Jenny Snyder

Dear Little Man...

Dear Little Man,

I can't believe we're only about 12 weeks away from meeting you.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that we found out that you were "real"!   It was mid-March and your Dad was in SC for work for a few days.  Of all the ways I had dreamt about one day sharing this exciting news with him... over the phone was not part of the plan.  And I remember his reaction: silence.  He was in as much disbelief as me because we had wanted you for so long, but weren't sure we'd ever get there.

 

And I remember the day we learned that you were our Little Man - it was the Friday before Father's Day.  I knew already... I just had a feeling that you were a boy, but watching your Dad watch you on the big ultrasound screen was a moment that I will never, ever forget.  You made his first Father's Day so special. 

 

Now I'm just ready to meet you and kiss you and hold you.  I'm ready to watch you fall asleep on your Daddy's chest because you're both exhausted from your exciting day.  I'm ready to find out if you're as much of a wild man as I think you will be... I feel you wiggling around all the time and I'm quite certain that you have your Dad's boundless energy towards life.  I can't wait to study your face and tiny features and decide who you look like, although I'm pretty sure you will be the spitting image of your handsome Daddy (he is the spitting image of your Pop... who is the spitting image of your Great-Granddaddy).

 

There are so many things I can't wait to say to you, teach you, and do with you.  And there are so many other people excited to meet you as well.  You'll probably be pretty spoiled, so be ready and take it all in.  We've all been waiting for you for a very long time.

 

Love,

Mama

The journey continues...

As mentioned in my previous entry on resolutions, one of ours is to make this the year of the baby.  We've had a long, frustrating go at trying to become parents for the last two years with no luck.  We started seeing a specialist in the fall (REACH, which is an absolutely wonderful place) and I just had surgery for endometriosis on December 30th as the next step in the process.

My follow-up was yesterday and the doctor elected to put me on Letrozole for the next few months.  Letrozole is used as a chemo drug for breast cancer patients, but has a successful off-market use for fertility.  Just after my Letrozole cycle each month, I will also have to give myself a shot of Ovidrel in the tummy.  I'm not terrible excited about that part... I don't mind taking shots at all, but I'm not thrilled about having to give one to myself.  The good news about both of these is that they have little to no side effects.  After having done numerous cycles of Clomid and the side effects that came with that (weight gain, mood swings/having to constantly apologize to hubby, etc.), I'm excited to give these two a try.

A lil' sunshine

Beautiful "get well" flowers sent from my sweet mama after my surgery.  I changed the water and trimmed them yesterday, and they're still cheering up our bedroom.  I love smelling them as I'm getting ready for work each morning - such a wonderful pick me up!

 

Resolution #1: More blogging

So 2010 was definitely not my year for blogging!  I'm still paying for my domain name and typepad account, so I really should be using it, right?

I want to start 2011 off with more blogging.  I'm not completely clear right now exactly what my blog will be used for.  I love fashion, but I'm not the type of person who is patient enough to photograph and post my outfit each day.  I bargain hunt like it's a sport, but I don't always have an incredible deal to post.  I love taking pictures of and telling stories about my dog... but I think I've worn that one out at this point.  And while we're hoping to travel more this year, we don't go enough places that I can write consistently on it.  For now, I'll let the pieces fall where they may and hopefully some sort of pattern or organization will surface.

For this post, I'm throwing out my resolutions for 2011.  I hope most will stick, though I will be pleasantly shocked if they all do. :)

1.  Dedicate more time to updating this blog ... as previously mentioned.

2. Work with what I have.  I have developed such a bad habit of buying things that I don't need - especially clothes.  I'd really like to focus on enjoying what I have.  I don't need a new tennis dress every month.  I don't need to replace my table settings every season.  I don't need ANOTHER pair of black shoes.

3.  Finish my "inspiration notebooks".  I have two large envelopes filled with pages torn out of magazines.  One envelope contains home ideas - decorating, organizing, shortcuts/tips, etc.  The other contains outfits, makeup, hair... any fashion or beauty related look or article that jump out at me.  My plan has always been to put them in sheet protectors, then separate into two notebooks - home and fashion/beauty - and keep as fun references.

4.  Drop back to a size 8.  This one was on my list last year, too.  While I'm okay with the fact that my body will never fit into a size 4 or 6 like it did in my 20's... I'd at least like to get back to a solid size 8 to feel comfortable.  This will be a mix of diet and exercise for me - which also means getting back to my good ol' Weight Watchers diet.  This one definitely isn't impossible for me, but it will take a lot more discipline than any of the other resolutions.

