I have a niece!!

Meet Anderson Grace Nilles!  born 12-27-11, 5lbs-6oz.

We are so excited to welcome our first niece into the world.  To be honest, I was scared that it wasn't possible for Nilles men to create Nilles girls, seeing as until now, the only Nilles women are those who are married to Nilles men.  Anderson was a surprise, no one knew if she was going to be a boy or girl....except the ultrasound tech of course.  I have to admit, though...I knew this baby was a girl.  I don't know what it is, but I am always able to guess the sex of a baby....and I've never once guessed wrong.  I don't know what it is.  It's not the shape of mom's belly, or the heartbeat, or any other wives tale.  It's just a feeling I get.... and I am NOT a believer in psychics or any other crazy thing like that.  

Anyways, I'm already having a blast shopping for this girl.  I got her a beautiful pink embroidered blanket from pottery barn that has her name and birthday (the same blanket I got Max when he was born that he still carries around).... and some 1 month, 2 month, 3 month, etc. stickers to put on onesies that she can wear on each of these birthdays and take a picture in.  My best friend does this with her baby boy, and they make for AWESOME scrapbook pictures.  

 I also got Max something for being the big brother....and I think I might like his present more than Andie's.  I got him a sleeping bag from restoration hardware baby with his name embroidered on it.  Look at this!!! 

Of course, his says "Maxwell" instead of jacob.  It is soo soft, and I am so excited to surprise him with it.  I love that little guy and I can't wait to see what he's like with his baby sister.  Alright picture time.  More to come after I see her in person this weekend!

Wedding updates.

Ohh this wedding.  I'll just be glad when it's here.   This whole planning process is stressful, mostly because I'm very indecisive.  And it's expensive.  Ridiculously expensive.  So expensive I've considered many times just heading to Hawaii with J to elope.

I think we have a date & a venue though.  I think...   but I won't feel better until we have signed the black dotted line.  We are planning to sign the contract on Dec. 22nd, so more updates then.  don't want to jinx anything before then.

But here's a hint...think, "treehouse."  That's what this venue reminds me of.  It's so unique, gorgeous, special.  I fell in love with it the first time I saw it and now after J has seen a few places, he loves it too.

Wedding planning.

Feeling pretty good after a weekend of wedding planning.  Sunday, I went to a wedding expo with my sisters & mom.  We had a blast.  I started out the day by formally asking my sister to be my MOH and my sister-in-law to be a bridesmaid.  (gave them bracelets that were handmade from Etsy with their initials...super cute.  I hand-made little boxes for them to go in that had cute little poems I found/wrote asking them to be my MOH/bridesmaid).  


We had a blast at the expo.  I didn't really go with the mindset of looking for vendors.  I really just wanted to enter for all the free stuff.  I have a friend who won her honeymoon at one of those expos.  Either way, we had a great time getting in the wedding mood and gathering all the free stuff, including three gorgeous wedding bouquets that some florists were giving away at the end of the show since they were going to go to waste anyways.


Monday, J& I went with my parents to see the Hyatt Lodge in the McDonalds Corporate Building in Oakbrook....absolutely gorgeous.  I was in love as soon as I saw the room.  It feels like you're in a treehouse.  Floor to ceiling windows around 3/4 of the room and all you see is trees & lake.  There's also a big fireplace in there and a huge outdoor terrace where your guests can hangout (its also where you can have your cocktail hour).  Its so private and SO beautiful.  We're going to go back on Friday when there's an actual wedding going on so we can see what it looks like set up.  They are also doing a complete renovation of the facility, so everything will be brand new in a few months which makes it even more appealing.  We still have several other venues to look at before we make a decision, but this place is at the top of my list for now.

We still got it....

Just came back today from an amazing visit with my future hubs.  We had such a great time.  Nothing too special-- Tuesday night we just watched "my shows" (yes that's how great he is-- he actually watched Quints by Surprise & Millionaire Matchmaker with me)....and just joked and laughed and snuggled.  Like 2 teenagers on the first date.  It was such a blast.  Last night, we got takeout from Olive Garden and watched Top Chef.  This used to be our ritual Wednesday night date when we were in college.  Such a simple, cheap date...but it was great.  We are so connected right now--more than ever.  I don't know if it's the engagement or just the fact that we have grown into ourselves and truly enjoy each other.  But we laughed and flirted and held hands....the whole bit.  I get butterflies just thinking about it. Here's a blast from our past pic below.  This is us at our first prom-- 2002...almost 10 years ago :)


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Dresses.

Last night, my buddy Jaci filled me in on some GREAT designers for wedding dresses/bridesmaid dresses that I hadn't seen before.  Enzo Ani & Watters.  Some great stuff!  I'm excited to try some of these on, since until now, I've only like Maggie Sottero.  I probably will still end up with a Maggie but at least I have some others to try out!  Enzoani makes some gorgeous bridesmaid dresses.  


Right now- depending on the venue, I'm planning on doing either:


modern-- mostly white, a little black with some green accents
  OR
formal/romantic-- cream & blushes


After we pick a venue, I'll know which way to go and then it be able to pick out all the fun details.  Exciting!

Wish list....love!

Wish list:  Such a great skirt:

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Wish list....love these!

Bad day.

