Jessica

OMG!!!! I'm such a loser. I totally didn't even realize I was member of the month until I was re-reading a post of mine (checking for spelling mistakes) and saw the little MoTM logo next to my name. Thanks ladies!! Sorry I didn't say that sooner, I'm just really obivious sometimes!!

you know, i just changed my theme from girltalk to the pink one... and after also checking out the default theme, i realized the small text box is only with the girltalk theme. if you use one of the other two themes, the quick reply box is it's normal size. so yeah, if it's still bugging you, switch your theme!

Aww, you sound like me! I'm a neat freak, DH is the ultimate slob, drives me insane. Our Apt was completely hardwood floors. No matter what I did the dust would never go away. It was crazy. Our house is all carpet and dust hasn't been too bad (or maybe i just can't see it because of all the freaking carpet). i use either method all purpose cleaner on the stove or orange/lime based degreasers. they work well for brian's sloppy cooking attempts.

Quote: Originally Posted by AnnR yes, Cesar is all about training - it's not so much a "whisperer" as a behaviorist (if i had to try to explain it) - i've watched only a few times. Awww, I see. Well that makes me more interested. I'm all about Behaviorism so that sounds right up my alley. The "Whisperer" part made me think of that show the Horse Whisperer and I was like "Ummmm, yeah, IDK!" Quote: Originally Posted by LC_Rachel The Dog Whisper is an amazing dog trainer. I don't think he technically communicates with the animals via telepathy. The techniques he uses are amazing, but I've tried to do some of his moves on my dogs but they look at me like I'm ridiculous. I think I need to be more authoritative. I hope the techniques will work for you. Cesar Millan - Your New Dog & Beyond DVD Here's a DVD he has about new puppies. Cool, I'll check that out. Quote: Originally Posted by AmyInMI Jessica, As mentioned above, Ceasar is a trainer. He has studied dog behavior and based his "style" of training on his knowledge of canine behavior. Before you pay anyone to come in and "tell" you what your dog is wishing to comminicate and thinking, I would give your pup a few weeks. I am sure in time she will adjust to Aiden and him using up so much of your time. I know you have very little free time but maybe while Aiden is napping you could lay down with your pup and spend some time with her or take her out to play in your yard for 15 minutes or so. I am sure she is used to having more of your time, but after a bit she should be fine. Good luck!! You're definitely right. I do want to give her some more time to adjust. I'm just so short on patience right now it's making me a little crazed. Poor puppy. Tomorrow Brian is off from work which is good because while he plays wth the baby I can give some attentioin to Yaz.

