Father's Day

Fathers Day: a date that occurs on the third Sunday in June, observed in the United States in honor of fathers. So we honor & we celebrate our fathers, our husbands who are dads, our brothers, uncles & cousins who too are dads on this very special day! 

I wish I could have spent this day with my own dad making him feel special & honored but unfortunately he lives 3 states away. I wasn't able to talk to him today as he was out when I called but am hoping he got the message I had left for him. 

After I left that message I almost asked my husband if he had called his dad to wish him a Happy Fathers Day - as I have reminded him of for the last 13 years - & then it hit me. This is the first Fathers Day that my husband has to spend without his own dad :( He didn't seem to be bothered by that fact but I am sure it was weighing heavily in the back of his mind.

I tried to make it a good day Fathers Day for him to keep his mind off of the sadness I am sure he was feeling. When we woke up Mason presented Daddy with this adorable picture that he had made at daycare on Friday:

That one is going into the "keeper" box for sure! Love his little hand as a fish :)

We then had breakfast, got ready for the day, went to church together, then I treated Shane to his favorite BBQ place - Fiorella's Jack Stack for lunch. We then made our way back home for the annual Fathers Day picture with Daddy:

The rest of the day was spent doing things around the house as the weather was being too unpredictable to do anything outside so we opted to stay inside. It was a fairly low-key kind of day but one that was spent together - all three of us :)

Hoping you all had a wonderful Fathers Day with your own families!!

Deanna Rose outing

Today our little family ventured out to Deanna Rose Farmstead for the afternoon & Mason had SO much fun. It was almost a year ago when we took Mase for the 1st time to Deanna Rose back when he was only 6 months old & this was the 1st time we have been back since then. Mason enjoyed it SO much more this time around now that he is mobile & so into farm animals.

We started out by checking out the roosters which he was fascinated by:

Then we made our way over to pet the calves & the baby goats:

Next stop was the horses & Mase got SO excited seeing them. Can't wait until he is a little bit older so he can actually ride one!

From there we moved on to ride the tractors:

After the tractor ride we stopped by to feed the baby goats. Mason wasn't too crazy about all the baby goats surrounding him & got kind of freaked out so feeding the goats was pretty short lived. 

Next we stopped to burn some energy by playing on the playground & slides while Daddy chased him all around: 

I just love this place & we had such a fun afternoon all together! I look forward to spending many more days here this summer & as Mase gets older!

Tubes

A couple of weeks ago we had an appointment to see the ENT after Mason got his sixth ear infection since January. The ENT was super nice, explained the procedure to us & I loved how he was not "pushing" us to get tubes but rather asked how we felt about it & how we wanted to proceed. After being on antibiotics every 3 weeks for 6 months we decided it was finally time for little man to have the procedure.

Yesterday was the big day. We walked into Children's Mercy around 6am & during the next hour we were checked in, obtained Mason's vital signs with the nurse - who was blowing him bubbles the entire time which he loved. We then got put into a room where I was asked to change him into a patient gown & await further instructions. While we were waiting, we read several books & even did some coloring to pass the time.

He looked so little & cute in his tiny patient gown:

We then had a visit by the nurse who was going to be in Mason's procedure & she verified his name with us & then put his ID band on his little ankle:

Next the anesthesiologist & the ENT performing the procedure came to talk to us & went over all kinds of questions. Then it was time to hand my son over to a complete stranger. I was doing just fine - up until this point.

I walked to the waiting room, went to the bathroom, got some coffee, ate a granola bar, sat down to browse Facebook & not 5 minutes later the ENT was talking to me letting me know the procedure went just fine & I would be seeing Mason soon. It had to have been less than 15 minutes since I handed him over - pretty quick.

I was reunited with him in the recovery unit & he was one pissed off little dude. Crying, thrashing around, dazed, confused - there was no consoling him. They had warned me he might be like this coming out of anesthesia & it hurt my heart seeing him like that. 

Finally after about 15 minutes I was able to console him & we were getting ready to be discharged. He fell asleep shortly after we got into the car & slept for another 2 hours once we got home. He was a MUCH happier boy when he awoke from his nap & chowed down his chicken nuggets & biscuit from Chick-Fil-A: 

Later that afternoon we got a surprise delivery from our friend Jen & Miss Ava:

Mase loved the balloons & kept dragging them all over the house! Definitely made him feel better! Thanks SO much Jen & Miss Ava!

Hoping this little guy has a speedy recovery & is feeling much better with his new tubes!

Lunch Surprise

Last week on Memorial Day, Mason & I had plans to meet my girlfriends at The Cheesecake Factory for some catching up & a yummy lunch. It was supposed to be just the 4 of us but shortly after we sat down a familiar face was serving us bread & butter :) Our friend Heather (aka: HK) had flown in from Florida for the week & had surprised all of us - except Jen (on the far left) who knew all about it - stinker!

Mason & Ava Jean hung out with the girls & did SO good for sitting there almost 3 hours!

Before we all left, we had to get a picture of the Heather's - HK & HT :) 

And of course one last pic with Mommies & babies - which you can see Mason is clearly ready to go!!

