Clearing off the cobwebs

I was looking back and I have not blogged since 2011! Where did 2012 go? I have decided to pick this up agian as I think it is a wonderful way to journal and document my life. I'm sure I have ZERO followers at this point but I'm Ok with that. I will not waste time reviewing 2012. Let me just sum it by saying that I have the most amazing little girl in the the world and my life has been full of joy since the moment she came. I have a new adveture/transformation coming this year so I plan to spend time blogging about everyone's favorite subject... Weight loss. After struggleting with my weight for many years I have made the decisoion to seek sergical intervention. So on April 8. 2013 I will a sleeve gastrectomy. In simple terms, I will have 3/4 of my stomcah removed leaving me with a small puch for the rest of my life. I don't want to go into all the details or discuss my rationale for my decision. I just want to document my journey. The good the bad and the ugly. On Monday I started our pre-op diet which consist of 2 protien shakes, 2 protien bars and a small meal every day. Our meal consist of 5oz of lean meat and 2 cups of non-starchy veggies. Good news is that I have lost 7 pounds in two days of this diet. My goal is to loose 15-20 pounds before I have surgery. To my surprise I'm not hungry at all. I think it is because I have made the decsion and I know what it takes to be successful. Fir the first time in my life I don't think about cheating on a diet! AWESOME. I will post the dreaded before pictures this week.

Our Weekend

Our Weekend started like this

Ended Like this

Welcome Fall/Winter we have busted out the breathing treatments and plan to keep them up well into March.

Clearing the Cobwebs

I guess it is time for me to clear the cobwebs off this blog and attempt to start it back up again. To be honest I have been missing because there have been a few things going on in my life that I just have not wanted to discuss in a public place. Not anything terrible just personal stories that impact people I care deeply about. However I feel like I'm back at a place where I want to blog again. I will try to update the last few months. New job is going GREAT. I work with some of the most amazing people. I fell back in love with Marriott and the hotel business. Harper is growing like a weed. I want to hit the pause button and stop her from growing up so fast. Chris and I spent a fabulous week in Aruba some some wonderful friends. My sister Heather moved out of Craig Ranch and to Sherman. I miss her and her children terribly but enjoy the weekends when they come to visit. My sister Christy is in the middle of a divorce and it has been painful to watch her go through this. However I know happier days are just around the corner for her. Mom is doing GREAT and has fully recovered form her heart surgery. All My Children ended and it made me kinda sad. I have never admitted it in public but I was addicted to watching the lives of those in Pine Valley. Summer is Texas SUCK and I don;t know if I can make it through another one like Summer 2011. Harper is obsessed with a little boy named Calliou. I have found the Top Golf is my "happy place". More to come soon.....

Vacation all I ever wanted

I have been ready to take a vacation for a while. I need a little time to refresh and recharge. God news is that booked two vacations last week.

First up is a short family getaway to the JW Marriott Hill Country resort. My ENTIRE family is going. That includes 11 children, my two sisters, my brother and my Mom. We will be there for 3 days. I can't wait to see Harper and the water park at this place. I think the JW San Antonio is one of the best resorts in the entire Marriott portfolio. if you have not been there yet then you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Then in September Chris and I are headed out for a week to this place . I'm so excited to have one full week of ZERO responsibility. I just found out recently that the Real Housewives of New Jersey filmed here in February of this year.

Yippee for VACATIONS better late the never.

Skinny Dippin

This is what we do in the evenings at the Miazga house. I don't even bother with putting her in a swim diaper or a suit. She likes to go natural. I'm sure that all the walkers and the joggers that use the path behind our house think we are trash.

Livin La Vida Loca

To say that life over the last month has been CRAZY would be the understatement of the year. I have not written in my blog in well over a month and after reading this post you will understand why. Looking back at the last 30 days I give thanks to the Lord for he is what has guided me through this crazy life. I'm not sure where to begin so I apologize if I ramble on.

Lets start with work...... I have blogged many times about the reorganization that my company has been going through this year. In May I was offered the job that I had been working towards for over 4 years. I was thrilled when the offer came but aware that this would lead to me working longer hours, being away from home more often, and spending less time with my family and friends. This is something that I wanted to much and have made the commitment to see it through. It has been a great decision and I LOVE my new job. However I miss spending time with friends.

