That Much Closer to Being a MILF

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And to all a good night...

Merry Christmas!!

Today was one of those days that was full of moments I wished we could freeze and put into a time capsule to be re-lived whenver we're feeling down or just want to have a magical moment. When we got up this morning J of course had no idea that it was Christmas. However he knew something was up because TH and I were in great spirits (after J "slept in" until 7:15am, which is a record. How sad, that's what we consider sleeping in now). J was appropriately awe-struck by all of the toys and gifts under the tree...he has no clue what Santa is but he knows a new toy when he sees one. By 10am he was totally overwhelmed by the whole scene of opening gifts and watching us open gifts, and he was exhausted. It was funny - one minute he was running around like a madman, the next minute he was laying on his back on the kitchen floor with a paper towel over his face going, "night-night." (I cannot describe how much easier it is to do the whole nap thing when they can actually tell you when they're tired. Those of you who know that up until he was a year old J was the King of No-Nap Land understand what I'm talking about. But I digress.)

I made a huge breakfast for me and TH with pancakes from scratch and big ham steaks, and then we just cuddled up on the couch watching Christmas movies. The only thing that could have made it better would have been snow falling outside. Dang we miss Colorado at this time of year. Yes, I just said "dang."

The rest of the day consisted of lots of lounging around playing with toys, drinking hot chocolate, eating lots of junk, and basically hibernating together. (The eating of junk was a family affair--we discovered today that J loves Reese's peanut butter cups, hot chocolate, chips 'n salsa, and corn dogs with maple syrup. Who knew?) And I'm happy to say there was not one single tantrum. By bedtime J was more than happy to get into bed without a struggle and he fell asleep within 3 minutes. All in all, it was a good day.

Ok, ok, I know what you really check the blog for is the pictures so here we go (I was going to post a video but couldn't get it to work):

Staged Pre-Game Christmas Morning pic that Yoda ruined. As evidenced by his impeccable cat timing you can see that he does this on purpose.

Staged Pre-Game Christmas Morning Pic Take 2.

Could you have a better reaction to a teddy bear? Seriously one second later he was actually kissing it. (Thank you, Granny!)

Completely engrossed in his new Magna Doodle-like thingy. He LOVES this toy. (Thank you, Auntie B!)

The best Christmas gift Mommy and Daddy could ever want.

"Cleaning up" with his new toy vacuum. Another big hit. Who knew cleaning could be so much fun? (Thanks, Auntie D!) (Also notice the new Elmo slippers - yes he wore them all day and yes he went to bed with them on. Score on the last-minute, impulse, Mommy at Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve gift!)

Happy Holidays!!

So unpredictable...

I guess J must have read my blog the other day and felt bad, because for the past 3 days we have been (almost) tantrum-free. We had one minor scuffle last night before bed but I always chalk those up to over-tiredness so he gets a pass on that one. This age is so unpredictable. Just when I hunker down and get ready for weeks (or months, or years) of daily tantrums, he reverts back to his old sweet self. Of course as soon as he has me lulled into a false sense of security where I forget how bad the tantrums really were, he'll come out of nowhere with a major blowup in the middle of a quiet restaurant or something.

J's personality is really starting to come out now that he can talk a little bit. I never knew how much a toddler who can't string a sentence together could make me laugh. Last night he had me and TH in stitches. We turned off all the lights and gave him a flashlight to play with and he kept holding it up to his face and going "yeah" in this really deep voice like Barry White. It may not sound funny but it was HILARIOUS. Then he was hugging both of us and saying "love you!" all night long, and when we put him to bed and were leaving his room he called out "ni-night, Mommy" which was a first and it was so sweet...

Maybe I'll try to catch the flashlight thing on video later. Either that, or I'll tape a really bad tantrum and just put it aside, to be pulled out at some inopportune moment 15 years from now when his cool friends come over.

Ultimate Fighting Champion

I had a client a few weeks ago who brought in a cat for a nail trim. That's it. Just the nail trim. When I asked her why she brought this seemingly sweet little cat across town just for us to cut his nails, she replied, "Just wait til you see what happens when you get him back there. He's an Ultimate Fighting Champion." I thought this was hilarious (and it turned out to be true - that cat sent two of my techs to Urgent Care before the day was through).

However, as of this morning, J is the new UFC of Las Vegas. Here's the play-by-play from this morning:

Round 1: J wakes up cranky wanting a cup of milk, stat. (For non-medical people, that means ASAP!!). He starts crying when TH turns the TV from Jojo's Circus to ESPN (oh, the horror). TH manages to wrestle a new diaper and clothes onto him without getting any of the copious snot the tantrum is producing on J's clothes.
Winner: TH by one point.

