Baby Biagi

Here he is! Still no name yet that I know of. 7lbs 2oz of pure love!!!

It's a Boy!

Well after all that yesterday...Julie's water broke last night. Thank goodness daddy was home b/c there's NO way she could have gotten me out of bed at 1:30am last night!! I was DEAD to the world. LOL! Anyway, C-Section at 4:30ish brought little boy Biagi into the world. 7 pounds 2 ounces...healthy and doing well! I am excited for them and I'm sure Julie is SO relieved it's all over. Now it's time to recoup and enjoy their new baby. Sniff...I missed it by a DAY people!! I was SO close! LOL! Just kidding. I know Chris is very happy he was here for the big moment. Blessings to all of them. I'll post pics when I get a chance to see them. Right now I'm letting them rest. Since they live next door there's plenty of time and opportunity for visiting. :)

Happy Friday, all.........Nan XOX

False Alarm

So, last night my dear friend, Julie, came by for something. I don't even remember what it was. Oh yeah...the newspaper. We get it daily...she doesn't. Now mind you...she's VERY pregnant right now. She has only 3 weeks to go before her scheduled "due date". Actually, it's a scheduled C-Section since she's already had two and they frown on VBACs in this town. Don't ask me what that is b/c the men reading this blog...and those that can't handle any kind of talk of an OB/Gyn nature will be screaming at me. Basically it's just a "normal" delivery after you've already had a C-section...they can be dangerous and being on this island it's something they just don't care to do. SO ANYWAY...sheesh...didn't mean to go off on that tangit! LOL!!! So, Julie pops in looking like she's got a basketball under her blouse. She tells me that she is starting to feel contractions and feels she could have the baby any day now. So, my radar goes up (knowing her hubs is out of town) and I tell her (more like instruct and demand) that I will leave my phone by my bed at night and NO MATTER WHAT she is to call me NO MATTER WHAT time it is. I will take her to the hospital. So, yada, yada, yada and she was on her merry way with paper in tow. We went on with our evening. Now...I didn't mention that MONTHS ago...when she first found out that her eggo was preggo...Hee Hee...she asked me if I'd be willing to go into the surgery with her in the event Chris (the hubs) couldn't be there. I said "OF COURSE" with a LOT of enthusiasm! Who would say "no" to that?!? Well, apparently, not everyone is excited about witnessing that sort of thing cuz I'm the only one she asked. I was/am up for the mission if I'm needed. Enough said...it was/is a done deal.

Sooooooo....back to last night. I went to bed and by some miracle remembered to put the cell phone next to us on the dresser. We konked out...happy to be in bed before 11pm. LOL! It was probably 10:45ish at this time. Anywho......so I'm in dreamland and at 2:21am...you guessed it. The cell phone goes off! Now...I had forgotten to tell Tony my plan and warn him the phone *could* quite possibly be going off at any time. So, of course, he has a heart attack as I grab the phone. For a nanno-second I think it's my alarm going off and thank goodness remembered in time that THIS WAS IT!!! I don't think I've woken up that fast in my life after only a few hours of sleep. Sure enough...it was Julie...and it WAS TIME to go to the hospital. I was excited...she was in pain (poor thing).

I got ready to go in about 10 minutes and went next door to get her. Her bag was packed..her mom was there with the kids. We were SET!! The adrenilin was flowing (keeping me awake)....we made it to the hospital in one piece...I didn't even speed. I was cool as a cucumber. I'm the right girl for the job!! :) I think we arrived around 3am to a not very excited crew. I guess if you've seen one woman in labor, you've seen them all?!? LOL! I remember feeling that way when I worked for the OB/Gyn...after a while it's just another pregnant lady!! LOL! Anyway...so we checked in, they hooked her up, etc...etc...they gave her fluids. All the standard stuff went down including some medicine to help stop contractions. It helped a lot to say the least. Julie wasn't suffering quite so badly. We started to realize rather quickly that this baby might not come just yet! So, after many hours, a lot of fluids, and another shot of medicine...it soon became apparent we may just be going home. In all actuality...this was for the best since the baby isn't due for 3 more weeks, right? Sigh........I saw my chance of being at this birth fizzle. Not only that, when Chris got wind of what was happening, he quickly made reservations to come home.

So, sure enough, after some more time went by, we got the word that Julie was not in what they considered "active labor" and were given the OK to go home. By then she was starving, thirsty, and exhausted...very ready to just GO HOME!!! Chris was on his way and all was right with the world once again.

