One Month Alexis Style

One Month Baby Update

Weight & Length:  at her one month doctor appointment she weighed in at 9lb 15oz.  Just shy of 10lb.  She's growing like a weed.  I love her chubby little cheeks and legs. She also put on over an inch and a quarter in length.  She's now in her size 1 diapers and 0-3 clothes.

Furry Friday: A Toddler's Best Friend

This is the face of a saint.  Not a saint bernard, but a saint in the literal sense.  This dog puts up with so much crap from my son Jayson, I almost feel bad for him.  But he asks for it.  He really does.  He and Jayson are inseparable. Irregardless of the trouble Jayson has in mind, Ace still goes to him when he calls him.

Frequently his fur has sticky or matted sections from grubby little hands covered in ketchup, syrup, yogurt, fruit snacks or any other substance Jayson has recently consumed.  Ace doesn't mind though.  He got to share whatever was covered in the ketchup or syrup.  It's a slight price to pay.  Luckily he's dapple colored, it allows stuff like that to blend in.

He accepts hugs that are a little too tight.  Despite being a whopping eleven pounds, he will wrestle and roll around on the kitchen floor with Jayson who easily outweighs him 2.5 times over.  He will also snuggle up tight for a nap, subject to being rolled over on and any other thrashing around that Jayson does.

They truly are best buds.  When Jayson asks for an animal cracker, rest assured he's looking up at me and asking "Ace?"  Yes, Ace can have one too and he's probably going to steal yours when your not looking.

Dear Reuben

I was reading online early this morning and happened across two articles that peaked my interest.  The first was entitled "The One and Only Reason" citing that sauerkraut was the only thing keeping the writer's husband from trying a Reuben sandwich.  The second article was called "5 Lessons Learned from 18 Years of Marriage" (title is self explanatory.)  I've decided to write my own article called "Dear Reuben" to describe how marriage is like that of a Reuben sandwich.  Reuben's made with pumpernickel bread, btw, are my absolute favorite sandwich.

Much like a sandwich, every marriage is in need of a strong foundation.  The perfect foundation for a Reuben sandwich is buttered pumpernickel bread placed butter side down in a frying pan.  The perfect foundation for a marriage varies by couple.  Family values, respect, trust, and honesty are pretty standard "foundation" items. 

Then you add in a bunch of other ingredients that make the sandwich what it's worth.  With a Reuben you add swiss cheese and let it get all melty; this is like the glue of the relationship.  Attraction, love, whatever works for you fits here as the "glue."  Then of course there's the meat and potatoes of the Reuben sandwich which are the sauerkraut and corned beef.  Communication, humor, common interests are the meat and potatoes in a marriage.  These are the things get you through day in and day out.  

And lastly, there's the dressing.  The silver lining.  The icing on the cake.  The romance.  Any proper Reuben sandwich is equipped with either russian dressing or, my personal favorite, thousand island.  When your significant other goes out of their way to do something nice, take you to a dinner or show, or even just help out around the house this can count as the "dressing."  It makes it all worth it, breaks up the monotony and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.  I myself prefer my sandwich to have extra dressing. 

Blog Swap: Summer

Today I’m participating in the 20 Something Bloggers Blog Swap. You’ll find me posting over at "Huh Say What?" about my thoughts on Summer and I’m pleased to welcome Brittany of Louisville, KY to  Gidget's Two Cents:

"I'm really excited to participate in the Blog Swap with Christy! I originally started my blog to be able to write about personal stuff, away from the news stories I wrote about in my journalism classes, and surprisingly, I've kept it up for over a year! Read more at itallfallsdwn.wordpress.com and follow me on twitter @britters_43. Happy reading!"

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Summer. It's a special time of the year because of all of the memories that I have from previous summers. I fell in love for the first time during summer. I fell out of love during summer. My dad was diagnosed with cancer during summer. My dad died during summer. I have memories of riding down the streets of Louisville during summer. Top down, music loud, short shorts on (back in my tiny days, lol.) 

I was looking forward to this summer, I needed to have a season of fun and since I lost my dad last summer, I wanted to create some good memories in 2011. 

Instead, I worked. And in the process I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I am very lucky to be in my right frame of mind. See, I work in an emergency psychiatry unit, and I deal with a lot of sad cases on a daily basis. It's not "fun" work, but it's meaningful. With that being said, I also learned that this is not the career for me. I love healthcare, but since I have no plans to move into a more clinical role, there is no growth for me here.

I also spent a lot of time with my mother this summer. She's all I have left and I'm really learning how to enjoy her company as an adult. We attended a concert together, and we try to have dinner together a few times a week. I'm proud of our adult relationship. 

And despite my non-stop work schedule, I had time to have a little summer romance. I don't think it's going to last much longer, but it's been fun while it lasted. I spent the last three years with one guy, and it took me a while to get over my anger about the break up. And this was just the bit of fresh air that I needed :-)

So tell me, did you do anything new this summer? Did you learn anything about yourself? Do tell!