Round 2: J starts clinging to my legs while I'm putting on makeup wanting "up," and I manage to get ready one-handed with him on my hip the whole time. It looks like I'm winning, but wait! J comes out of the corner with the flailing legs, kicks me in the stomach (I think on accident), falls to the ground and pulls everything on the counter down with him! He finishes with a stunning come-from-behind move that results in me dropping my loaded toothbrush on the floor in a pile of cat hair.
Winner: J

Round 3: Now it's getting good, people. Everything seems calm - J is in his booster seat happily eating oatmeal and singing "yummy, YUMMY, yummy, YUMMY." So far I'm on time to get out of the house and to daycare/work. How will it end? I go to clean J up and put his shirt back on (no shirt for oatmeal), and that's when all hell breaks loose. J comes at me with some kind of toddler evasive maneuver that looks suspiciously like a left hook and succeeds in not getting his arms in the shirt. I let him out of the booster seat and he slides to the floor screaming "noooo!!" with the shirt around his neck, then he lets loose a barrage of kickboxing moves - a left, a right, then a combo followed by a roundhouse!! This is amazing folks!! The kid is wearing Mommy down, she's staggering...AND SHE'S DOWN!!! J WINS THE MATCH!! MOMMY IS NOW 10 MINUTES LATE WITH NO HOPE OF MAKING IT TO WORK ON TIME!! AND SHE HASN'T HAD TIME FOR BREAKFAST OR COFFEE!! THIS...KID...IS...AMAZING!! And the crowd of 1-year-olds goes wild.

Sigh...I'll take a fractious crazy Satanic cat over a toddler in full-on meltdown any day.

It's so much better with a kid.

I'm loving Christmas this year. J is so much more aware of what's going on and really getting into it. He doesn't understand Santa but knows what he looks like, so whenever we see anyone in a Santa suit (even animals) he points and says "Santa!" We put up our tree last weekend and he oohed and aahed just like I hoped, pointing out all of the colors of the ornaments...and then taking them off the tree and throwing them on the ground. At that point I turned into my own mother, threatening: "If you touch those ornaments one more time, I'm going to take the tree down. Is that what you want? No Christmas tree?" For once the threats worked, now he stands in front of the tree wagging his finger "no no no no!" I'm not sure if I should be proud of that or not...

Here are a couple of pics of the tree and a funny video from this morning of J helping to "decorate" the tree. Notice the lack of presents under the tree...we're getting into the spirit but apparently not enough for me to get in gear and finish shopping.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The highs and lows of having a toddler...

Right now J is at a very "difficult" age. I know, I know, he's not really in the terrible 2's just yet but the frustration level some days is pretty high in our house. He can talk...sort of. He can let us know what he does and doesn't want....sort of. He responds to beginning discipline methods like time-outs...sort of. We're averaging at least 1 or 2 major blowups a day now, over the smallest things. It's like trying to interact with someone from another culture. You're both people so you have the same basic wants and needs, but there are subtle differences that are hard to articulate when you don't speak the same language. Add to that all of the various rules and regulations of proper social behavior in this new culture and well...even another adult might have a meltdown here and there.

On the flip side, TH and I are in constant awe of how quick they develop at this age. J's vocabulary literally seems to grow overnight. His retention for things he's learned is also exponentially growing every day. For instance, on his walls I painted a border of jungle animals and last week when he got up from his nap we were learning the animals: lion ("lye-nin"), zebra ("beeba"), giraffe ("rath"), and elephant ("meh-fint" or something garbled like that). We haven't talked about the animals again since then. Cut to today -- we put up our Christmas tree and I have some jungle animal ornaments my mom sent me way back in vet school. J was looking at the tree and suddenly said "lye-nin!" Then a few minutes later, "beeba!!". It seems small but I was floored, because these are not exactly every day words in our house.

He's also counting. Really counting. His favorite book for months now is one by Brainy Baby about numbers. This book goes EVERYWHERE. Church, daycare, the car, bed, you name it. He used to be able to just repeat the numbers when we said them. Now he actually can go from 1 to 10 in order, by himself. Without prompting. I don't know if other 19 month olds can do this but either way it impresses me every single time he does it.

