Starting This Life

snow and girl scout cookies

2010-03-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

So below are some various update pictures... I am putting solid bamboo floors down in our house and the first picture shows Emma helping me...or maybe about to attack me with the shop vac hose.

This picture is of Emma's first and last girl scout thin mint cookie. She loved it as you can see but because she doesn't eat sweets or chocolate she was like a child on speed for the next couple of hrs.

This was Emma walking down the block to the Mardi Gras Parade. We went to a friends house for their annual kid friendly Mardi Gras party and then we all caravan down to the parade. She loved it. She loved putting the beads on and when the floats came by with all of their music blasting she would dance dance dance.

Eating at the party.

Our snow. I know many of you have seen much more snow but I think this is the most I have ever seen in my life. Sad I know. Then because it is tax season and I am a CPA I still had to go to work the next day and miss Emma playing in her first snow. Needless to say Char was texting me a new photo every five minutes. Thank goodness for technology.

So that kinda wraps it up for now. I am plowing through tax season and trying to get these floors done before Char and I die from disorganization. By the time I bought all the tools needed and now pay the chiropractor I could have paid some one to put down the floors and it would have been finished by now. Oh well. I really needed a project for the tax season.

UPDATE

2009-07-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

WL UPDATE.

Well this morning I measured and it has been a week and a couple days since I measured. Great news bust is down two inches and around the belly button is down 2 inches. My arms and legs were down too but I am hesitent to count those because I wasn't sure I was measuring in the same spot so I am going to get better with those. But I was sure about the bust and belly. I know some people don't want to lose in the bust but that is so ok with me.

Yesterday was the first day of my 4th week of c25k. It kicked my butt. BUT I FINISHED IT!!! I always tell myself if I make it through just once I can do it again and again no matter what. So things are going well.

I was very glad about the measurements because I am starting week 4 and have not seen crazy high weight loss numbers 7 lbs since june 5th so I am glad I am making progress with measurements.

Progress and a new goal

2009-06-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

On Friday June 5th I wieghed way waaayyy too much. A total of 236lbs. I started the Couch to 5 K that evening. I am proud to say I have stuck with it. It is now June 29th and Tomorrow I start my 4th week. I weighed 229 this am. I have lost 7 lbs in about 3 wks.

That amount would have been 2 lbs more but I seem to have an issue with weekends. When I am at work and my food is limited I do well but at home I seem to feel the need to "splurge".

I am however feeling great. I am walking/ jogging = wogging lol about 2 miles per session. Saturday was the last day of my 3rd week and I did all of the jogging circuits at 5 miles per hour and I felt great. I am nervous about this week because I go from two sets of (jog 90 sec walk 90 sec jog 3 min walk 3 mins) to 2 sets of ( jog 3 min walk 90 sec jog 5 min walk 2.5 min). It seems like a big leap to me. But so did week 2 to week 3. I feel like if I can just make it through once it is all down hill from there because the rest of the circuits and days I just keep telling myself

"YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE THIS ONCE! THERE IS NO DOUBT YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO IT! SO JUST GO! DO IT ALREADY! AND REMEMBER HOW GREAT YOU FELT WHEN YOU WERE DONE!!!!"

That is the best part is that I feel so awesome after my work out.

SO...my pop is engaged!!! He finally met someone. I hope to meet her in mid August. (yeah it is crazy I have not met her but we live 5 hrs apart and there has been alot going on for them and us) but this brings me to my new goal.

I want to at least weigh 180 by November 21st. Why November 21st? That is their wedding date and I am so tired of being the pudge in all of the photos till I could scream. I will look alright at 180 I think and that is 50 lbs in 5 months so hopefully that is doable if I really work at it. That is not my ending goal but that is a good date and a good challenge.

So there it is. 180 by Nov 21st.

how about a photo update

2009-06-24T18:26:00.001-07:00

We rocked the carousel

This was the day before Easter.

Me looking shabby with miss beautiful.

Emma & her GrandPops.

Emma playing in the pool

So that's our update. We have just been enjoying the summer.

1 st day of 3rd week

2009-06-23T18:06:00.001-07:00

Today was my first day of the third week of my couch to 5 k. I never thought I would be able to jog 3 mins straight but I did. woot woot

An update

2009-06-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

So I know it has been far too long but life took over as it does sometimes and there was no time to blog.

So here goes...

We made it through another tax season. This was our first with Emma. It went fairly smooth. I was exhausted alot but Emma's smile renewed me every night when I got home.

My Papaw passed away after 46 days in the hospital. He went in for a heart bypass surgery and the took on alot of fluid and things went down from there. It was crazy because he had not had a heart attack. YET. He was going in for the surgery because his heart dr. monitored him and said he needed it. Then about 10 days before he passed my Mamaw got pneumonia and was put in the same ICU as him only two rooms apart. He passed while she was still in ICU. This was one of the worst things I have ever been through. NOW, my mamaw is doing ok. She had a lot of rehab to do after being on the vent for so long. She is getting stronger everyday. And my Papaw's hunting dog is now a house dog and is with her every step.

Emma is doing great. Just yesterday she took her first, second, third and fourth steps. Then she went on strike. LOL. It wont be long I know and we will be chasing her. Her first word was "hey/ hi" she says it when ever she sees someone. At first we thought it was not "on purpose" but it is. We are still working on momma and mommy. Her favorite thing to do is take stuff out of any container. She loves to empty her toy box, char's purse, my breifcase, any thing.

Last week we had to put down one of our dogs. I never thought it would come to that but we had had issues with the dog since we got her and it peaked with her trying to bite Emma because she was crawling in her general direction but Emma was still 3 or 4 feet from her. She has had issues with children and visitors in the past so we knew it was a possibility but we thought she would come to love and protect her like she does us. Then while waiting in the vets office a child and his mother came in the door and she growled at him from all the way across the room. I was very upset about it but I believe we did what was the best for our family and our dog. We gave her a great life and we all had great times with her and she with us which is more than she was set up to have when we adopted the malnourished, mangy, 3 legged dog from the pound 5 yrs ago. She came to be a beautiful loving loyal dog that just had issues. Who wouldn't with only 3 legs. I am at peace with it now.

Well I know this is getting long so I will go now. But I hope to do better with this blog now.

Sun and Fun here we come

2009-01-23T06:51:00.000-08:00

Last night we bought our tickets to Cancun. I am so very excited. We are going in May. It will be our first vacation in about two years because of all the getting ready for the CPA exam stuff.

Our little Emma will have a passport and everything soon. It makes my heart smile she is really growing up. LOL

5 month report

2009-01-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

Emma turned 5 months old yesterday. To celebrate we gave her baby food for the first time. It was homemade with lots of love from her mommy. It was yellow squash and she liked it very much. I think she liked it even more than the cereal we have been feeding her. I can see why though because you know I had to taste it and it tasted like cardboard.

