Top 2 Tuesday

I'm throwing a curve ball at you guys today. I decided that I wanted to try a new meme out today. I found a meme from the Social Calendar over at Our Mommyhood that looked like fun.

It's called Top 2 Tuesday by The Undomestic Momma.

This week she wants us to share the "Top 2 Random Facts About Yourself."

1. I don't like chocolate covered anything. No fruits, pretzels, nuts, you name it! Peanut butter would be the only exception. I love my Reese's!

2. I've never been to Disney World or Disneyland. I know, I'm deprived.

Overdue Explanation?

A few of you have recently said that you just now figured out what the name of my blog means. Here I thought I was so clever thinking of a name that includes me and my little family. As it turns out, it's actually more of a brain teaser. Shoot.

So when I was thinking of a name for my blog, I had considered what I wanted my blog to be about. I figured it'd be about who I am and what my day to day life is all about. Well I wouldn't be who I am today though if it weren't for my husband and kids. Plus it's a great way to post updates of my kids for our family.

So my blog is about my life as it is with my 3 D's in it. My husband, Devin; son, Deagen; and daughter, Dailyn. Which is why I emphasized the D's in their nicknames; D Hubs, D Boy, and D Girl.

Clear as mud? Hope not!

Have I told you guys what's up with all of the D names anyway? I believe I have, but that was my very first post. You know, back when the only audience I had was my family and a couple of real life friends. So in case you don't want to check out my first post, I'll tell ya again what the scoop is with the D names.

D Hubs and I thought it'd be cool to continue his family tradition of exclusive D names. His family has used up pretty much all of the traditional D names. So we went with untraditional. Which is what I'd prefer anyway. I have to say it was much easier picking out names when I was limited to a certain letter it had to start with. I'm not sure I would've been able to pick a name by the time they were born otherwise! Anyway, so our kids make the 4th generation of the D name tradition.

I hope that answers some questions!

Random Tuesday - P97x, Uh Oh, HP Fail, Party Bus, Psychics Are Legit

D Hubs decided that this week he is redoing last weeks P90x workouts. He had missed a few days last week. Plus he wants to finish the same time as me. So both of us will actually be done on Day 97. Today is Day 72 for us. We are almost done!

Last week D Girl started to say "Uh oh" when she drops something.

The SECOND replacement power cord for my laptop is shorting out now. I have to rig this one so that it applies pressure inside the jack a certain way for it to work. The exact same thing that I had to do with my first replacement cord before it just quit connecting all together. I hear a MacBook calling my name.

On Friday night D Hubs and I went on a party bus for a surprise birthday party for one of his friends. We had so much fun! Then we got off the bus just in time to have to drive home through a freaking blizzard. We could only see about 10 ft ahead of us all the way home. It was pretty scary! I was so glad we stopped drinking early.

The psychic at GNO was freaking awesome. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. Not only did she know that I have 4 siblings; she knew that 1 is a brother and the other 3 are sisters. She said that my Uncle that passed 18 years ago was there. She knew that he committed suicide and how he did it. She said that he watches over my brother a lot and he kept relaying the #7 to her. When I told my Mom about that, she said just that morning she came across a numerology site and had figured out that my brother's number is 7. There's more things, but those were the big ones that made me a believer. For the most part, she got everyones readings correct. She knew very personal things that there is just no way that she could just walk in there and guess correctly. I want to do it again sometime for sure!


Go on over to Keely's for more random thoughts!

Random Tuesday - Party, Movie Review, Back Update, Dentist, GNO

D Girl's Birthday party was a success! We held it at a pizza restaurant by our house. Totally stress-free and everyone had a good time. Except a few people who had to wait an hour on their pizzas. There was a total of 3 parties going on there that day. So it was a little busy. Luckily the place is huge, so space wasn't an issue at all. The kids had fun though!

D Hubs and I watched the movie Taken this last weekend. I was on the edge of my couch throughout the entire movie. It was so good! I have to give it 4.5 stars out of 5 though. I was a little disappointed at the end of the movie. I didn't feel that there was enough closure. D Hubs said he'd give it 5 stars though. The action and suspense is phenomenal. It kind of made me think of the movie The Punisher. Another excellent movie!