These are the things that you don't know about before you have kids. The meltdowns, screaming fits, and crying jags are not as hard to deal with as I thought they would be, because they're overshadowed by all of the learning, developing, and advancing that's going on at the same time (hmm, am I talking about me or J here?). J can have tantrums all day long and it's totally forgotten when he out of the blue says, "love you!" like he did yesterday. I guess this kid is growing on me after all:)

As promised here are some pics from Saturday.

Okay, first a disclaimer -- I did not take any of the race pictures. TH was responsible for that. For whatever he reason he "forgot" to take pictures of the crowd of 7,500 Santas or me running along the race route. He did get one action shot of me coming around the last corner but it didn't save to the camera for some reason. So these are the best we got, folks. Sorry.

Mommy and J right after the race....Notice the water bottle. That water bottle should win some kind of toddler award, along the lines of "Singlehandledy Responsible for One of the Biggest Public Tantrums Ever When Mommy Tried to Pry It Out of J's Hands to Drink Out of It."

What up, Santa?
Smiling, or About To Throw A Fit? You make the call.

J sleeping in the car after the race. He had such a good time.

Mommy and J dressed up for holiday photos. Sadly these were better than the ones we paid for at JCPenneys. (J's wardrobe courtesy of Granny, who actually overnighted the HANDMADE outfit from Alaska to Las Vegas so it would be here by Friday.)

The first mile is the hardest...

Soooo.....where were you on Saturday? Me, I was dressed up like Santa Claus, and along with about 10,000 of my Santa friends running through downtown Vegas. That's right -- I finished the race!!! And it was awesome. I had 3 goals:
1) Finish the whole thing without stopping to walk.
2) Look good in the Santa suit.
3) Not come in last.
Okay, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. I'm sorry but a cheap crushed velvet Santa suit worn over jogging pants is not going to be cute on anyone. Honestly I kind of had the stuffed sausage thing going on, but oh well. I did manage to run the whole thing, and there were at least a few hundred people behind me:). I have to say I was pretty proud of myself when I came across the finish line. Nothing beats coming around the last corner and seeing J and TH jumping up and down waving, saying "Yay Mommy!! You did it!!" Man, that was great. J had a great time at the race, strolling around Fremont Street saying, "Santa! Santa! Santa! Doggie!" (yes there were Santa dogs, too.). There were a few tense moments of Random Tantrum On The Street Over Refusing to Hold Mommy's Hand, but even that couldn't but a damper on the event. It was pretty much a perfect morning (they even had free Starbucks --free! Starbucks! -- at the finish line. I'm definitely running this one again next year.)

Which brings us to the B side of what was an otherwise lovely day. After the race I had the day off so we went to JCPenney's for Christmas photos. What. A. Fiasco. We had such a great experience there last year when J was only
7 months old. He smiled and laughed at the right times, and we got so many great shots. This year, different story. He wasn't bad, exactly, just....extremely uncooperative. He kept running at the camera, trying to run out of the room, and throwing the plastic ornaments they gave him to hold. Then they wanted him to sit in a little chair which he did, until they said "smile" and then he would pop up saying "I see you!!"...which was cute, but impossible to get a good picture. So we ended up with only one shot of us and one shot of him that were decent. Sheesh. Toddlers.

I'll be posting a bunch of pics from the race later...

Sunday Randomness

Thanksgiving was great this year, albeit a bit different than what we're used to. For the first time in awhile we didn't have any friends or family coming over and we weren't travelling for the holiday, so it was just me, TH, and J. I still cooked the whole traditional turkey meal (which was fabulous if I do say so myself), but it was kind of strange having that much food for just us. It was kind of lonely, but on the flip side I really loved all of us being home on the same day for once. Since before vet school I've always worked on the weekends, so it's rare for TH and I to have 2 days in a row together.

So we found out one of the advantages of having a toddler at Christmas time. They're so oblivious to the whole thing that you don't have to hide the gifts! We went shopping today and we bought a few Christmas gifts for J...right in front of him. We just put them in the cart and now they're in a bag in plain sight in the living room, and he has no idea that a)they're toys or b)they're for him.