A little bit of everything except Ghetto and Athletic and Redneck, but mostly HARDCORE!!!! Am i the only one that got a high hardcore count that actually is into hardcore?! Haha. HIGH CLASS [x] You have gone tanning. [x] You own an iPod/mp3 player. [ ] You like Starbucks. [ ] You have been called a brat. [X] You have tons of shoes. [ ] You hate buying things that are on sale. [x] You have a laptop. [X ] You love shopping. GOTHIC [x] Black is one of your favorite colors. [ ] You wear chains. [X] You like heavy metal. [X] You've shopped at hot topic [ ] You have worn black lipstick. [x] You have/had/or wanted piercings. [ ] You own a pair of Tripp pants (big baggy pants) [] You have at least one unnaturally colored haired friend. PUNK [ ] You can skateboard. [ ] You like plaid. [x] You have Converse. [ ] You hate mtv. [x] You have/had/wanted blue, orange, pink, red, purple, or green hair. [X ] You love mohawks [x] You like Music. [x] Hate people who pretend to be something they are not EMO [ ] You have been/are depressed a lot. [ ] You have dark colored thick-rimmed glasses. [X] Sometimes you cry easily. [ ] You like emo music [x] You've kept a journal/diary. [x] You have written a sad poem. [x] You have dyed your hair [ ] You're sad when you're drunk sometimes GHETTO [ ] You love the Jerry Springer Show [] You have said "Fo Sho, Fo Shizzle, Fo Sheezy, etc." [ ] You have worn/wanted a grill. [] You have participated in or been present at a free styling contest. [ ] You have worn your shoes with the tongue flipped out. [ ] You work outside on a corner [] You know most of the lines from Boyz N Da Hood [ ] You own a huge gold chain with a giant gold pendant HARDCORE [x] You like loud music. []You love/like the Ninja Turtles. [] You have slip-on shoes. [X] You like Norma Jean. [x] People have called you a freak [X] You know how to "hardcore" dance or mosh [X ] Your hair has been dyed more than one color. [x] You wear jeans a lot. PREP [X] You LOVE Laguna beach/ The hills. . [] You had/have/want a tiny/small sized dog. [ ] Your usual outfits consist of pink. [X] You like buying shoes.. [x] You've shopped at Hollister.AE,and/or Abercrombie [X] Getting your nails done is a fun thing. [] You have big sunglasses. [ ] You can't go anywhere without your hair perfect. ATHLETIC []You watch/have watched the Superbowl. [ ] You own track shoes or cleats other sports related shoes. [ ] You collect jerseys. [ ] You have/had a special shelf for trophies and awards. [ ] Your garage/shed consists of sports equipment. [] You belong/belonged to a team. [ ] You have a specific number preferred for your jersey. [] You have played/are playing a real sport . [ ] Judge people by the sports they play. REDNECK [ ] Gone four wheeling. [x] Shot a gun. [ ] Owned a four/three-wheeler or like, etc [ ] Like to go fishing. [ ] Eat beef jerky sometimes [] Ever said GIT-R-DONE. [] Listened to the song Redneck Woman. [x] You have rode at least 1 thing(horse, bull, dirt bike...)

I could have sworn we had some sort of thread on this before, but I'm not finding anything when I try to search for it (of course I coud just be doing something wrong, which is likely!). Anyway, I've never watched the Dog Whisperer or really looked into it, but my dad was telling me I should. I think he (it's a he right?) has some books and DVD's or audio tapes or something. Has anyone bought any of these? Have they helped? I doubt I'll ever get around to watching the tv show so I'm thinking just buying a book or DVD would be a better route for me. Hoenstly, I'm more a fact-based scientific/skeptic person, so taking an interest in something like the Dog Whisperer is totally foreign to me and so out of my element. But I'm sort of reaching a breaking point with my dog. I love her but lately she's just been driving me insane. I mean, I can pretty much figure out what the problem is. The baby is really consuming our time and attention, and although she hasn't "acted" up and is sooo good with Aiden, she's been a little hostile towards Brian and I. Well more me than Brian which is due I think to the fact that Brian actually sets aside time to play with her and I just haven't been able to with Aiden latched onto my boob for what seems like 18 hours a day. She's just a puppy, so I understand she has a lot of energy, but my energy has decreased significantly and my temper is short. So yeah, I thought of looking into this and seeing if it will help.

i had to hand-hold a few people through the process of making travel arrangements. so annoying considering i included step by step info as well. some people are just annoyingly lazy/clueless when it comes to this stuff! sorry you have to deal with it so close to your wedding.

oooooh, i LOVE Dia de los Muertos stuff so those toppers are right up my alley. i would have totally used those!

yeah, it's crappy how expensive it is. i shipped some stuff to saint thomas last year, it wasn't that much. was your stuff really heavy? Shipping to saint thomas isn't international shipping. You can send through USPS for cheap. It's UPS and FedEx that charge international fees.

Aww, poor Christa. That sucks I'd be a bitch to everyone the entire day. And yeah, wtf is it with people who know yo are sick telling you that you look horrible. It's like "Hello!? No sh!t sherlock!" What a-holes.