Bad day.  It started last night.  J& I were supposed to meet for a movie in Joliet at 11:30pm.  He was driving in from Decatur to Joliet b/c he was going to the Bears game the next morning (this morning).  So since I was off, we figured we'd meet in the middle and have a late date night in J-town.

I go out to my car at 11 p.m. to leave for Joliet and realize my car is gone.  I look everywhere...then I realize it.  My parking sticker has probably fallen off my window in the cold and now my car has been towed from the parking lot.  Sure enough, I call the towing place and my car is there.  I call J and break the bad news that not only is my car gone, but our date night is ruined.  He sweetly agrees to drive up to my house, we can watch a movie at home, and then he'll take me to the towing place in the morning to get my car on his way to the Bears game.  Great plan.

This morning we get up early and head over to the towing place.  We are of course running a little late and get lost on the way there.  J drops me off and as I'm getting out of the car I say "hey babe wait here for a min so I can make sure my car is here."  "No, no I gotta go.  I'm already late.  Just call me if there's an emergency..."  "okay..."   I go inside and end up having to wait 15 minutes before the girl even comes out...she processes my paperwork, gives me the $172.50 bill, and asks for my license.  It's then that I remember that my license is sitting at home, in my gym bag.  "Um... I don't have it.  Can I show you my insurance card or something?"  "No, ma'am we can't release the car to you without your license."  So I call J back who is now 30 min away....too far away to turn around and bail me out of this one.  After some tears and arguing with the lady, I end up having to borrow the phone book to call a cab.  Fast forward 30 min wait for the cab.  15 minute cab ride back to my house to pick up the license.  15 min cab ride BACK to the towing place.  Hand the guy $40 for the cab ride.  FINALLY 2 hours later and $210 poorer, I get my stupid car.

Worst of all, I own a parking sticker....in fact, I pay way too much for said parking sticker every month.  It has simply (as I thought) fallen off because of the cold.  Why didn't your condo association give you a warning? you may ask.  Are they gonna pay for the towing since you DO have a sticker?  The answer is, nope.  Why would they want to take care of their tenant?

Baby names.

J & I recently had a long discussion (argument) regarding baby names.  We agree more on girl names than boy names, so hopefully, someday, when the good Lord blesses us with kiddos, we'll have girls....the problem is, J likes names that no one else would ever have.... I'm the opposite.  I like classic, more traditional names.  Let me give you an example... my favorite boy name is Matt.  I've always loved this name.  J however announced the other day on Twitter that his favorite boy name is Prime.  Prime!?  Really???  (I think he was just kidding, but this isn't far off from his usual ideas...haha) Anyhoo... this discussion got me thinking about some of the worst baby names I've ever heard.  Keep in mind that these are not all my patients.  Most of them are not.  Most of the them are names passed down from L&D nurse to L&D nurse because they are SOO cray-cray and SOO out there that we HAVE to tell each other.  Here goes....

- Snow White (first name snow, middle name White)
-Anominous (supposed to be "anonymous" but spelled wrong)- long story
-Abcde (ABCDE pronounced 'ab-see-dee)
-twins Jesus and Je'sus (pronounced jee-zus and hay-zuce)
-Adjumimah ( like aunt jemima)
-Chaos
-twins Orangejello Lemonjello
-Parole ( yeah like parole from jail)
-Winter Frese (pronounced "freeze)

there's more.... but you get the idea.

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The first 6 miles....

Welcome to my blog.... I should tell you that this isn't my first blog.  I have unsuccessfully tried to start 3 or 4 various blogs over the last 5 years and have failed miserably.  I love to write and I love to tell stories-- however, I've found that I'm much better at reading these things than writing them.  My lack of creativity paired with the fact that I'm a full-time night L&D nurse, a mom to a crazy beagle pup named *M, a dedicated (slightly obsessive) marathon runner, and a fiance to a wonderful man named *J  have contributed to the demise of these various blogs.  It's just like the first 6 miles in a marathon.  You're terrified to start and it takes a few miles before you really get kicked in and feeling comfortable.  Bear with me-- we'll see how this goes.  My goal is to vent my frustration, document my memories, & share the stories that could only happen to me.  I have a number of friends/family members who constantly want to hear stories about L&D and, of course, being the HIPPA-abiding nurse I am, I can never tell names or "real" details, so I do the best I can "re-creating" these stories.  Maybe someday I'll write a book.  Until then...

Disclaimer!

This is the longest disclaimer ever. You've been forewarned.

This blog as well as emails, comments, Twitter updates, forum posts, or instant messages from its author are to be used for entertainment purposes only. This is not a place to get medical advice nor counsel on how to do your job as a nurse or other health care provider. For those things, consult your personal physician, appropriate governing agency and/or the policies of your institution. Descriptions of medical occurrences/treatments are usually simplified to fit it into a less-than-500-word blog post. The sentences written here on my *fictional patients, co-workers, workplace, etc. don't reflect anyone else's opinions but my own and sometimes not even my opinion. I'm a person who writes this, but "Nurse A" is more of a character, got it? Hi, like I said, this is entertainment.

This blog should also not be considered a factual re-telling of actual events. It's a blend of reality and my goofy imagination, mostly the latter. Things in quotes probably aren't direct quotes. Things that appear to be quoted verbatim are not. All patient details (names, ages, diagnoses) are changed to make identifying them impossible, far exceeding the minimum standards for de-identification of patient information. For further information, read the HIPAA Privacy Summary.