Merry Christmastime!!

So, it is almost Christmas and I am just now updating this here blog. I'm sorry for that, but you will have to forgive me. I have been a little bit busy!

That's right!! My baby girl is here!! Meet Ella Mackenzie Powell! She was born October 24, 2010, at 9:39 p.m., weighing 7 lb. 11 oz. and coming out at 21 in. long! Isn't she a cutie patootie!!

I don't know where the month of November went. These past 6 1/2 weeks have been a complete blur.

Most all of our family was able to be with us when little miss was born. It was really nice to have everyone together. Honey-do and I are so blessed with a great family. We even had someone with us for the first two weeks of miss Ella's life. My mom stayed a week. Perry's mom came back the weekend after she was born. Perry's sister Erica came and stayed a while the next week. Then it was ALL me and Perry... for three days! :)

We also had visits from Great-Uncle Steve and Great-Aunt Cindy; friend

s from college: Larry and Sarah Mattox and their little girl, Willow Jo; and Great-Nana and Great-Papa Campbell!!

Since then, our little family of three went back to Oklahoma over Thanksgiving break. It was a little bit of a challenge to travel with a newborn. I mean she slept the whole way, but our car was LOADED with her stuff. You never realize how much stuff you actually use on a day-to-day basis. :)

Life with a newborn is definitely interesting, but so much fun! She is such a good baby. We are on a good schedule and she even sleeps almost all the way through the night. (Almost.)

We are getting ready for Ella's first Christmas! I'm so excited to go back to OK for Christmas and be with all the family again. Babies definitely brighten up the holidays.

In fact, we are traveling this weekend to Okemah, OK, for Perry's mother's side of the family's reunion, "Palmer Dinner." It will be a treat to see his grandpa's sisters and their families meet Ella Mack.

I promise I will try to post more often. Here is one more photo to hold you over until then!

Belly Button

My belly button is poking out... :( This stomach can't get any bigger now. haha

Headache. Heartburn. Backache. Stomach cramps. Swollen ankles. Sore feet. Outie belly button.

All things you get to experience in your 35th week of pregnancy. Am I complaining??? Not really.

I can't wait to meet my little miracle: Ella Mackenzie!! It's getting so close!!!!

TRAUMA

Ella, Sadie and I just had the most traumatic experience ever!!!

EVERY (3) fire alarm on the top floor went off this morning at 10. I was sort of freaking out that our house was struck by lightning and on fire. As I slowly made my way up the stairs to check it out, I didn't see any flames, smoke, etc. I checked the doors to the bedrooms for heat before opening them. Nothing. So, then the attempt was to turn off the annoying, high-pitched alarms that would NOT stop.

I had to go back downstairs and get a broom to see if I could use it to push the button on the alarm... that didn't work. These three alarms were connected by wires strung through the attic. So, to turn off the annoying, high-pitched alarms that would NOT stop, one would have to physically pull the wires out of them.

I cannot do this. We have 10 ft. ceilings. I would have to have gone and gotten the step ladder. Which is NOT allowed in your 8th month of pregnancy. WONDERFUL!!!

By now, I have tears streaming down my face because I CAN'T get them to stop making that awful noise! I end up having to call Perry to come home and help me. Not to mention I'm like heaving with tears. Now, I can't stop crying.

Perry came home, got the ladder and stopped the awful noise. He climbed into the attic space so he could make sure the roof didn't get hit and flames weren't hiding in our attic space. But thankfully they aren't.

We are now pretty sure that one of the alarms is dying and since they are all on the same circuit it made them all go off.

Sadie was whinning and being a big baby... I was crying and being an extremely big baby and Ella was being completely still, so I know she was probably freaked out because I was so freaked out.

After Perry got the noise to stop we sat and did our "relaxation breathing." It helped a little. We had lunch and I had a big glass of water. Now Ella is back to bouncing around, Sadie is napping peacefully and I feel SO much better.

Quite comical. Quite traumatic.

Just another day in the life of the Powells! :)

pamper yourself

Pregnant women are always told to pamper themselves with massages, pedicures, etc.

Before my last baby shower I treated myself to a pedicure. The paint job has lasted this long, so this week before my shower I am getting myself a much needed haircut.