So, here I am. 12 hours later...waiting. And I'm sure I'll wait some more. It could be a while...who knows!?! I'm just glad I could be there for whatever she needed even if I'm not at the main event. OH!! And that book I told you about?? Julie & Julia....BOY!! Did THAT ever come in handy!!!!!!! Thank goodness I had the wherewithall to remember to bring it!!! All that waiting is terrible without something to occupy yourself with! I made some great headway on this book...did I mention how good it is???? I can't wait to see the movie now!!!

So, that's it for today. Enough excitement for me for a while. I will sure sleep good tonight!

Love and Hugs~ Nan XOX

Julie & Julia....

I am reading this book right now. So far it's really good. I'm already wanting to try my hand at some French "cuisine". Ooh-la-la!!! They use my favorite things in french cooking...Butter, butter, and more butter! LOL!! Do they use bacon? I'm wondering about that at the moment. The potato soup in Julia Child's first cookbook was only potatoes, leeks, cream, butter, and salt & pepper. How does one make a potato soup without bacon??????? My grandma ALWAYS used bacon when I was growing up. It just wouldn't be the same without it. Not only does she use the bacon...but the bacon GREASE as well. Oh yeah.....DE-LISH people!!

Speaking of bacon, I made brussell sprouts for the first time tonight. I've not only never made them...I've never EATEN them. Yep....40 year old Sprout "virgin". GASP!!!!!!!!!! (Did she just say virgin?!?) LOL!!! Anyway, the web sight done by my friend Karen in South (?) Dakota (I get north and south mixed up!) made some Brussell Sprouts and they just looked so good. I knew I would like them. She uses 1/2 stick of BUTTER....the bacon was MY idea. How can ANYTHING be bad if you use enough butter and bacon???????

OK...enough of all of this silliness. I really didn't have much to report. Just wanted to find out what everyone is reading and eating, I guess. It's Wednesday...countdown to Friday...T-minus 2 days?!? Is that how they do a proper countdown? Busy weekend ahead!!

Bye for now and thanks for stopping to read my silly blog!!!!!!!!! :) Nan

P.S. Pork Fat Rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soccer 2009

Jake playing "goalie" while Daniel tries to kick the ball in.

Jake anticipates Isaac booting it in...he's a good kicker!!

Showing off for the camera. What a goofball!!

Our team for 2009! Notice we have 5 girls!! Yeah...Alaska Girls ROCK!!!

So, we are well into our soccer season and so far we haven't gotten rained on. I know it's just a matter of time but it sure has made things more pleasant for the time being. :) We haven't won any games yet, but that's OK. It's about learning and having fun...as long as the kids are doing that then it's OK by us. Tony is coaching and I am the "assistant" coach. I do the important stuff...like making sure the kids have snack at the end of the game and such. LOL!! Just kidding...Tony has the hard job for sure. I am learning a lot about soccer, tho, which isn't always a good thing. I've found myself getting quite worked up at the game when the ref misses or makes a bad call. Another test in the "patience" department. :)

Anyway, we are getting some nicer weather again. It's not as hot as it was but that's just fine in my opinion. The days are rapidly getting shorter, tho, and that's always a bummer. Fall is right around the corner.

That's all I have for now! Hope you are having a great week! Love, Nan XOX

First Day Of 5th Grade

Here's Jake as we are flying out the door yesterday. Of course, he didn't want to wear one of the nice NEW shirts I had ordered from Lands End and insisted on this ratty, ol' T-shirt he's been wearing all summer!! Sigh....Pick your battles, right? So, I gave in and said "fine!" but made him wear new jeans and new shoes etc...etc.... This is a perfect example, however, of how our kids drive us crazy. That, and asking for a cell phone. Who needs a cell phone in FIFTH GRADE?!? Heck, I survived my ENTIRE childhood and most of my adult life without one!!! Sigh....Anyway, school went great yesterday and Jake is really liking being out at Point Higgins. As soon as he saw his best friend, Alec, I no longer existed. I didn't get to meet his teacher like I'd planned. Sigh....but at least HE was comfortable. I just have to accept that he's growing up. I'm glad he is so independent. It's just hard letting go. *Sniff* More to come.........Nan

The Slideshow

So...I got the slideshow going. For those of you that haven't figured it out, if you click on the pictures on the slideshow you can actually go into the Picasa website and see the pictures blown up etc. They are quite small on the blog and I find myself squinting to see them. You may be able to see my other albums as well but I'm not sure. I'll check it out when I get more time. I'll also try to figure out a way to put a caption under the pics so you kind of have a clue of what's what in each pic. :)

Anyway, hope you are enjoying the updates. I feel my creative juices flowing again and the desire to keep adding and writing. You can expect to hear more from me...especially with the weather starting to turn already.

Bye for now!! Nan XOX