5.  Read more.  I'm talking both books and magazines, here.  I have a sad pile of half-read books... all of which I'd like to finish and still have my interest.  I also have a sad pile of untouched magazines that need to be mined for my notebooks (resolution #3) - and these quick reads usually help satisfy my creative urges.

6.  Make a baby.  Probably seems like a weird one to add... but this is something both of us really want to happen this year.  It's been a long two years of trying.  I finally bit the bullet and did the surgery a few days ago to help the process... so why not this year?  I realize it's far more in God's hands than ours - but that's doesn't mean I can't pray and wish and hope.

7.  Learn to wear Spanx... and love them.  I'll be 34 this year.  I'm finding that a woman's body does some very cruel things in her 30's and no matter how skinny or fit I am, there's not much I can do about it.  I'm also learning that more and more women have secrets under their gorgeous garments - like Spanx - that help them look and feel fabulous in their clothes.  So why shouldn't I?

So here's to hoping that these are resolutions I can stick through and stick to. 

Thumbkin

We have a thumbsucker on our hands.  Actually, a toe sucker.  While he watches tv.

Tater face

What a delicious Easter weekend!  Mom came into town and we ate very well while she was here.  Mentionable meals include trying Lancaster's BBQ for the first time since we've lived in Charlotte (and it won' t be the last!), learning to make Mom's lasagna which I managed to do as well as her, and a huge ham with homemade mashed potatos for Easter dinner.

This week, we have lots of leftovers to look forward to.  The pups LOVE mashed potatos, so as I was warming some up for Kevin tonight for dinner, I shared with them by the spoonful.  Rowdy still had a little on his chin he was saving for later.

Keeping Up...

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've blogged.  Typepad has completely changed their format, so it took me almost 30 minutes to figure out how to do this!

I'll have to catch up slowly, but surely... but I figured I had to start somewhere.  There's a lot of exciting stuff going on right now that's worth posting - but that will all come with time.

For now - here's a picture of the Easter Bunny that came to visit me a little early this year.  I don't think I remember him being this cute!  :)

The bday week wrap-up

Yes, I am one of those who has a birthday week.  It's just fun to milk it if the opportunity presents itself.  Your birthday is the only time during the year that you get to celebrate you... so why not!??!

Mine fell on Good Friday this year, which was also coincidentally a company holiday for us... so I had the day off.  Mom came in that afternoon and we had the whole weekend with her - through Easter Sunday. 

I kept things low-key again this year... I tinkered with the idea of doing a bowling party at Strike City, but I just couldn't get into party mode.  Birthdays still aren't the same after losing Dad.  Maybe they will never be.  But this still didn't feel like the year for a big to-do.  It just felt like the year for family... and that felt perfect.  We took a few pics after our Easter lunch at the golf club on Sunday:

 

 

At work on Tuesday, Michelle had organized an office lunch outing for me at Greek Isles - I LOVE that place!  Bob treated everyone and it was nice to have a little group camaraderie for the afternoon.  A couple of the girls also gave me few a treats when I came in on Monday... and Kara hung a "word art" bday sign on my desk, which has now turned into a word scramble for passersby.  I've seen strange phrases on there towards the end of the week like "Benji h!ny rad thy papy".  (Let me know if any of you think of any good ones that I can put up there!)

On a different note, we've been doing a TON of work on the house... which really started with an outside landscaping project about 2 months ago (but turned into MUCH more), so I'll post some progress pictures on everything we've done with that soon.  I've gotten behind on my blogging and I've promised myself to get back into it - but it's been for good reason!  Kevin even says he might start a guest blog section on here at some point, too... to add his input in our daily lives.  Stay tuned!

Old dogs, new pics

I was cleaning out my email today and found these pictures in my draft folder - I'm not sure who I was sending them to or when they were taken, but they sure are cute.  I do remember us being amazed that Kieran and Fletch were laying on Kieran's sleeping bag together... and noticing that their had been a turning point in their relationship.

  

New digs

After much anticipation, we finally bought new furniture for the man room today!  First our ottoman suffered a slow, painful death... then couch began getting disemboweled (mind you, this was 10 year old furniture that had seen its share of post-college living, so it was time for it to go... the dogs just sped up the process).  Once we found a new set that we fell in love with, we said goodbye and spent the day flipping the room.

Here's the new set, along with an accent rug we really liked:

 

We rearranged the room a little so that the new settee and ottoman face the Nintendo Wii - which were behind me as I was taking the picture.  I actually played with the Wii for the first time tonight and LOVED it!  I tried bowling and tennis and loved both, but really got hooked on tennis... I wanted to beat Kev at just one game, but no luck yet.  I'll keep trying; I definitely came close!