In Honor of Amelia's 2nd Birthday

I just got this today and thought I'd share it with everyone since it's been two years since I've been a mom!

Before I was a Mom...

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put them down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom. I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom. I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

What a great day...

Today was a lot of fun. We had a day out for work. The day started out with all of us from work renewing our CPR cards, okay so that wasn't that exciting, but it was something that had to be done. Today we got out Christmas presents from our Doctors at work. Our Doctors took us to Cooks of Crocus Hill on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, to take a cooking class. We took a bus from Northfield Bus Lines to St. Paul. The Drs bought us Panera sandwiches for lunch, so we ate those on the bus, they also had beer, margaritas, mike's hard lemonades, water, juice, iced tea for us to drink on the bus. The bus ride was a lot of fun, everyone started drinking on the bus and kicked back and relaxed. We played a trivia game on the ride to St. Paul, the first round everyone got a cookbook of some sort, you picked it out as you got the questions right. All the questions were on cooking. When we got to Cooks of Crocus Hill, we started out at the bar in the place where we were going to be cooking our meal...I'm starting to sense that maybe some of my co-workers have drinking problems...well no, not really, they are a fun loving bunch who like to have a good time...sometimes a little rowdy...but I don't think alcohol plays much of a roll in that! They had already prepared an appetizer for us, figs wrapped with smoked mozzarella and prosciutto, sounds gross, but they were great! Then we split into five teams...by doing the old fashioned 1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5 okay well you get the picture. We were on a team building mission. My team was another assistant who just Graduated from school in December and was hired while I was on Maternity Leave, and two of the three Drs were also on our team. We were "team building with taste", we were making Salsas and Margaritas.

My group cooked Chili Rellenos with Salsa Mexicana...they were horrible...in my opinion anyway, it was Pablano peppers stuffed with chopped mushrooms, mixed with shallots, breadcrumbs, queso blanco cheese with a sauce that had goat cheese in it. Number one I don't like mushrooms and number two, the sauce was horrible...but it could be the smell of it while it was cooking, it was dry white wine mixed with shallots, garlic, tumeric (a horribly stinky spice) and heavy cream. I cooked the sauce and I got voted Best Chef on the bus ride home...they must have felt bad for me, because all the groups were done cooking and I was still working on this sauce.

Other things we had were Guacamole and chips, Crab cakes with tomatillo sauce, skirt steak fajitas, Giant Prawns with Pineapple salsa. I could have only had the guac and been happy as a fat kid with cake. But I tried them all and I'll tell you I only cared for the fajitas and the guacamole. However the whole experience was a lot of fun! When we were all done cooking, we got to sit down and enjoy what we slaved away making!

On the ride home we voted for the Best Chef Award and the Not So Good Chef Award. I won Best Chef and I'm sure like I stated previously that it was because they all felt bad for me! I got a coffee mug that says "Employee of the Month", I was informed that it could become the traveling trophy if I would like...you just never know what may end up in the white elephant gifts for the Christmas party in December. We played two more rounds of trivia on the ride home, winning more fabulous prizes. The "Silver Round" I won a 7 pc Margarita Set. Other prizes included in this round included Pyrex portables set, a party set which included wine glasses and plates that you could set your wine glass in and walk around with it, some stoneware baking dishes, and mixing bowls. Then we played the Gold Round, which the prizes were even bigger, they included the waffle iron s that most hotels have these days for their continental breakfasts, a large electronic crockpot, a electric fry pan with a removable insert, a griddle with removable racks that could go into the dishwasher and 2 quart ice cream maker. I chose the Ice Cream maker, Amelia and I may try it out tomorrow! Everyone earned a prize each round, what you got just depended upon where you fell in the order and whether you answered the question correctly or not. There was 2-3 of each prize.


Just had to share my fun and exciting day!

it's been a while...

Hello All! Since it's been a while, since my last blog, I thought I'd better write quick in between house chores!

Amelia is turning 2 next week...who can believe it? Certainly not me. Seems to me like she should still be a baby! She got new Tennis Shoes yesterday, they make her look like she's about 6 years old! Here's the new shoes...Are they not cute or what? Stride Rite had a sale buy one pair get the 2nd 50% off. So she got summer sandals as well!

Mr. Paul is growing like a weed. At his 4 month check up last week he was 15 lbs 5 oz and 25-3/4 inches long. He's getting to be such a big man! He is starting to scoot backwards on his tummy. And he can sit unassited for a minute or two! That's about all for now. I better go work on laundry! Mr Paul is awake from his nap and Meli is still snoozing!