I've been Boo'd by Lydia over at On The Verge

Here are the deets:

Go to as many of your blog buddies as you want and tell them they have been boo-ed . Have them pick up this picture and add it to their blog and say with the link who boo-ed them . Put the picture in your sidebar if you want so then others know that you have already been boo-ed , if you post lots and it's not on the main page where everyone will see your boo-ed post!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

I've been tagged by a great blogging friend, Jaden, over at The Life and Times of Bendy Ruggles for a fun high school meme. So I am forced to think back a hundred years ago when I was actually in high school and dredge up seven things to share with you all. I hope you still love me when it's over.. and I've tagged you to do the same. =)

01. I went to a Catholic High School
02. It's the same parish my family belongs to now
03. I was a very bad Catholic school girl
04. Although I never skipped school
05. I did show up a few times under the influence
06. I was considered a "burn out" in high school
07. Many of the people who called me a "burn out" back then are now total losers in the real world. I know.. I've run into them along the way. I'm glad I got it out of my system early when I was young and dumb.

Tag... you're it!!

01. Indelibly Blogged
02. Jill @ Maybe Baby
03. Tasha @ Ms. Hot Tamale

and...

04. Lydia @ On The Verge

Have fun, my blogging friends.

One week from today my beautiful daughter will be 2 years old. I just can't believe it. Her birthday party is this Sunday afternoon. I'm so excited. She's going to have so much fun. It's nothing big.. just some family and friends at the house like we did last year, but it will still be exciting for her. The theme is Abby Cadabby - all the decorations, plates, centerpiece, etc are Abby Cadabby, but since my "cake lady" flaked out on me I couldn't have the custom cake done for her so we're getting an Elmo cake from Krogers. She loves Elmo too and they are both from Sesame Street so it should be fine, right? See.. here they are together. All is well =)

I just made an appointment to get her 2 year pictures done at JcPenney. We had a bad experience last time so we're going to a different location. I hope and pray that it goes better with these pictures. I was perfectly happy with our first couple of experiences and I love the prices and the quality of the pictures, but during our last visit we had a seriously incompetent photographer and an even worse sales lady who kept interrupting our session, not to mention an hour wait. Cross your fingers that this time is better or I might just have a hormonal melt down.

I have been trying to catch up on all things I missed while sick over the last week. One thing I neglected to do was acknowledge the blogging awards given to me by Lydia over at On The Verge. She is such an awesome blogger. I look forward to visiting her every day. So.. here are the awards she has bestowed upon me =) I am one lucky girl.

and now I would like to pass them onto other bloggers I love.

01. Michael @ Ceiling Fan
02. Kara @ For The Love Of Blogging
03. Melanie @ Plaid Toaster
04. Teresa @ Scribble Scratch
05. Sarah @ Whoorl
06. Vito @ Uncle Vito
07. Jill @ Scary Mommy

So here is what you do:

1. Slap this baby up on your blog. Don’t be shy.
2. Link to the giver.
3. Nominate up to seven other fab blogs.
4. Post links to those super fly blogs your nominating.
5. Leave messages for your recipients on their blogs…so they can feel as special as you.

Spaghetti night - noodles and oodles of fun! Ahh, to be 2 years old again.

More Wordless Wednesday here

I'm a bit better today, although I still feel quite crappy. I can tell I'm on the mend though. I wish I would have stayed home just one more day though. I feel like I could fall asleep at my desk at any moment - and I've only been at work for thirty minutes.

It's ten minutes past one and I am still alive. Unfortunately I am still at work also. Three hours and 20 minutes to go. Lord, please help me make it to 4:30. It's not looking so good. I NEED my pajamas, my bed, a Benadryl, my Puffs Plus and a very long nap!