My back was feeling better over the weekend. Yesterday it felt totally fine, so I went ahead and started P90x again. As long as I'm still feeling good today, I'm back in the game! So in that case I'll be redoing last week since I missed it all. Which means today is Day 65. It's a bummer that D Hubs and I won't be on the same schedule though. We had planned a special graduation day breakfast; of none other than his famous spicy biscuits and gravy. I guess after he is done he will just have to wait another week for our celebration breakfast. Haha!

D Boy had his first dentist appointment yesterday. The Dental Hygienist was very sweet and just wonderful with him. She showed him all of the "tools" and how the chair worked right away. He can be kind of shy when meeting people at first. The way she interacted with him really put him at ease, so he was totally cool with everything. She went through the entire cleaning as he just sat there and let her do her thing. The Dr. said that his teeth look great and he doesn't have any cavities. So he got a squirt gun for doing so well.

My friend Courtney is having a GNO party over at her house. A few of the girls are really into astrology and that kind of stuff. So one of them arranged to have a psychic come to the house to give us all readings. I'm really anxious to see how that goes! We are also planning on watching New Moon and maybe playing some Just Dance. Should be a great time!


As always, if you're looking for some more random thoughts, then go on over to Keely's!

It's Dailyn's 1st Birthday!

A year ago yesterday, our baby girl decided that it was time to make her debut. Even though it was 2 weeks before her expected due date.

It was a Friday; my last scheduled day to work. I had planned for the next couple weeks to be special alone time with D Boy before it was "all about" the baby. D Girl had other plans for us.

I had worked 9am-6pm that day. After work I went and picked up D Boy from the sitter one last time. We got home at 7pm and we ate some tacos for dinner at 7:30pm. D Hubs and I were still sitting at the kitchen table talking when my water broke at 8:05pm. That was an interesting experience. It felt like a water balloon popped in my stomach. Which was quickly followed by a big gush of fluids into my pants. It had never broke with D Boy, so it was quite a surprise for me.

I was in total shock and totally in auto-drive. Before I could do anything to prepare ourselves to leave, I had to clean up that mess. There was no way I could go have a baby knowing that my fluids were all over our kitchen chair and floor. So after 10 minutes of cleaning I started running around trying to get things together for the hospital while I was on the phone with my Mom. Thank goodness I was already packed. I just had to get together some last minute things.

Right when we got in the car to go to the hospital I felt my first contraction. Not too bad, but then they just kept getting worse. The car ride was very uncomfortable.

We arrived at the hospital at 8:45pm. At that time I was dilated at 3-4 cm and 50% effaced. Momma doesn't mess around with pain, so at 10:30pm I got an epidural. At 2am I was dilated at 10 cm, so we called my Doctor. During the contractions they noticed that her heart rate was slowing down.

On the third contraction after I started pushing, D Girl was born at 2:33am. There was a really tight knot in the umbilical cord. I looked at D Hubs after I saw it and his face was white as a ghost. He looked like he was going to faint at any moment, so he went and sat down for a few minutes.

The nurses took D Girl away to check her out. Amazingly she was just fine. No effects what so ever from the knot in the cord. She was a healthy, 6lbs. 12oz. and 19 1/4in. long, beautiful baby girl.

Finally, after 30 minutes I was able to hold her for the first time. I started bawling of course. Then we saw her first facial expression right away. She stuck out her bottom lip as far as she could. It was the biggest pouty face I had ever seen. I laughed a little, but then cried even more because I just knew that was a sign that she was going to keep us on our toes.

Boy was I right. She had colic from 3 weeks old to 3 months old. Every single night she wailed from 10pm-1am. Then it wasn't until she was 10 months old that she slept through the night. She hates not getting her way and she'll let you know by giving you that infamous pouty lip.

She has kept us on our toes, but at the same time, she has melted our hearts. I'm pretty sure she had her Daddy wrapped around her little finger the second she was born. Her big, protective brother absolutely adores her. Since the first time he met her, he has kept tabs on where she is and what she is doing. I can't get enough of her. I find myself just staring at her, in complete awe at how perfect our sweet little baby girl is.