She has started to love playing with the rolly thing on her exersaucer. She has figured out how to promptly roll to her back when we put her down for tummy time. She isn't very fond of tummy time.

She reached out for someone for the first time on new years eve. It was ME!! I was so excited.

She has started reaching for things on the table so we are having to really watch her when we hold her while we eat our food. We try not to do this much anyway so there have been no major mishaps yet.

My boss took us all out for lunch and drinks yesterday and she tricked him into giving her some chocolate cake. He couldn't resist her smiles and sweet noises she is making now. We both kept our mouths shut about the cake. We decided long ago that we didn't want our child to have any "refined" sugar until 1 year old. I know we are crunchy. We also decided we would not be so anal about it that we yelled at someone if they didn't know. And Emma christined him later on in the meal with a pee pee leak through her diaper. LOL

More Pictures

2008-12-24T06:44:00.000-08:00

I don't know why but I could not put these in the last post. Is there a limit I don't know about?

PICTURES!!!

2008-12-24T06:34:00.000-08:00

I thought I would give a little picture update since we are working a whole half day here on Christmas Eve. The pictures below are one that I took for a calendar we did for our families for Christmas. They turned out pretty good and I thought I would share a few.

Emma ate black eyed peas for the first time last night. Not alot but enough to give her nose a wrinkle. She has started to show more of a personality everyday. Often when Char is holding her and Char and I are talking she watches me and starts laughing. I guess my voice sounds funny. I must admit she is spoiled and wants to be held or played with most of the time. We think we feel the barely beginnings of a tooth. This would also explain some of the clingyness.

I love her more and more everyday.

WOOT WOOT I PASSED ALL 4 PARTS ON THE FIRST TIME

2008-12-19T12:01:00.000-08:00

I KNOW THAT IS A LONG TITLE BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO CALL IT. TODAY I GOT MY LAST GRADE FOR THE CPA EXAM AND I HAVE PASSED ALL FOUR PARTS ON MY FIRST TRY!!!

I AM SO STOKED!!!

Great news on the CPA EXAM

2008-12-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

I have passed BEC, FAR, AND REG!!! WOO WOO. I took Aud the day before thanksgiving and feel pretty good about it so hopefully since this is an off month I will find out sooner about my grade.

2008-11-16T17:35:00.001-08:00

We tried out the bouncer swing. She isn't wuite bouncing yet. She is getting so strong. Char worked this weekend so Emma and I watched lots of movies. We would have went out and enjoyed the weather but I have a pulled muscle in my back. I have been having a hard time standing up straight after I have been sitting. But it is getting better.
My birthday is coming up. I am not very excited. Birthdays and Holidays are such a chore. My folks are divorced and Char's parents don't really understand how hard it is. We feel like we are in the biz of "working people in". Since Emma is here I just want to enjoy all of my time with her. I don't want to spend it on the road. We usually spend more time on the road goin to see people than we do actually seeing people. I told Char I didn't want to do much for my birthday this year because I am kinda stressed enough. I am studying for the last part of the cpa exam and have a big project going on at work. Between work and studying I feel like I am infront of a computer 16 hrs a day. I just want to relax. That is what I want for my bday just to relax.
Lately I have been feeling something pulling at me. I feel the need for something more. I am really feeling drawn to find a church home for my family. I want Emma to grow up knowing and loving God. I want her to feel comfortable in church and comfortable with God. I didn't feel comfortable for whatever reason. I also feared God. I feel the need to pray with Char. I feel the need to become comfortable with God myself.

My daughter is a thief

2008-10-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

She stole my heart again. She does it everyday but man this weekend she got me good. Emma and I went to my moms this weekend. I was getting extremely overwhelmed with work and studying and HOA crap. So Char sent us back home. She had to work this weekend. I missed her horribly. It was nice just me and Emma though. Sometimes I let Char do more than I should I am sure. This weekend made me really appreciate everything she does. I loved being there with Emma though and knowing I was going to do everything that had to be done for her this weekend. I don't know why but it was awesome. On the way home from my mom's I didn't even want to put her in the car seat because it was all the way in the back seat. I just wanted her to sit in my lap or at least in a car seat in the front seat. Then once we got to see Char and then come home to one more night alone I fed her again before we went to bed and when it was time to put her in the bassinet I didn't want to. She had been sleeping in the bed with me while at my mom's. I missed her last night. This is all very silly because the bassinet is right beside the bed. I mean they even touch. I have just become a softy.

OH WELL. She is so totally worth it.

More pics

2008-10-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

We get the pics we had made back today. But here are some I took she is bloomin cute.

a little bit in pics

2008-10-04T13:11:00.001-07:00

She is doing great. Growing like crazy. She is so much more responsive now. I love it to death. Emma and I have been hangin out this weekend just us. Char started back to work.

crazy crazy crazy

2008-10-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

I am studying like crazy for the BEC part of the cpa exam this Fri. Emma is doing great she has started sleeping from about 10 to 6:30 and we were very happy to find out it was not a fluke. Last night she didn't have a very good night but that was just one out of a week or two so we are very happy.

This weekend we got pics made and we should get them back around the 10th. I am excited about them. I think they turned out good.

Well I have to get to studying. The weight loss is going great. 7lbs so far woot woot.

Later

WOOT WOOT

2008-09-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

EMMA SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME LAST NIGHT!!!!

She is almost 7 weeks old and she slept from 10:30 to 6:30. Which is just perfect for us to get good sleep too.

She has become so responsive to us talking to her. I love that part the most. She smiles alot when I talk to her and that sends me to the moon.

I have started a weight loss blog. It is listed over there to the right "Creating a New Leigh". Check it out if you want to. So far I am kicking but and taking names and feeling awsome!!!

Well I really have to get some studying in so I am going to go for now.

holding her head up

2008-09-15T11:57:00.001-07:00

She is on my desk in my office doing some tummy time. LOL!!! I am putting her to work already...yeah right.

She has started to definitely smile in response to being talked to. I talked to her for about five to ten minutes straight with her sitting on the desk in front of me and she just smiled and looked at me.

Last night we had her in the tub and she looked over at the silver tub drain thing and saw her reflection in it and reached for the lever sticking out of it. I really think this was a coincident but it was pretty cool.

We started trying to use a pacifier here and there. We read that they reduce the risk of SID immensely but she spits it out after a bit so I don't know. We aren't really thrilled about using it anyway. I guess we will just see how it all goes.