Why am I awake at 5am even though my alarm is set for 6am? Because I feel like total shit! Why is it that my daughter only got the sniffles and runny nose and I am full blown SICK in a matter of 24 hours? Don't get me wrong.. I would much rather be sick than for my kids to be sick and I'm happy she got over it quickly. I've been taking prenatal vitamins for 6 months now. Doesn't that count for anything? My nose is so sore from blowing it - even though my wonderful husband went out and bought me Puffs Plus last night - that it feels as if it may fall off at any moment. It's going to be a seriously miserable day at work today. If I could call in, I would, but I am the only one in my specific department today (being a Saturday) so I can't. I haven't even gotten in the shower yet and I'm already wishing it was 4:30pm and I was home from work for the day.

I woke up this morning with my daughter's cold. She's had a runny/snotty nose for a couple of days, but she was better today. I guess because she passed it on to me. It was tolerable this morning, but now I feel absolutely miserable. It's harder to be sick when you're pregnant because pregnancy drains your energy as it is and then to be sick on top of it.. ugh. I feel like my eyelids weigh a hundred pounds each. My eyes are burning and I just want to be at home in bed on some serious medication. Oh yeah.. but I can't take any serious medication because I am pregnant. As I told my husband.. If I wasn't pregnant, I would be drinking Permafrost until I pass out tonight. That always works for sickness. Heh. On top of it all I have to work until 8pm tonight and then be back at work at 8am tomorrow. Blah! This sucks.

We had such a great time! All the bands were great - except for Panic at the Disco which really disappointed me. I was really looking forward to a great performance by them. They went on stage last and only played 4 songs. The Cab was great, Plain White T's were fantastic and Dashboard Confessional was wonderful as always. I would say the highlight was Plain White T's. They totally rock live and have a fabulous stage presence. I would love to see them again.

Evan was blown away. I asked him if it was what he imagined and he said it was not. I asked if it was better or worse than he expected and he said it was much better. We bought him a Rock Band Live hoody which he is already wearing to school today. It was so much fun sharing that with our son.

I'm feeling better today! Thank goodness because the Rock Band Live show is tonight. We are going to have so much fun!

I'm back to work today. I still feel so drained. I feel like I could have remained in bed all day today. I'm off again tomorrow because I'm working Saturday. We're going to Ypsilanti for the Rock Band Live show tomorrow evening with Evan. I hope he has a good time at his first concert! I hope I feel better than I do today also. I've been looking forward to seeing Panic at the Disco for a long time now and of course Plain White T's and Dashboard Confessional as well.

I've been in bed the last two days with a horrible headache. I'm feeling a little better this afternoon, but I will tell you.. it's not been fun. I slept half the day today and even though my head feels better I am still feeling very blah and drained. I hate feeling this way.

So far I've had a great weekend - and it's only just begun. Last night after we put Gabby to bed, my husband, my son and I watched The Hulk. It was such a fantastic movie! They did a great job on it. I didn't see the first movie, but my husband said I wasn't missing anything because it was pretty cheesy. I love family movie night!

I have been tagged by Lydia over at On The Verge. Go on over and read hers and take a moment to say hello. Her blog is fantastic and I am so glad we "met."

Here are the rules:

Seven random things about me:

1. I am 8 years older than my husband.

2. My husband is 8 years older than my oldest son. (obviously his step-son)

3. My oldest son is 8 years older than my youngest son.

4. My youngest son is 8 years older than my daughter.

5. The pattern is being broken with this baby - only 2 yrs between the girls.

6. Even though there are times of struggle in my life, I wouldn't change a thing.

7. I drink far too much Mt. Dew

Tag.. you're it! Consider yourself tagged by Neptunebaby. Tell me 7 random things about yourself. Link to me and pass along the fun.

1. Vito at Uncle Vito

2. Rachael at Antithete

3. Julie at Donahue Happenings

4. Kara at For the love of blogging

5. Tasha at Ms. Hot Tamale

6. Meesh at Meeshalicious

7. Scary Mommy

I was worried about not being able to spend Halloween with my kids this year because I have no vacation time left. I usually save a day for just this reason, but with being so sick during my pregnancy I had to use it. Well, no more worries. I put an email out to my department to see if someone would switch shifts with me so I could get home in time, but the only person that ended up responding to it was my boss. He said he will work something out so I can leave early that day and be with my kids. How great is that? I'm so excited I won't have to miss trick-or-treating this year!