So a year ago today, my little baby girl blessed us with her presence. It's been such a quick year. I can't even get it processed in my mind that she turned 1 today. I feel so blessed that I've been able to stay home with her and D Boy. I've been able to witness the first time she rolled over, sat up, crawled, stood up, and walked. At times I wish I could press pause on life so I can really take it all in. But at the same time, we are really looking forward to watch her grow and reach all of her special milestones this coming year.

Happy 1st Birthday my little Monster Piggy!

Momma

I'm Back!

Back to the normal, not so strange Shandal that y'all know better. Sorry that yesterday's post was very odd. Sometimes I get that wild hair that takes over me. I hope I didn't scare any of you away! Haha!


So this week has been a bad one for me. Tuesday morning I woke up to having pains in my back. Kind of like a pinched nerve right between my shoulder blades. Yesterday it was finally feeling better. But today it feels like someone beat the crap out of my back with a bat.


Needless to say, I haven't worked out since Monday. I'm seriously going through withdrawals!  I know it's all in my head, but I just feel frumpy already. Major sads. I don't want my back to be out of commission forever though. So I'm going to take care of my back, and rest. I'm hoping that I can start again on Monday and I'll just make up this week then. So it'll be P97x for me. Ha! However, at this rate, I'm not sure I'll be ready to start by Monday. *Tears*


On a happy note, my first post is up over at Our Mommyhood. It's about how I relate to a TV character. Go check it out and tell me if there's a fictional character that you can relate to as well.

Vote For Me!

Here's the deal. MODG had her readers send her pics of their toilet with random stuff sitting on it. Now she's been posting 5 of those pics at a time and having her readers vote on their favorite one.

My toilet art that I sent her is very dear to me. It's very personal and says a lot about me. It's kind of a sad story, but with a happy ending. After you read my comment I left over there and you'll understand.

Today, my friends, is MY lucky day. My toilet pic is one of the 5 to be voted on. So I need you guys to get over there and vote on my "Smooth Moves Toilet." I can assure you that I'm well deserving of the win and will be eternally grateful for your vote.

P.S. I totally just wrote half of this post on the toilet. See, happy ending!

Now please go vote for me over at MODG!


Hearts and farts,

Random Tuesday - Shopping Fail, NOT Eating Ice Cream, Quasi Killer Cat, Flip Flops, Mom Fail

This last weekend we went shopping for a new kitchen table and chairs. Instead I came home with a new pair of Fergalicious heels, jeans, and a swim suit from Target. What is that, 0-2? We suck at shopping.

Ahem, I might have cheated a little on my diet this weekend. I had a "double tall white russian," because that's what D Hubs ordered when we were out for dinner. After that, I most certainly did NOT go to Sheridan's and have a Reese's concrete. Then I also didn't just dump out most of the ice cream to only eat the Reese's cups because in my head that would be "less calories" than eating the entire thing. So it was all justified. I mean, what?! That didn't happen. 

I'm pretty sure that my cat is trying to kill me. She has made many attempts to trip me by weaving in and out through my legs while I'm walking. She also makes sure she's one step ahead of me when I'm going down the stairs. If that's not enough, she also kneads my stomach so hard that I really think she's trying to afflict pain on me. Baaad kitty.

It got up in the 60s this weekend! I wore my flippy floppies when we went out shopping... Oh the little things in life. It was also very nice seeing all of the neighbor kids outside playing again. Of course D Boy was out there soaking up that vitamin D too. As soon as he came in he crashed. I see a nice and quiet summer for Mommy in the future. *wink wink*

I finally scheduled a dreaded dentist appointment for us. It will be Deagen's first time to go. Only a year later than when he was supposed to go for his first visit. I haven't been to the dentist myself in like 2 years. Whoops!

Go on over to Keely's if you're looking for some more Random Thoughts!

The Big Reveal

Ahh, this secret has been killing me! I hope you guys understand that my hands were tied. I would have been on a hit list in hot mess of trouble if I had blown our huge secret.

Well it's launch time now, so here's the low down.

About a month or so ago, myself and nine other lucky bloggers were approached by Elizabeth @ Confessions From A Working Mom and Tamara @ The (Un)Experienced Mom. They asked us if we would like to be part of creating the ultimate Mommy Blog by writing a couple posts for them every month. I don't think I could have replied any quicker than I did to say that I was on board. I'm so honored and excited to have a role in this masterpiece.

