Tips for Studying

Personal Bar Study Tips (Can be applied to pretty much any stressful thing in your life)

1. Eat Meals: no, a Slim.fast shake and a bag of chips for lunch does not count (and from personal experience it really don’t make you feel very well)
2. Brush your teeth twice a day: I mean it, even if you forget until noon…do it then.
3. If you can’t remember the last time you took a shower it’s time.
4. Stay organized, things can fall apart quickly if you don’t. Even if it looks like chaos to the outside world, if you have a method stick to it.
5. Finally, remember that this too shall pass, and even though it seems all consuming now, in a few weeks you will have post traumatic stress disorder and are likely to have blocked out the whole bloody mess!

Ryan's new trick

Notice how in the first few baskets he dances a little after it goes in. :)

10 Random Things About Me... now 25 Things

So there is this thing going around on Facebook where you have to name 10 things about yourself that people might not know (modern day chain letter). I have been tagged a few times; I’m going to respond here because I don’t want to tag anyone else:

1. Every time I go to get my haircut I want to do something different but I wuss out and get the exact same haircut
2. I am afraid of being in murky water because think I might step on a dead body.
3. I don’t like olives or grape juice
4. My husband, father, father-in-law and uncle-in-law are all named Don.
5. I only like really happy movies, if something sad happens in a movie I feel so bad for the character that I can’t enjoy the rest of the movie (yes I understand they are actors and not actually experiencing the bad thing). I am so out of control that I don’t like watching sports games anymore because I feel bad for the losing team.
6. I have never been arrested and I have never gotten a speeding ticket.
7. I’ve always wanted to go to New Zealand
8. I like the mountains more then the beach.
9. When I get bored I decorate rooms in my head
10. Don is the best person I know and I hope Ryan turns out a lot like him.

Apparently I was supposed to say 25 things, so let's see if I can come up with 15 more things:

1. I am afraid of pitch black, not because of monsters or bad people but because I am afraid I have gone blind.
2. I get obsessed with things like The Office and the Twilight series and can watch every season of a show (I watched the office in a weekend- like the whole series) and read 700 hundred page books in a day.
3. I laugh out loud when I read something funny… even while in public
4. I sing in the car
5. Most of my friends live hundreds of miles away from me which makes me sad
6. I love Greek food (especially when in Greece)
7. I can’t garden; in fact I think plants might just die when I walk by them.
8. I have really vivid dreams involving places, people and things I haven’t thought about in a really long time
9. I would rather go through labor again then have to take the bar
10. I love Pajamas and I am afraid that if left to my own devises I would never change out of them
11. My brother understands me probably more then anyone else ever will
12. I haven’t lost my pregnancy weight after 8 months but I still believe I will
13. I love ice cream (which doesn't help #12)
14. I don’t have any idea what I am going to do job-wise in my life and I’m okay with that.
15. I once looked at a picture myself and thought it was my mom.

Playing with Friends

Here is a picture of Ryan playing with his friends.

These are the children of the women I met at prenatal yoga; the boys are all about the same age. It is fun to see then interact together. There was lots of noise, drool and very few tears which marks a good day. Ryan wasn't so sure about these other kids coming in and playing with his toys but he did like all the commotion in the house. After they left he went around the room and played with every toy that they had touched as if to reclaim it as his own. Moral of this story... we really need to have kids come over more often so Ryan doesn't turn into a spoiled kid who doesn't share:)
After the bar, I swear I will make it happen!

American Idol

In case you were wondering, I am NOT the next American Idol.

Here is how my dream of stardom came to an end: The other day I was putting Ryan to sleep. We were rocking on his rocking chair and I decided to sing him a song, I thought I could sing so I thought it might lull him to sleep. I start to sing, and Ryan with his eyes half mast looked at me for a moment, took his pacifier out of his mouth and stuck it in my mouth. Then he laughed. You know you shouldn’t be singing when your 8 month old tries to stop you.

Oh well, I guess I will just have to give up on that dream and go to my fall back of being an attorney.

Enjoying the Sun After the Snow

Ryan's First Snow

Hand in the snow! Catching snow in his mouth. He is using the snow as just another opportunity to eat :)

I think we are at about 4 inches

This is our first big snow in 5 years and Ryan gets to experience it! We got him all bundled and he loved it! He put his hand in the snow and didn't seem cold at all! He is still trying to figure out what is going on.

History

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
- President (Elect until tomorrow) Obama

I am really excited that Ryan will have this chance to experience what seems to be such a turning point in our history. I hope that we can live up to the hype and work together to change this country, something that is so necessary right now. So here is to going out each day and doing what you can to make the day of even one person better, if everyone did we would be a lot better off.
Well, I am going back into my hole to study now. I thought I was on a good track and then hit a memory roadblock... so I must re-focus and hope that I start to retain information again soon.

Real Laugh

[This is actually Don posting!] Make sure you have the sound ON for this video.

Today I decided to make a strange noise to Ryan, and for some reason he thought it was hilarious! This is the first time I have gotten him to laugh like this (without tickling him).

The video is not great, as he would only laugh when I was making a strange noise AND holding him. :) Enjoy!

8 Months Old Today!

My baby is growing up!

Standing

Ryan has a new trick! He likes to stand when he plays with his toys. Unfortunately his legs aren't strong enough to hold his body up for long. So until they get a bit stronger I have taken the legs off some of his toys so he has less far of a fall :) I can't believe he can pull himself up into a stand already!
Also, It's my birthday which Ryan enjoys.. he gets to play with fun bows (this one from Sarah Cate) and I gave him a little cake (shhh don't tell)

How I Feel About the Bar

This is how I feel about the bar exam studying

This is how I feel about my what I know of the law so far.... I get the general stuff but I keep forgetting the details :)

Busy Family

I might be a little hard to find until March. I am going to try and update when I can, but life has gotten pretty busy.
I have class from 6-9:30 every week night and then class 9-5 on Saturdays. Then I have to study during the day for the upcoming class. It doesn’t leave me a lot of blogging time.
I have hired an amazing nanny who comes in on Tuesday and Thursday (I think I might ask her to come in Wednesdays also) Ryan wasn’t sure about it the first day she came but now he has a lot of fun. She brings her 2 year old daughter and now Ryan is trying to do things how the big kid does them. I think he likes the change of routine and the fact that he is now the center of someone else’s day.
My brother comes and takes care of Ryan on Fridays and Don gets weekends. Mondays are mine and I am trying hard to hold onto them. I just have to remember that after February he is mine again and I don’t have to share as much!
Ryan seems to have grown up a lot recently. He has started feeding himself his bottle; he can also eat some finger foods now that he has his two (sharp) front teeth. He can crawl from one place to another, and even more importantly he can sit up whenever and wherever he wants. He also says “Mama” whenever he is complaining or tired, not directed at me yet but at least he has the sound down.

Growing up

Why does my 7 1/2 month old baby look like he is a toddler in this picture? He is growing up so fast.