Baby On Board

Hello there, Blogland!  I know, I know... 13 more months have passed with not so much as a peep from me.  I'm a terrible blogger, what can I say?  I really have the best of intentions but I'm not sure what happens, it's like I blink and another chunk of life has passed me by!  S-L-O-W  D-O-W-N, life... S-L-O-W  D-O-W-N!!

I'd like to say that not much has changed since my last blog post but who am I kidding?!  SOOOO MUCH HAS CHANGED!!!  First and foremost, my husband Brian and I are expecting our first baby!  I am 16 weeks pregnant today and we are very anxiously awaiting our little one's arrival in December (12/13/14 is our super cool due date!)  In just 5 short very long days from now, we will be finding out if BabyMcG is a HE or a SHE!  I can't wait!  This is a road I wasn't sure I would ever travel, so to say that I am ecstatic would be an understatement! 

Looking back, what a whirlwind of a ride it has been.  This year, 2014, is monumental for us in so many ways.  We celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary, Dispatcher #33 turned 33, in a few months we will be celebrating 5 years together and just a few months after that we will be welcoming our first child... I think 2014 is going to be a very hard one to beat! 

Brian is who encouraged me to start blogging again, as a way to document the happenings of our pregnancy and the changes that are taking place in our lives.  And so that what I plan to do, for atleast the next 24 weeks but hopefully even longer so I have something to show our baby one day!  :)

Today, June 27th, is my husband's 33rd birthday.  In a few hours we will set out on a 12 hour drive to Chicago to visit my in-laws for a week or so.  As much as I dread the long car ride, I'm looking forward to spending that time with my birthday boy!  :)



ultrasound pictures:  6w0d, 7w4d, 9w0d

our 1st ultrasound @ 6w0d - we got to see the tiny heartbeat!

 

I have waited A LONG time to be able to say these words!

 

our little leprochan's 1st outfit that I bought

She's baaaaaaack!

I cannot believe that it has been almost 2 1/2 years since I last blogged... that's crazy!  Well, I'm back and I'm better than ever!  I have experienced so much life in these "missing" months and there's no way I could possibly recap everything without missing something... the most important change in my life is that I am now a wife!  Brian and I were married on Sunday, March 24th 2013 at Top of the Bay on the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, surrounded by our family and friends.  It was a great day and we are overjoyed!  :)

 

 

After the wedding, we enjoyed a weeklong honeymoon in Punta Cana, Domincan Republic and stayed at a resort called Majestic Elegance.  It was the first time either one of us had ever experienced something like that and it was wonderful!  We went on 2 different excursions, swimming with the dolphins and snorkeling/reef explorer.  We made lots of memories that I know I'll never forget! 

 

It's hard to believe that we are almost halfway through 2013... time is FLYING and it's almost scary how fast life seems to be passing by!  I am now 32 years old (how did THAT happen?!) and I just started my 13th year of dispatching.  I have developed a love/hate relationship with my job... most days I love what I do but I do have the occasional day where I hate this job and everything about it.  But no matter what I'm feeling on any given day, I can't imagine myself doing anything else. 

 

Stay tuned for more blogs in the (near) future!  :)

 

 

Well hello there, 2011...

Happy New Year!!! Am I the only one who can't believe that it is 2011 now?!

2-0-1-1

A.K.A. the year I turn 30... THIRTY! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I'm hoping for a happy, healthy, successful year... not just for me, but for all of my family and friends too. In true Nikki style, my year has started out with a bang (already!) - it's time to hit the ground running!

