<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023</id><updated>2011-04-21T15:36:16.201-06:00</updated><category term='Aquarium'/><title type='text'>Merek &amp; Mommy</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>16</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-6834248466501681487</id><published>2009-02-10T13:55:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-10T14:00:26.578-07:00</updated><title type='text'>January Pictures</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="width:480px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w545.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w545.photobucket.com/albums/hh400/brandie731/January 2009/f401bbec.pbw" height="360" width="480"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photobucket.com/slideshows" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" &gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://s545.photobucket.com/albums/hh400/brandie731/January%202009/?action=view&amp;current=f401bbec.pbw" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" &gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-6834248466501681487?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/6834248466501681487/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=6834248466501681487' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/6834248466501681487'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/6834248466501681487'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2009/02/january-pictures.html' title='January Pictures'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-7879337754801665641</id><published>2009-02-10T12:10:00.002-07:00</published><updated>2009-02-10T12:51:39.688-07:00</updated><title type='text'>December </title><content type='html'>I haven't been the best about updating my blog, but here are some pictures from December. Merek had fun on Christmas. He opened a couple of his presents and then played with all the boxes.  It was also the first time we got to meet our new cousin Weston, he is very cute!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="width:480px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w545.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w545.photobucket.com/albums/hh400/brandie731/December 2008/8e4649d9.pbw" height="360" width="480"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photobucket.com/slideshows" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" &gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://s545.photobucket.com/albums/hh400/brandie731/December%202008/?action=view&amp;current=8e4649d9.pbw" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" &gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-7879337754801665641?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/7879337754801665641/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=7879337754801665641' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/7879337754801665641'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/7879337754801665641'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2009/02/december.html' title='December '/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-4625505823222100848</id><published>2008-12-28T11:10:00.003-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-28T11:17:20.460-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Thanksgiving</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SVfCmcZcerI/AAAAAAAAACw/hMrY01YvWbg/s1600-h/DSCI0375.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SVfCmcZcerI/AAAAAAAAACw/hMrY01YvWbg/s320/DSCI0375.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284906653456300722" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year we spend Thanksgiving in Del Norte with Merek's Great-Grandparents.  Aunt Brenda, Uncle Randy, Kellen, and Scott were there too. The food was great and the company was even better!&lt;br /&gt;The picture is old, but I like it. It's Merek with his Great-Grandpa.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-4625505823222100848?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/4625505823222100848/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=4625505823222100848' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/4625505823222100848'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/4625505823222100848'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/12/thanksgiving.html' title='Thanksgiving'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SVfCmcZcerI/AAAAAAAAACw/hMrY01YvWbg/s72-c/DSCI0375.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-4366240937735221631</id><published>2008-12-28T11:06:00.002-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-28T11:09:58.075-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Halloween</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SVfAkN60RRI/AAAAAAAAACg/77peW-YfCtg/s1600-h/DSCI1170.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SVfAkN60RRI/AAAAAAAAACg/77peW-YfCtg/s320/DSCI1170.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284904416186746130" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We spent Halloween in Parachute with Aunt Brenda. Merek when trick-or-treating with his (second) cousins Kellen, Quiana, and McKenna. They all got tons of candy!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-4366240937735221631?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/4366240937735221631/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=4366240937735221631' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/4366240937735221631'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/4366240937735221631'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/12/halloween.html' title='Halloween'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SVfAkN60RRI/AAAAAAAAACg/77peW-YfCtg/s72-c/DSCI1170.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-8922104152051395762</id><published>2008-12-28T10:02:00.003-07:00</published><updated>2008-12-28T10:34:32.320-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Without Merek</title><content type='html'>I went for a week of training in November for my new job. That meant that I had to leave Merek for 5 days. Being dropped off at the airport was the hardest, I didn't know if I was going to make it through 5 days without him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Luckily, once I was in California I stayed busy enough to not dwell on being away from him. In the end it was a nice little break for both of us.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He got to stay at grandma's house. Aunt Allison and Great-Grandma also helped out with him. He even got to go visit grandpa.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It was so beautiful in California I wanted to move there. But every time we started driving the traffic reminded me of why I could never live there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="width:400px; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w545.