Prenatal vitamins make my hair grow REALLY fast. I feel as though I just got a haircut. Well, I did. But I didn't really get a style. It was summer and I wanted it to be long enough for a great pony tail.

Today, I am venturing out and getting some extra layers. It will be just as long as it is now, but it will look much shorter because of the layers.

Anytime I tell my nana or papa I am getting a haircut they moan and groan, "But your hair is so pretty long." or "Don't cut your beautiful hair." LISTEN HERE PEOPLE. I'm sick and tired of getting out of the shower — all nice and clean — only to sweat my butt off while I am bent over trying to dry this big ol' mess of thick hair. Thanks for the compliments of saying it's so pretty, but until you want to be here at my ever-loving call to blow dry it for me... I'm cutting it!! haha

Sorry for the vent.

I'm excited to see what my hairdresser, Ashley, from the Bird Cage, comes up with today!!!

I'll post pictures later!

Wake-up Call

So today, I just realized that the husband and I won't get too many more weekends of just being together, him and I. We will soon be overwhelmed with a newborn. There won't be many more times when we can just go to our friends' house to watch movies, unless they don't mind us bringing along baby. We won't get to enjoy a restaurant just the two of us. Grocery shopping won't be an easy task anymore. Running to Wal-Greens to pick up toothpaste won't be an easy task anymore.

In fact, the husband asked me how I will find time to shower or even go pee. Cooking dinner will be an interesting task... unless the hubby is home.

Our lives are about to change... FOREVER.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am super excited about our little girl coming. And I can't wait for the next 8 weeks to come and go so she can get here!!

But right now, I am praying to God that I have what it takes to be a full-time stay-at-home mommy.

One Hot Mama

Finally it is September and the weather is cooling... I have had one hot summer.

Our little bundle is growing super fast!! She's kicking and moving and squirming around inside the belly. Next weekend my super great friend Sarah of SJA Photography is going to do some

maternity pictures of me and the hubs and the belly!! :) I'm getting excited about it.

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping the blog up-to-date with my pregnancy, but there really hasn't been much going on. We are just waiting now. We have already painted the nursery and the hubs put up some wainscoting. It looks great!

The hubs mother is making the crib bedding... so those pictures will have to come later.

We had a baby shower last weekend and it went great! My cousins did a great job putting it on and little Ella got some wonderful items! I can't wait to see the hub's side of the family at the shower hosted by the sister-in-law and cousin-in-law next weekend!

wowza, it's been a while

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post. A lot has been going on around here. My pregnancy woes are getting much better. I'm not quite as sick as I was in the beginning. My belly is growing... I can no longer wear my regular pants.

Mom and nana are coming to stay with me and the hubby for a couple of weeks. That should be fun! We plan on going to the pool and hanging out in the sun, tanning. :) I love sweet summertime!!

On June 28 we will have our official ultrasound to find out if we are carrying a Luke or an Ella. I am so anxious to find out. I cannot wait to start working on the nursery. I already have a theme in mind for both a boy or girl. I wont tell you my plans though until I know...

I honestly try not to get too excited about either a boy or a girl, because there is nothing I can do about the gender. We will have whatever it happens to be! :) So, I am "patiently" waiting for that ultrasound!

I promise I will attempt to write more often, especially when we find out gender and get started on the nursery! I'm sure there will MUCH to discuss then!

hormones; TMI??

I had a complete breakdown today. My poor nana and papa are the ones that got to put up with me during it (they were the only ones that would answer their phones!!)

I have had a bad case of morning sickness today. I haven't been able to keep anything down. At. All. My doctor prescribed some medicine that is supposed to help cure the nausea... it doesn't work if you throw it up before it has a chance to work!!! :)

Well, I don't know if you do this, but when I throw up I cry. Tears just start streaming down my face. This last bout the tears just would not stop coming. It was a good five to ten minutes before I even called the grandparents and even when they answered I cried about another five minutes!!

But they talked me down and settled my nerves. I knew pregnancy hormones go outta whack, but I will be glad to be back to my old self!! (And, really glad to stop throwing up all the time!!)