Oh Mo, I'm so sorry. That's a lot of bad news to handle! I think you are doing hte best in bringing your grandmother home. Surely her days should be spent at home surrounded by loved ones rather than a hospital. It's tough when people have the DNR and DNI requests because you always feel like "well what if?!" But I think a lotof people at that age just want to go peacefully without being poked and prodded, which is understandable. Just spend all the time you can with her. You know we are always here for you to ven to. My thoughts are with you and your family.

aww. i was wondering! i usually use IE, but i'll just use firefox for this site if the box is bigger. no big deal! code gives me a headache too. it's such a pita.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jones4Me Thanks Jessica! I am now officially working with Janelle - and told her that I got her info from you! : ) And, oddly enough, she is from Indianapolis originally - where we live! We are still trying to decide if we want to do a hotel or a cottage.... We did AI last vacation and LOVED it. So, not sure about finding places to eat and making food.... We are on a TIGHT budget. What do you think? Thanks again for all of you St Thomas help! That's awesome you are working with Janelle. She's so nice. I honestly have never stayed at an AI so I don't know how it would compare with staying at a cottage. We loved the villa though. We weren't on a tight budget (due to saving our asses off), but we did try not to spend too much. There aren't too many AI choices on the island, as I'm sure you know, but thinking about it, it might be the pocket friendly choice. We did order some groceries to be delivered the day we arrived. I was a little surprised at the bill, we didn't request a whole lot, but the total came to a bit more than I expected. For example, a carton of ice cream we normally pay $4 for in NJ cost $6 in St Thomas. Milk was expensive and so was everything else we got. Eating out is fun, there's some pretty cool places to eat, but yeah, definitely gets pricey, especially if you eat three meals a day. Also fpr convience n AI might be better. Will save you from having to drive out fpr meals - gas is expensive, at least when we were there! I don't know what an average AI price is though...

Quote: Originally Posted by MelissaH Jessica I just finished reading your blog - you need to change your profile from mommy-to-be to mommy! awww, yeah. thanks for reminding me. i am going to copy and paste that blog entry too!

Quote: Originally Posted by jilly76 Congratulations! I was thinking maybe you were in the hospital, since we haven't seen you for a couple of days. 12/30 is my daughters birthday too! Cool! Yay for 12/30! Quote: Originally Posted by Just Martha Yay!!! Congratulations!!!! How exciting! I am glad to hear you are both doing well! And, for your first baby, that is a super short labor! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I know! I think my dr had dinner plans or something because the first thing she said to me was "We're going to get this baby out by dinner time." But hell, I wasn't about to argue! Quote: Originally Posted by starchild BTW, how cool is December going to be for Aiden between Christmas and Birthday presents? I always wanted to be that kid LOL I know!!! I'm going to have to start saving up money for next December now, sheesh! Quote: Originally Posted by twinkletoes Congrats Jessica! He's too cute. Glad to hear you guys are doing well. How do you think the dog will react to Aiden? The puppy is actually doing great. I was worried because she's a little overzealous and is teething. I mean, she bites my ankles at least once a day, so I was expecting problems. But she has been sooo good with Aiden. She's very protective. She sleeps in the room with us, and everytime Aiden makes a peep, she runs to the bassinet and tries to look in. If I let him cry too long she gets pissed at me and will run to me and tug on my pants leg and swipe at me to pay attention. I'm so glad, because I don't even know what we would have done if she didn't react well. Quote: Originally Posted by host awww...jessica...welcome to mommyhood!! he is absolutely perfect...PERFECT!!! i wish we were closer so i could meet him... Aww, that would have been awesome to have Jackson and Aiden playdates. It's been awesome so far. I can't wait to get your advice/feedback on stuff since you have a few months of experience on me.

Thanks everyone!!! Quote: Originally Posted by JaimeLynne lmao - Jessica, you have been so active during your pregnancy that when I read the title of this thread I was actually like "oh cool, where'd she go??" LOL. I actually had all these plans for the day I went into labor and the next couple of days. Guess Aiden decided that he didn't like those plans! Quote: Originally Posted by amym567 Congratulations, Jessica!!! From that pic, he looks a lot like his Daddy! So glad everything went well for you! Amy He does look a lot like Brian. He definitely has Brian's "butt chin". The first thing the nurses said was "He has your chin!" Quote: Originally Posted by CarrieRN He is adorable! You need to send us pics of him with his "special" presents that he and Brian received. Congrats! Hopefully you have someone to come help you for the first week. All my sister wanted to do was sleep. Even at the hospital...they kept bringing the baby back to her coz he was crying and disturbing the other babies in the nursery. Hahaha. It took me awhile to figure out what you meant by special presents. How could I forget?! Yeah, definitely have to take pictures of him spitting up all over his bear and whatnot Your poor sister! I think there was a baby like that at the hospital... in the next room actually. The mother kept her baby in her room during the night and I coul hear the little thing crying alllllll the time I was there.