I was fortunate to be able to take holiday leave on New Years Eve, which is awesome because I think ringing in the new year at work is a form of cruel and unusual punishment! LoL
To celebrate, Brian & I hosted a small get-together at our house... my Mom, Grandma, my niece Hannah, my sister Kelly and her boyfriend David came over to hang out. We had a pretty decent spread of different snack foods... my mom brought crab dip, I made some queso blanco dip, 'lil Smokies in BBQ sauce, bacon wrapped 'lil Smokies sprinkled with brown sugar, etc. We ate and talked and laughed and played Wii Sports bowling... Brian even bought some champagne for a toast at midnight! It was a really nice time and I wouldn't have chosen to spend it any other way... it was a great way to start my year, surrounded by people I love! :) We also took a bunch of photos to go along with the wonderful memories... I can't wait to frame some of these! :)

Myrtle Jean even joined us for a little while! :)

4 generations! :)

Mom and her girls! :)

I love this lady! :)

I love this lady too! :)

me and my "big" sister... I might be bigger but she'll always be older! LoL

our midnight toast... to many more years together! :)

isn't my mom pretty?! :)

Mom-Mom and her girl Hannah :)

Mom's Mii looked just like Michael Jackson... and his/her name was "MJ" LoL

Mom & Hannah got very competitive with their bowling! LoL

Grandma, the self-proclaimed Steelers fan, keeping warm under a Bears blanket! LoL

Kelly & David

Saturday was a lazy, unproductive day for Brian & I but atleast we got to spend it together. We actually got to spend 5 glorious days together before we both had to return to work... I guess the saying is true, all good things must come to an end. :(

On Sunday, Brian & I had planned to have some friends over to watch football. My friend Jon is a Cleveland Browns fan and since they were playing the Steelers this week, I thought it would be fun to watch the game together. So Jon & his fiance Amy came over and we hung out and watched the game... and then after that we watched the Bears game too. Brian & I love having "double dates" with other couples... we almost had one on Saturday with My Maria (one of my best friends and my former partner in Paramedic class) and her husband John but unfortunately that fell through... we'll definitely have to try again soon! :)

Monday was the dreaded first lecture of the winter mini-mester at school... as much as I dreaded going back to school, I know it's a necessary evil. Only a few more months until all this hard work finally pays off... graduation is scheduled for May 26th at 9am! The 4.0 GPA that I was surprised with last semester gave me the push I needed to keep on trucking! The next few months are going to be tough but I know it'll be worth it...

So that's about it for right now... not too much else going on except work, school & clinicals.

Until next time... :)

71 days

It has been 71 days since I last posted... so much has happened in those 71 days that I think it's impossible to even try to remember it all! My plan right now is to continue my little "siesta" through to the new year and then start fresh.

See ya in 2011! :)

How much is that doggy in the window?

My boyfriend is a dog lover. His family had a dog(s) for as long as he can remember. His experience with cats is very limited, but somehow he has learned to love my crazy cat Myrtle.

I am a cat lover. I have had a cat(s) for as long as I can remember. My experience with dogs is very limited, but that is about to change...

Brian & I have been talking about getting a dog for a few months now. I know that, for a long time, Brian has craved the companionship,affection, and unconditional love that a dog brings to your life... but he realized that living alone and in a small apartment was not a good situation to bring a dog into. Now that he has a house of his own and we're building our life together, we feel that the time is right to add a dog to our little family. For several different reasons, we agreed that it was probably best to get a dog that was on the smaller side. We also thought it would be good to get a dog who was about a year old, so that we didn't have to go through the process of crate training and/or housebreaking it. So we've been looking. And looking. And looking some more. What we found was a heartwarming story about a beagle named Savannah who'd given birth to 8 puppies under some less-than-desirable conditions...