The twelve of us will be contributing our own original posts about a specific topic that is set to each day of the week. You will also find a "Social Calendar" on our blog. It will show you a list of memes and special events that are happening everyday. Which is another reason to head over there; to make sure YOUR memes, blog carnivals, blog hops, blog parties, fundraisers, and giveaways are posted on our calendar!

I could go on, but I think it'd be better if you just find out all the details by seeing it for yourself. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce the new go-to place for all bloggers.

 

Now please go over THERE now and check it out!!!

While you're there, please "Join" and don't forget to grab our button too!

P90x Phase 2 Results

D Hub's and I have reached Day 60 of our P90x journey. Which means we've completed the 2nd phase and have moved on to the 3rd and final phase. We can't believe how fast it's going by. I've already shared our phase 1 results with you here. Now here's our phase 2 results.

My numbers: Phase 2 results / Total results

Weight: -1lbs. / -5lbs.
Body fat: -4% / -9%
Chest: -1in. / -2 1/4in.
Waist: -2in. / -5 1/2in.
Hips: -1in. / -2in.
Rt Thigh: +1/2in. / 0
Lt Thigh: +1/2in. / +1/2in.
Rt Arm: -1/4in. / 0
Lt Arm: 0 / +1/2in.


D Hub's numbers: Phase 2 results / Total results

Weight: -6lbs. / -15lbs.
Body fat: -4% / -8%
Chest: -1/4in. / -1 3/4in.
Waist: -2in. / -6in.
Hips: -3/4in. / -1 1/2in.
Rt Thigh: -1/4in. / -1 3/4in.
Lt Thigh: +1/4in. / -3/4in.
Rt Arm: 0 / -1/4in.
Lt Arm: -1/4in. / +1/4in.


Before and Afters
(Click on pictures to see better)

I have to say that the pictures of D Hubs just don't do him justice. His abs and back muscles are deeper than what the picture seems to display. His arms though, WOW, is he really MY husband? I'm so proud of him. He's really rockin' it! I see some differences in myself. I'm happy with the progress and seeing that my body fat is decreasing. We are both still doing very well with the program. We haven't missed a workout and we've only cheated on the diet a few times. A lot of P90x grads have told me that the real "magic" happens in the last phase. So, we'll see!

I've been a Beachbody Coach for about a month now. So if you're interested in trying the program or have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Random Tuesday - Wii, Bday Cake, Croup, Bachelor, Party Help

We went to Best Buy this weekend to get a new TV for our bedroom. We ended up walking out with a Wii and some games instead. Oops!

We also celebrated D Girl's 1st birthday a little early this weekend with my Mom's side of the family. Of course my piggy just loved her yummy cake.

Mommy had some cake too. By "some" I mean I finished the rest of her little personal one and another piece too. It was just too good... yes even I screw up my diet. Day 60 of P90x is coming up. I'll have another results post up later this week. Eek!

Both of our kids ended up getting croup last week. We caught D Boy's immediately so he didn't have it bad at all. D Girl however sounded pretty awful and was miserable. Obviously by the pic of my darling little monster you can see that she is feeling better though. 

The Bachelor Jake is an idiot. I'm actually glad that he picked Vienna. Tenley can do better than him anyway. I felt so bad for her. She sure did take it well though. She managed to thank him for giving her a chance through her tears. She's almost too nice. Miss Ali is the next Bachelorette. You betcha I'll be watching! I liked her from the beginning, but her Vienna bashing was a little turn off for me. I think she's pretty genuine though.

I've got to figure out what we are going to do for D Girl's birthday party. We had D Boy's party here at our house this year. It went fine, but I just hate hosting at my house. It's just so stressful for me. Doesn't matter if I double up on my anxiety drugs or not. I have such a hard time relaxing with all those people in our house. So I need some suggestions... I was just thinking about having it at a pizza place, but it can be pricy paying for everyone. Has anyone ever had a party somewhere and had everyone just pay for themselves? Is that rude? Help!

Want some more randomness? Head on over to Keely's for some more!