A fun survey I stole from my friend, Kiley, that she stole from one of her friends... I thought it was pretty cool and I learned things about her that I didn't know and I remembered things about her that I knew before but had forgotten. :)

A. AREA CODE : Now it is 910. The only other one I've had is 919.

B. BED SIZE: queen

C. CHORE YOU HATE: unloading the dishwasher, cleaning bathrooms, dusting

D. DOG'S NAME: Dakoda Sue & Carter Finley.... our dogs have middle names!


E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: currently the toilet... to pee

F. FAVORITE COLOR: it's a toss up between red and pink. I have a lot of red in my house, but a lot of pink in my wardrobe.

G. GOLD OR SILVER: silver and white gold. I don't like yellow gold at all.

H. HEIGHT: 5'3"

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: I used to play the flute in middle school. I can play the piano if I really try.

J. JOB: Hospitality Communications Manager at a convention & visitors bureau. I run a program that trains customer service employees as certified tourism ambassadors. I also service the NC welcome centers with our area's information. I thoroughly enjoy my job!!


K. KIDS: Ryan Michael, born Dec 2007 and "Monster" (baby boy) due Sept 7, 2010


L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: in a house with Brett, Ryan, Dakoda & Carter

M. MOM'S NAME: Brenda

N. NICKNAME: Ash, Leighi, Mama, Leigh Leighi

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: tonsils taken out when I was 5, labor and delivery of Ryan.

P. PET PEEVE: I'm currently very hormonal. It would not be fair of me to answer this question right now.

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: "Yeah, a real gentleman. I'm sure he takes the dishes out of the sink before he pees in it," Ouiser from Steel Magnolias


R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: righty

S. SIBLINGS: Michael (21)

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: I'm normally up by 6:30.


U. UNDERWEAR: cotton, bikini cut. I hate thongs and only wear them when I absolutely have to.

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: yellow squash and any veggie out of a can. GROSS!

W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: my child

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: teeth

Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: spaghetti, chicken & rice, lo mein... I cook a lot. Normally it's pretty good. Those are my favorites.

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: gorillas, polar bears, elephants


The Game of Tag about your MAN:


Who is your man? Brett Michael


How long have you been together? 6 years this June


How long did you date? 17 months and engaged for 10 months


How old is your man? 28


Who eats more? Right now it's probably a toss up between the two of us.


Who said "I love you" first? I did.


Who is taller? He's 7 inches taller than me


Who sings better? Me, unless it's Journey!


Who is smarter? Depends on what your talking about. I think we compliment each other well when it comes to our smarts.


Whose temper is worse? Mine. Brett rarely gets mad, but when he does I stay AWAY!


Who does the laundry? ME ME ME ME ME!! He will fold if I ask him.


Who takes out the garbage? He does.


Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me (as if you're lying in the bed)

Who pays the bills? me unless I ask him to pay a particular bill.


Who is better with the computer? It's equal


Who mows the lawn? Brett, but I like to do it too.


Who cooks dinner? Unless it's frozen pizza or sloppy joes, ME!


Who drives when you are together? Brett


Who pays when you go out? Whoever can get to their debit card the easiest. It all comes out of the same account.

Who is most stubborn? We are pretty equal with that too.


Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Neither of us give in easily. I think it has been pretty equal and depends on the issue.


Whose parents do you see the most? Mine I think. When Brett works on Sundays, I usually go see my family... which is usually about every other Sunday. We see his parents regularly though.


Who asked who out? He hired me and then left for Mexico. While he was gone, he started texting me and then asked me out the night he got back.


Who proposed? He did, in front of my whole family on my birthday! :)

Who wears the pants in the family? Hmmm...

20 weeks, 1 day belly shots

Here we are at 20 weeks along... HALF WAY THROUGH!

Here are some pics that I shot real quick this morning on the way out the door. I'm totally depriving this child of belly shots, but certainly not intentionally. With Ryan, I took belly pictures every week. With this one, not so much. It's amazing how things change when you have a 2 year old running around!