Savannah's owners were under the impression that she was a purebred beagle, so when she was just 7 months old herself, they mated her with another purebred beagle with the intention of selling their puppies in Trinidad (apparently they're worth alot of money over there?) - that was until someone informed them that Savannah was actually NOT a purebred beagle... she was also part hound. So these responsible owners took a very-pregnant Savannah and dropped her off at an animal shelter. The animal shelter didn't feel that their facility was the best environment to deliver and raise a litter of puppies in, so they contacted the Fallston Animal Rescue Movement to see if they would be willing to take Savannah and care for her and the puppies. Thankfully, they agreed and on August 19th, Savannah gave birth to 8 little puppies. Unfortunately, one of the puppies didn't make it but the other 7 did! Brian submitted an application and has been watching these puppies on the F.A.R.M. website for several weeks... this past Saturday was the first day they puppies were being brought out into public for people to see, so we went there almost as soon as they opened. We actually got there before the puppies did! A few minutes later, they brought in these 7 little wiggly balls of fur and they were SOOOO cute!!!!! Brian picked one of the puppies up and handed him to me... I got some puppy snuggles and lots of puppy kisses! We held that first puppy for awhile and then put him back so we could check out his brothers and sisters. As soon as we put him back in the pen, he stood up and was whimpering and almost reaching for us with his little puppy paws! We held a couple other puppies but it was pretty clear to us that the first dog had already captured our heart! All of the puppies were adorable, but that first puppy seemed to have the best personality of them all. When we picked him up again, his little tail was wagging a mile a minute! Brian & I agreed that we had found our little guy...

Because he's only 6-weeks old, we couldn't take him home that day... we were sad to leave him, but we're anxiously awaiting October 16th so we can pick him up and bring him home! :) When we left, we headed over to Pet Smart to buy him some presents to welcome him home... now comes the hard part - we have to work on picking a name that we can both agree on! LoL

Here are some pictures and a video of the no-named puppy! :)

all that excitement wore this little guy out!

I wonder what he's dreaming about?

getting to know his Daddy :)

puppy kisses!!

snuggling with his Mommy :)

look at that little face!!!

saying hello to his family in Chicago! :)

Happy Anniversary!!!

This past weekend, Brian and I celebrated our One Year Anniversary together! September 25th 2009 was our first official date... for that date, Brian surprised me with dinner at The Melting Pot, because he knew it was one of my favorite places to go. Little did I know, that night was just the first of many more pleasant surprises to come over the next year.

In honor of our first anniversary, Brian planned a day filled with lots of little surprises from start to finish! He woke me up that morning and led me downstairs with my eyes closed... he led me into the kitchen and I sat down at the table and opened my eyes to find a vase of beautiful roses and a plate full of heart-shaped pancakes that he had made himself! :) :) :)

After breakfast, we exchanged presents... I was so excited to give Brian his presents (one in particular) - I had made a collage frame of different pictures of us from throughout our first year. I embellished the frame using some of my scrapbooking materials... it turned out EXACTLY how I pictured it! (I tried to get a good picture of the finished product but I kept getting a glare or it turned out blurry... this is the best I could do!) Now we just need to find the perfect place to hang it! :)

I also got him a Salad Chopper... it's this nifty bowl with a chopper that resembles a pizza cutter but has 2 wheels on it instead of 1. (there's a salad place in the food court at White Marsh Mall that makes chopped salads... we've gone there quite a bit and we love their salads... now we can make our own at home!)



When I went to buy the salad chopper thingie, I saw something else that caught my eye... Brian had mentioned before that he would like to have a pizza stone and I saw a pizza stone kit that looked awesome! The kit came with the pizza stone and a serving rack for it, a pizza peel (one of those wooden boards with a handle that you see in pizzerias), a pizza cutter and a recipe book! I knew I HAD to get it for him!


I still have one more present for Brian that didn't make it in time for our anniversary... so that part is To Be Continued... :)

Brian was also excited for me to open my present... it came wrapped in a pretty pink bag with white polka dots and pretty pink tissue paper (does he know me or what?!) - it was so pretty that I almost didn't want to open it! ALMOST, but not quite! LoL Inside, I found the cutest little fuzzy teddy bear... he was holding a little box from Shaw's Jewelers on his lap. I opened the box to find a very pretty sterling silver necklace that has 2 oval loops intertwined with a sparking diamond in the middle... for me, it is reminiscent of how our lives have intertwined over the last year. I LOVE it!!! Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, and they may also be my birthstone, but THIS girl has never had a real diamond before! I couldn't wait to take my old necklace off and put my new necklace on! :) :) :)

