Baby Names

Alright. So after three and a half months.. i have managed to come up with a few options for our baby's name... lemme know what ya think..

Girl:
Alexis Nikole Sheppard
Eva Ryann Sheppard
Leighla Nikole Sheppard (pronounced lay-luh)

And Boy:
Justin TK Sheppard -- instead of doing a third, i thought this is still a good way to show honor to the tradition...
Justin Kirby Sheppard -- TK really likes Kirby.. so we - I - thought maybe for a middle name.
Aiden Cole Sheppard

got any other ideas for us? i'm seriously at a dead end at this point...

Oh and start casting your vote.. BOY or GIRL????

peace, love, and cookiedough.

the upset man at the bottom of the can

Alright. So I enjoy olives. Black olives, really, green olives make me squirm-don't ask me why. ANYWHO. So every once in a while, I'll pull a can of olives out of the pantry and just have at it. (I also do this with canned pears, peaches, pineapple, ect.)

So the other night, I was feeling like some olives and opened the can. Being a good wife, I went to offer TK some. He had one and then headed to get ready for the shower. When he got out and came into the living room, he looked toward the side table on my left and observed the empty olive can. He flipped! I mean, the dude lost it. He was mifted. Said I "teased him" by only giving him one and that he had no idea that when he came out they'd all be gone.

Psh. Shows me. First- never offer something without a disclosure, "take what you want now, for if you don't it may not be there later.... i AM pregnant you know." and Second- always make sure we have extra cans of something that i intend to finish off... I always have to learn things the hard way..

Peace, Love, Cookiedough.

Save Water: Bathe With A Friend

TK and I are living on a budget (just like everyone else in the world) right now and in order to save on some bills, I have done a little thinking and figured I would share my findings in case anyone else would like to take advantage of the savings..

Energy/Water:

1. Use (if you have it) the timer on your thermostat. Take the time to read the manual and figure out how to set your temperature on a timer so that it doesn't waist heat/air while you're not needing it. Ex: turn the heat down a few degrees while you're curled up in your warm bed or turn it off completely while no ones home and set it to turn back on an hour before you're expected to return.

2. Seal up any holes in doorways or windows. One thing you can also do isput cellophane wrap or w/e on your windows in the winter. thats supposed to help keep warm in and cool out!!

3. Take shorter showers. The hot water is damaging to your already dry skin anyway!

4. Layer up, even indoors. Socks/Slippers = amazing. Never underestimate the power of keeping the feets warm!!

5. When baking in the oven, cut the oven off and just let the remaining heat cook the food for the remaining 10 mintues. Leave it in an extra minute or two if necessary. But ovens take up SO much energy!!


Groceries/Food:

1. Become a club member. Wether it be at a bulk store like Sam's or Costco or even just your local grocery store, join their club if they have one. TK and I the other day went in for a quick run, spent $25 bucks, but saved $8. Can't really beat that. Especially since signing up is free at most grocery stores.

2. Take an hour or 2 to browse through coupons. Tale as old as time and yet still some of us never make the time. If time is money, why not take time to SAVE the money??

3. Don't eat out! Ask around for some good recipes, google some of your favorite restaurant's recipes or just browse through the thousands of blogs dedicated to food.

4. Take a snack with you in your purse, in your car, anywhere you might be. This keeps from buying frivolously. On your way to an appointment and you're so hungry... you'll just pick up a thing of fries at mc Donalds. but then you see the picture of that Big n' Tasty and it just looks SOOOO tasty. OH and that milkshake.. MMMMM... $7 and a side of heartburn later.. you're regretting not having a bag of cereal in the car and so is your budget.

5. Biggest Food wasting mistakes: Don't throw away the left overs but eat them before they rot. And don't let that cheese go to waste--use it for all the millions of recipes that call for it.. Don't go to the store so hungry that you buy anything and everything that you've ever enjoyed in your life just to get it all home, pack your fridge, and don't even make a dent in your home grocery store before it all starts smelling up the place.

Random Expenditures:

1. Clothes: Try the Goodwill/D.I./Plato's Closet/ect. every once in a while to get a good bargain. Vintage is still in and some gently used clothes are way cute.