Heroes was on last night and, after what I considered a slow start, it's finally becoming interesting again. Thank goodness. I would have been fairly upset if it had continued on the way it had started.

My Own Worst Enemy with Christian Slater premiered last night! What a fantastic show! It's got a Burn Notice like quality, but I believe it's going to be much better. I think this show is definitely going to be worthy.

I am so impressed with my daughter. She has been so good about giving up her bottle. Today when her daddy was putting her down for a nap she didn't even ask for it. I can't believe how smoothly this went. I am pretty sure that getting her to give up her binky will be much more difficult, but we'll cross that road when we get to it.

It took Gabby a while to fall asleep with no bottle last night, but she never cried. She just called for daddy over the course of an hour. At one point she said, "daddy hurry up with my bottle," but we just ignored her. After about an hour she was sound asleep with no bottle. She didn't wake up until 6 am for a bottle, but daddy just went in to check her diaper (and she was dry for once) and gave her a binky then left the room. She asked a couple of times, "where did my bottle go, daddy?" while he was in there, but didn't answer and once he shut the door she went right back to sleep. What a big girl I have.

Wish us luck. We've decided that today is the day to take the bottle away from Gabrielle for good. I've been quite the sucker with her. With the boys I took the bottle and the binky away the day after they turned one. She will be two next month and still has both because.. well... she's my princess. We're going to let her keep her binky for now until she is done being traumatized by the absence of her bottle. So, yeah... keep us in your thoughts this evening as you are nestling into bed without the screaming 23 month old girl.

We're back from the ultrasound! The baby looks absolutely perfect and it's a GIRL! I'm so happy!! Her name is Elizabeth Katherine.

Here are a few of the pictures of our baby girl.

Her little legs and feet

Are you ready to find out what we're having? Me too! We are leaving for the ultrasound in about an hour. I will post here when I get back. Here's to hoping the baby shows us the goods!

In thirty-seven hours my husband and I will be at the doctor's office waiting to be called into the ultrasound room to see our baby. I am having a very difficult time thinking about much else. It's going to be a long thirty-seven hours.

In other baby news.. we've got real movement going on. For the past two weeks or so I have been able to feel the baby moving, but only when I'm laying down and really paying attention. The last two days I have been feeling the baby move even when I'm sitting at my desk working. Last night we were watching television and could see my belly moving every time the baby moved. It's been an exciting past couple of days.

Aren't these cool custom wine glasses? You can buy them here along with many other great hand-painted items.

More Wordless Wednesday here

I just realized from work that my design was still on the Cafe Girl. If you are not seeing the Pink For October skin, please either hit refresh or click default on my skins menu over there to the left. Thanks!

It's been a really difficult Monday for me. It started with a headache yesterday and continued to get worse. I hate migraines. I took a migraine pill this morning that my OB doctor prescribed for me, but unfortunately it makes me sick and leaves me feeling ruined for the rest of the day. I still feel horrible - even though my headache isn't as bad as it was this morning. All I have to say is.. this baby better be perfect for putting me through such miserable times throughout the pregnancy. It better sleep through the night from day one and only cry enough to let us know when it needs something. Yeah, right. I can dream, can't I?

It's Sunday which means that my weekend is nearly over. I had a fantastic time hanging out with my sister yesterday afternoon and evening. I learned a lot about WP and I am now totally addicted. I'm eventually going to switch this site over from MT to WP, but first I have to find out how much it will cost me to get my current skins coded for the transfer.

Today we are going to noon mass and then relaxing for a bit before we go out to dinner with my parents. It will be the last time I see them until mid-November because they are heading to Florida. I love spending time with my family. I can't imagine a better way to spend my weekend.

