a couple of pics

the best update

So so much has happened in the last month since I updated. I do have the best update ever to follow the worst one I've had so far. On January 18, 2010 at 10:10 am the light of my life was born. Lillian Hazel Fulop 6 lbs 14 oz 20.75 in. I knew I would love her when she came, but now that she's here that feels like such an understatement. My life is forever blessed with this beautiful baby girl. I could never ask for anything more because she's all I've wanted. I've really been enjoying all of my time with her. We're never apart (which so far, I really don't mind) and we have fun times and snuggle times. I really can't stand the thought of going back to work ever again, especially to McDonalds where my 50 hour plus work weeks will take away so much of my time with my Lily. Adam and I have been trying to figure out the whole day care situation, which is definitely not easy. It would definitely be so much nicer and so much easier if we had family around here. I feel like so few people can be trusted with my daughter and the few people I do trust aren't around here or have jobs too that take up a lot of time. What to do what to do. We wanted Adam to go down to part time and that would help, because that is never going to be an option for me as a first assistant. That plan isn't panning out either though. It's a scary situation, especially considered we have to have a plan set in the next 4 weeks. I'm scared with not being here and being at work that I'm going to miss many important moments with Lily. Her first laugh, the first time she crawls, her first word, the first time she sits up on her own... and there are so many more firsts down the road that I may never be a part of. It makes me so upset. I just want to be here with her and make sure she's always well taken care of. How do other parents do it? I have no idea.
Lily is so super cute. Everyone who talked to me when I was pregnant knew I was a little scared at the thought of having an ugly baby... but oh no. She's so incredibly gorgeous. Which is saying so very much because most people have said she looks like me. I see me and Adam in her, which I love. She is so precious, I don't think I'll ever stop running out of great things to say about her. I thank God for her everyday of my life now and I make sure everyday to tell this sweet little girl of mine how much I love her and am blessed to have her. I believe that is very important even as a newborn for her to know. Adam thinks I'm crazy sometimes I'm sure because I already sing the alphabet to Lily and read her books and practice parts of her face and hands with her. She's going to be so smart, people can already tell how strong she is. She's just amazing!! Ok, so that's my best update so far... My Lily is here and doing so well. Thank you everyone for years of faith and support.. Thank you Adam and Thank you God for finally... our family expansion.

Heaven's newest angel

The new year didn't start out quite like we hoped. Grandma Fulop passed away Tuesday January 5th at 7:55 am. We knew it was coming, but we still hoped and had faith that she had some time left. Adam has gone to Toledo to be with his family and help out with what he can until the funeral. I feel bad that I can't be there, but with the baby it's not easy and on top of that McDonalds won't give me the time off because they do not recognize my spouse's family as my family. It's so ridiculous that I can't even continue talking about it because I'll anger myself.
On a bright note, somebody is being considerate enough to let me have friday off so tomorrow is my last day at work until my maternity leave ends in March. Oh sweet goodness. I'm so excited... baby coming and no mcdonalds for 9 weeks.
I'm missing Adam so much but I'm really thankful that my mom has been here to help and do so much for me. I'm a very blessed woman!!!!

officially a new year

So it's 2010 officially and it makes this baby business that much closer. I can't wait to be off of work and to get to meet my Lily. It's hard being on your feet for 8 or more hours a day getting your butt kicked at work, running around like a crazy person cuz you work with a lot of idiots and people just don't stop coming. I only have one more week, but I just don't know if I can take it. My body is beginning to turn on me and just tell me no. Few people seem to really understand this. It takes everything I have not to stand around crying because everything hurts so bad. 6 more work days... 6 more work days. Then I'll have new things to complain about.
Today the Christmas decorations should be coming down. Maybe I'll feel like things around the house are more prepared. I just need a certain someone to bring all the tubs up from the basement so that I can get stuff taken care of. Then the giraffes will come back out, but who knows how long even those will last because once my baby comes and is mobile, my giraffes will be in trouble.
I've decided that for 2010 I'm going to try to be a more positive person again. Once upon a time I was fun and funny and it took a lot to get me down. I went to Galesburg and that all changed, but I don't want the new year to be like the last one. There is so much to look forward to and with work, I guess for now I'll try to remember that nothing at McDonalds ever changes for the better so I should just deal with it and move on remembering that there are more important things out there. I have high hopes for 2010, after all, it's going to be starting out pretty early with the most fabulous day of my entire life.

wow time flies

So no update from me since the end of September... wow how 3 months fly by.