Weekend Wonders Pt. 1

The marathon I was training for in earlier posts here and here was on Saturday. We had a blast. Well, I actually didn't participate. You see, while I was in the midst of training I found something out about myself.

I am pregnant!!

So, you see. I didn't get to finish my training. I have been experiencing morning sickness for the past 6 weeks. All day, every day. Although, some days are better than others. I haven't made it to the gym to finish training.

But my friend Courtney did AMAZING in her half marathon!! She and her dad (which I am super proud of, too) finished their 13.1 miles in 1 hour 57 minutes. ROCK STARS!! Courtney's husband, Trey, ran the 5K I was supposed to have run. He did awesome too: 31 minutes!!

It was such a beautiful day! I'm glad the weather participated for them!

Now, as for me and my ailments. LOL

I am 11 weeks today. Our little bean is due November 1. We are SUPER excited about this blessing! I'm sorry I haven't told any of you sooner, but now we are just about out of the dreaded first trimester. So, I figured it'd be OK to let the cat out of the bag. (I don't really get that saying: cat out the bag. It's quite awful, putting a cat in a bag.... but that's another post... lol)

Stay tuned for pt. 2. :)

My Hero

Most nights that my favorite TV shows are on I have to record them and watch them the next day. Honey-do doesn't like my silly shows. It's OK by me. I don't mind it. Today I was watching one of those shows: Life Unexpected from the CW.

Today I found myself once again so THANKFUL for my mom. The show is about a young girl who goes to find her biological parents after spending years in the foster care system. Her mother got pregnant at the winter formal at only 16 years old. This is exactly what happened to my mother.

Unlike the show's mother (she gives the daughter up to the "system" hoping she will get adopted) my mother did something even braver: kept me. I love her so much and am so thankful she was so brave.

It wasn't easy, but thankfully she had a wonderful support system. Her parents — my nana and papa — were always there for her, but didn't make it easy on her. My mom had to get a job to support me. And, she stayed in high school. She finished her senior year without taking very much time off. She even went straight into college the following fall.

She is my hero. I am so blessed to be her daughter. I love her so much and she is my best friend. I'm so happy she met and married my dad: Dennis and together they had my adorable little brother. I have such a wonderful family!!

I hope I can be half as good of a mother to my little one as my mom is to me: I think we will be alright. :)

Sneak Peak Wedding Photo

Honey-do's cousin, Mary, got married. I had the blessing to be the wedding photographer that day!!! It was such a blast because I knew pretty much the entire wedding party and love them dearly!! It honestly makes the day that much more fun... it doesn't feel like work that way!! Here's a sneak peak to the beautiful bride and her fabulous wedding day!! More to come on my photography blog: TP Photography.

stupid laundry

Don't you just hate when you are on a rolll and something happens and just ruins it all??? Yesterday I was in clean-mode. Dishes, house, laundry.

On my second load of laundry the stupid dryer quit working. :( NOT A HAPPY CAMPER!!! The jeans are still wet... I have a doctor's appointment today and all my jeans are wet and can't be dried. Looks like I will have to get either dressed up a little and wear some slacks or go looking like a hippie in my sweatpants!!

Errrrrr..... seriously. Bad case of the Mondays, yesterday.

Hope your Monday went better than mine!!

sooner than later, right??

I wish. I am expanding my business: photography and design. I'm really excited to get this ball a rollin'. I'm was hoping to get a new web site put together soon and to get it up and running, but things are slowing down. I'm getting stuck on some design aspects. I am afraid it's about time to spend the extra cash and hire a designer.... a web designer!!! I can design things on my own: birth announcements, invitations, banners, T-shirts, etc. But, I am finding it very difficult to design my own web site.

I'm so excited to get this new business up and going!! Hopefully soon, we will start reaping the rewards from owning your own business.

