friends.in.need.

Last weekend at our church, my father-in-law and pastor began a series called Facebook. The series is about friendships and our innate need to be relational, and he started last week’s message off talking about the debate on whether or not online social networking sites satisfy this need or not. Although there’s nothing like sitting around and really connecting with a good friend, I am of the opinion that networking sites like Facebook and Twitter can be used to deepen friendships and to reconnect people who may have lost touch over the years. Many people disagree. I also think that they’re a wonderful tool for spreading news quickly, particularly when someone is in need.

Meet precious Noah.

Noah is the 4 month old son of an old friend of mine from high school. Earlier this week, Noah was deliberately shaken by his daycare provider and has been in the hospital since. Noah has a subdural hematoma, retinal damage (the extent is not yet known), and has been having continuous seizures.  They believe the cause of the seizures is swelling in his brain, and because they have not stopped, they are now are considering putting his breathing tube back in and placing him into an induced coma.

Noah’s parents, Mike & Erin, have been continuously posting updates on their Facebook pages and the outpouring of love and prayer I have seen is simply amazing. So I’m posting this to ask for more prayer on their behalf, because I believe that even though you may not know this family, your prayer for them matters. Mike, Erin and Noah need all the prayer they can get right now.

best.valentine’s.day.gift.ever.

About a month ago, I casually mentioned to my husband that it would be really nice to have the house professionally cleaned. Let me say that I NORMALLY keep our house very clean, and that by most standards, it wasn’t that bad. BUT I’ve been exhausted the last 2 months and I’ve gotten pretty behind in my normal upkeep of the house.

Well, when I got home from work last night, I walked into the house and instantly recognized a smell. It was the smell of cleanliness.

Not only did Tim have our house professionally cleaned, but he had a crew do it who normally does post-construction clean up. This is not your run of the mill house cleaning crew, these ladies are serious. When Tim bought his house, he thought he could save some money by handling the clean up himself, but I don’t think he realized how difficult of a task that would be. A whole gang of us cleaned that house, and it looked good, but it never had that brand new house look. And the windows…oh the windows. I tried, Tim’s mom tried, and we could not for the life of us get the windows clean. Until yesterday, there was still writing on some of them from the manufacturer. They were a travesty.

Not any more. Our windows are sweet perfection, inside and out. Every nook and cranny of our home is spotless. Every light fixture was polished, books removed from shelves and dusted and organized, every picture and mirror cleaned, and get this…they even cleaned my TOILET SCRUBBER and the little holder it sits in. It looks like it’s never been used!! Who does that????? They even made the little flower thing with the toilet paper!

If you’re anything like me, you find it very calming and satisfying when your home is really clean, and let me tell you, it feels really nice when you’re not exhausted from doing it yourself. We’re not rich and won’t be hiring a cleaning lady anytime soon, but this was a very special gift from my husband. He understands how much that matters to me, and he knows how much it stresses me out when the house is a mess. AND he knows how tired I must be to let it get so dirty.

I am a happy woman today. I love my husband.

my.friends.are.better.than.your.friends.

This is the email I just received from my friend Erika. Enjoy.

Ashley,

I challenge you to a duel of names.  The duel will take place via email correspondence and will last the duration of Gillie’s pregnancy.  Each turn consists of one player replying to the previous email with the addition of one name on the list.  The submitted name may be first only or first and middle.  Each name shall end with the last name “Tice.”  For the sake of saving the scroll wheel, the list shall be created upside down, with the most recent entry at the top of the list.  A new name may not be submitted until the opposing player has responded with a name.  Until the gender of the baby is determined, submitted names may be intended for either gender.  If gender-specific, please type either (g) or (b) after the submitted name to show gender status.  Unisex names are welcome.  Bonus points are not given for any reason, although humor, alliteration, or witty references are appreciated by all copied on this email.

The winner will be determined in mid-September when the baby is born and a name (obviously from this list) is selected.

What’s that you ask?  A prize?  Why, yes.  The one who submits the selected name shall therefore be known to the baby as “Thou Who Hast Named Me, My Favorite Non-Related Aunt in All the Land.”

Let the duel begin!

1. Owen Wilson Tice (b)

2. Princess Buttercup Tice

3. Bernie Madoff Tice

4. Ray LaMontagne Tice

5.  Andrew Dice Tice

6. TwiceAsNice BillyJoel Tice

7. GOB Bluth Tice

8. Ron Burgundy? Tice

And that, my dear readers, is why my friends are better than your friends.

p.s. I’m just kidding. I love your friends. Heck, I love you too. But my friends are darn funny.

baby.pictures.

We just got back from my first ultrasound! We have a healthy little 1.5 cm baby and his/her heart is beating 156 beats per minute! AND we got to see the baby wiggle around while she was doing it!

How amazing is that?!?

preggers:6.weeks.&.6.days.

I certainly didn’t start this blog thinking it would eventually become a family blog, but alas…it has.

And so, without further ado, I present you with the new and improved shout.out.loud. pregnancy blog. It might not be as exciting for you (all 4 of you), but it’ll be nice to look back later and see how this all panned out. Maybe one day our child will be able to come back and read these updates…as long as this whole internet thing sticks.