In the hospital, having a baby!!!! I'll give the full details later, but here's the short version: Water broke on Sunday 12/30/07 at 6:50am. Had Aiden at 4:50pm that day. I have such a story to tell about everything in between! Aiden is super cute, I'll post a picture here which I took in my drug induced state so it's not that best, but I'll post another later. At birth he measured in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces; 20 1/2 inches. So that's the info for all you guessers! I promise, more details later

**Ok, my wedding was 7 months ago, but I don't think I've ever posted my vendor reviews. So just thought I'd share in case there are any other St. Thomas brides that need suggestions! Accomodations: We rented Caribia Cottage from McLaughlin Anderson. Caribia was located in a prime location... basically the middle of the island! It is located on the Mafolie Estate and only a few minutes from town, Magen's Bay and several tourist attractions. The cottage was a studio with it's own private balconey and a great deck complete with a private swimming pool and three tables. The view of the waterfront is amazing. It's perfect for a couple. Caribbean Villas: Caribbean Villa Rentals by McLaughlin Anderson Villas Virgin Islands Accomodations For Guests: Most of our guests stayed at Bolongo Bay. I was initially a little antsy about sticking guests here because it had gotten very mixed reviews on hotel rating websites. However, although we did not stay at the hotel, we saw the rooms of our guests and were on the poperty. It's not a 5 star resort with all the glitz and glamour, but it's certainly not a dump! It's a great, laid back place with suitable accommodations as well as a swimming pool and a variety of actitivties as well as a decent beach. Our guests had a great time there and the staff was friendly... even if they did spell everyone's name wrong on the welcome bulletin board! Bolongo Bay Beach Resort offers a true caribbean experience, located on the beach on beautiful st thomas, us virgin islands, offering all inclusive packages, honeymoon, wedding packages, condominiums rentals for families Ceremony: We had our ceremony on Magen's Bay Beach. This is normally a very crowded beach, but a great place to have a wedding if you plan smart. If you don't want a crowd of onlookers, do what we did and opt to have your ceremony after hours (we had ours at 5:15pm) on a weekday night as opposed to a weekend afternoon. We only had a couple of onlookers, but it was fine because we didn't have to put up with a lot of noise from other beach guests. Music: We hired Lemuel for our ceremony music. The steel drums were excellent and added a nice tropical touch. It was a hoot to have Bob Marley played at our wedding!! Reasonable price. Officate: Stu Scott was personable and funny. He personalized the ceremony and even included a line about the Red Sox (DH's FAVORITE baseball team). He kept the guests in stitches. Like Joey from Friends said "You get a minister and an entertainer. A ministainer. There's no one better. There's no one greater." U.S.V.I. SERVICES · Your local connection in the Islands..... Photographer: Searching for photographers in Saint Thomas is no easy task! We were thrilled when we finally found the wonderfully talented Kelly Greer. She resides part time in the states and part time in Saint Croix, but if you can catch her while she is in Saint Croix, she will photograph your St. Thomas wedding for a reasonable fee. She is very bubbly and outgoing and will instantly put you at ease. She's a lot of fun and takes great photos. I can't toot her horn enough! I love her!!! St. Thomas Weddings Photographer & St. Croix Weddings Photographer | Kelly Greer Wedding Photographer in St. Thomas & St. Croix US Virgin Islands Reception: Iggie's Beach Bar on Bolongo Bay was the perfect place to have our reception. The set up was on the beach and totally casual and laid back. Perfect for our guests who are more the "steak and beer" and opposed to "wine and cheese" type. The food was great and service was fantastic. Since we had our wedding on a Wednesday, we were able to have our reception during the public Carnival Night (this saved us loads of money on entertainment that we otherwise would have had to pay for). Carnival night was super entertaining and a great alternative to the same old DJ/band and dancing reception entertainment. Carnival Night featured a steel drum band, a fire eater, broken bottle dancer, limbo contest and more. It was so much fun!!! www.iggiesbeachbar.com Travel Brochures: Not really a vendor, but a big shout out to USVI Tourism. I wanted to send packet of information to my guests about the island and local attractions so they could plan out what they wanted to do in advance. By filling out the contact form, the USVI Tourism board sent me 20 copies each of maps, and travel guide books to give in advance to my guests. These items are also available all over the island. USVI - Contact Us! Wedding Coordinator: Janelle of Island Bliss Weddings has been a joy to work with. She put together an amazing wedding for me on Magen's Bay Beach. She can help plan your wedding on St. Thomas or St. John. Has lots of helpful suggestions and will gladly answer all of your questions in a prompt manner. Just overall super sweet. Her fee is extremely reasonable. Island Bliss Weddings Wedding Transportation: Air Force One provided a great open air safari shuttle to transfer our guests to the ceremony and reception site. Alan, the safety conscious driver, was super sweet and everyone enjoyed the expereince. The price per peson was very reasonable and we are extremely happy we decided to offer this service for our guests. St. Thomas Wedding Transfers | Air Force 1 Fun Island Tours and Beach Trips