After we exchanged presents, we both took showers and got dressed so we could head out for the next surprise. I had no idea where we were going and Brian wasn't giving me any clues! We traveled southbound on I-95, went through the tunnel, and got off at the exit for downtown Baltimore. We parked in a garage and walked over to the Inner Harbor. Brian walked over to a ticket booth where he picked up 2 tickets for a lunch cruise on the Spirit of Baltimore! He had also paid for the souvenier photo package that I can't ever seem to say no to... LoL We boarded the boat and had our pictures taken... then we were seated at our table. There was a card sitting on the table wishing us a Happy Anniversary and thanking us for celebrating with Spirit Cruises. We ordered drinks... Brian had a bottle of Amstel Light and I had a "Tropical Treasure" - an extravagant blend of Absolut Citron, Malibu Coconut Rum and DeKuyper Creme de Banana with a dash of Sweet & Sour and a splash of cranberry juice, served in a distinctive Spirit Cruises hurricane glass that's yours to keep!

Then it was time to EAT! There was a fresh salad station, and a buffet line of entrees including: herb roasted chicken, wild Alaskan salmon in a lemon butter sauce, Thai BBQ pork loin, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed vegetable medley, and macaroni & cheese! For dessert, they brought out a duo of cheesecake with a strawberry glaze and a chocolate mousse cake... both were DELICIOUS!!!

The staff on the boat was very friendly, not to mention entertaining! They even sang and danced! They also announced several birthdays and anniversaries, including OURS! Everyone on the boat applauded and wished us a Happy 1st Anniversary! Brian and I went up on the top deck of the boat a few times to look around and take in the scenery... did I mention what a B-E-A-U-tiful day it was?? We got so lucky! :)

After the boat docked, Brian & I walked around the Inner Harbor for awhile and then walked over to the Barnes & Noble to look around. That is one of my favorite things to do, and because I'm always so short on time I don't get to do it very often so this was a nice treat! :) After about an hour, we walked back to the parking garage and headed home. Although I was a tiny bit disappointed that we weren't returning to The Melting Pot, we had planned a nice quiet dinner at home... I thought it would be fun if we had a semi-fancy meal, so we decided on Surf-and-Turf. Originally I had planned on getting some jumbo shrimp and some filet mignon but I couldn't find any filet mignon that looked good, so I settled for some NY strip steaks instead. I found a copycat recipe for Outback's Shrimp on the Barbie, so I thought we'd give that a try! Brian was the grillmaster and I took care of the rest... along with the Surf-and-Turf, we had roasted garlic mashed potatoes and some fresh Italian bread with butter. It was YUMMY!!! (sorry, no pics... I'm slacking!)

Once we had finished dinner, Brian told me to go downstairs and relax while he cleaned up the kitchen (isn't he the greatest ever?!) and got his next surprise ready. A little while later, he called me upstairs... I came into the kitchen to see a mini-crockpot full of bubbly chocolate fondue and a plate of marshmallows, sliced strawberries, and bananas... just like The Melting Pot! Brian and my mom had secretly joined forces in planning this surprise... Brian bought the ingredients and my mom made the fondue. While we were out on our lunch cruise, my mom brought the fondue over and put it in our refrigerator so that all Brian had to do was heat it up later. Sneaky, sneaky!!

It was so nice to be able to spend an entire day together... and I can't think of a better way to spend our day! I can't believe that it has been a whole year already... in some ways it feels like our first date was just yesterday, but in other ways it feels like this has been the longest year ever! We have done and seen and experienced so much together over these last 365 days! I never imagined that our friendship would blossom into a relationship, but I'm so thankful that it did... I can honestly say that this has been the best year of my life! Brian is so much more than just a boyfriend to me, he's my BEST FRIEND, my confidant, my partner, and the love of my life... I'm looking forward to celebrating many more years together!

I love you, Brian Jomiguire-Crenshaw-Brownfield! :)

September slacking...

Well, September is sailing on by... and I'm starting to slack on my blog posts, which I promised myself I wouldn't do. I seriously cannot believe that we're already 17 days into the month of September. Where, oh where, does the time go?!

Here's what I've been up to so far this month...