Today I am 6 weeks and 6 days pregnant, and today the dreaded morning sickness started. I really thought that if it hadn’t hit by now, it wouldn’t…but apparently I was mistaken. I’m not really clear on why they call it morning sickness b/c it’s afternoon and I’m still feeling pretty sick. They should just call it pregnancy sickness…or maybe just sickness. “I got the sickness.” Yeah, that’ll work.

It’s also snowing like crazy today and there’s actually a nice blanket of snow over the ground, which is highly unusual in “these parts.” In a way, I’m sort of glad I got sick today, b/c otherwise I would have been out driving in this snowy mess…instead, I’m working from home…sitting on the couch in my jammies with a private place to vomit just steps away.

Tomorrow is my 1st prenatal visit…I think we’ll get to listen to the heartbeat!! I’m sure that’ll be overwhelming and emotional, so stay tuned…

potential.baby.names.part.I.

Here’s our list so far…

Boys:

• Jackson
• Mr. T
• Orange Pants

Girls:

• Willow
• Tiny Dancer
• Martha Stewart

As you can see, we’ve really put a lot of thought into this so far. Suggestions are welcomed…

top.ten.things.i.won’t.do.while.pregnant.

1. Talk to people I don’t know about what the baby and I plan to do with my breasts.

2. Let anyone and everyone touch my baby belly. Hands off unless permission is granted!!

3. Start to eat meat again. Plenty of vegans have had very healthy babies. Meat is not the only source of protein, people. Animal protein is great for short term growth, but for “slow and steady wins the race” sort of growth, plant based proteins are best, and plants are jam packed with all the other nutrients baby needs. Animal protein isn’t.

4. Read about all the possible things that could go wrong and worrying myself into a frenzy.

5. Wear jeans that have a giant stretchy panel at the top. I don’t need to wear jeans that bad. Not doing it.

6. Eat whatever I want and as much as I want because “I’m eating for two.” I’ve done the research. I only need 250-300 more calories a day. I will do everything in my power not to turn into a blimp and I will eat healthier than I ever have.

7. Wear a bikini on the beach this summer. I’m not a bikini girl anyway, and there isn’t a chance in you-know-where that I’ll be prancing around on the beach in one at 7  months pregnant. Plenty of other women feel comfortable doing it. I’m not one of those women. Sundress=yes. Skimpy Bikini=Not a chance.

8. Trade in my cute little VW for a minivan. Nuff said.

9. Learn to scrapbook. This child will be well documented, have no qualms about that, but it will photos and videos and blogs. No offence if you’re a scrapbooker…it’s just not for me.

10. Try to be cute and wear high heels. It’s bad for my back, it’ll only get worse as I get more preggers…it’s just time to come to terms with my height. I’m 5′3, not 5′7.  I’m retiring the heels for now.

Another thing I won’t be doing is something that I love…I won’t be teaching spin classes anymore. With all of my back issues and the intensity of the class, I decided it’d be best to stop teaching for now. I still plan to exercise, but I don’t think it’s healthy for pregnant women to exercise at that level of intensity. I will miss my classes for sure, but I think this is the right decision.

That’s all for now.

Next up: Top 10 Things I will do while pregnant.

parenthood.part.one.

And it begins…

Tim just called me and here’s how our conversation went:

Tim: So if “Wilson” is going to be born in the middle of September, that means he’ll be 9 months old in June of 2010. Will he be old enough to go to the beach then?

Me: [laughing] Probably.

Tim: That’s going to be the best summer ever. [pause] When do you think he’ll be able to throw a football?

Yesterday he called me to let me know that he’d already done all the research for college savings funds and that we were good to go. Oh, and he told me he needs to get all those little things that you put in the electrical outlets all over our house.

This is going to be great.

I’ll have to explain the “Wilson” thing later.

suddenly.everything.has.changed.

It’s a little fuzzy, yet so perfectly clear…

Oh, and we’re really excited. Guess I didn’t make that very clear

the.worst.vegan.ever.

In addition to leaving my blog vacant for the last month, I’ve also fallen off of the vegan wagon…and onto the chuck wagon, if you know what I mean. I won’t go into all of the typical excuses, but in my digressions I did manage put a few of the pounds that I lost back on (like 5 or 6).  But I’m starting over TODAY. Not coincidentally, today is the start of my office’s annual Biggest Loser contest. There’s a $2500 shopping spree up for grabs, so let’s just say that I’m “highly motivated.”

So it starts today and ends on March 30th (the contest, not the weight loss). I’ve got a dandy little iPhone app called Lose It that will help me track my calories and weight, so I’ll update on here weekly. I also joined a gym 5 minutes from my house (yes I teach classes at a gym, but that gym is 30 minutes from my house so “running to the gym” is a bit of an ordeal) and have started weight lifting again (I’m SO SORE right now). And, last but not least, I’m planning to do my first Century bike race this fall, so I’ll be starting to train for that sometime soon.

From here on out, I’m good little vegan again and hopefully, the next office Biggest Loser. And also the skinny girl with all the new clothes .