She has had this rash on her face, under her chin, on the side of her neck and upper chest for almost 2 weeks now. We took her to the doc and he said for Char to lay off dairy for 1 week and gave us a can of stuff to rub on her rash it is in a can and comes out like mouse. So we did this for tues, wed, thurs, and fri and it really did NOT look much better. So then Char recalls patients getting a similar reaction to medication and thinks the rash started about the same time we started giving the prescription gas meds. So Friday we stopped those and her cheeks look somewhat better but it is still on her neck. To me it looks almost like welts. This is breaking my heart because I keep thinking they have to be irritating to her. A few days she ran a very low grade temp but even thought it was a low grade one she was still so clingy and poopy. She even whimpered. I thought I was going to cry one day when her and Char came to eat lunch with me so they promptly left after we finished eating.

Hopefully it is a reaction to the meds and it will go away soon because we were going to get photos made and she has the crazy looking stuff on her face.

Well back to work I guess.

Sept 7th one month old

2008-09-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Emma turned 1 month old. I can not in my wildest dreams believe she is already a whole month old. On one hand it feels like she was just born yesterday and on the other it feels like she has been with us forever.

She is growing more and more everyday. She is so strong. She lifts her head and kind of pushes off your chest sometimes. She is smiling more and more. I know some of these are probably gas but they are becoming more animated. Big open mouthed smiles that leave you thinking any moment a beautiful laugh will escape. She also has started making more noise when she is awake. She will coo and "talk" some sound that isn't a coo but a sound.

She has taken to sleeping closer to 5 and 6 hrs a night between the time we put her down and the first time she wakes to nurse. Then she will go about 4 more. Char likes the sleep but has been pretty sore by the time she wakes up for the first feeding.

Emma had her first bottle last night. On a scale of 1 being horrible and 10 being champion we give her a 4. She was a little fussy before we even gave it to her so I don't think that really helped but she at about 1.5 ounces by the time it was over. We have these breast flow bottles from first year and I think they just piss her off. They are made to mimic breast flow but Char's milk is like a dripping faucet when she nurses so I think the bottles are actually harder to get milk from than Char is. So we are going to try again when she isn't already fussy and work our way into it because we have to be ready when Char goes back to work.

This morning I got up for work and Char and Emma were still asleep. When I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and start the shower I thought I heard Emma start to wake and fuss so I went back in the bedroom and looked and she was just occasionally making the kind of higher pitched sigh like she was so relaxed and resting so well. It was the cutest thing ever. I wanted to skip work and just sit by her bassinet and watch her sleep.

Well speaking of work I have to get to it now.

Not the best news ever

2008-09-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had to take Emma for an Echo on her heart. Today our Pediatrician's nurse called and said per the pediatric Cardiologist's notes Emma has an ASD (atrial septal defect). This news pretty much just threw me over the I think I won't be able to stop crying all stinking day edge.

The pediatrician told us he believed it was just a PDA which should close on its own and that he wasn't worried about it at all because Emma is in the 75th percentile on both her weight and height. He believed if something was really wrong she would not be gaining weight like she is and would not look as good as she does and would not be as alert as she is. But it isn't a PDA it is an ASD neither of which I know a darn thing about so I have been pretty scared and upset all day. If the problem were HEY she is a genius and we need to fund college right now so she can start this semester I could handle that but I hear heart problems and all I see and hear in my head immediately is all of the stuff my family has been through already with my grandparents.

On the lighter side I have been of course googling this all day since I found out and the hole in her heart (ASD) can also sometimes close naturally on its own. If not she may have to have open heart surgery to patch it or have an procedure done through a heart cath were the patch/plug the hole. So it sounds like it can be fixed. I am just a wreck.

I just want to hold her so tight and never let her go.

On top of this when I called to tell my mom she tells me that my granddaddy is having a heart cath next weekend. About 14 years ago he had a quadruple by pass and last 4th of July he had open heart surgery again and had 6 by passes done. He is having chest pains much more frequently so they did a stress test and didn't see anything and so this is the next step. He is 77 years old this year and the cornerstone of our family. He is my compass in life. He is my role model to this day. He is the person I look up to most in my life. My head knows he can not live forever but my heart just isn't getting it.

Today hasn't been the best day.

Emma's first boat trip

2008-09-02T18:19:00.001-07:00

WOOO WOO WOO AHAHAHAHA WOOOO

2008-08-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

I PASSED THE FIRST PART OF MY CPA EXAM!!!!!!

ONE DOWN!

THREE MORE TO GO!

SHE'S HERE & MY WIFE IS A SUPER HERO!!!!!!!

2008-08-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

Yes we are in the hospital right now in fact.

Emma Valentine Medders

August 7, 20085:17 PM

8lbs 1oz 19.5 inches

Char was induced starting at 6:30 AM. They did it gradually because she wanted to go natural as far as pain meds. She did great and made it all the way through without any pain meds at all. 10 hrs and 45 mins later Emma graced us with her presence pretty abruptly. The nurse went to check Char's progress and said "oh there's a head!". It had just started to protrude.

She is absolutely beautiful.

We are in love with her already.

the Jeopardy theme song constantly

2008-07-25T07:04:00.001-07:00

That is what I here in the background all the time now. I have decided that now that I am ready for Emma to be here she will take her sweet time. When I did not feel we had the house and other affairs in order the doc was saying she would be early. So we have jump with both feet into what seems to be the forever wait, possibly worse than the two week wait.

The whole thing sometimes still seems unreal. I can't believe this is really happening. I am so excited. It is like when someone tells you something really great and you just want to say STOP PLAYIN!! I didn't really just win a million dollars.

I think about her all the time. I go to sleep dreaming of Char calling me to say she has gone into labor. I started to wonder what Char would be like when she told me. She called from work and I asked her what she would do. Would she be completely hysterical or just be like "hey whatcha doin" "nothing, what are you doing?" "Not a lot just going in to labor" All cool like that. LOL

Who knows. She figures it will depend on how much pain she is in.

In other news. I have two more Saturdays of Becker classes left. WOO WOO. I am so tired of getting up at 5 on Saturdays only to drive two hours and sit in class for 8. Almost through Almost through.

Char's dad has taken to calling her at least 2 times a day to ask if we are proud parents yet??? What is up with that you say??? Well I guess he possibly believes when Emma graces us with her presence the phones will not dial out and we will not call anyone. I don't know. Char is pretty baffled by this question he asks EVERYDAY. We will call them...of course we will. No really we will. I am sure I will be calling everyone in my phone. I went through that funk the other day (hormones PMS call it what you want) BUT I WILL BE SHOUTING IT FROM THE ROOF TOPS.

Anyways. I have to get back to studying now while I can...Thank we are a primarily tax firm and I have time to study because home time will soon become a precious commodity I know.