Work leads me to my Family. Two weeks after I accepted my new job things were going great. Until one evening when I was outside playing with Harper and working with my Mom in the yard. My Mom was not feeling well and after discussing her health with her I decided it would be a good decision to take her to the Emergency Room. I thought she was having a heart attack. Thank you Lord for guiding me to make that decision because it saved my Moms life. Three days later she was having open heart surgery to replace a valve in her heart. My Mom is the only grandparent to my daughter. My father passed away 15 years ago and over the last 3 years we lost both my Mother in law and Father in law. I was in no way prepared to loose my Mom. She is also the primary care giver for my daughter. Without her I would not be able to work 60+ hours a week, keep up a house, and take care of a baby. I depend on her for so many things. So it was very difficult that her medical problems came on the very same week that I was packed full of meetings for my new job. I prayed to God to help me and boy did he answer. My super fantastic Friend Vadran read a post I put on face book and called me to see how she could help. Twelve hours later Vadran arrived at my house ready to rescue me and my daughter. She stayed for 10 days.(Yes you read that correctly.. 10 days). I don't know how I will ever repay her but she was truly an Angel for me and my family. She took care of Harper, cleaned my house cooked dinner and even went to the hospital to visit my Mom while I was at work. Mom is home for the hospital now and is doing Amazing! She is walking every morning and hopefully she will be able to sleep in her own bed soon. Bless her heart she has been on the sofa for the last three weeks. We expect a full recovery by the end of summer.

Speaking of family Chi rs and I have been desperately trying to grow ours. Throughout all of this circus I have been going through an IVF treatment. Good news is that I have been so very busy with everything else that I have not even had a moment to worry about eggs and embryos.

Here are a few things that have happened during this time.

I forgot my own Birthday. I was reminded that it was my birthday when I read a "Happy Birthday" email for the gym I belong to.

I had only 1 emotional breakdown where I just thought I couldn't take anymore. I owe a big thank you to my friend Colin and her husband Jason for going out to dinner with Chris and I that night and giving us a little break.

I have learned that I can function on 5 hours of sleep each night. With the assistance of 5 cups of coffee in the morning.

I have broken 1 printer and injured 1 laptop in the last 30 days.

My family is awesome and I have learned to lean on them more. It has brought me closer to my brother and my sisters and for that I am thankful.

I spend most of my free time dreaming about a vacation. Hopefully this fall will be slow enough that I will be able to get away.

Told you his post would be random...... Now that we are all caught up I will start posting fun things that bring sunshine and happiness into this world.

Freaky Friday

Last Friday Chris and I invited some friends over to enjoy a beautiful(windy) evening and hang out. The evening started off with Chris being stuck at work leaving me with all the entertaining and set up. thank God for great Friends who pitched in to help me out. Harper has been has been having trouble with her Asthma and allergies lately so around 7pm my Mom took her up to give her a breathing treatment. A few moment after that Chris comes downstairs to tell me that Harper is having trouble breathing and he was taking her to the ER. I just got our of my seat and headed to the car with him. leaving all our of guest at our house. I felt terrible but I was very worried about my little girl. things turned out to be fine with Harper. The Er doctor was able to give her a steroid to help open her lungs up and make it easier for her to breathe. We just started a new medication that that will hopefully help to reduce our need for rescue breathing treatments. Harper loves it because we sprinkle it on ice cream or apple sauce every night. I owe a huge thank you to Lori, Rhonda, Colin, and Haley for cleaning up my house. I'm so sorry we had to leave. Hopefully we can do it again sometime.

Here is Harper at the Hospital after she felt better.




And the morning after just as happy as can be.

Lake Weekend Recap

I was about to pull out of the Girls lake weekend on Thursday when I found out my friend Tracy couldn't come. I was really looking forward to spending time with her and just didn't think it would be the same without her. Thankfully my sweet friend LeAnn talked me into making the trip down by myself because I had a really nice time. I left around noon on Friday and decided that I should drive an extra hour to San Marcos on my way to the lake and hit up a few of my favorite outlet stores. So 5 hour later I made a dash into Tori Burch, Gucci and Pottery Barn Kids where i did lots of damage in just an hour and half. I loved every second of it and filled up my rental car with all my loot. Thank you Enterprise for giving me an SUV because by the time I was done only 1 person could sit in the car. I was able to get Harper some great playroom furniture that she loves and pickup lots of cute TB sandals for myself.

I finally arrived at the lake around 9:30 at night and things were already going strong. Ladies gathered around the pool drinking beer and telling stories.So cute that the Bridesmaids had these made for all the ladies to use over the weekend.