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w545.photobucket.com/albums/hh400/brandie731/99c2084a.pbw" height="300" width="400"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photobucket.com/slideshows" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" &gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://s545.photobucket.com/albums/hh400/brandie731/?action=view&amp;current=99c2084a.pbw" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" &gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-8922104152051395762?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/8922104152051395762/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=8922104152051395762' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/8922104152051395762'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/8922104152051395762'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/12/without-merek.html' title='Without Merek'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-6842849858933068952</id><published>2008-10-21T09:13:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2008-10-21T09:22:24.754-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Something New!!</title><content type='html'>Things are starting to head in the right directions! I just found out yestarday that I have a &lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#cc0000;"&gt;NEW JOB&lt;/span&gt;. This is very exciting to me, but I'm very nervous.&lt;br /&gt;I will be a "Case Review Specialist." I will go to different NICUs around Colorado to collect information for the insurance company. Luckily it will only be NICUs because I don't know a darn thing about adults!&lt;br /&gt;I know I'm going to miss working with the babies, but I hope to enjoy this even more. It's more of an 8-5, Monday-Friday job, instead of my current 12 hour shifts. It will be very different to work 5 days a week. But I will get to spend some time with Merek every day now, that is so exciting.&lt;br /&gt;The hardest part will be my first week. I have to fly to California for 5 days of training, which means I will be away from Merek for 5 days. I have never been away from him for that long, but he will be with Grandma and Aunt Allison so he will be well cared for.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wish me luck!!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-6842849858933068952?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/6842849858933068952/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=6842849858933068952' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/6842849858933068952'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/6842849858933068952'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/10/something-new.html' title='Something New!!'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-7554339821565099237</id><published>2008-10-16T07:52:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2008-12-28T09:53:31.763-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Sign Language</title><content type='html'>Little Mr. Merek has started his sign language class! People have asked, "Is he deaf?" Not at all, but he does have very selective hearing.&lt;br /&gt;This week was his second class, he absolutely loves it. He can be grumpy all day, but he does wonderful in class. He is usually one of the only kids running around, while most of the other children stay seated with their parents. But he still keeps his eyes glued to his teacher. He sometimes tries to imitate her and he loves to dance when she turns the music on.&lt;br /&gt;I try my best to use our signs at home, but so far he hasn't signed a whole lot. He definitely can say, "all done" when he is done eating. It's not neccessarily the sign language we learned, but it works.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-7554339821565099237?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/7554339821565099237/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=7554339821565099237' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/7554339821565099237'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/7554339821565099237'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/10/sign-language.html' title='Sign Language'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-4608121457374434906</id><published>2008-10-06T22:02:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2008-10-06T22:13:29.523-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Stress.......</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;Life has been quite stressful. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;   &lt;span style="color:#000099;"&gt;Merek&lt;/span&gt; has been fussy for the last few days. I am sometimes thankful to go to work to get a break, but then shortly after feel guilty for feeling that way. It can be challenging to not have someone else to take over sometimes. I absolutely love Merek, and wouldn't want my life to be different, but some days are definitely hard. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;   &lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;Work&lt;/span&gt; has been interesting. I'm thinking that I'm ready for something different. I love working in the NICU, but would like to expand my horizon. I've looked into a few different options, but so far everything keeps falling through. I'm just not so sure where my career is heading. I've also considered going back to school to get my master's degree but that won't happen for a while. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;   &lt;span style="color:#ffcc00;"&gt;Dating&lt;/span&gt;.........ya right!! The dating scene isn't quite what I had hoped it would be. But I'm not so sure it can get any worse.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's to hoping that things will get just a little bit easier!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-4608121457374434906?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/4608121457374434906/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=4608121457374434906' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/4608121457374434906'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/4608121457374434906'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/10/stress.html' title='Stress.......'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-4661146833923535152</id><published>2008-09-18T22:37:00.007-06:00</published><updated>2008-09-18T22:54:47.759-06:00</updated><title type='text'>10:35pm</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SNMv5yeY-JI/AAAAAAAAABU/0MJeItL9caM/s1600-h/DSCI0011.