?! :) The first two people that I saw hugged me and I immediately burst into tears. It seemed to get easier as the hours passed me by until I ran into those that didn't know what had happened. As soon as they said "how's the mama feeling?" I knew it was going to be yet another tough conversation.

As the day progressed, I was given alot of advice and many comments were said. I kept a list of all things that were either insensitive or hurtful - not on purpose of course - but should have required some thought before being said. In my opinion, here are the top 5 things of what NOT to say to someone who has suffered a miscarriage:

1) Miscarriage is so common. It will be ok the next time! ...and you know this for a fact how? Thanks, I feel so much better.

2) So are you going to "try" again? um yeah, just as soon as I quit bleeding from my D&C!

3) At least you weren't too far along when you lost "it"! I guess having a miscarriage at 7 weeks is easier than at 12 weeks?

4) You are still young - you can always try for another! last time I checked I was considered Advanced Maternal Age...I'm not as young as you think!

5) At least you know now you can get pregnant! yeah...this somehow makes me feel so much better

Please take some advice from someone who has been there. If you aren't quite sure what to say to someone who has had a miscarriage, please don't say any of the above. Instead, how about just saying "I'm sorry!" and just leave it at that. It might seem generic to you, but trust me, it's the most appropriate and non-hurtful thing you can say to someone who is grieving over their loss.

A Nice Escape

*L to R: Keri, Heather, Melissa, Michelle, Erinn

Through the monthly "game-night" get-togethers here in my subdivision, I have become very good friends with this group of fine ladies. Throw our husbands into the mix with this group and it is more fun than you can imagine! It is awesome that everyone seems to get along so well and I am so very blessed by their friendships.

These past few months, we have been getting together every few weeks for happy hour at the mexican restaurant/bar here in Spring Hill called El Tapatio. Sometimes the husbands join us, other times it is just the girls. Tonight started with just a "girls night out" and later on Michelle's husband Rob & Keri's fiance Ken joined us. Karaoke fires up around 9pm and that is when the true entertainment starts :) If given a few drinks, you will even see some of us from our group sing a song or two. The karaoke draws in quite the crowd and provides some fun while people watching. There is always a "winner" from the crowd that we all talk about and Friday night did not leave us disappointed. The most talked about guy this evening was the one wearing a t-shirt that said "Can my penis buy you a drink?" Really? You seriously think that is classy? Like I said....we are amongst Spring Hill's finest so nothing suprises me :)

It was so good to get out of the house for a bit and share some good laughs amongst friends! Thank you ladies for such a fun night!

Ups & Downs

The month of Febuary will go down as one of the best months of my life & so far, March will go down as one of the worst of my life.

It was the beginning of Febuary that I found out that I was pregnant. Nothing was more exciting than seeing those 2 pink lines appear on that pregancy test after trying for almost 2 years! After telling Shane, I think he was a bit stunned at first but soon became used to the idea that he was going to be a father & he began to get really excited. After a doctors appt confirmed the news & all my labwork came back normal we decided to share with our family & close friends our happy news! I can't tell you how excited we were to be experiencing all of this for the first time!

It started out as a normal pregnancy. I was having the usual symptoms of early morning nausea, being extremely tired & my boobs hurt something awful! At 6 weeks, I was having some left-sided pain & slight cramping so my doctor wanted to do an early sonogram to make sure this wasn't an ectopic pregnancy. So last Friday, Shane & I got to experience seeing & hearing the heartbeat of what was to be our baby. We also got a few pictures to take home for our scrapbook. It made being pregnant seem so real at that moment & I couldn't help but get teary eyed. They found a cyst on my left ovary which was more than likely the culprit of my pain & was told it was nothing to worry about. Everything looked & appearred normal on the sonogram and we went about our day as two very happy parents-2-be!

Sunday marked my 7th week of pregnancy. We went to church that morning & headed home to let the dogs out & grab my grocery list that I had forgotten. I went to the bathroom before we left & noticed bright red blood. I instantly went into "panic mode" as I knew from the books that I had read that this wasn't normal. I went down to tell Shane & we went straight to Olathe Medical Center ER. They ended up doing another ultrasound & that is when we got the devastating news - there was no fetal heartbeat. At that moment, our world was crushed. I could not control the tears & Shane just grabbed my hand & we sat there in silence for what seemed like forever as the ultrasound tech made her measurements. Deep down we both new the instant the image came up on the screen. There was no fast flicker in the little gray blob like there was on Friday & we couldn't hear anything. We went home & the rest of the day was pretty much a blur. We called our family & told them the news & just spent the rest of the day grieving.

Monday morning, I called my Dr & explained what had happened on Sunday & they got me in that afternoon. Dr. Martin went over our options with us - we could wait & let the miscarriage happen naturally which could take up to 3 weeks or we could schedule a D&C and take care of everything surgically. The thought of sitting around for weeks waiting for this miscarriage to happen was horrific to me so we opted for the D&C - as horrific as that sounded also. It was scheduled for first thing the next morning (Tuesday) & as weird as it sounds, I was SO relieved.

Tuesday morning we made it to the OP Surgery Center at 6am. Dr. Martin was kind enough to squeeze me into his busy schedule as first case of the morning. There was no other patients there so it was kind of nice, quiet & somewhat calming - if you can understand that!?! The nurse started my IV, asked me all kinds of questions & I signed all kinds of paperwork. At 7am Dr. Martin showed up & 5 minutes later I was being wheeled into the OR. I slid onto the surgery table, they hooked me up to their equipment & told me I would be getting sleepy...that was the last thing I remember. I woke up 45 minutes later in recovery & was leaving the surgery center at 9am. I was surprised at how it was over & done with so quickly! One minute I was pregnant and the next minute I wasn't! On the way home I think all the emotions & hormones hit me like a ton of bricks - I was no longer going to have a baby :(

I spent the rest of my day in bed, high on great pain meds, the furry kidz by my side & the best husband I could ask for catering to my every need! Throughout the day I received so many text messages, voicemails, & emails from family & friends. We both want to thank everyone from the bottom of our heart for their support & for being such a great friend! It means the world to us to know we have such a wonderful family & such a great group of friends in our lives. I want to take a minute to thank my mom & dad for sending such a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers - they smell oh so good - and to Kitty, Susan & Shawn for the lovely bouquet of daisies that we received. Thank you also to Melissa for bringing over my favorite cookies and milk - that was SO sweet of you! Everyone has made us feel so loved by their friendship, kindness and generosity!

Today is Wednesday. It is the first day I am up & about & I am feeling pretty good. I am on the road to recovering both mentally & physically. The Dr said that sometimes writing about your experience with miscarriage & sharing your story will sometimes help with the healing process so that is why I decided to blog about it. It also helps to explain it to people through writing so I won't have to explain it over & over in person when people ask. I think that will be the toughest part - when I go back to work next week & naturally people will ask how I am doing, if I'm ok, etc. I can hardly wait to hear what comes out of peoples mouths - they can be so rude sometimes & not even realize it. I just hope I can hold it together. Oh well, just another step in the healing process.

Today I am getting out of the house & having some "Heather-Time". I have a Pedicure at 3pm & a haircut at 4pm so nothing like getting a little pampering done when you are feeling down & out! I am off work the rest of the week so I'm going to take this time to go to a movie or two, get some spring cleaning done around the house, meet some girlfriends out for drinks on Friday night & just continue to work through this. For those of you wondering, I will be ok - it will just take some time. I look forward to getting my body back on track & in a couple of months, possibly starting this entire journey all over again. Please keep us in your prayers...Love to you all!