Lastly...THE RACE IS ONLY 6 DAYS AWAY!! I ran around the neighborhood today and although the run wasn't too bad, I got horrible shin splints. I hope that doesn't happen on Saturday, I really want to finish this thing without (major) pain. Here is a link to the event's website; there are great pics of last year's race with all of the Santas. The countdown is on....
http://www.opportunityvillage.org/content/?c=29

Random J Video of the Week:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanks Be to God

There are so many things I am thankful for this year, I don't know if I have enough room in this blog. However, of course, I will try:)

Things I Thank God for Every Day:

• The blessing that is our little family. The last 18 months have not always been easy as any parent knows, but I have never felt more blessed or fulfilled. I thank God CONSTANTLY for TH and J and all of the love, happiness, and joy they bring me.
• Our family's continued health. 2006 was such a tumultuous year with TH's illness and everyone in the family seemingly spending time in the hospital. Although TH's mother has had to spend some time in the hospital again this year I am still thankful that for the most part everyone is getting the treatment they need and things are looking up.
• My new job. Before, I complained to TH every single day about something that bothered me with my old job. I would actually sit in the parking lot sometimes feeling nauseous at the thought of going in and spending another day there. I was constantly questioning my decision to go back after having J, and I felt so much guilt that I was leaving him in daycare so I could go to a job I hated. In the past year since I have been at the new clinic, I have never complained about work. Not one single time. Nuff said.
• Having a roof over our heads and money in the bank (for the most part). In my first post I complained about the housing market out here in LV but I have always been grateful that we have a nice home with great landlords. If we have to rent for a little while longer, it's not a bad situation to be in.
• Harry Potter Book 7. Ok so I don't actually thank God for this one every day, but I was so happy that J.K. Rowling ended one of my favorite book series so perfectly. For once I wasn't disappointed, and for that I am always thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What's Your Favorite Christmas/Holiday Movie?

Mine is The Santa Clause, the first one. Yes, I know, it's cheesy, but I just LOVE this movie. Me and J watched it the other day (well I watched it while J ran around reprimanding the poor cat, his new favorite thing. "Nononono Yoda!" he says while wagging his finger. Too cute. Anyway.) I'm not kidding, there are parts of the film where I actually start to well up. Maybe it's the circumstances under which I first saw The Santa Clause. It was 10-11 years ago and TH and I were in college (yikes I can't believe college was TEN YEARS AGO) and we randomly rented this movie, which being ten years ago was on VHS...ah, memories. We snuggled up in TH's dorm room with hot chocolate and snow falling outside, and we watched it. And then rewound it (for all you kids that's where you push "rewind" and wait a few minutes for the tape to spool back to the beginning. As a dinosaur walks outside.). And watched it again. Twice. We weren't even engaged yet, that came a few years later, but I think the seeds were planted that day. I mean, what are the chances I would find another adult who wants to watch The Santa Clause over and over again?

A close second for me is White Christmas, which was my number one for a long time, until I discovered the magic of Tim Allen in a Santa suit. I won't go into the details of how much I love the combination of 1950s costumes/sets + great music + Danny Kaye/Bing Crosby/Vera Ellen/Rosemary Clooney, that would be another page. (hey betcha didn't think I'd be able to pull "Vera Ellen" out of my butt, did you?)

What are your picks?

I love him, but he's not my kid.

I love animals. Obviously this goes without saying, since I'm a vet and everything. (Well actually I know vets who don't really like or want to be around animals but they're in the minority. Hopefully.) I often have clients who are embarrassed to admit how much they love and cherish their pets, saying things like "I know it's stupid to cry over a dog," or "My family thinks it's crazy that I spend this much money on my cat." They shouldn't be embarrassed. Animals don't ask for anything from us -- just to be cared for and not abused, and maybe treated with affection every once in awhile. They listen when we talk without passing judgement. They're always happy to see us (well, dogs anyway). They deserve to be treated well, and if you have the money I think there's a lot worse ways you can spend it than taking care of your sick pet. I wholeheartedly believe that they are members of the family.

That said...since having J my perspective has changed a little bit. I still love animals. I am more fulfilled than ever helping them and working with them every day. Only now, I cringe a little bit when I hear people say about their pet, "He's my child," or even (I'm not making this up) "I love this dog more than I love my kids." Before I became a parent, I thought that I loved Yoda (the cat) as much as I could love a child. I took pictures of him, even carrying one in my wallet. I bought him toys and expensive food, and I paid people to take care of him when I was out of town so he wouldn't be "traumatized." We told people that we were practicing for kids by having pets.