Quote: Originally Posted by Diana Not that I am condoning smoking, drinking or drugs while pregnant but..... I sometimes work with neonatal babies and it seems to me that those babies do better when born early than those whose moms made all the right choices. Maybe those babies are born with more fight in them? It seems unfair to me! ps congrats and good luck with your little bundle! enjoy your sleep now and cherish the sleepless nights to come. hmm, i wonder if maybe if they are born prematurely (as is said to be an effect of smoking) they do better because they are removed from what is considered a toxic in-utero environment into a healthier one? that's the only reason i can think of anyway! it's funny how things work. and thank you!!! i wish i could enjoy my sleep, i'm already having sleepness nights due to a combo of excitement and pure discomfort. but naps are always a nice quick fix!

Quote: Originally Posted by host i live in a 1 room loft with a newborn and 2 cats...i want to scream some days. i own a townhouse that is twice as big as this place...3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, formal dining room, gourmet kitchen, water views...that is RENTED!! and we live here...in the middle of san francisco...with motorcycles and buses waking up my baby....while we look for a new house. some days i want to kill people... serenity now...serenity now... that sucks! i had no idea. will your tenants be leaving the townhouse anytime soon, or are they long term renters. i would be so tempted to try and get them to move the heck out... sounds like a nice place.

i'm sure her kid is somewhere right now with an inhaler on standby.

Aww, I feel you Christa! I am the ultimate neat freak and Brian is a total slob. I have had many flip outs over the messes he leaves behind in rooms I've just cleaned.

I felt that way about my old cat. As much as I loved her, and am an animal person in general, the behavior she had during those last few years drove me absolutely insane, I was practically counting down her days. I felt like an ass... but seriously, it wears you down! It was similar behavior... walking all over my head while sleeping... but if I put her outside she whine and scratch the door. It was a lose/lose for me. She became super clingy. I also did the yelling very bad things at my cat. It gets so frustrating. Honestly, I tried everything I could with my cat to make her chill. Put a cat bed in the room hoping she'd sleep there instead of on my face, gave her lots of love before going to bed hoping this would satisfy her, even tried to snuggle in bed with her hoping that perhaps this keep her furry ass off my head (didn't work... apparently I couldn't hold her but she could trample all over me!). I never sought input from the vet though... so maybe if that's an option for you, you can do better than I did! Good luck.

that's awesome. can't wait to hear all about the trip!

We had two cats and the Littermaid (and a couple of others we tried) didn't work out. The cats always broke the damn things with all their crap. I think if you have one cat, it's probably a lot better, but more than that... they always seem to break from the people I've talked to.