I will exit with the theme song from Jeopardy.

boo dooo doo dooo, boo doo doo doo, boo doo doo doo, DO! da-do, do, do, do, dooo

Dream a little dream

2008-07-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

As I laid down with Char for a nap this afternoon started to imagine how I would act if Char went into labor. Our neighbor said this last month really drags by. . . He was so right. I thought about who I would really call first. You know, you have all of these people that are like, "make sure you call us first." Why do they want to be called first? What makes them feel like they should be called first? Then I thought to my self..."self....who will you call first?" This may seem like a completely insane question to many of you...well probably to none of you because I a beginning to think no one out there reads my blog anymore. But most of you would probably say I know I would call my mom first or fill in the blank...Well I thought about it and I probably will call my mom first but the reason I even had to think about it was because NONE of our family lives near us. For just a bit I thought ...I will probably call my boss first to let him know I wont be there for the next two weeks at least. Because it will take my mom 4 hrs to get here and Char's parents 1.5 hrs. And how many friends do I really want crowding around up there? I almost want to call no one except my mom and her's and not tell anyone else and bottle those fleeting moments and take hold of them between just me and char and our beautiful child and not share them with anyone who may disappoint us or not hold them as special as we will. It is almost like the way I think of "having a threesome" I would never ever ever do that because those moments Charlene and I share together are to wonderful and precious I would never share that. Do I want to share these. Not that I don't want anyone at all there but this is about us me and char and our family growing. I don't know if I want to run down the hall every 15 mins and give updates. I just want to be with the wonderful amazing woman I love and experience this with her to the fullest extent of every moment.

Don't step into my conversation and think you know something because you have no idea! That is what I want to tell people sometime. You can get over whatever you chose to get over and just because you chose no to get over it doesn't mean that for the rest of your life you have the right to go around comparing everything that happens to everyone else to you and your life and feelings about what you will not get over. Shit just get over it already. For the rest of my life I don't want to hear about it whenever something happens in my life.

The neverending weekend project

2008-07-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

So this weekend we sewed all of the stuff for the nursery. We made curtains, bumpers, crib skirt, and rocking chair cushion. It took us two entire days to do this and we worked pretty close to non stop.

Below is the before......beware you are looking into the eye of the storm......

Now the beautiful, peaceful after.....the calm before the (baby gets here storm) lol....

Also I refinished all of the furniture you see except the rocking chair and the crib...oh yeah the rocking chair is an andorandak (sp) rocking chair to go with our beach theme ... how cool.

AND........Char dropped Saturday.

BABY MAMMA UPDATE

2008-07-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

So we just left the doctor and we are 34 wks and 5 days measuring 35 wks and 4 days. Emma is already 6 lbs. She is head down and faced to the back. Char is one fingertip dilated and the cervix is soft.

All this could mean we have a couple of weeks left and it could mean sooner or she could go to our due date (8/8/08...the start of the Olympics). Who knows. But it is all very interesting and exciting.

The ultrasound lady snuck us back again for another try because Emma had her hand in her face in most of the pics last time. Well because of the above mentioned position we had no luck this time either. Her face competed with two hands, knee and a foot strategically positioned as to not allow a clear view. She is keeping us in suspense for her big day.

We did however find that she has a full head of hair. About one centimeter's worth per the ultrasound lady.

This weekend we are getting everything ready...THANK GOODNESS.

Slow and steady wins the race

2008-06-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

So that is what we are now slow and steady. We are 33 wks. I can not believe we will have a little one before you know it. Our neighbor's son is now about 11 wks old and they told us time seems to stand still from hear on out. I don't know how it possibly could though. I have one more Becker class this Sat. and then I get a whole two weekends off. Then I go back for three more. Hopefully Emma stays in until I get through.

The 4th we are staying home and getting completely through with getting ready for our girl. We have a huge list of things to do. I did get one big task accomplished yesterday...cleaning out the baby's closet...it had become the storage closet.

I am more and more excited everyday about our daughter coming into this world. I cherish every night Char doesn't have to work and we can have some quiet bonding time together. I sing the ABC's, the number song, read a bit, then we finish it off with Char picking a category and I do the alphabet with it. So she picks countries or food and I do A is for apple and so on. So far X is for Xavier no matter what. LOL. I have got to research X and U. I can just see our daughter in kindergarten and some kid's name is Xavier and she makes fun of him for being named after some food named Xavier that came from the country Xavier. LOL

Anyways. I went to Orlando Wed thru Fri. I had and Intuit conference to go to there. It was pretty informative. I loved how they went into a panel discussion about the finding good staff and retaining them and some wanted to bash "the twenty somethings" OF WHICH I AM A PROUD MEMBER. I do see that I may be a minority in this group as there are few of us who will own their on three quarters of a million dollar firm by 27 but still if the rest of the world would give us a chance we'd all do alright. Their biggest complaint with "us" was that we "have no loyalty" to our jobs and will quit when something better comes along. Well, folks let me explain a little here. First of all a lot of that has to do with the company, don't get me wrong I know our society has changed and most people do not "marry" their jobs they "date" them. However, the sense of community has also changed. No longer are companies concerned with the well being of their employees but instead with the bottom line. My employer is great. He is 68 and retiring in 2 years at which time I will buy him out. In the mean time he is my boss. I respect him as a mentor, employer, elder, and human being. He care about his employees. The other day he called a meeting and announced that he would be giving everyone an extra check every month to help with gas prices. He reasoned that we get a raise every Feb. and since the gas prices rose the raise was eaten up and he wanted to help. He is a very fair man and seeks to make sure you FEEL as though you were treated fairly. No why would I or any of the employees here not stay? We are treat fair, we are given great time off, we are asked for our thoughts on things, and more importantly our thoughts are taken into consideration and valued. We are not just a number. I worked for a manufacturing company that offered severance packages to the older employees to get them out of the way because they were to expensive only to hire younger "cheaper" employees to take their place. NOW WHO IS NOT LOYAL?!

Well I could go on forever but really what good would it do.

On a better thought, we have our second of three baby classes tonight. I am so excited. I never thought this would finally be real but here we go.

Well we'll catch up later.

WAY TO GO CALI

2008-05-15T12:19:00.001-07:00

WE ARE KNOCKIN' EM DOWN ONE BY ONE FOLKS STAY STRONG!!!!

Today, the California Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision and ruled that same-sex couples have the same right to marry as opposite-sex couples under the state constitution. The court ruled that it is a violation of the state constitution to deny same-sex couples the right to marry, and that providing rights to same-sex couples through a separate system of domestic partnerships does not satisfy the state constitution

WAY TO GO CALI

2008-05-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.hrc.org/10444.htm

WE ARE KNOCKIN' EM DOWN ONE BY ONE FOLKS....STAY STRONG!!!