Then we had J. And pretty much immediately, Yoda became "just a cat" again. I love him, but he's not my kid. He still holds a special place in my heart, and if he shows the slightest sign of illness he gets whisked off to the clinic with me for immediate treatment. I still let him get in bed with me and we often spend a good hour on a "brushing session." But...I've never snuck in to peek on him while he's sleeping in his cat bed like I do with J in the middle of the night. I would never leave work at the drop of a hat because TH calls and tells me that he's got a fever and is shaking. I don't have 500 pictures of Yoda just eating. I've never cried at the prospect of being away from Yoda overnight, like I did last month when I spent a weekend away from J for the first time. It goes without saying--if it ever comes down to J or Yoda, well, sorry kitty, but I gotta choose the kid every time. (And notice that I'm barely mentioning our other cat Sunny, although I love her too.)

So now, when I have clients who tell me that their pet is their child, I understand where they're coming from, and I always treat their pets the way I would want my pediatrician to treat J. But still. I know that you can love an animal almost as much as one of your children.... almost, but not quite.

An example of things toddlers like to do when your back is turned "just for a minute":

Yes, that is the very same computer I'm typing on right now. Here's an exercise in frustration: try typing without a "shift" key. Let me know how it goes.

Words You Never Thought You'd Hear Me Say...

...I've decided to run a 5K race next month. That's right folks. As in running. Outside. For more than 5 minutes straight. With other people.


I've been pretty successful with TGWLP of 2007 (See previous post for acronym explanation). I'm not going to post on this blog exact numbers because that's not really important. The coolest thing that's happened over the past few months is that I'm much more fit. I've been lifting weights, doing cardio....and yes, running. You don't understand how strange that sentence is. I HAVE NEVER LIKED RUNNING. EVER. But I discovered something a few months ago when TGWLP started. I got on a treadmill and just...made...myself...keep...going. After a few of these Self-Torture Sessions I discovered something I guess all "runners" must know but never told the rest of us -- after the first 10 or 15 minutes, if you keep going, the run gets easier. I never realized this before because, well, I never ran more than 10 minutes before.

Now, 6 months later, I can run on the treadmill for about 45-50 minutes straight, or 3-4 miles. A 5K is 3 miles give or take. So....I'm gonna do it. The race is Saturday, December 1. It's a charity run held every year here in LV where all of the runners are dressed in Santa suits. I kid you not. I asked TH to run with me and we could be "Superstar Team E" or something, but TH says he has no desire to run in a Santa suit. So he and J will be in charge of cheering and documenting this momentous occasion. Today I actually paid the registration fee (which includes said Santa suit), so now I CAN'T BACK OUT. Well, I could, but who likes to waste money?


Random J Pic of the Day:

Me Likey Oranges

Sunday Randomness

So friends of ours moved away and we inherited their treadmill. I've been nagging TH for months to get me some kind of home gym equipment, ever since I started The Great Weight Loss Plan of 2007 back in May (not to be confused with TGWLP's of 2000-2006 -- those were just rehearsals, this time It's For Real). I used it the other day for the first time, and I have to admit I love having one of these things at home. I like the gym but I hate having to get ready and drive down there. So we'll see how it goes, you know how it is -- you're all excited and gung-ho the first couple of weeks, and then a few months later the treadmill is just a place to hang clothes.

Here are a few pics of J doing the toddler thing lately. As you can see he's getting over his food pickiness and eating junk like any self-respecting kid. The video at the end is just randomness but it makes me smile. Of course as a family member told me recently (kind of snarky I might add), since I'm a first-time mom I'm "easily impressed."

MMMM, we love Halloween goodies (mini Oreos to be exact).




And eating corndogs for the first time: (Yes! We knew he was our child!)

Why You Shouldn't Let a Toddler "Get Their Own Cereal":

I love this one because he looks like he's practicing for grade-school pictures:

And finally, the promised Random J Video of the Week (double-click on the big green Play Button):

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Halloween Post #2

I probably won't post every day or twice in a day like I did this time, but I think the last post was kind of a downer so here is my random Halloween Post:

My Top 5 Scary Halloween Movies (in no particular order. You may not agree with my picks but these are the ones that scared me):

• The Changeling -- you know, with George C. Scott? The end is cheesy but I just saw a part of this movie the other day and it still scares the ish out of me. That part with ball coming down the stairs after he throws it in the river? Yeesh.
• The Birds -- I didn't see this one until I was in college. Imagine being by yourself in creepy-ass Sewall dorm during a thunderstorm watching this one for the first time. No kidding at one point I thought a bird was tapping on my window in the middle of the night.
• The Exorcist -- satanic possession + creepy little girl + sleepover when I was 14 or 15 = not able to watch this one again by myself, even now.
• The Blair Witch Project -- ok, I admit after the first time it loses a bit of its effect but I was extremely freaked by this one when it came out. D do you remember we went to see it when you had just found out you were pg with X and I had just come back from the jungles of Panama?
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (the first one) -- They ruined this one in my opinion with all of the crappy sequels but I still remember how scared I was when I first saw this. Of course I was maybe 7 years old but those are the ones that stick with you, right?