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SNMv5yeY-JI/AAAAAAAAABU/0MJeItL9caM/s320/DSCI0011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247590660665047186" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Exactly one year ago Merek was born.&lt;br /&gt;I still remember going to my doctor's appointment that morning. They talked about inducing me the next day, but Merek decided that he didn't want to wait. My water broke at the doctor's office. I drove myself to the hospital, trying to call everyone that I could. He worried me a few times during my labor and I ended up with a c-section. I wanted to hold him right after he was born but couldn't because my arm was numb from all the meds. Luckily my co-worker in the NICU brought him over for me to hold in the recovery room. He was absouletly perfect!&lt;br /&gt;He was born on September 18, 2007 (Tuesday) at 10:35pm. He weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces and was 18 1/4 inches long.&lt;br /&gt;My life definitely has not turned out how &lt;em&gt;I&lt;/em&gt; would haved planned. It has turned out to be more wonderful than I could have ever imagined.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-4661146833923535152?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/4661146833923535152/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=4661146833923535152' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/4661146833923535152'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/4661146833923535152'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/09/1035pm.html' title='10:35pm'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SNMv5yeY-JI/AAAAAAAAABU/0MJeItL9caM/s72-c/DSCI0011.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-8667001718743713918</id><published>2008-09-16T21:53:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2008-09-16T22:14:45.367-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Merek's 1st Birthday Party</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;embed style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-97.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&amp;amp;il=1&amp;amp;channel=2810246167489577111&amp;amp;site=widget-97.slide.com"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="WIDTH: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167489577111&amp;amp;map=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-97.slide.com/p1/2810246167489577111/bb_t054_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167489577111&amp;amp;map=2" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-97.slide.com/p2/2810246167489577111/bb_t054_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167489577111&amp;amp;map=F" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-97.slide.com/p4/2810246167489577111/bb_t054_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We celebrated Merek's 1st Birthday this last Saturday. It was a beautiful day! Lots of family and friends were able to join us for the celebration. Merek enjoyed eating his cake. Mommy got to open all of his presents since he fell asleep with grandma.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-8667001718743713918?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/8667001718743713918/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=8667001718743713918' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/8667001718743713918'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/8667001718743713918'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/09/mereks-1st-birthday-party.html' title='Merek&apos;s 1st Birthday Party'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-6774249785412937294</id><published>2008-09-16T21:42:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2008-09-16T21:46:13.282-06:00</updated><title type='text'>New Hair</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SNB9W7lGqCI/AAAAAAAAABM/3gcnCDO0-nw/s1600-h/DSCI1031.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SNB9W7lGqCI/AAAAAAAAABM/3gcnCDO0-nw/s320/DSCI1031.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246831398790539298" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Merek got his first real haircut before his 1st birthday party. He wiggled and squirmed so parts of it aren't perfect, but he looks so handsome. I can't believe how much older he looks with his hair shorter. He doesn't look like a baby anymore. But he will always be my baby!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-6774249785412937294?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/6774249785412937294/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=6774249785412937294' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/6774249785412937294'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/6774249785412937294'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-hair.html' title='New Hair'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SNB9W7lGqCI/AAAAAAAAABM/3gcnCDO0-nw/s72-c/DSCI1031.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-2787930871641585248</id><published>2008-09-15T23:04:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2008-09-15T23:31:14.215-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Balloon Festival</title><content type='html'>The Balloon Festival was Labor Day weekend. Merek and I went two mornings and one evening to see the balloons. It was a little chilly in the mornings but we had lots of fun. We went to the Balloon-Glo with Lucas and Mariah. The boys had lots of fun together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;embed src="http://widget-15.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&amp;amp;il=1&amp;amp;channel=2810246167489480725&amp;amp;site=widget-15.slide.com" style="width:400px;height:320px" name="flashticker" align="middle"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;div style="width:400px;text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167489480725&amp;amp;map=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-15.slide.com/p1/2810246167489480725/bb_t016_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167489480725&amp;amp;map=2" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-15.slide.com/p2/2810246167489480725/bb_t016_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&amp;at=un&amp;id=2810246167489480725&amp;map=F" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-15.slide.com/p4/2810246167489480725/bb_t016_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-2787930871641585248?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/2787930871641585248/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=2787930871641585248' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/2787930871641585248'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/2787930871641585248'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/09/balloon-festival.html' title='Balloon Festival'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-7808031869107790550</id><published>2008-08-26T23:00:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2008-08-26T23:34:59.877-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Swimming Lessons</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;embed src="http://widget-2c.