spring break round up

i could not have asked for a better spring break... well, unless i was skinny and on a beach and drinking a lot, then MAYBE that would be better. BUT - for this little stay at home mama this week has been divine. the weather has been picture perfect. 70's (81 yesterday!) sunny and wonderful. i've been able to sleep and take walks with nuggie and do some big time deep cleaning of mi casa. and i haven't touched a bit of school work. i'll probably pay for this later, but the mental break i've had has literally made me feel like a new person. i didn't realize how badly i needed this break until now, and it's almost over. i had no idea how stressed i really was. guess nursing school will do that to you :-) so so so thankful for a peaceful, restful, delightful spring break!

so what have i done??? well, it hasn't been a panama city beach vacay - but i did take sweet nuggie to the zoo. grampy got us a membership, so i see lots more trips in our future. she loved the meerkats and the flamingos. i think b/c you can get really close to them and she could actually see them. she didn't cry when she saw the blue parrots this time - hurray nuggie! and she loved watching all the kiddos around her. things she did not love: a vanilla ice cream cone. WHAT?!? this child loves anything sweet. a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. so i bought a very small cone for she and i to share. i let her take a taste and you would have thought i'd given her the most sour of lemons. her little face puckered up and she whimpered when i offered her another taste. poor little nugget :-( i think she got a brain freeze. the other thing she was not crazy about was holding my hand. how do you teach a toddler that she has to hold mommy's hand? the zoo has a massive playground area. so when we were done checking out the critters, we headed over there. all she wanted to do was run wild and in fifty different directions. i tried to show her to hold my hand, but that only resulted in her melting into a puddle on the ground. she seriously went limp as a little wet noodle when i tried to show her how to walk with mommy. then i looked like super mom of the year - like i was dragging my child around. and this kiddo is fearless. she wanted to climb up everything, go through every tunnel, slide down all the slides. but she's still so little and at times wobbly. i want her to play and have fun, just wish it didn't mean i was a nervous nellie and had to run around behind her to keep her from leaping off stuff and into harms way.

another fun spring break activity has been to set up my garden! pita surprised me with two new garden beds and all the soil to fill them up. aaaannnndddd, while it may have not been the smartest thing, it's just been too lovely and sunshiny and i had, HAD HHHAADDDD to plant my little planty starts out in the gardens. gardening is like therapy. oh how i love growing things and playing in the dirt. i've looked forward to nuggie's nap time every day this week so i could get out there and dig around. she sees the little baby plants and just wants to pull them up or poke them with sticks. we're working on this :-) so for now i'm a nap time garden gal. so far we've planted: tomatoes, garlic, onions, marigolds, basil, nasturtiums, mesclun, peas, carrots, spinach, cucumbers, white squash, yellow squash, green beans, strawberries, jalapenos, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, dill, cilantro, oregano and rosemary!!! whew! i hope it all does well!!

bub took a day off and while he was home we had a giant, old tree taken down from our front yard. it's bitter sweet. i miss it. i loved that old tree. it was lovely and shady and last spring nuggie and i spent lots of time playing under it. sadly though, it was dying and every time a breeze blew (not to mention all the awesome death storms we've been having), giant chunks of it would fall out/on/down from all around it. it also happened to be a poplar tree, so it dropped 75 bazillion "sticky balls" = yep, that's a scientific term for ya :-) those little beasts though are like perfectly round ping pong balls all over the yard and driveway. i can't tell you how many times i've about fallen on my ass stepping on them. so the tree had to go. after alot of hunting we found a great deal (bub even haggled a little - woot woot!) and down it came. and so now our yard is naked. and not shady. and a little sad. hopefully we'll plant something new soon.

other odds and ends...
- we watched moneyball. call me what you will, but i hated it. it was boring and sad and the only bright spot was brad pitt. but even he's starting to look a little rough around the edges.
- i bought a box of steaks out of a truck in our driveway. i can't say no. i can't. and so when the dude showed me these steaks and said he'd give them to me half off - i HAD to say yes. right? right? guys? back me up. cause i'm starting to feel pretty dumb. and scared to eat them. what if they're bad? they don't look bad. they look amazing. i really gotta work on saying "no".
- we had dinner with our sweet neighbors. man that lovely lady heather can make a delightful pizza - yum!!! it's always nice to spend time with them :-)


guess i outta stop. this is getting out of control. happy march madness friends!!! 