Our baby shower!!!

2008-05-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

This Saturday we had our shower. It was so nice. Four of our really good friends threw it for us and kept all the details a surprise. It was nice to just sit back and have something like that done for us. They are absolutely amazing.

We got a good loot. I was so glad to have the shower so now everyone will let me shop :0) I was always being told you never know what people are going to get you for the shower. Now there is no excuse I can buy whatever!!! Stores ...here I come.

We played some great games. Ate some wonderful mini burgers and some awsome cake.

Then yesterday we went shopping and bought a rocking chair, breast pump, and baby monitor. It was so nice. Our neighbor just had a little boy about a month ago and they came to the shower. We all passed him around and between holding him and getting all the baby stuff Char and I have both been having somewhat of a reality check...that this is really going to happen. We are going to be holding someone as tiny as our neighbor's son in just 2.5 MONTHS!!! Can you believe it. I almost lose my breath thinking about it.

Well I am so excited. I can't wait for Emma to be here in my arms. ALL THE TIME....YES I WILL BE THE BABY HOG!!!!

BECKER >>> STICK A FORK IN MY EYE

2008-05-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

So all week I am at my mom's driving to Mississippi State everyday to take the Regulation portion of the Becker. Today was business law. The same stuff I just finish my last class in and uggghhh. The guy was horrible. I thought I was in a cursed portion of Ferris Bueler's Day off where the teacher say.. "Bueler...Bueler ...Anyone ... Anyone." The guy would not go on. Of course here I come...CLASS NERD TO SAVE THE DAY!!! With my white cape and trusty highlighter.

AHHH

I will be so glad when it is over and I can go home to my girls. It is so funny how much I miss Emma and she hasn't even graced us with her presence yet.

I have on the other hand had a wonderful time with my mom. I have really been missing "home" and it has been so good to come back. I just wish I had more time here with out Becker and with Char and Emma here with me.

Well I should get back to visiting.

EMMA'S NEW DUDS

2008-04-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post a few picks of Emma's newest gifts. A lady that works with Char made these ...they are so nice we are thinking of not even using them and instead hanging them as decor.

The Weekend After

2008-04-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

I took my bloody final this past wednesday and some how still managed to work sixty hours this week. I still haven't got used to being class free. I feel every once in a while like I should be worrying about the next lesson or studying for a test. This weekend was my first to do whatever I wanted (except for the whole working bit on saturday but hey that's tax season). I actually had time to enjoy working in my front yard today. I cut the stinking rain forest in the front yard and did the weed and feed...I have never used that stuff before so hopefully wont be "feeding the weeds"...please no more bionic, holly molely, jolly green giant weeds, PLEASE!!

GO LADY VOLS!!! I am watching the game right now. Man it makes me miss it so bad. I can't wait to get somethings done around the house this summer. Maybe one of those things will be a basketball goal???? Sat night we put together a friends and played until about 11 pm. I know her neighbor was hatting us. I wanted to get in it so bad and of course my knee wobbled out on me. I sometimes wish for just the reason of my knee I had never played football. It has been a year and it still isn't right. Oh well I will be released from the doc soon to workout and I am going to get some kind of program to get it going.

Well on the weight side of things I am doing very well losing in two mths I have lost 15 lbs. woo woo. Hopefully, the streak will get even better with the work out coming.

Well I guess that is enough for now. Just thought since I had such a open schedule for the first time since July. AHHHH no stress I forgot what this felt like.

had a bad day??? FELT THE BAY BAY!!!

2008-03-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

So I had a bad day. A person showed the entirety of their ignorance and brought to life all the reasons why they will never have anything or be anyone worth a flip in life. Where along the way of growing up, do you learn that it is appropriate to yell down the hall of a professional building, in which clients are working with C.P.A.s, all the while mispronouncing words and proving to everyone the extent of your ignorance and the very reason you are at most a part time seasonal employee? Some how in our society today we have lost all concept of a professional attitude and what should and should not be done in public or what has business in a work place. This same person is the very one clients see asleep at her desk when they walk past her office. She is the very one who sat in front of a client talking into the blue tooth ear piece of her cell phone while they patiently waited for her to complete a service for which, they are paying over $500. Who ever said it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are ignorant than to open it and prove them correct was amazingly on point.

So when I crawled into bed last night next to my beautiful wife and scooted down to rest my head on her ever growing tummy I exhaled all the bad air of the day. I breathed deep and began to tell Emma of all the things we would do when she graced us with her presence and finished it off with a little song my aunt used to sing to me that went like this:

I have a daisy on my toe

It is not real, It does not grow

It's just a tattoo of a flower

So I look neat taking a shower

It's on the second toe-

Of my left foot

It's a stem and flower-

But it has no root

BECAUSE

That wouldn't look good

I have a daisy on my toe

It is not real, It does not

grow ow ow ow ow-

As I sat up and asked Char if she could feel anything from the baby she quickly grabbed my hand and put it on her belly and for the first time I felt our little baby girl-child move. I like to think she was dancing to my beautiful music more realistically she was probably trying to cover her budding ears or punch at whatever was making such a racket but no one will know so we will go with my theory of dance. At that moment the whole world became right.

IT'S A GIRL!!! WOOO WOO

2008-03-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

some pix of what's been going on

2008-03-06T09:42:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics of the bay bay furniture. We bought the crib and the other two peices I refinished and painted to match.

The ceremonial opening of the crib box!!! Dunt-ta-da-DUNNNNN!!!

We had to take a break...see the people laying beside the crib...

Finishing up...lookin good...can't wait to find out what we are having and decorate...I say he when talking about it and she says she...sooo what will it be.

I know, I know, you all are thinking ...I must have high expectations for already having a desk in the babies room...We are going to use it as our changing table. We figured why buy another peice of furniture when we have one that will work perfectly and can be used later. So we will put a wicker basket where the chair would go to catch dirty clothes or a hamper beside it and toys under it.

The dresser...I know it is blurry but that is the pic we have.

MARATHON SHOPPING

2008-03-03T09:43:00.000-08:00

This weekend began and ended with both Char and I exhausted. I have been slammed at work and as soon as I got off I had to go fix a friend's dryer then I promptly came home and feel asleep while Char held my head and we discussed what to get for supper. An hour later she woke me and I had drooled on her shirt. So we went to get a burger.