2. Gym: In those warm months, try getting outside!! Enjoy the world that God made for us instead of staring at the backside of that large sweaty man who refuses to wear a full covering T-Shirt as opposed to his belly shirt that he claims to be a "motivation lifter"

3. Date Night: Once again, try making your own food. Take turns or even cook together. Learn a new recipe together!! Go on a walk. Instead of going to the movies and spending $40 a person and your firstborn child's liver, try looking for a REDBOX ((absolutely the most amazing thing ever, $1 movie rentals!!)) and take your laptop with you for a drive. Park somewhere with a view and watch a movie on the go--almost drive-in style.

Welp, I'm tired of blogging now. Hope it helped? or at least reminded you of some stuff you could be doing too..

Peace, love, and cookiedough.

My New Best Friend

hahahaha. ok. so yes you can all call me as crazy as you would like, and make fun of me to no end, but the other day, at the mall, I picked up my new best friend.

It's always so difficult to find one that is just right for you but I really think I did it this time.. You always take some time to try one another out and make sure its a good fit, but you can never really tell until you spend a LOT of time together and even go through some rough nights.

Yes, it may have been a little rushed seeing as how we were just introduced, but that night, our relationship was put the the test and I was provided with the most comfort and happiness I had ever received. My friend is just so soft and strong and gentle. Trust me, you'd fall in love too.

As long as you're not too judgmental. I mean, I found a yellow one. She just, reminded me of summer and I could really use some sunshine in my life right now. (its still cold outside :( and i don't like it.)

Ok, ok, ok. I got my new best friend at Victoria's Secret. Its called Body By Victoria Demi. Its so soft and comfy and supportive and its been so long since i've actually had a good bra!!!! And we just couldn't be happier together :)

Peace, Love, and Cookiedough.

Rainbows Amongst Storm Clouds

The week has been ridiculous.

It has been covered in precipitation and germs.

All last weekend, and all this week, North Carolina has gotten quite the weather reports. Between the snow, the sleet, the "slush mess" that they all seem to claim as a real thing, and rain... i'm about to start looking up Noah's in the phonebook... It has been a dreary week full of lots of cabin fever as well as a few fevers of 102 and up...

Monday Jeanette didn't want me to come into work 1. because the weather was dreadful and she didn't want me risking the roads (in NC when you get any icy droppings its considered a fright to maneuver in... which i sort of see, but mainly its because no one out here knows how to drive in it and would rather keep it that way.. yes there are certain roads that I would steer clear from due to massive inclines and severe turns .... but i digress) where was I? right. and 2. because both my nanny girls were sick. They have been a mess of mucus all week, poor little angels. And Kelsie, the youngest, has been running a fever for about three days. And then I am just full of raging hormones that only seem to cause me to be uptight and have constant migraines and "morning" sickness ---and yes if i were reading this aloud to you I would actually put up air quotes and sound very bitter and sarcastic in saying "morning" because "morning" sickness is just a load of bull due to the fact that only the morning part can really be justified as "morning sickness" whereas they still persist on using the term when it does in fact happen ALL FREAKING DAY LONG!!!

ahem, but i digress again.

SO. Amongst all the storm clouds.... its wonderful to come home to TK who one day had cleaned the entire apartment (which is quite a feat.. we've been lazy and hadn't fully cleared out our living room of all of the random crap we removed from our cars when we moved in..) including getting rid of said crap, organizing the living room, cleaning the kitchen, doing the dishes, wiping down the counters, sweeping the floors, and scrubbing the toilet and sink. Upon viewing the beautiful new apartment I had just entered, I was instructed to take a long hot shower and relax while he made me dinner.

And another night we just went off to the movies... "when in rome" cute but not too cutesy. Pretty funny too. I liked it.

So, that's the bulk of my week folks. Hope ya'll had a good one!

Peace, love, and cookiedough.

With all the gloomy weather and icky feelings

Hey Guess What Guys!!