Brian & I had a double date night with my friend Jon and his girlfriend Amy. We all went out to dinner a few months ago and have been saying we'd like to do it again, but... as always, scheduling conflicts prevented that for awhile longer than we would've liked. Finally, we were able to find a night that worked for all of us. Instead of going out to eat, I suggested we have Jon & Amy over to our house for dinner and a movie. I made Asian BBQ Chicken and Spicy Stir-Fried Green Beans... after dinner we hung out and watched Date Night. It was a fun time... we're looking forward to doing it again soon!

We went to yet another wedding... the groom, Shawn, is a deputy who I used to work with on evening shift. Their wedding was casual with a nautical theme. It was kinda nice to just relax and not have to worrying about being so formal for once! :)

Brian & I celebrated Labor Day weekend by going to Bengie's Drive-In for their 55th Annual Dusk 'til Dawn Movie Marathon. They were playing Despicable Me, The Other Guys, Salt, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and The Expendables. I haven't been to Bengie's in YEARS... like years and years... and it was so cool! You really can't beat it... we paid $8 each to get in, plus we bought a pass for $7 that allowed us to bring outside food in with us. We brought a cooler full of ice, sodas, and water bottles, along with some snacks, and we stopped on the way and got a pizza. We brought pillows and a blanket with us too. We couldn't have asked for better weather... during the first movie, all the windows were down and the sunroof was open; during the second movie, the windows were halfway down and the sunroof was cracked; by the third movie, all the windows were up and the sunroof was closed, and Brian & I were cuddled up under the blanket! We found out that 5 movies was way too long for us... I fell asleep during the 2nd movie and we both fell asleep during the 3rd, so after that we just headed home. Bengie's is supposed to be open into the beginning of November, so I think we're going to try to go again before they close for the season. I can't wait! :)

Friday, September 10th was my Mom's birthday... she turned 55 years old this year! Since she had to work that day, I thought it would be nice if my Grandma and I could go to her work and have breakfast there with her. On my way home from work, I stopped and picked Grandma up and we headed to the Double TT. It was nice to spend some time with Grandma and my Mom. Because I had to work on her actual birthday, we planned to celebrate it on Sunday.

On Saturday, Brian & I took an evening walk through Mariner Point Park with my Mom & my sister. We walked the perimeter of the park twice and by the time we were finished, it was pitch black outside! After our exercise, we all went to Rita's for some Italian Ice... mmm!!! I got Ocean Spray Cranberry and it was DELICIOUS!! Definitely one of my favorite flavors!

On Sunday, in honor of her birthday, my Mom, sister and I decided to have a "Girl's Day" - we went to the movies together to see "The Last Exorcism", then we did some shopping on The Avenue at White Marsh, and then we went to an early dinner at Fogo de Chao in Baltimore. I had made reservations for us online and mentioned that my sister & I were going to be celebrating our mother's birthday, so after we finished eating the waiter brought out a plate of dessert with 3 forks and the words "Happy Birthday" written in raspberry puree along the edges of the plate. I thought that was so nice of them! :)

I've been busy scheduling tons of clinicals for the next few months... I've signed up for shifts at St. Joseph's Hospital in the Operating Room and the N.I.C.U.; Sinai Hospital in Labor & Delivery, the Psychiatric Ward, the Cardiac Catheterization Lab, and the Pediatric Emergency Room; and the Maryland Poison Center... plus a ton of shifts at the firehouse where I'll be precepted by a senior Paramedic. I've got lots of work ahead of me, but it will all be worth it in a few months when I get that Paramedic patch to replace my Intermediate patch that I worked so hard for!! :)

I think that should bring us up to date... I promise I'll try harder at not slacking so much! In the meantime, like the song by Green Day, "wake me up when September ends..." LoL

P.S. I'm lacking some pictures on these last two blogs because I transferred everything to my external hard drive and wiped my laptop hard drive clean... I've been meaning to bring my external hard drive with me so I could upload some pics, but I keep forgetting. Anyone who knows me should know that it's not like me to not take pictures!! :)