I only lasted till midnight and then headed to bed. Than morning I woke up to the most beautiful view of the Colorado River and the Texas Hill Country.




Saturday monring we enjoyed an great Bridal Shower Brunch and had time to sit our and enjoy the sun. I loved this nice spot.



The afternoon was filled with laying out in the sun and taking a nap. When evening came we headed to the game room and had a bachelorette party.




It is a family tradition for the Bride to be to model her Bachelorette gifts once she is done opening. let me tell you there is no way any girl would do this unless they are really drunk so thanks to a little liquid courage Sonya played along and modeled her new outfits like a pro. It was really funny and she was a great sport.

There was a photo scavenger hunt that all the ladies participated in on the way down. Here is the list of what we had to find:

1. Something that begins with “S”

2. Something that begins with “G”

3. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes …….

4. Wedding night necessity!

5. It’s SO BIG!!!

6. Picture of yard art in lovemaking positions (double bonus points for any team member(s) involved in the act)

7. The bride and groom in 30 years

8. Honeymoon destination suggestion

9. A hard man is good to find (or at least something resembling a hard man)

10. A team member wearing a bridal veil made along the route

These pictures were some of the funniest things I have ever seen. I didn't know you could do such nasty things with Yard Art. The good people who live along TX 281 woke up on Saturday morning wondering what the hell happened to tier yard art. I'm still amazed at what the ladies came up.

It was a really nice time but I missed Harper a ton so I woke up at 7am on Sunday and headed home.

If you are interested in the house we rented let me know and I will send you the info. It was FANTASTIC!

About a Girl

The number one reason I write this blog is to document my life so that one day my children will be able to look back through, read my post and learn more about their Mom. So this post is dedicated to My little Harper.




You love to be outside and stand at the back door saying "outside" "outside" over and over until we go with you.

You know the names of all your family members including.. Nanny, Mama, Dada, Cici (Aunt Christy), BoBo (Cousin Beau), Da Da (Cousin Dalton), Tayten (cousin Peyton), Ray Ray (Cousin Regan), Reeee (Cousin Reid), Hever (Aunt Heather).

Things you say..

My Blanket, I Big Girl, night night, baaaaath, car, mooovie,woof woof, Ms. Lea (our teacher at Little Gym), Bye Bye, Sink(means drink), Sid (as in the Science Kid), Dora, Ball, My Chair, Ding Ding (this is what you call my ipad and you love to play games on it), paper (as in the newspaper that Nanny reads every morning), book, cuppy, baba (your bottle that I can't seems to wean you off), Abby (the name of your baby doll.)

You don't like for your Baby Doll to wear clothes EVER. She is always naked. I goes along with your new obsession with taking your shirt off.

You love to go on walks in your wagon or in your push car.




When Daddy is around I might as well be invisible. he gets 100% of your attention.

You like French Fries but I won;t let you have them very often.

Bath time is super fun!



You pose for pictures.




I am so in love with you.

Final Results

I did it I completed the Shakedown and I feel great. I lost 7.5 pounds in 3 days and my Mom lost 8.5 pounds. I think this really helped me to shake my addiction to coffee and my sweet tooth. I have also noticed that I have not been very hungry the last two days and I'm eating very small portions. Maybe it is all a mental thing but I love it.

I have to give a huge shout out to my Mom who did this with me and was a huge encouragement. I have an amazing Mom who would support me through anything. i know if I told her I had to walk 50 miles through the desert with no shoes she would go with me just to support me. I want Harper to feel this way about me through out her life.

Now my affair with Weight Watchers will begin.

One Day Down

Shakedown is goging well and I surprised at how easy the first day was. Here is what I had yesterday:

Morning - Shakeology Shake
Lunch - Shekeology Shake
Mid day - Cup of Green Tea
Dinner - Large Salad with Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Onion,Mushrooms and 2 tbls. of vinagrette. 3 oz. of grilled Talapia
Evening - Shekeology Shake

Workout - Treadmill and weights at Koko Fit Club

Total Weght Loss - 3.5 pounds!

My goal is 7... lets see if I can do it.

Shakedown

I'm doing the Shakeology Shakedown for the next three day. Wishe me luck. i will update my weight loss on Thursday.

Thelma and Louise

I'm super excited that in just a few weeks I will be hitting the road and heading to the beautiful Texas Hill Country with the greatest road trip partner in the world. My friend Tracy and I are headed down to Lake LBJ for a fun filled Bachelorette weekend honoring our friend Sonya. I can't wait for the fun to begin.