It was such a good time seeing all these girls & getting to visit & catch up with our surprise HK! Looking forward to celebrating HK's 40th birthday in a few weeks with these lovely ladies!

TBT Stories

TBT: 1993 - Glamour Shots photo shoot

So if any of you grew up in the 90's & lived near a mall then you might remember the whirlwind fad that was/is known as Glamour Shots.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about or for those of you who have since developed selective memory loss to avoid thinking about your ridiculous pictures, Glamour Shots was basically an overpriced cheesy portrait studio located in a mall-setting where you paid somebody to cake clown makeup on your face, dress you up in denim, tube tops, feather boas & fake diamonds after they teased & sprayed the heck out of your huge hair with Aqua Net. 

They then take pictures of you in incredibly uncomfortable positions under really bad lighting while you "popped your collar", did the famous "head tilt & chin down" move while showing some shoulder & looking eerily like a porn star.

The pictures were supposed to end up "glamorous" but what you really ended up with was something a bit more hideous!

Had I known 21 years ago that the Glamour Shots studio was out to make us young girls look like up & coming porn stars I don't know that I would have had them done. Obviously as you can see below the result is a bit "hooker-ish" - especially the last one & I cannot believe that I am even sharing these ridiculous looking pics with you all?!? LOL

Enjoy these hidden "glamorous" gems...

You are welcome for the laughs :)

So do any of you have any Glamour Shots treasures of your own to share?? Please do...

TBT Stories

TBT: May 22, 2004 - Our wedding day

Well, today Shane & I have officially been married an entire decade. Hard to believe it has been 10 years since this amazing day. I remember it like it was yesterday. 

Since that time we have experienced the joy of being newlyweds, building our 1st house, picking out our 1st dog together - the cutest bulldog puppy named Bentley & a year later picking out his sister Millie. We have dealt with the fear of health issues, both our own & our loved ones. We have been through a tough road of infertility & came out of it a better couple & so much stronger. We experienced the sorrow of death in the loss of loved ones & we have experienced true delight in the blessing of our son Mason. We have made wonderful friends, memories to last a lifetime & the best part is we aren't done yet! There is SO much more yet to experience! 

These past 10 years, God has made us & our marriage stronger because of our trials & He has showered us with so many blessings. For that I am so very thankful. I couldn't have picked a better person to be by my side experiencing this amazing ride & I look forward to many more years together!

Revealed

Last week I had mentioned my dear friend Leann in my last post & how she was expecting her 1st child! Today we gathered at The Granfalloon for her "Gender Reveal" party. Now for those of you who don't know what a GR party is, it is a fun way to reveal the sex of your baby...without verbally telling people. It is more of an excuse to get friends & family together for drinks, good food, cake & oh yeah....learn if it is going to be a boy or a girl. It has kind of been an up & coming thing to do these past couple of years & if you search "gender reveal" on Pinterest there are all kinds of fun ways & ideas to do this.

So Leann chose to share the news with everyone by using a cake. The filling in the cake was either pink or blue so once they cut into it, we all would know what she was having.

They had ordered a bunch of appetizers for everyone to eat & we all shared a beverage while visiting & anxiously awaiting the news. An hour later & it was time for the big "reveal":

The filling was pink - it's a GIRL :)

It was so fun finding out this way & I am so very happy for Leann & her husband! I can't wait to do a little shopping for this soon-to-be-spoiled little girl!! HT may or may not have already been to Buy Buy Baby & purchased a little something....or two :)

TBT Stories

TBT: May 2004

With Shane & my 10 year anniversary coming up, I thought it might be fun to dig up some old photos of that time-frame & post them for TBT. I came across these little gems from my bachelorette party weekend.

Me, my sister & several of my closest girlfriends had rented a beach house in Myrtle Beach, SC for a super fun weekend of bachelorette festivites. It was the most fun & amazing weekend & so many memories were made that will last a lifetime. 

On the first day, we had lunch at a this super fancy seafood restaurant on the beach where the girls had a bridal shower for me complete with gifts & this classy cake:

No that isn't the letter T or an L. That would be a "side-view" of the male anatomy. Nice.

That evening we had dinner at a great Mexican restaurant & laid low at the house for the evening.

 

The next day was spent lounging on the beach & Saturday night was the "big event". The girls kept telling me to keep an open mind & that anything was "game" as far as to how they were going to dress me & what we were going to do. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit scared as to what they had in store for me but it was all in good fun so I just went with it.

Here is a pic of all of us before we got our "bachelorette accessories" on for the night:

And here is the bachelorette after they had their way with me :)

The veil they had me wear was ridiculously long & I had so many beads around my neck you would have thought I just came from Mardi Gras - but again, it was just one night of good fun so I went it. 

Before the limo came to pick everyone up there were a few rounds of margaritas being poured, more "inappropriate" gifts to open & jello shots for all:

And then this happened:

Meet Juan. He was a hispanic blow up doll complete with painted on chest hair, slicked back plastic hair & a creepy porn mustache. After dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, he was handcuffed to me the. entire. night. Out to eat, in the car, walking around the pier, in the bar, on the dance floor, to the bathroom, late night stop at Walmart - everywhere I went Juan went. He was quite the conversation piece - everyone LOVED Juan. 