Saturday we woke early and left for Jackson, MS. It is about 1.5 hrs away. We met my mom, stepdad, and foster bother there to shop. We went shopping for 11hrs!!! It was our first really baby shopping adventure. We have bought a crib and that is about it. Which I know is a big item but really we have been at a loss on what to buy until we find out what we are having. So this weekend we bought:

1 changing table pad
1 chicco front carrier
4 packs of lap/ burp pads
1 matteress pad
1bassinet pad
1 swaddle me thingie
1backpack diaper bag (totally awsome...char may have to get her a frilly one)
2 changing pad covers
1 baby tub
AND MY FAVORITE...we built the bay bay a bear!!!

That was my favorite part. We made him floppy. We bought a couple of books about the first year and my favorite game. Then we went to the hotel and played it until 1 am. We also picked out the carseat and stroller we want and will prolly make another trip over to see my mom and buy them on the trip because there is almost 5% difference in sales tax.

Of course while shopping I did spot the lcd flat panel tv I want...but it didn't make it into the cart. oh well.

We find out what we are having on March 12th. So I will keep everyone posted.

In side out

2007-12-29T18:19:00.000-08:00

So we made it through the holiday. Tomorrow is Char's birthday. She will be 30. So we made it with a month to spare...she always said she wanted to be pregnant before she was 30 and we made it with a month to spare.

So she is 9wks. It seems like longer to me for some reason. I think that is because so much has happened in the past month with traveling all over for the holiday and work has been very busy which is really odd.

So far Char has been completely mind numbingly tired and has the occasional nausea and full blown morning sickness once or twice. We have picked 4 names two boys and two girls. Emma and Carly and Elijah and Abraham. We have a nightly ritual of me reading to our dot and the lotioning up the tummy.

Well that is a short up date but Char just walked in with pizza gotta go.

IT WORKED IT WORKED IT WORKED

2007-11-29T06:13:00.000-08:00

WE ARE POSITIVELY PREGGERS WOO WOO WOO WOO!!!! I AM SO STINKIN EXCITED I COULDN'T HARDLY SIT STILL LONG ENOUGH TO DRIVE TO WORK!!! I WANT TO TELL COMPLETE STRANGERS EVERY WHERE.....

YEAHHHHHHH WOOO WOO

I HAVE NEVER FELT MORE COMPLETE AND HAPPY AS I DO WITH MY WIFE AND OUR FUTURE BABY IN THE MAKING.

THANKS FOR ALL THE BABY DUST GUYS WOO WOO.

maybe just maybe

2007-11-25T17:21:00.000-08:00

So we held out as long as we could. Nine whole days. We gave in yesterday was day nine and we took a ept. There was a very faint positive. So I am continuously telling myself it is ok and not really positive. Last time we got a very faint positive too. So we are just going to act like we didn't even take the test.

Meanwhile, the holiday went alright. I went to my mom's Wednesday and stayed until Fri. morning. Char had to work Wednesday and was supposed to on Thursday but the closed her unit and put her on call. She still had to stay in town though.

And for my birthday on 11-19 I got a wonderful cold. I haven't been able to fight off over the holidays so I got a shot today...yeah it sucked. But I am starting to feel better already. Char is so wonderful, before she went to work she made me a bath and vicks vapor rubbed my cheeks and nose. I am feeling much better thanks to my personal nurse...lol...

So I have been thinking and I pretty much spoil Char all the time as it is but I was wondering what were some of the things that you ladies who have been through this have really enjoyed or appreciated. If you are still ttc what would you like done for you when the baby dust takes hold? Whether it is big or small, silly or not. I think it will be interesting trade short stories.

So I look forward to hearing from you all.

and on the downlow...hopefully it really is positive and it really was just faint because it is early...I would really be like a kid on christmas.

and now the tww

2007-11-16T13:43:00.000-08:00

so yesterday we did it. It was very surreal. Like an out of body experience. It was so big such a huge experience. Now we wait.

TOMORROW TOMORROW

2007-11-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

We are ttc again tomorrow!!! 8:30 in the am we are going for try #2....please oh please please please work this time. So we will see. hopefully all goes well. Baby dust everywhere...a baby dust storm.....

We are going to try again!!!

2007-10-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

So we decided last night for sure that we are going to try again in Nov. I am so excited. This will be try number two. Char is going to call the doc today to ask about Clomid. I really feel better about this time because last time I didn't get to go with her to the doctor and now I should be able to. I am a tax accountant and the last time we tried it was in the middle of tax season. I so wanted to be there.

Woo Woo Woo, I can't wait.

Charlene,

2007-10-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Today is not an anniversary or anything, today is just a regular day. Right now in this moment, I feel overwhelmed by life in its entirety, and right now in this moment I find safety while thinking of Charlene. I think of her and everything else just fades away. I think of her and I feel the same butterflies right now sitting at work that I felt over 3 yrs ago when I first fell for her. I think of all the times she smiles at me, and how she is so sweet and has the heart of a saint. I love her with every inch of me and she is the fresh air that fills me. She knows my ins and outs, my bad times and good times, she even knows by the way I breath if something is going on in my head. I love the way she goes overboard when getting me back for a little practical joke or the way she rolls the little pieces of ham up on my sandwiches. I love surprising her with flowers. I love taking care of her. I love that we have a home together now. She makes me want to be a better person. She keeps me humble and thankful. Being with her gives me some inner strength and drive to be everything I can for her, to spoil her and love her from the moon and back. She is there laughing with me at the top of my game and there to give me a hand when I stumble. The way we can have a "date night" that consists of walking around Lowes and daydreaming together just as long as we are side by side, the way I want to know something new about her everyday, the way I can't breath if I try to picture life without her is how I know that everyday for the rest of my life I want to spend it with her. I love thinking of our life together, I love thinking about "our" family, I can't wait for her to be the mother of our children. I can't wait to spoil her even more then, and sing and read to her tummy. I can't wait to let her sleep at night and wake with our child. I know people are thinking yeah right wait till you get there. But I love her more than I thought I would ever love anyone and I know that she is it for me. She is everything to me and I hope that I can spoil her and make her smile even when we are old and grey.

I love you.

3 down about 76 to go

2007-10-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well faithful readers I have lost three pounds since the start of our fitness challenge on Sept 24th. Not bad for a small start. Not earth-shattering biggest loser kind of loss but a start none the less.

So I have been with out "soda" for a week and two days ...but hey who's counting. I am doing great with this. It isn't as hard as I might have thought. I have even ate out and ordered water. I was always leery of ordering water because there is alot of foul tasting water out there. I thought I could usually depend on my Dr. Pepper to taste right. Now I will just suck it up and order water or the occasional tea. We drink sweet tea at the house and I got Char to buy decaf last week. I can not taste the difference and I think it helps with the head ache. She says she can taste the difference. Wonder if they make half caf???