Exciting things this way come

Just wait my fellow bloggers!!!! VERY exciting, VERY promising things are going to be appearing soon!!!! :) Keep your crossables crossed!!!

emotional baggage

Tonight's episode of the Biggest Loser really hit home with me. The pink team's Ashley had her emotional breakthrough about losing her father to cancer. That's not the part that hit me, this was: she didn't go home and see him that often because every time she went home her family (mostly her dad) would constantly ridicule her because of her weight. Verbal abuse, basically. He would tell her she needed more exercise. He would survey everything she ever ate. He would comment on her weight before even saying hello. Her breakthrough was she was sorry she didn't tell him that his comments hurt her feelings. She was also really upset that she let come between them while he was dying. She never got to apologize for not coming home, and she never got to let him know why.

That hit me hard, because, honestly... it's exactly what my family does to me. It hurts my feelings. It makes me feel horrible. I, too, sometimes dread going home... because I don't want to deal with my family judging me and how I look. I don't know if that is my "baggage" or not. I don't have a real answer for why I gained weight.

I was always in shape in high school. Sure, I had weight ups and downs, like most people... but in all, I was pretty in shape. I played basketball, softball and was a cheerleader. I ran in the gym with Coach Pulliam and he had me lifting weights my sophomore-senior years. I was in good shape. After graduation I went on a cruise with about 15 other kids from my senior class. I walked around the cruise ship in a bikini. I was so happy.

After that, I'm not really sure anything major changed, except college. lol I started college, met the love of my life... but was no longer exercising the way I did in high school. And in just those 4 years of college I put on the weight. Not just the freshman 15... more than that.

I know I may never have my high school body back... but that was only 5 years ago. I think if I work hard enough I might be able to get it back. Let's just hope that getting the emotional baggage out of the way via this blog will help. I don't think I am ready to say anything to my family about it. It's hard enough not going up and deleting it from here. But, I am going to quickly click the publish button before I change my mind.

Just please, pray for me to continue going to the gym and working hard. I know I can do it!!

what i've been up to

I'm sorry I have neglected you. I've been super busy... it seems. It seems as though I am always doing something and never have time to do anything (you should see my house). But, in all reality, I haven't done much lately. I sleep til 10... eat breakfast, eat lunch with Perry when he comes in, then my personal trainer (my best friend Courtney) and I hit the gym from 1:30 til about 4 everyday. I then come home and rest... for the rest of the night. See, not much going on... but I feel so busy.

I still have no job. But, I feel like getting my life back to normal (weight loss, stress levels, etc.) is my job right now. I'm extremely happy. I haven't been this happy since I first met Honey-do. :) My full-time job is making myself the best me I can be; not only for me, but for Honey-do, too!!

Honey-do and I are trying to save up for a nice road trip with our friends Courtney and Trey. Our aunt and uncle just got back from a delicious road trip to New Orleans. We had thought New Orleans at first... but then Courtney and I got to reading our favorite Nicholas Sparks novels and fell in love with the idea of staying in North Carolina in a house on the beach. The husbands aren't as crazy about that idea as we are... but won't that be fun!!! :)

So, I have a new mini-goal... lose enough inches/pounds to buy a new swimsuit for the beach this summer!! :)

I'm getting there... I am also doing good on my training for the 5K in April. 5K=3.1 miles. I can do three miles on the treadmill in 47:30. which isn't last place, according to last year's results. And, it's only February!! My legs hurt, like crazy, but I'm no quitter!!

She said WHAT?!?!?!?!?

So, my friend Courtney is such a huge inspiration to me. I've really been needing someone like her in my life. It's been a week of exercising and I feel great!!! I didn't think it was possible. I don't exercise quite the way they do on NBC's show The Biggest Loser. But, Courtney and I have been staying at the YMCA everyday for at least 3 hours.

Today, I ran 4.5 miles on an elliptical machine. Then swam 10 laps, treaded water for 10 minutes, and kicked for a while. Needless to say, I am exhausted. But, if I want a bikini body by summer, this is how I have to do it!! :) haha

I understand I may never look like my high school prom pic again, but I won't stop trying!! :)

I need to make myself start eating more healthy. My biggest downfall right now is that I am too tired after my workouts to cook; and the healthiest meals are cooked at home, when you know exactly what you are putting in it.

But, tonight... I think I will attempt this: Chicken Cacciatore (from this week's Biggest Loser episode!!)

It's nice to create goals for yourself when you are attempting a major lifestyle change. I have quite a bit of weight to lose, so I have created mini-goals within my major goal. My mini-goals are 20 pounds at a time.