Here is the house we are sharing with 25 other ladies. (I took a trip to Cabo with 14 of these ladies 4 years ago so it will be a little reunion)



I plan on spending most of my time here:



On the schedule for the weekend:

A crazy photography scavenger hunt for the trip down, a Friday night hot tub part, Saturday morning Bridal Shower brunch, Lots of hanging out in the pool and spending time on the lake, A Saturday evening Bachelorette Party with margaritas, tequila, and a fajita cook-out. I seriously can;t wait for this weekend.

We don't plan on committing any crimes during the weekend or driving off a cliff at the end and I doubt we will pick up anyone that look like Brad Pitt, but I know we will have a heck of a good time.

Maybe I should rent a convertible for the weekend?

Defrost

Two years ago today was a huge day in the Miazga family. I like to call it "The Big Thaw". It was the day that we transfered two Embryo's back into my body with hopes and dreams that we would have a baby.

Here is what they looked like then....

He


And now....



Thank you Lord!!!!

Trip Report

We just got back form our trip to Seattle last night so I thought I would share a little trip report.

American Airlines to Seattle - Our flight left at 8:30pm. Thank the Lord the flight was not too full so we were lucky enough to have a full row to ourselves. Lots of room to spread out. Harper cried for an hour and half non stop. I became immune to the dirty look I received form other passengers and just did the best I could to get her to go to sleep. The flight attendants were some of the worst I have ever been around but this seems to be the norm at American Airlines.

We arrived in Seattle around midnight worn out and happy to be at the Courtyard Pioneer Square .

Wednesday was the service for Chris's dad and it was beautiful. After the service Harper and my Mom went back to the hotel while Chris and Iwent to his Dad's house and spent sometime with his family. We had a really nice time after a tough day. Below is a picture of us at the service.



On Thursday we headed to Pikes Place Market and made our way around downtown Seattle.




I even made a trip to the original Starbucks. By the way there is a Starbucks on EVERY street corner in this city. I have never seen a place is obsessed with Java. Where there is not a Starbucks then there is another coffee shop and where there is no coffee shop there is an "espresso shack" (a tiny portable building in a parking lot selling coffee).



On Friday we went to see the Lockes and fish ladder. Harper had a great time and enjoyed runnig around the lockes and the botanical garden.






Saturday morning we headed home back to Dallas but we first made a stop for breakfast at a place I saw on the Food Network. We stopped at Beth's to have one of their famous omelets. This baby was made with 6 eggs and we all three shared it.



Harper has two things she loved at the airport.

#1 Wearing her new Backpack/Leash



#2 the moving side walk at the airport.




American Airlines redeemed themselves by giving us two of the best flight attendants they have. These ladies were fabulous. They loved Harpy and even took her form me for about 30 min. She rode in first class while I flew coach. I also learned exactly how much Benadryl I need to give Harper to make her go to sleep and it made the flight home 1,000 easier then the flight to Seattle.

All in all we had a nice trip. Seattle is so gloomy and rainy that I would have a hard time living there, but when the sun is shinning the city is beautiful.

Thank you

Long time no Blog. I hate for this one to be sad so I will try my best to make it happy. Last week my father in law passed away unexpectedly after surgery that was meant to help my fight his cancer. It was a routine operation that ended in tragedy. Very sad for my husband and his family as we will really miss Ron. Instead of dwelling on sadness I wanted to take a moment to thank my Father In Law for a few things...

Thank you Ron.....

For giving my sweet husband patience. I'm pretty sure that is a personalty trait that he got from you. Chris is always calm and collected just like you and I thank you for that.

For teaching my husband to love the game of golf. We enjoy this sport as a family and every time we play Chris brings up a memory of you.

For loving my daughter. We had an amazing visit with you last May and will remember it forever.

For checking in on me during my pregnancy. Your kind words of encouragement meant allot to me.

For the great Christmas and Birthday gifts that always had a little hint on the card as to what was inside. I will miss playing that little game.

For sharing travel tips, sales ideas, and being a great Spades partner.

We love you and will miss you dearly.

Daddy Daughter Time

Harper and Chris doing something they love. Chris watching the Dallas Stars and Harper enjoying a French Fry. You can't see it but under her sweater is a pink Dallas Stars jersey. We had a great time.

L-O-V-E

It's Valentines day and I feel obligated to write a little something about love. Not a warm and fuzzy love post but a real post from my life.