Well I am slowly making it through a business law class I have to take to sit for the CPA exam in Louisiana. In Mississippi, where I graduated from college, we didn't have to have this class and you do here. I am killing two birds with one stone though because I had 147 hrs and you have to have 150 to sit so this class will do it. I just need to get motivated. So far I have only done 2 out of 15 lessons. Not good. I have until march to finish but I really want to get a move on. I would love to be through by Dec.

Must get to work

Headaches and Hotdogs

2007-09-27T06:45:00.000-07:00

So I have had a headache for the past three days but it wasn't nearly as bad yesterday. The headaches a from the no Dr. Pepper I am having. Woo Woo. This morning Char got me something for breakfast and she asked if I wanted a Diet DP and I said no I will have water when I get to work well she shows up all sweet with a small Dr. Pepper. Very sweet but tested my will power so I waited until I finished eating and took about five small sips to get the food taste out and then threw it away immediately. I am reading a book by Dr. Peeke Fit To Live and she says you have to adjust and adapt. She went out to eat with this model one time in and foreign country at a famous restaurant and they had a very healthy delicious meal and the waiter came and asked if they wanted dessert and the model says I hear you are famous for your desserts and he says yes we have 3 we are very well known for and she says I will have one of each. Dr. Peeke thought oh no she is bulimic and when they came out the model had one bite of the first and savored it and did so with the second and third. Then she looked around and frowned and looked back at the desserts and then poured salt all over all three. She said her personal asst. usually had the waiter come get the desserts and take them after she had her bites so they didn't so she poured the salt. She said she wasn't going to travel the world and eat at the most amazing restaurants in the world and not enjoy it fully. I thought that was very interesting. Expensive. But interesting. So I tossed 3/4 of the Dr.Pepper.

I have upped my water a lot but not to the full 8 glasses a day. I am drinking about 5 or 6. This is very good for me because I normally only have the DP or sweet tea at home.

Char and I have talked more about trying again sooner rather than later. We were thinking of waiting until Jan or Feb but we talked about doing it in the next couple of months though. We want to ask her doc about Clomid. Anyone with any insight on this? I have no idea how you get on it or how long you have to be on it to ttc. I hope it all works out. Char and I are both so ready to have a child.

Well I should do some work for now.

2007-09-25T06:26:00.001-07:00

So many things have happened since my last blog. Unfortunately a new little one was not one of them but we are getting geared up to get back into the swing of it. I finished my first and last season with the Shreveport Aftershock. It is a proffessional women's football team. It was great and my wife and I met so many great people. Four of them are in the pic on the left. We are from left to right...Me (leigh), my wife (Char), Suzanne, Jen (Juice), my buddy (ATodd) and my buddy's wifey (Steph). We have made it through a summer of a week long vacation with the inlaws, my grandfather had his second bypass surgery is was six at one time the first time was a quad, my papaw has been in and out of the hospital with his heart, my brother and my beautiful silly nephew have moved back to North Carolina with his wifey, bought a new Toyota Tundra CrewMax (planning to put lots of kids in the back) two weeks later fender bendered the Beautiful new truck, cried like crazy it was my first wreck, we went canoeing (see the pick above) and probably the most wonderful of all we celebrated our first wedding aniversary. WOOWOO

So now fall is slowly creeping in and the leaves are turning and hopefully someday will can turn the a/c off and open the windows though that comes very late in the year down here in the south and even then you better have good screens on or the mosquitoes will come in and take you away. Football games are roaring at the school behind our house and the drum beat rumbles over to our yard and we sit on our back porch and enjoy a freshly grill something and enjoy the crisp air.

Fall rolling in also means the holidays wont be far behind. And with holidays comes lots of wonderful food. Then there is the new years resolutions that come and so quickly go for the most part. So Char, ATodd, Steph and I have decided to tackle them early. Early Bird gets the worm, right?. So as of yesterday Sept 24,2007 we started our "fitness challenge" for lack of an even more corny name. We are putting 20$ per person a month into a pot to be won on christmas by whoever has lost the most weight precentage wise. It has to be done by making healthy lifestyle changes with no assistance from diet pills.

I think I will add my fitness challenge journey into the blog and see if that helps. My biggest step will be to cut out the cokes or in my case Dr. Pepper. So far I have not had a Dr. Pepper or coke of any kind in 43 hrs. WooWoo. I have also lost one pound of course I know that will vary day to day but hey I am celebrating any little victory.

Well I must do some work. I will blog more later. We do plan on ttc again very soon. More about that later.

That would be a negative

2007-04-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

So we inseminated April 11 and 12 and Char had all the "signs" and today she got a blood test done and it was negative. She is really upset and I am stuck here at work while she is crying driving herself home. I am upset too but I tried really hard to not get excited about it and not let my hopes get up. To make matters worse she takes paxil and since she had all these "signs" she worked her self off of it. And her parents are jerks.

anyways that is the latest news. I know it will be ok. I just hate being stuck at work while she is so upset.

B-2 WEEKS

2007-03-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

WE ARE B - 2 WEEKS AND COUNTING.

We have purchased sperm and are "doing the deed" around April 12th. It is coming up very soon and I couldn't be more excited.

woo woo

NEW BABY NEWS

2007-03-21T06:23:00.000-07:00

So Char had her first appointment yesterday. We got the sperm bank paperwork signed and he check out her charting that she has been doing. We were a little worried because a few years ago she had a mass removed from her fallopian tubes. When she talked to him about it he said he might have been worried if she didn't have the charting but after he looked at it he said he wasn't worried at all because everything was so normal and very consistent. We have been charting for about two months at least now. So we looked at donors last night and think we have one picked out. We are going to do two inseminations on the first time which will be around April 12th. I am so excited all I could do was smile ear to ear yesterday after she told me. On top of that yesterdays good news came on our three year anniversary. WOO WOO what a great present.

So that is the baby news for now. Char may be about to start a new job. And football is going great.

I am a dork...LOL

2007-02-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

So it has been a while since I have been able to post. I am an accountant and if you have ever heard of a hunter's widow there is also such a thing as an accountant's widow during tax season and unfortunately that time has come.

So yes I prepared taxes the other night even in my dream how SICK. Anyway. Now that a new year has come and we aren't traveling to our families houses so much we have attempted to get to know our new hometown. So we have started going to a church that is very welcoming. It is nice. A compromise on both of our parts because Char is Catholic and I was raised baptist and even though baptists are crazy against gays and lesbians I like the feel of the way a baptist preacher preaches and I am not so used to the repeat after me stuff and communion every sunday deal. So this church is kinda a mixture of both.

I also joined a women's football team. We are the Shreveport Aftershock formerly known as the Shreveport ShockHers. Saturday was my first practice with the team and boy am I out of shape. I think that last time I really ran I mean REALLY RAN SPRINTED was like 8 yrs ago. How pityfull is that. I was ashamed. So needless to say I have a lot of work to do.