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british invasion!

this last week i've had my mind blown... multiple times.

first it was rick from walking dead (aka andrew lincoln)...

then it was maggie from walking dead (aka lauren cohan)...

then it was the dude from the social network and now the new spiderman (another one???)...

what do these people have in common??? they fooled me! these people are all freakin' british! it started with rick. i was watching a little interview last week and heard him talk. and thought he was pretending. i could not take him seriously. rick isn't british!!! and then maggie did the same thing. and AGAIN this morning the little man with the weird hair (aka andrew garfield) shocked me too. these people can't be british! their american accents are so convincing. but rick, really? he's perfected that sultry southern drawl. consider my mind blown.

spring break... where are you?

next week i'll be on spring break and it can't get here soon enough! i went to the library this morning after class and printed off about 8 jillion pages of journal articles for my research paper. figured i'd work on it over break. so i'm standing at the help desk, paying for my copies and the dude (an older fellow i should inform you) was asking if i'd be doing all this fun school work on the beach. ON THE BEACH??? do i look like the type to spend a whole, decadent week laying in the sand, getting a tan and drinking fancy adult beverages? can he not see the pasty white tint of my arms? the sleep deprived bags under my eyes? the 20 pounds of baby weight i have yet to lose? what about this picture screams - i'll be on the beach????????????????????????????????? hmmpphhh - to you sir, i say, uh NO, i will not be relaxing on a beach of any shape or size next week, unless you count nuggie's crushed up cereal to be sand and my sink to be the ocean... i will however be doing super awesome house wifey stuff...

- first, i plan to deep clean casa de babbling brooke. it really hasn't been done since school started in the fall. there are some dark corners of our humble abode that need some attention with clorox wipes and lysol.
- i'm gonna prep for a yard sale - say what?!? oh yes, it's true. we're hoping to do the ultimate red-necky thing and have a bunch of our crap for sale on our front lawn. time to clear out some clutter. keep this in mind a week from this saturday if you're in need of fun things like baby clothes, coffee tables or brick-a-brack (that's code for crap i don't want anymore :-)
- take the nugg to the zoo. let me know if you wanna come!


peds clinical started last night. it's 100% confirmed that this is not my cup of tea. i'm just not cut out to work with sick kiddos. between wanting to console every crying baby and wanting to cry over every sick little kid, i know i couldn't handle it. luckily this is a short clinical experience. nurses who can work with sick babies have my utmost respect.

well, i best be off... it's lovely outside today friends!

i like tv... so what, who cares?!?

oh happy day! oh joyous, zombie-filled sunday night! we canceled our cable a week or so ago and now i am sad. i love tv, i do. there, i said it... but c'mon! we stay home and have a little one, what other excitement is there? (don't answer that). but, facts are facts and the budget needed some trimming - SO - cable and all its DVR-ing wonderfullness took the first cut. and as i said and i'll say it again, i am sad. bub assured me that all was not lost - we have the online netflix and he signed us up for hulu+ and so we can watch most of our favs a day or so late. all our favs but one. the walking dead. SAY WHAT?!? no zombie sunday nights? in the words from that cute little dude on parks and rec - this was an, "oh no no". but tonight zombie angels smiled upon us and we realized we had a credit on our itunes account and bub said, why lets buy us up some walking dead delightfullness. and so here we are - catching up on last weeks episode while i typety type type. all is right with the world :-)

peds clinical start tomorrow night... i don't know much about where i'll be other than i'll be working with the littlest ones. not sure if it'll be the most awesome thing ever or the hardest thing ever. i'll keep you posted.

the brazil butt-lift is going wonderfully. i've sort of been a lazy bum (ha ha - bum, get it???) and haven't stuck to my healthy diet and doing the workouts all the time. this week i'll get back in to it like a brazillian butt lift actress squeezes in to her teeny tiny spandex shorts (perhaps minus the camel toe, that's just uncomfy). i've made some progress FYI - i've lost 2 inches around my waist and an inch off each chunky thigh. these are the first results post-baby and so i'm declaring it a success... well enough of a success to keep me motivated.

spring break is only ONE week away! oh to be 20 and free to do spring break up right... i'll take some extra fun time with my little nuggie though :-) i think we'll be super awesome and hit up the zoo and the library and the playground. a trip sounds lovely though, doesn't it? even a weekend away to atlanta or something (bub, if you read this - HINT, HINT ;-)  we do have our 10 year "thingy" coming up.

well, since i started with tv chat, i'll end with tv chat - we're tackling mad men next. episode one starts now! and last weeks walking dead WAS a doozy. i'm gonna need to think lots of warm, fuzzy thoughts before bed so i don't have bad dreams about bloody walkers...

how does your garden grow?