--I'M PREGNANT!!

hahaha.. (i realize that for many who look at this blog, this is super old news; but hey, at least i'm finally posting it. ha)

After being married for... seven? months.. we got pregnant. No, it was not planned. In fact, before we got married, I had an IUD inserted to prevent this exact thing. It was supposed to last for 10 years (unless removed sooner) and its accuracy was 99.9% And so yes, we are that 00.1% hahaha. yay.

But, we were quite scared at the beginning... one thing about getting pregnant with an IUD, you are at a VERY high risk for an ectopic pregnancy. So we were very scared. I was 6 weeks along before we finally (and i say finally just because we were so stressed. I realize you normally don't get one until 20 weeks or so) got an ultrasound that proved to us that our baby was in the perfect position. It had not only become fertilized despite the efforts of my IUD, but it had managed to push the IUD out of its original spot so that it could be where it should.



(as you can see. the peanut to the left in the black circle, thats our baby... about 8 weeks ago... and that shiney, bright, sword looking thing, thats the IUD... it fails.

Now was just the risk of the removal procedure. After the IUD was removed (and some time had passed) we were able to once again be relieved that all was going well with the baby and me.

And although we hadn't planned for it, we couldn't be happier!

And now.. I am officially (as of today) in my 2nd trimester. The nausea is still there... :( but its not as bad as it could be. Instead of throwing up often, i just have an upset stomach constantly.

We are gathering a list of possible names, I'm browsing websites.. page shopping? (would that be the electronic version of "window-shopping"?), i've been reading Parents magazines from cover to cover, hahaha... and i've even been researching baby sign language.. I'm very excited!! And its so freaking adorable when TK acts like a little daddy. It all just makes me so happy... but i can't believe my ears when he puts his hand on my stomach and says.. "why can't you be nice to mommy? stop making her stomach hurt." -- Mommy.. what? me? its crazy to think about.

Peace, Love, and Cookiedough.

oh and no baby bump yet. haha. i've had plenty requests for pictures of it, but so far, its just me. haha sorry kids!

scarves and snowboots

TK and I have thoroughly enjoyed our long weekend of worthlessness.

It all started Friday evening when I got home from nannying, TK and I were just hanging out for the hour or so together before he left for work. He got all ready to go and walked out the door. Within seconds he was back inside, "Did you know it was snowing?!" hahaha. A full inch or more had already fallen within the hour. He called up to work to see if they were still needing people to come in and his manager told him he was trying to cut back a lot of hours and he'd just get rid of TK's shift. :) yay. ha. we got to enjoy the evening watching the snow fall, sipping hot cocoa (with coffeemate creamer because that's the way we did it in Hawaii and its the best way to drink cocoa as far as i'm concerned), and watchin a movie 500 days of summer- cute movie.

The next morning was Saturday. And normally I'd be getting up and going to work at the Mall; however, due to our latest, most riviting news--i'm pregnant--I quit that job a few weeks back to be able to have at least one day of complete relaxation and laziness :) TK was supposed to go into work again at 4; however, they didn't need people to come in and again his shift was cut. Also, our church leaders called us to inform us that all sunday meetings were canceled due to weather and not to show up. So Saturday night, we caught up on our TV shows, thanks to HULU.com, and watched the boys are back--also cute, a little more... sad.. i guess is the best way to put it, but i liked it nonetheless.

On Sunday, we decided to brave the roads and go visit the long lost in-laws.. it was good to see them and enjoy their company. TK played many different games with his little sisters, and I got a lot of tasks checked of my "Mommy-Do" list.. hahaha. one of the larger tasks including making a giant list of all of the "one-time expendatures" needed for the baby, such as crib, stroller, diaperbag, ect. and price checking them to get a good range of what we need to be budgeting for. Sunday night, my nanny family informed me that Jeanette, the mom, probably wouldn't be going into work due to the roads and that I shouldn't bother risking a wreck to get there.

So this morning, I slept in.. until 8:30.. baby baby! hahaa.. but it felt good regardless. And after being sluggish, I decided i ought to update my blog. :)

Welp, thats our weekend. Hope yours was wonderful!

Peace, love, and cookiedough.