I live for coffee so as soon as I heard about the contest that Scary Mommy was running I had to race over and enter her contest. It's the most fabulously caffeinated prize! As I always say.. everything is OK with enough coffee. Head on over for your chance to win!

I've gone Pink for October! Show your support for breast cancer awareness month.

While you're at it...

As unfortunate as it is, I have known several people that have had addictions or disorders. I am quite sure everyone of my readers can say the same thing. It is too common a problem in this world. My own father suffered from alcohol addiction. Unfortunately he never got the help he needed and passed away at an extremely early age. Don't let this happen to someone that you know. There are good places that can offer help and rehabilitation from such afflictions. Cliffside Malibu has a wonderful Alcohol Rehab Center. Had I known about this when I was younger, I would have tried to help my own father.

I have also been in contact with many people who needed to be involved in a Drug Rehab Program. Those are people I came in contact with when I was in my mid twenties. I am not associated with them anymore, but I wish I could pass along this information I have now. Cliffside Malibu has the greatest Drug Treatment Center I have heard about.

If you know anyone that has an addiction to alcohol, drugs or even an eating disorder or suffering from depression, Cliffside Malibu is the place to start. They offer a detox program, individual therapy, group therapy and even alternative medicine. Please don't let someone in your life end up the same way my father did.

My work week is finally over and my weekend has begun! It's wonderful being at home and knowing that I have two full days away from work. Let the fun begin.

Remember this post from last week? Well, the same rude girl has been running her mouth to me all week at work.

Two examples:

1. Last night I was talking to another girl about how my mom hadn't called to tell me she arrived at my sister's house safely. I said something about needing to call her when I left work to make sure all is well.

That bitch had the nerve to say, "You are going to have a cranky-ass baby because all you ever do is complain!"

Um.. excuse me? How is that complaining, first of all and why is she in my business? I wasn't talking to her!

2. Earlier today we were having a little party for a girl who got a promotion at work. I thought it was ok to grab a handful of chips and salsa because there were other people getting food. Then I found out that no one was supposed to start eating yet. I apologized and said that I was just following the others without knowing. Then the rude girl steps in and said I wasn't sorry. That I was just a greedy-ass and I was going to have a greedy, cranky ass baby.

At that point I told her I have had enough and would appreciate it if she would just stop talking to me that way. She said no and repeated her original statement. Who the heck does she think she is? I wish our boss was here today because I would have gone to him to file a formal complaint immediately. She doesn't just talk to me that way either. She is a nasty, mean individual and it needs to stop.

I should have just called in today. She ruined my good mood. It's not that I care what she has to say, but I'm just so tired of hearing it.

I'm so glad it's Friday! I've almost made it through the entire week. One more day of work to get through and then I can enjoy a couple of days at home with my family. Next week this time I will be so excited for my ultrasound that I won't be able to breathe. 7 days and counting!

Autumn is one of the great seasons. I love the changing colors of the leaves and the gradual decline in sunny days. Living in Michigan.. we complain a lot about the ever-changing weather, but as much as I complain.. I wouldn't want it any other way. The brisk air today reminds me that I'm on my way to the second half of this pregnancy. The baby will be born in Winter. We're on our way.

The first thing I thought about this morning as I stepped onto the front porch was visiting an apple orchard soon. It's one of my favorite things to do in the Fall; cider, donuts and picking out a pumpkin or two. Mmm.. and that brings me to another favorite - making pumpkin seeds just before Halloween. Ooh, I can't wait!

I got my husband an account at GameFly for our anniversary. It's like Netflix for video games. I only got him the basic package to start (1 game out at a time) and for his birthday I decided to upgrade it. Since he's such a sweet man, he put one of my games at the top of the list and it's on it's way to my house now. As long as it gets here by Friday, this is what I plan to do for the weekend.

Rule of Rose

Don't forget to check out Two With A View

..and even More Wordless Wednesday here