well, the weather may be crummy - cold, wet and grey - but i've got a little bit of spring alive and well in my kitchen! determined to have a successful garden this spring, bub built me a couple of shelves and hung some lighting so i could start seedlings in the house! and it's amazing!! i've already got tomatoes, green bell peppers, zucchini, squash, sunflowers, cosmo flowers, poppies, dill, onions, basil, oregano, cabbage, lavender, marigolds, spinach and more. i can't wait till it's officially spring and all my new little greenies can go out into the garden :-)

the brazil butt lift is going great. it's tough. i've only finished week one, but i'm feeling better already. still working to get a handle on my diet however. stress eating is a hard habit to break. getting back into a regular workout routine is amazing though and i've got the awesome support of miss k - my bum bum friend :-) i'll keep you all posted. if you're thinking of doing it though - i would!!

does anyone else just totally hate valentine's day? i'm so glad it's over. i've got a sweet, wonderful hubby, but my idea of romantic and his idea do NOT match up :-)

the last couple weeks have been heavy, heartbreaking ones. our little family is doing well, but families around us have not been so lucky. my heart aches for our friends that have lost loved ones or are in the middle of very hard times. we've experienced painful times as well and knowing what these amazing people are going through tears my apart. i don't mean to be vague, but it's not my heartache to share. if you are the praying type though, please remember those going through especially painful times.

bootylicious

hello little blogland, i'm sorry i let so much time go since we last chatted. life, as usual, is zooming by at a hectic pace. school is moving along. my ob clinicals are well under way and class is interesting - i love ob and peds, so while i often feel like a teeny tiny lego-lady tossed out to a giant sea, in the dark, with no life jacket and a blindfold over my tiny lego eyes (you know, like a tiny little lego person) i am enjoying the content of the lectures. nuggie is doing great! she's leaving babyhood in the dust and hurtling towards toddlerhood. so naturally, big, giant temper tantrums are in full swing. she's a spirited little lady, i'll give her that! i'm also finding it a struggle to leave behind some of the "baby" things i've done for her. currently i'm receiving a HUGE amount of grief from people on all sides b/c i still give her a "night-night" bottle. look people, i love it. i love sitting in the rocking chair with her and having some sweet snuggle time and reading her favorite little books. it's one of my favorite times of the day. if you'd like to give me grief about it - save it. everyone's gotta do what's best for them, and i adore our sweet mommy/daughter time. i'm also learning to not give in to her every whimper. i'm a sucker for a crying nuggie - but she knows this and she's playing me at times. gotta learn to keep those boundries in place. on a more positive note - i think we've got a girly girl on our hands. i've had my suspiscions, but this week she carried her little pink purse around, full of her "jewelry" and her cell phone (not a real one folks, calm down). she also is learning to carry the purse ON her shoulder like a grown up ladycakes. she's such a sweet little pea. i adore her more each and every day.

alright, so monday - the booty butt kicking commences. after hearing some ladies discuss the "brazil butt lift" last monday, i was laying on my lazy booty butt with bub and came across the infomercial. i said to bub, we have to watch this! and then before i knew it, i was totally sucked in. in just 60 days i can look like a brazillian super model! my ass can be two inches higher. these are facts people. i had to have it. so here we go, my latest get-fit fad. bub promised that if i did it for the full 60 days we could take a little mini-vacation this summer (we were already planning this, but it would be fun to confidently wear a swimsuit on a beach somewhere) just me and him. 60 days, i can do that, right? ha. yeah. i've said that about 974 times before on this blog. but maybe this time it'll stick? i got my videos all ready and the awesome support of the sweet miss k (who's kindly sharing her living room with me during parts of this adventure since a certain father-in-law is camped out on our couch for an undetermined amount of time). i've also stocked up on healthy foods - string cheese, nuts, fruit, boca burgers, tuna and about 16 pounds of lettuce for salads. i've got my ankle weights, hand weights and ridiculously large water bottle. now all that is left to do is fill out my "before" measurements on the sweet little card leandro himself (the creator of the brazil butt lift!) sent to me. oh and yeah, there's the pencil test. seriously. i wish i were making this up. in my packet came a lovely yellow pencil, the old school kind you'd take an exam with. and you're supposed to wedge it into her ass overhang, like between your cheek and thigh, and IF that pencil can be wedged there, that's like super-duper ass trouble alarms going off. thank the stars above, my ass isn't in THAT much trouble, but i do have the muffin top, and according to the booty blueprint, i am submerged in the booty badlands. we start monday... i'll keep you posted. i know you can't wait.