Your picks?

The First Post - Where Will You Be?

Where will you be in one year? How about 5 or 10? They ask you this when you interview for college, when you interview for a job, the bookies ask when you place a bet at the sports book (ok, just kidding Vegas hasn't changed us that much). This has been The Big Topic at the E household for months now, and from the sounds of it at the W and R households, too.

When we first moved to LV it was a fairly random decision based on money, fun, being sick of snow, and did I mention money? We had the "Five-Year Plan," which wasn't really a plan but it sounded good. In our fantasy we would own a "3 bdrm 2.5bth central a/c 2-car gar w/pool GOTTA SEE IT" within, oh, 6 months. Just thinking back on that makes me laugh hysterically, only...here we are 3 years later and it's not so funny. Reality hit the first time we pulled into one of the 5 billion new construction developments in LV. The houses were of decent size and the community was gated (being newbies in LV, we thought that was tres chic only to find out that even trailer parks here are "gated."). When the salesperson asked my occupation and I said I was a vet, his eyes lit up and he went into the spiel about how these homes would be perfect for us. And they were. Again, being newbies at this whole game we were suitably impressed with all of the upgrades, not realizing that the actual basic house would look more like an Army barracks than the episode of "Cribs" that was presented. But I digress. Long story short, visions of granite counters and built-in barbecues danced in our heads ...until they whipped out the price sheet. Holy. Crap. (substitute your own epithet here).

So we re-grouped. We made plans to "save some money" and figured we'd have enough for a down payment in a year or so. And then, of course, life intervened: The jobs for TH were slim pickins for a while, after a few months The Dreaded Vet School Student Loans (also known as Dark Lord Bloodsucker, my archenemy) kicked in, I started to realize just how many hours of work at My Former Job were required to keep up with the cost of living here, J was conceived, health issues sprang up from out of the woodwork....and here we are. Still renting at 30, with no end in sight. We make "good money." We don't have credit cards anymore. Our bills are paid on time. But when a 20% down payment on an average house around here can run almost $60,000, well, you do the math.

So, the dilemma. Life is good and we are definitely blessed, don't get me wrong. But as usual the future is pretty murky. It seems like every year we're saying, "maybe next year we'll finally settle down and have an idea of where we're headed." And then another year rolls around and we're still on the road, but we haven't figured out the destination. Do we stay here for a few more years? Is it time to end the Great Desert Experiment and hightail it back to Colorado? Is this how it always is, you make plans to make more plans? When do you get to a point where you stop waiting to exhale and you frigging exhale, already? Sigh...Maybe I should consult the Magic 8 ball...

Alright, so I've jumped on the blogging bandwagon. I'm not sure what possessed me to start this up -- I have to admit that there are a few blogs I read regularly and I often think how vain it is to post your thoughts for all to see, as if anyone cares....but yet I still read them. I'm pretty sure the only people who will be interested in this are friends and family but who knows?

A little about me (and only a little, I'm a bit wary of putting too much info out for the masses). From the title, obviously I am one member of the E family, and we live in Las Vegas. There's me, hubby (referred to hereafter as TH as in "the husband"), baby (referred to as J), and our 2 cats. From my own vain perspective our life is pretty interesting. I'm a relatively new mom, a wife to my high school sweetheart, a veterinarian, and as of this year (gulp) 30 years old. I have a great and equally interesting -- if not downright eccentric -- extended family that this blog is mostly for (but not necessarily about so don't worry.)

I have lots of topics that have been on my mind that I want to talk about and I hope others chime in. There are certain aspects of my life that I won't air on this blog but here are the main things that are constantly in this DVM's mind:

• Being a first-time mom to a toddler
• Maintaining a (hopefully) happy marriage
• Being a vet, and thus a working mom
• Trying to obtain the American Dream while living in Viva Las Vegas

I'm sure other randomness will pop up from time to time. Anyhoo that's the blog, I'm not sure how often I'll post but we'll see. (We'll see if anyone reads it but me ha ha). Well, as usual with perfect timing I hear J waking up from his nap. I'll put up the first "real" post later today (maybe). Let me know what you think...

DesiDVM