A huge goal of mine; however, is to run a 5K in April. That is actually about 3 miles. Which, shouldn't be too hard for me right now, because I can do a solid 2.5 on the elliptical. I'm scared of the treadmill, but will try to do a little more on it each day. Today I did .5 miles at 3.7 mph. So, tomorrow I will try to do a little more a little faster. :) Let's hope I can do it!!

If I succeed at the 5K in April, I will train for a half marathon (13.1 miles) in October!! :) We'll see!!

weight-loss update

I haven't written much about my weight loss journey lately, well, because quite frankly there wasn't a weight loss journey being had. But, my friend has gotten me to rejoing the YMCA and go with her everyday. She is a big-time runner. In fact she is training for a half marathon in April... I am no where near being ready for a half marathon, but there is a 5K that same day. I will be training for the 5K... she thinks I will be ready for the half marathon, because she has faith in me and my diet and exercise. She's a peach, I'll tell ya. But, I was looking back on past posts about my weight loss... and I feel the same way I did here. I want to look like my senior prom pic again. So, here goes the start to my weight loss journey. I'll keep ya posted!!!

Whoever knew these were real?

Nantucket. I thought it was a made up place. Turns out, it's not. It is a small island within a group of small islands off the coast of Massachusetts. This is where rich people take springtime vacations, well there and Martha's Vineyard (located on another small island just west of Nantucket) Who knew??

Timbuktu. You know when you were younger and you would box up your younger sibling and tell them you were going to ship them off to Timbuktu??? I thought that was a made up place as well... turns out. I'm wrong. Timbuktu is actually a city in the country of Mali in Africa. Glad I never sealed the package... my poor baby brother!!!

Flamingoes. OK, OK. I know... that may be just me. But, I seriously always thought these were made-up creatures some ninny with a full yard of flamingoes, gnomes, etc., created just to have something else in her yard. I honestly never remember seeing them at a zoo. And, my papa used to take me to the zoo all the time. Until recently I thought these were fake, made-up. Sorry, but you just don't see toothpick-legged, pink, non-flying birds around Amber, Okla.

I may be a little blond-headed after all!!! :)

Childhood Shenanagins

As a child the Disney movie "Alice in Wonderland" was one of my favorites. I am a huge Walt Disney animated movie fan. In fact I have quite the collection started. I want to be able to share with my children the Disney princesses I grew up loving, Cinderella, Belle ("Beauty and the Beast"), Snow White, Ariel ("Little Mermaid"), Aurora ("Sleeping Beauty"), Jasmine ("Aladdin"), etc. Children movies today just aren't the same as when I was growing up. 3-D art has become the new fad for children movies, such as the PIXAR movies "Cars" and "Toy Story." Now, mind you, these are still super cute, I however prefer my animation.

However, one movie I am beginning to question whether I will show my children is "Alice in Wonderland." It's really quite silly, and if you have ever watched it you know exactly what I am talking about. A small girl falling down a rabbit hole, chasing the talking white rabbit, meeting various strange creatures and animals along her way. Weird mumblings and sayings going about while no one questions their validity, they simply let their children watch it.

These weird mumblings and sayings go hardly unnoticed in the Disney version, because its still light-hearted and hidden well enough to keep it a kid-friendly movie. However, TIM BURTON, comes along and creates a new movie with real-people telling the second part of Alice's story. This is where my world has turned upside-down.

I was super excited to go and see this movie, until I was reading more about it and looked a the list of characters. I noticed a character called: The Jabberwocky. I don't recall anyone by the name jabberwocky in the Disney version. So, I had to dig a little deeper to find out where this jabberwocky character was coming from.

Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, had actually written a poem of nonsense about a jabberwocky and put it into the sequel to the first book: Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. If you have the time to look up the poem and it's meaning, I do encourage it. It's quite bewildering the way Carroll's mind was able to create a total nonsense poem and develop his own words to create it. However, I applaud Walt Disney for leaving that out of his version of the story. Although, he did allow the Cheshire Cat to sing part of that wretched poem, although I never understood what he was singing until today:

"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogroves,

And the mome raths outgrabe."