The last few months have brought us Halloween (a fabulous Holiday preceded by a week of vacation off work and Emily coming to stay with us,) Thanksgiving and even Christmas. Tomorrow is New Years Eve, then New Years Day and in a few short weeks the arrival of our first child. YIKES!!!
It's so interesting to me that all of a sudden it seems like every woman on the planet is pregnant. There was a period of several years where I think only my closest friends had babies and now all of a sudden a boom. Or it could possibly be that I'm a little less angry with hearing and seeing that other women are pregnant since I too have been blessed.
There was another manager at work who was pregnant, due 3 days after me who had her baby a few days ago. I was feeling kind of jealous but the more I think about it, the more glad I am that Lillian is taking her time to come out closer to when she's supposed to. If she came now, it would create havoc with work and my time off and plus, she'll be ever more perfect and developed when she does come out. I'm still over anxious to meet her.
We had another dr appointment today, it was my second 1 week. I love that now until I meet her I get to hear that little heartbeat going so fast. It's so amazing. Adam got to go with me, it's nice when he gets to be there even if the appointment does only take a few minutes. I know that he likes being there with me. He has been so wonderful. He takes great care of me and I have to admit I'm going to miss some of the attention and extra special care when I'm no longer pregnant.
Bags for the hospital are kinda sorta packed. Lillian needs a few things washed first and I just need to figure out what I haven't packed that I may need and we can get it all put in the jeep and be ready to go. At home, all we really need is her bedding washed and to move the stroller out of her bedroom and find a place for a few other things and that will be good to go. Oh wait, no it won't. We still need to take care of Christmas things and wash bottles and pick things up. It doesn't seem like much to do, but at the same time it feels like mounds of work to be done and seriously I have no desire to do anything. I'm just trying to get through my last days at McDonalds before my leave and even though I am working 8 hour days instead of longer ones it's ridiculously hard to make it through.
My mom is coming down on the 9th. It's my first day of leave and she plans on getting the finishing things done around the house for us (bless her soul.) And that way also someone will definitely be around in case I need a ride to the hospital and Adam is at work. I'm super excited that National City (now a part of PNC, haha) is going to let Adam officially start his vacation week once Lily actually makes her appearance into this world. It's going to be wonderful. We plan on taking trips to visit family once she's here. It'll be nice for me not to have to worry about my work schedule for a while and Adam's is really easy to deal with.
Our first trip will definitely be to Ohio because we want to make sure that Grandma Fulop (Adams grandma) gets to see Lily before she gets too bad. It's been a hard few months and especially few weeks with Grandma because her body seems to be giving up on her. We pray that she makes it as long as she can for our own selfish reasons, but for love.
Ok, so now the stupid kid next door won't stop revving his stupid little engine and driving me nuts, I can't focus. I must blog more later. Maybe I'll save the page and I'll be reminded more often.

6 months

So this last saturday, I made it to 24 weeks. So I'm officially 6 months pregnant. Too bad there are many months left to go. I've read in books and magazines that I'm supposed to have my energy back by now. I am convinced however, that my energy is gone forever. I want to get more stuff done between home and work, but I just can't seem to. Good thing there is Adam. He's gotten the basement done so we moved to the office down there and then for Lily's room he cleaned the carpet, painted the room (it's baby violet, super pretty), and put up new blinds. I cleaned out the closet and bought some drawers for her clothes. Adam's parents bought Lily's crib for us and we were able to pick it up in Portage rather than having to bring it home from Toledo. So, we have that put together, that was quite an adventure but I'm glad it's something that we did together.
Adam bought some shelves he's going to paint and decorate for her and I decorated some wood letters to spell out Lilys room to put on her door.
The border that matches the bedding set we want I was able to find for a good price, so I got that now I just need to hope that we actually get the bedding set before it isn't available anymore because it is being discontinued. Anyway, things are really coming along for her room.
We're going to be taking some childbirth and parenting classes. Some people think it's stupid for us to want to take the classes we're going to take, but we're excited. We're taking the classes through the hospital where Lily will be born. We're taking basic prenatal, baby basics, successful breastfeeding and Adam is going to daddy boot camp. I can't wait. Every new thing we do makes it all seem so much closer. I'm not a very patient person. The excitement may be too much for me to handle.
On a another fun note, October means baby showers. I'm excited to see family, friends and celebrate my joy of Lily coming with all of them. I wish time would go by a little faster. October also means 2 more of my favorite things: halloween and vacation. Unfortunately it's my last vacation of the year, but I just have to remember that my next vacation also includes maternity leave. So in January, I will be off at least 9 weeks with pay and then I get extra vacation next year because it's my fifth year as a manager. That is also very exciting.
So that's my update for now. We'll see what happens next.

so i'm not a great blogger

Somehow I just knew that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the whole blog thing. Most of the time I don't remember to do it and if I do remember I'm too stinkin tired from work. But all excuses aside, here I am now giving an update.
We had another ultrasound on the 24th and it was the big one. Our baby looks healthy and everything is going well. We found out after some pretending to be modest that we're having a girl. My father in law says it's going to be a girl because he didn't like the name we had picked out for a boy. So anyway.... our little girl, Lillian Hazel Fulop is still set to arrive January 16, 2010. I feel like the date can't come fast enough even though so many people tell me to just enjoy the ride I'm on now.
I have very little patience for things that I get excited about. We've been registering for baby goods and my 3 shower dates are planned. That's right, 3. I get one October 17th for the Fulop family in Toledo, one October 24th for the Fish family in Chesaning and then one November 1st for all my peeps in Kalamazoo. We've registered at Babies R Us, Burlington Coat Factory and Walmart. Most of our items are registered at Babies R Us. The registry ladies keep telling us that we haven't registered for nearly enough stuff. It's not all that easy to register. I don't want to seem greedy but wow, this baby is going to need a lot of stuff.
On another note, we have another nephew. Jakob was born last tuesday afternoon. I'll look forward to meeting him when my parents and Emmy and Jake come down here for a couple days in a couple of weeks. At least he'll be about 3 weeks old when I see him and not 3 months like it was when I had to meet the twins (Jack and Miranda.) I just got to meet them a week ago for their baptism. They were wonderful. I have great nieces and nephews... all 6 of them. We've got Connor who just started first grade, Grace who turns 4 in 2 weeks, Emily who just turned 3 and is learning about the adventures of being a big sister, Jack and Miranda who just turned 4 months, then Jake at 1 week. Pretty exciting that the next baby will be Lily.
Adam has been great. I'm only half way done with the pregnancy, but it's exhausting working 45-50 hours a week (i just finished a 7 day stretch and have a 9 day one coming up) and being a baby making factory. I'm very lucky to have a husband who is understanding and picks up some slack for me. He's been working on finishing up the room in the basement for the new office so our upstairs office can be turned into the baby's room. I'm very proud of him.
That's my news for now. Overall, not too much happening yet. I'll try to do a better job of blog updating.