We also finally went to the local gay bar. Saturday was the Mardi Gras parade here and after words we went to "The Corner". It was small but great everyone was nice and they played all kinds of music not just the techno dance same beat to every song no matter what the words are someone beat on my head stuff. Which of course is ok if that is what you like.

On the baby front...We have been doing the charting now for about half to 3/4 of Char's first cycle. We bought the pee on the stick ovulation kit. As soon as Char finds out when her insurance kicks in we are going to the doc to get the rest going. We are making progress though and finally it is starting to feel a bit more real.

I cant wait. Imagine I can't wait now how in the world am I going to make it through the tww. I think I might go crazy. Everytime I walk in a store I automatically gravitate to the baby section even in the grocery store. LOL. Everything is just so cute. And soft and well you all know.

So that is an update for now. Must get back to the numbers that now creep into my dreams.

OH YEAH WHY AM I A DORK. I must explain the title of this blog. Well you see the way I found out about the women's football team was through this girl who saw me at the gym when Char and I were working out. She wasn't hitting on me or anything but clearly I am not a slender delicately looking girl, so she approaches us and was like do you play sports? and proceeded to tell me I should come tryout for their team. So I went after practice I was saying thanks for letting me know about this and see ya later yada yada and she was like call when you get ready to work out and maybe we can all start working out together (ALL=her, her mom's girlfriend who's the quarterback, char, me and whoever else). I told her why don't you call me because I dont have a scheduled deal going on or anything. We talked some more and she invited me and char over to watch the L word last night. About half the team goes over there to watch it. So I go and what a shy intimidated little idiot I was. I don't know what the deal was because usually I am a smart ass but I didn't know what to say. I was all quiet and akward. I think part of it was that I am pretty out of shape compared to alot of the girls, I haven't been around that many lesbians just hangin out before (that was great but i think we hide down here in the south), Char couldn't go because of work so I was by myself, and I dont know. I just really felt like a dork. POOOO. I think sometimes I am boring or something. Some of them were talking about getting a tatoo. I was just like yeah cool. I have no tatoos and dont desire to have a tatoo. I dont look down on people who do, Char has four. But I just dont get excited about them either you know. I think it is great for them yeah cool but I dont have anything to compare it to and just dont get excited about it so (a dork once again). Well that explains what a dork I am

Finally

2007-01-23T06:18:00.000-08:00

So finally the holidays are over and we have regained a bit of normal on the weekends. We moved into our new house on Sept 1st and since then we have spent maybe two weekends at home. This past weekend made the third. It was great just relaxing. I don't want to go anywhere until Thanksgiving. LOL

We didn't do much worth blogging about though. Just spent the day together, went to Barnes and Noble and ate good.

We did find out that Char's insurance possibly has went into effect immediately instead of the 30 day wait we thought she was going to have. This is good because we can go ahead and get a start up exam out of the way. We want to make sure her tubes are ok because she once had a mass removed from them. We will also have to get that doctor's release for the sperm bank. All of this great news and AF came today so we can start at the beginning with our chart and everything. I am really excited. Things seem to be falling in place.

So I will try to keep this as updated as possible.

L&C

I have been found

2007-01-18T09:40:00.000-08:00

Yeah I got comments. I had quit posting thinking no one would find me and now I have been found. Well a quick update is that we found a doctor we are going to use. He has worked with two other lesbian couples. One couple gave up and one split up so hopefully he is not bad luck. He is most likely the only doc in our small southern town with any experience working with lesbians. We are going to set up an appointment for sometime after mid feb. Charlene is starting a new job and her insurance will kick in then. I know it most likely will not cover much at all until she is pregnant so we could go on and start with an initial visit but we just feel safer waiting incase the insurance acts crazy.

We have both read both of the recommended books, and Charlene is working on several other fertility books she found at the library.

I just feel all gitty thinking about it. LOL. I know we are no where near close, and I have no illusions of being successful on the first time but I just want to buy baby blankets and toys and clothes. The clothes are sooo cute.

Anyways work is about to be crazy with tax season starting up.

Oh yeah if anyone wants to recommend the sperm bank they used or steer me clear of a bad one that is much welcomed.

And sorry if my blog is kinda plain I dont have a lot of time to learn how to make it all fancy.

Any tips on making the blog roll thing would be great I think I have been doing it the hard way.

L&C

Just Us

2006-11-09T12:16:00.001-08:00

this is us

We Got It BAD

2006-11-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

Yes we do. We haven't even picked out a doc or taken the first temp yet and last night we were talking about what colors to paint the "baby's room". It started innocent enough by just us picking colors for our living room. We just recently bought the house and the whole thing was painted a very natural tan or something. Very BLAH. Living room lead to the hallway which lead to the office which lead to the baby's room. Then today during lunch I went to Wal-mart to pick up a christmas gift and I promise I just seemed to be pulled to the baby section. It is like I could walk around in it for hours looking at all the cute miniture clothes and soft blankets and the smell of baby powder. So we have declared we've got it bad.

Just to start

2006-11-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

So this is us...Leigh the accountant and Char the nurse. We have been together for almost three years. After being together for two and a half we finally made our way to Niagara Falls and tied the knot (Aug 4, 2006). For the past two years we have been traveling the country while Char was a travel nurse. This was a great opprotunity for us as we are both from the south and always thought we would love to move away somewhere to a bigger, liberal city. Our minds quickly changed as we realized our being homesick was permenant and not just a passing phase. So we finally decided we had done and seen enough of the country for a while and wanted to settle down and nest awhile. After we made that decision everything else just kinda fell into place. Leigh got a permenant job at a CPA'S office. We bought a house Sept 1. And now we feel this undieing need to share our love with a child of our own. We have been talking about this in theory for nearly a year, but only in theory. We wanted to find a place that we would be happy with having and raising a child. Now we have a wonderful home in and excellent school district, and although we are living in the south we are ok with it. We have come to the conclusion that it only take one negative, closed minded person one time to make you wonder if this is the right place to raise your child. Here we are close to our families both sides of which are supportive of us. So now we are looking more and more into everything we need to do to begin trying to conceive. Char will be carrying and right now she is still a "travel" nurse although she is working at a local hospital. So first we would like to get her on at that hospital or one in the area full time so that her insurance would not end right in the middle of every thing like it would right now if they didnt renew her contract. Then we have to find a doc. If anyone knows of any please in the Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee area give us a shout. We already have come to the conclusion we may have to go to Dallas, TX which isnt to far away. So this is where we are. THE VERY BEGINNING. We havent even taken the first temperature yet. So again we are open to any advice or comments. Thanks for reading.

L & C