Later in the evening I managed to get free of Juan for a bit & that party animal ended up on the dance floor...

 ...dancing between two guys. It was then that we found out Juan preferred men. At one point we saw him up in the air body surfing amongst the dance floor crowd & somehow during the night he had ended up wearing a pair of boxers. We had no clue who's underwear it was - EW. He also ended up on this Harley for a ride around the parking lot before we left the bar:

 

That Juan had a good time - always a smile on his face & he sure knew how to be the life of the party.

Now some of you may be wondering what ever happened to Juan - since this event occurred 10 years ago?! Well during his time here with us Juan made a couple of guest appearances. My sister-in-law's bachelorette party, a glamour shots photo session. He even tried to sneak into our guest bedroom on those rare occasions when I had friends spend the night.

It was the evening of my friend Keri's bachelorette party when I realized Juan was getting too old to participate in such event's. He was going to suprise the girls & come along for the evening's festivities so earlier in the day I had buckled him in to the backseat of my car so I wouldn't forget him. 

Later, when it was time to go, I looked in the backseat & I see Juan bent over, face down in the seat. It was then that I realized Juan's body had failed him. He was deflated & his spunk was gone. It was a very sad day :( 

I carefully deflated the rest of his little body, folded him up ever so gently & thanked him for all the fun times & memories we made together. He was put to rest in the trash & to this day his memory still lives on. RIP Juan.

*sigh* such good times!! 

The festivities for the night ended at Walmart - of all places, around 2am. We stopped in to get some snacks before we headed back to the beach house & I remember we were all posing with Juan while Lynn was taking a bunch more pictures - none of which I have ever seen to this day. Hmmm - I wonder if she still has them?? 

Hard to believe this happened 10 years ago as I remember every detail so very clearly. It was the very best bachelorette party a girl could have ever asked for & I love & miss those SC girls dearly!!

Next week's TBT....10 year wedding anniversary!

Mothers Day

Motherhood is a choice you make everyday to put someone else's happiness & well-being ahead of your own. To teach the hard lessons. To do the right thing, even when you are not sure what the right thing is. And to forgive yourself over & over again for doing everything wrong.

To all the mother's I know - including my own mother, my grandmother, my sister, sister-in-law's, aunts, cousins & all my girlfriends who are mothers - Happy Mothers Day to you all! 

Mothers are someone who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take!

May you all enjoy your day with God's greatest blessings....our children!

Farewell

One of my favorite Cardiologist's is leaving the hospital I work at & heading to Dallas, TX for a job opportunity that was too good to turn down. Tonight we had his "surprise" farewell party at the Grand Street Cafe on the Plaza & it was a lot of fun.

The theme was "country/western" since Dr. Steve Marso is a lover of country music & cowboy boots. So I did my best to dress the part. Thank you to my friend Jilly for loaning me her cowgirl boots & my neighbor Susie for the kick-ass western belt!

I had picked up my dear friend Leann at her house & we made our way to the party:

Leann is a co-worker of mine whom I have gotten alot closer to lately. She is pregnant with her first child & I have been her "go-to" person ever since she found out she was expecting. My sister was my person, I was that person for my dear friend Jen & now I get to be Leann's person. I just love being able to pay it forward & help a sista out - especially when it comes to pregnancy & babies :)

Steve had no idea we were all there waiting for him so when he walked through the door he was in total shock. It was a perfectly planned surprise by this guy:

Dr. Steve Laster - who proceeded to sit Steve down & then the "roasting" began. If you have ever seen a celebrity roast done on Comedy Central then you have an idea of what we did to our dear Doctor. Several of us took turns "roasting" Steve, sharing funny stories & embarassing him to the crowd & there were SO many laughs & even a few tears.

 

Steve is part of a group that we like to call the "trifecta". Basically when these 3 Cardiologist's are scheduled in the lab together it is sure to be a sh!tty day full of chaos, craziness & a late night. Sad that he will no longer be part of this little group :(

After the roasting festivities were done, we all enjoyed cake & Steve opened several of his gifts. He has always been a whiner in the lab & could be a real baby at times so when he opened this gift it was priceless:

It says "In case of emergency break glass" & there is a pacifier in the middle of it. It was hilarious & you can tell by the picture he was not amused :)

 

Steve & I started working at the hospital the same month & year - June 1999 & after soon realizing that we both were from South Dakota & grew up 1 hour from each other we formed a quick bond. He loves country music as do I & it would make people bitter when we worked together & always had country music playing. We went to the Kenny Chesney concert together - along with our spouses & had a great time. He became a good friend these past 15 years, was very supportive & a listening ear during my IF journey & my numerous losses. He always refers to me as HT & the lab often jokes that I am his "binkie" as he was always a calm, nice person when we worked together in the lab. Steve is a well known Cardiologist for all the research he has done, a wonderful man, husband, father & friend. Steve may not be missed by everyone but he will definitely be missed by me.

Farewell Steve Marso.