it's been a long day's night...

and i've been working like a dog.

apologies for not updating on a more scheduled manner, but c'est la vie.

i am officially out of work on maternity leave and man, am i excited. i cannot wait to have our little bundle of joy here with me all day and night. i am a bit nervous about the delivery but that's to be expected with my first child.

i'm having the wonderful hubby, drew, my momma, debra and his momma, kim in the delivery room with me so i have nothing to fear. my mother has 3 kids and kim is the proud momma of 12! with their experience and guidance from above i know all will be well.

here's a little background on me/my life. i am married to drew (5-15-10) and we live in a nice suburb of the big city with our chihuahua mix, sweet pea. up until today i worked a full time customer service job for a regional electronic service center in east big city, drew works full time as a boxer in the shipping department of a computer repair company in another nice suburb of the big city, about 20 minutes away from home.

i have 2 sisters, lacie (27) and kaitlyn (23). i am the middle child, my parents are debra and jeff. they've been divorced since 1994 but (magically) remain very good friends. my dad has never remarried and lives in a small town with his dog spanky and cat sophie (who just had 4 kittens!) the small town is about 20 minutes away, my mom lives in the village within the small town a few minutes drive from my dad. she has remarried twice since my parents got divorced and is on husband #3! his name is jim, they all went to high school together. they have no pets and are building their own house on a small lake about 5 minutes away from the village. my sister lacie and her son d live right around the block from my mom and jim who are still in the house i was raised in, in the village. my sister kait lives with a bunch of friends in the little city about 20 minutes from me and from the small town. coincidently, drew's family also lives in the small town about 2 minutes drive from my dad's house.

drew's parents, tom and kim, and thier kids live right down/on the same road as my dad. drew has 4 brothers and 7 sisters: pat (24), michelle (22), val (20), liz (19), luke (17), carrie (15), jake (13), eileen (12), olivia (10), danielle (4), and sean (2). (disclaimer: all ages are approximate, i am so bad at remembering ages) and i love them all dearly. sometimes i feel closer to drew's family than my own but i love them in different ways. i even considered having some of drew's sisters in the wedding party but not my own, this was quickly kiboshed by my mother.

pat and his fiancee alex (20) live in the big city and they both work at a one of the city's hospitals, but not the one i am delivering at-it is right next door however. they are both hoping to be working when i have the baby so they can just walk over to visit. they rent the bottom of a 2 family house and live there with their dog, ulrich (not sure on the spelling, pronounced yur-rick) they are set to be married this november and are very excited!

michelle lives at home with the family, but just recently applied for and got a full time job at the wholesale store she works at in the little city and will be applying for a transfer to another store in the same suburb of the big city that drew works in. she and her boyfriend, cory and planning on moving out on their own at the end of summer.

val recently moved in with kim's parents at the north side of city because she just started aesthetics school which is in a plaza across from grandma judy and grandpa keith. she dates a nice man named john.

liz (on down) also lives in the small town. she just spent (most of) a year in norway at the main center of their family's church (www.brunstad.org). she's spending the summer at the local conference center working as a handywoman doing general maintenance along with others her age. i admire liz's tenacity for her faith and her good will.

luke's a generally awesome kid, very dependable. very much involved in video games and computers, much to drew's delight. they often have video game night.

carrie is a subject of much consternation among the older family members. some think she is headed down the wrong path, some blame bad parenting, some think she is just figuring out things for herself. personally i think it's a combination of all. val went through the same sort of phase at the same age and val has been able to do right in the past few years. i think both of them still have issues to be worked out, but carrie has not yet gotten herself into an undesirable situation.

jake is much like his older brothers. the silly one, he can make anyone laugh.

eileen recently has become kinder and less like val, much to my surprise and excitement. eileen at one time could cut you with harsh words as val used to do and i am glad to see her with a much more positive outlook.

olivia is quiet and sweet. more quiet as of late, she was the closest to their uncle billy who commited suicide in march of 09, on her birthday. she seems to be healing and dealing well this particular demon. i know she will overcome, she has a strong heart.

danielle is an angel and looks like one too. quite possibly the most beautiful of all the kids with her blonde hair, blue eyes and dimples. we have to be careful not to give her too much of a complex.

sean is the youngest and is so much fun. often found playing in the dirt in only a diaper, he is very excited to become an uncle.

well, thats the short version.