Chris and I were enjoying a typical Sunday morning. A trip to the local bagel shop in the morning where we discussed our plans for the day and shared our excitement about the Hockey game we were going to that afternoon. I told Chris I wanted to clean out Harper's closet today and asked him to watch her so I could get it done quickly. An hour into the project and Harper's room looks like a tornado came through it. Chris walks in ready to give Harper a breathing treatment. We discuss the closet and Chris proceeds to give me what he calls "advice". I perceive this more of a critique of my work. His comments act as the spark to ignite an all out argument between the two of us. All I can say is it was brutal. We both got some things off our chest that had been bothering us for a while. I knew we were having some trouble communicating lately but just didn't expect the eruption to happen right there in my sweet baby girls bedroom. It was a big fight. One that I will remember for a long time and it all ended with Chris walking out of the room and both of us taking a little time to cool off.

I know this post is about L-O-V-E. So where is the love in this story? No worries it's just around the corner.

After about half an hour later Chris and I are able to talk in a calm voice. We both apologized for some of the words we used and the things we said. We also acknowledge that we needed to get those feelings out and decided to do something about it. We came up with a plan and committed to hold each other accountable to this plan. It requires both of us to make some changes and do some things that we may not like. All in all it's about getting back down to the core of what makes our family happy.

So there it is LOVE. You see love is not always about red roses, candy, and things that sparkle. LOVE is sometimes hard and sometimes it sneaks up on you in a not so pretty way. It is about loving someone so deeply that sometimes it hurts. It's about forgiveness and understanding. It's about putting your partners needs before yours. It's all about communication. Something the Miazga's really need to work on.

Yesterday I cleaned out two closets. Harper's closet and my marriage closet. Not sure which one was more difficult to do but I know they were both done for the sake of L-O-V-E. Ten years ago today Chris Miazga asked me to be his wife. We made a commitment to each other that will last a lifetime through good times and bad. Thankfully we see more sunshine then rain in our relationship but I'm sure happy to know that we have what we need to make it through the rain when we need to. I'm still in LOVE!

What took me so long

I have a new LOVE.

Not sure why it took me so long (maybe it is the crazy price tag) But I finally broke down and got one of these.




It has changed my life. I only thought my house was clean until I saw what this baby picked up the first time I used it. All I can say is WOW. I'm now obsessed with it and spend my evenings looking for new places to clean. Dyson, I think I love you!

Dear January,

Dear January:

I’m over you.  You can proudly  exit 2011 and bring on anew month.  I want my happy healthy family back and it just isn’t possible to do this with you.  Let me re-cap the state of the Miazga family health to you just in case you forgot.

January 3 was my first day back at work after a great 2 week vacation over the holidays.  I was excited and ready to kick some work but.  Instead I  was hit with a terrible sore throat and by 2pm I had to give up and head to the doctor.  I was diagnosed with Strep Throat and a respiratory infection. Nothing that a little rest can’t handle.  However after 4 days with no improvement I started to feel worse.  Back to the doctor I went and added a sinus and ear infection to the mix.  A full cycle of some stronger antibiotics and a steroid should do the trick.  (2 trips to the doctor , 2 trips to the pharmacy)

Just when I start to feel better Harper and Chris catch my cold. Harper is miserable and so we tough it through 4 sleepless nights and 12 breathing treatments.  No improvement with Harper so we head back to the pediatrician and get some new meds.  Chris tries to tough it our but 3 days in he claims defeat and head to the doc as well.  (3 trips to the doctor 3 trips to the pharmacy). They start to feel better and thins seem to be normal again then “poof”  Nanny. goes down. She is smart and heads to the doctor immediately.   Two days later she is on the road to recovery.  (1 doctor, 1 pharmacy)

I think to myself awesome! We will finally have a healthy house.  Then I woke up this morning to a terrible feeling and tonsils that are the size of gold balls.  I head to the local CVS for a visit with the minute clinic only to be told they can’t help me so they send me on my way to Care Now.   Were a have a POSITIVE Step Test!  Now this doctor doesn’t mess around he gives me two shots, some serious antibiotics, a pain reliever called “magic mouthwash” that seriously is magical.  (2 doctors visits, 1 trip to pharmacy)

So this month the Miazga family has made 8 trips to the doctor and 7 trips to CVS.  I think I have already used at 50% of my flexible spending account .  I need my happy, happy family back.  So long January….. I’m done with you!