scrap day

a few days ago we had our scrapbook -get -together with a few of my friends. unfortunately sylvia had to work and alison was sick at home and taking care of josh and his ear infections. i was the host this time. we had a good time. thankfully my mom and dad watched samuel or else none of us would have gotten anything done. it is always so good to get together with friends, have an adult conversation and do something that I want to do without interruption. as usual i did more paper shuffling and socializing than scrapping but isn't that part of the purpose of getting together? I was able to finish my 2 page layout after the girls left. it is not one of my favorites, but i am trying to use more "busy" paper instead of the "safer" papers that i usually go with. as you can see, i am a little behind with my scrapping. keep watching, you will see my pages and the fact that there is no rhyme or reason to the event/ month or milestone. i guess i am a little ADD that way! hopefully i can finish sam's first year before he is two.

Interesting Human Body Facts

thought i would lighten up a bit from yesterday... this was sent to0 me in an email, thought it did have some interesting facts to it! enjoy...

Scientists say the higher your I.Q. the more you dream.-

The largest cell in the human body is the female egg

and the smallest is the male sperm.-

You use 200 muscles to take one step.-

The average woman is 5 inches shorter
than the average man.-

Your big toes have two bones each
while the rest have three.-

A pair of human feet contain
250,000 sweat glands.-

A full bladder is roughly the size of a soft ball.-

The acid in your stomach is strong
enough to dissolve razor blades.

-

The human brain cells can hold 5 times as
much information as the Encyclopedia Britannica.

-

It takes the food seven seconds
to get from your mouth to your stomach.-

The average human dream lasts 2-3 seconds.

-Men without hair on their chests are more likely
to get cirrhosis of the liver than men with hair.-

At the moment of conception, you spent about
half an hour as a single cell.-

There is about one trillion bacteria
on each of your feet.-

Your body gives off enough heat in 30 minutes
to bring half a gallon of water to a boil.-

The enamel in your teeth is the
hardest substance in your body.

-Your teeth started growing 6 months
before you were born.-

When you are looking at someone you love,
your pupils dilate, they do the same when you are
looking at someone you hate.-

Blondes have more hair than dark-haired people.-

Your thumb is the same length of your nose.

Now I KNOW you are placing your thumb
on your NOSE, aren't you????

tiny hands, tiny feet

Last night i was reminded yet again of the blessing and miracle that God allowed me to have when he blessed Kirk and me with Samuel, a happy, healthy precious little boy. I am so grateful to Him that He allowed me to have a pregnancy without complications and a son that i can hug and love. in fact i couldn't wait to get home so that i could have my big hug and smile from the pride and joy of my heart.

(for those of you who don't know, i am a "NICU" Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse ~those are the big words for a nurse who takes care of sick and premature babies) I only work about 2 times a month now and last night was one of the shifts. Sometimes the unit is a happy place to be and sometimes it is sad. unfortuantely this time it was the latter. i was told that the family i was to take care of had made the very difficult decision to remove life support from their very ill child. The dad was holding their tiny son when i arrived and introduced myself. How hard to have to go thru this alone, without extended family, with a limited english vocabulary and me, a nurse that they have never seen before. within 15-20 minutes of my arrival we removed the breathing tube. what do you say to a couple who is holding their baby as he takes just a couple of weak, ineffective breaths on his own. i say a few words, offer support, provide comfort and then private time. He passes away peacefully and quickly in his daddys arms. on the other side of the screen i assume that they know the exact moment he leaves them as mom starts to sob ever so softly. the doctor arrives and tells them that their little boy no longer has a heart beat. I quietly tell them how very sorry i am. his mom washes his mouth and face, we take pictures. i take footprints and handprints, i place his name card, baby bracelet and any other momento that we have into a small handpainted box crafted just for this occasion. i wish that there was more that i could give them to remind them of the 2 short weeks that their son was with us.

it was getting late and they had to go, but we told them of a special program called NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP where a very special group of photographers have signed up to volunteer to take professional pictures of babies for grieving parents and make a slideshow dvd set to music. this is a free service for the families. the photographer came in, it was late on a sat night, now that is what i call a dedicated volunteer. the parents were gone but she took pictures of the baby what a special momento to have. you can look at their website. becareful though... it will probably bring tears to your eyes http://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/index.cfm

thanks mom

thanks mom for my cute "kelly's Blog" tag. I appreciate everyone's input and ideas.

thanks michelle

i want to send out a special note of thanks to my friend michelle for the youtube link for greatest american hero. does anyone remember watching this show? it was cute way back in the day. i am sure if we were to watch reruns of it now we would laugh and think how corny it was!

i love my flowers

the big haul... i got almost 30 tomatoes from my weak little tomato plant ~ it has finally started growing and producing. now i have to fight the bugs, snails and birds. it is frustrating to see who gets there first (as it seems it is rarely me ugh)

this is my passion vine. it has been one hardy plant. it pretty much all but died in his pot thru the heat and drought last year. as i did not have a place to plant him. he is pretty happy now and hopefully can survive the lime green caterpillers that have started munching on him from the bottom up.

my purple katie. (i love any purple colored flowers, unfortunately there aren't that many out there) long story on this... we had this plant at our last house and did not know what it was but i loved it... spent all last summer looking for it without luck. then kirk happened to stumble on it this spring. i bought them right then and there. they have not disappointed look how happy they are.

now my hardy hibiscus. i love this flower. (apparently the widows love this flower too ha )such big blooms it gives. (almost as big as sam's head)it has been loaded with flowers but i never thought to take a picture of it until today when there was only one bloom. looks like a lot of buds coming out, i will take another pic when it is full.

the 4 o'clocks. i started them as a seed this spring. they have taken a while but all the sudden gotten full. unfortunately i have to wait til 9 o'clock to see the blooms!! you should see how pretty they are around midnight ha.

THE WIDOW

here she is in all of her glory, the Black Widow Spider. She was making herself right at home in my front yard flower bed. To say the least i was none too pleased. Samuel and I went out this afternoon to do a little trimming of the bushes and plant some flowers. needless to say, I had to go and kill her and decided to wait on the planting.

Look at where she was next to the window.

Samuel loves to "pick" the begonias right in front of where she decided to make her new home.

my first post

well, here i am, an official owner of a blog spot. i never really understood these, or why people wanted to use them, but now i am hooked and have decided that my simple little life could be shared as well. who knew it would take hours to come up with a title and start the process. So now that i think i know what i am doing it is time to close and get ready for bed. hopefully i can get this up and running by tomorrow!