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&amp;amp;il=1&amp;amp;channel=2810246167487421996&amp;amp;site=widget-2c.slide.com" style="width:400px;height:320px" name="flashticker" align="middle"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;div style="width:400px;text-align:left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167487421996&amp;amp;map=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-2c.slide.com/p1/2810246167487421996/bb_t062_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167487421996&amp;amp;map=2" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-2c.slide.com/p2/2810246167487421996/bb_t062_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&amp;at=un&amp;id=2810246167487421996&amp;map=F" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-2c.slide.com/p4/2810246167487421996/bb_t062_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Merek took 6 weeks of swimming lessons. The first week he wasn't quite sure. The middle four weeks he had a lot of fun. The last week or so he was teething again and was not a happy camper. He definitely can't swim by himself yet, but we had a lot of fun trying. Our next adventure is sign language class. We start in October.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-7808031869107790550?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/7808031869107790550/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=7808031869107790550' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/7808031869107790550'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/7808031869107790550'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/08/swimming-lessons.html' title='Swimming Lessons'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-183372715628633534</id><published>2008-08-26T22:55:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2008-08-26T22:59:34.940-06:00</updated><title type='text'>And here it is!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SLTe8Kmv4uI/AAAAAAAAABE/ElcRLu4b8zc/s1600-h/DSCI0753.JPG"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239057391759123170" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SLTe8Kmv4uI/AAAAAAAAABE/ElcRLu4b8zc/s320/DSCI0753.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So here is a picture of my new refrigerator. I'm so thankful to have a wonderful, WORKING refrigerator.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-183372715628633534?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/183372715628633534/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=183372715628633534' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/183372715628633534'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/183372715628633534'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/08/and-here-it-is.html' title='And here it is!!'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SLTe8Kmv4uI/AAAAAAAAABE/ElcRLu4b8zc/s72-c/DSCI0753.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-2682324460508950221</id><published>2008-08-19T13:13:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2008-08-19T13:16:45.905-06:00</updated><title type='text'>New Refrigerator!</title><content type='html'>So....My refrigerator decided to die again. This is the third and final time! So I went and spent way to much money yesterday to buy a new one. Currently we are living out of the small deep freezer I have (thank goodness) and some coolers that I'm borrowing from a friend. Not exactly fun. But I will have an awesome refrigerator on Friday!!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-2682324460508950221?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/2682324460508950221/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=2682324460508950221' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/2682324460508950221'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/2682324460508950221'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/08/new-refrigerator.html' title='New Refrigerator!'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7668527309503067023.post-8228011158889708480</id><published>2008-07-03T15:28:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2008-08-19T12:33:54.109-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Aquarium'/><title type='text'>Trip to the Aquarium</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;Merek went on his first trip to the Aquarium in Denver. We went with Brenda, Kellen, Cindy, Heather, Chris, Allison, &amp;amp; Steve. Merek liked to look at all the fish, but I think he will like it even more when he is older! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;embed style="WIDTH: 426px; HEIGHT: 320px" name="flashticker" align="middle" src="http://widget-ee.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=el&amp;amp;il=1&amp;amp;channel=2810246167486623470&amp;amp;site=widget-ee.slide.com"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt; &lt;div style="WIDTH: 426px; TEXT-ALIGN: left"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=el&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167486623470&amp;amp;map=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-ee.slide.com/p1/2810246167486623470/el_t001_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=el&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167486623470&amp;amp;map=2" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-ee.slide.com/p2/2810246167486623470/el_t001_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=el&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=2810246167486623470&amp;amp;map=F" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://widget-ee.slide.com/p4/2810246167486623470/el_t001_v000_s0un_f00/images/xslide42.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7668527309503067023-8228011158889708480?l=mereksmommy.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/feeds/8228011158889708480/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7668527309503067023&amp;postID=8228011158889708480' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/8228011158889708480'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7668527309503067023/posts/default/8228011158889708480'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://mereksmommy.blogspot.com/2008/07/trip-to-aquarium.html' title='Trip to the Aquarium'/><author><name>Brandie</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='21' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_affvTNevQhM/SKr8QK0Wd0I/AAAAAAAAAAo/_v5pPAxz6Io/S220/IMG_5687.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