For an interesting comparison, here is a 20 week belly shot from Ryan's pregnancy. I feel like I'm carrying a lot differently this time.

A boy named Monster...

It's a boy! So they say... I don't know that I'm totally convinced. Not because I don't want a boy, the thought of 2 boys just totally thrills me, but I just didn't see his boy parts on the ultrasound like I saw Ryan's when we went for his big reveal. I saw what the ultasound tech said was it, but with Ryan it was blatenly obvious. Not so with this baby. But nonetheless, until proven otherwise, we are having another boy! A nameless boy. Well, not quite. Ryan has lovingly named this child Monster. I'm not sure of his reasoning, but for now, I am also referring to him as Monster. Simply for lack of a name and I can't keep calling him "the baby." Although, I do also call him Peanut.
Choosing a name for someone is such a large responsibility. A name is a person's identity, it reflects their personality in a way. Choosing a name that is cute for a baby and strong and masculine for a grown man is a little intimidating. Ryan's name was easy. It just came and it was accepted. And he certainly fits the name with everything he does. Honestly, we would have chosen Ryan whether he were boy or girl. But for "Monster," there is nothing that just comes to me. One name did, but it was short lived after a few people voiced their opinions. When it comes to myself, I care little about what other's opinions, but when it comes to my child, if his own family doesn't like his name, what am I setting him up for?

Maybe we'll just keep the chosen name to ourselves until he's born. I never understood that concept before, but now I'm starting to get the point.

And just because...

This one makes me smile every time I look at it. It's from last summer. To me it's a representation of the love and trust a child has for an adult, and in this case, the love a grandson has for his DeeDee.

Favorite Photos

I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from the last couple weeks. I will never claim to be a photographer, but I do love my camera and I love taking pictures of my family, especially Ryan, and I love playing around with the special effects. Having a good camera definitely allows us to save some money on professional pictures. I don't like staged portraits anyway. I like the real life stuff. So... here you go. My family in real life:

Boy or Girl?

18 weeks! 154 days left until Peanut's due date and I've officially swallowed a basketball. The count down also begins for finding out if Peanut is a she or a he! At 8:30am next Tuesday we'll need prayers that Peanut decides to show all he/she's got.
I guess I can reveal that I am feeling more and more like Peanut is a girl. I think it's a combination of gut feeling and what everyone else is telling me. I've said it before, but this pregnancy is very different than mine with Ryan. Ryan was easy. Had my belly not grown, I would have never known I was pregnant with him until the end when I started having the normal aches and pains that come along with 8 & 9 months of being preggers. The differences between the two I think have been enough to convince me that maybe we will break the Dippolito boy trend. For those of you who don't know, Ryan was the 4th Dippolito grandchild, and the 4th grandSON.
So, if you haven't already, cast your gender vote over on the left! Just a few tidbits that may help you in your decision...

- I had morning (well, evening really) sickness for the first 11 weeks of my pregnancy without vomitting.
- I had zero nausea with Ryan.
- I've been craving greasy foods, salads, california rolls, cereal, sweet tea, mexican and chinese foods.
- I've gained about 7 pounds so far.
- "The twins" have grown... You may be saying, "well duh!", but believe or not they had no reaction to my pregnancy with Ryan until after he was born... then they shrunk.
- I've also gained weight in my butt and thighs.
- My Mama says my belly is "wider" than it was with Ryan.

So, you decide.... Boy?????? or Girl???????

The ugly side of pregnancy...

So among all the ooo's and ahh's, the congratulations, the tummy rubs (although sometimes not so pleasant), the cute clothes, and all the other excitement about a new baby, there is the ugly side. The not-so-glorious, not-so-cute parts that no one warns you about. Those parts that you experienced during your first pregnancy, but are exacerbated during your second because your running around after a 2 year old.....drum roll please........ The moodiness, the raging hormones, the tears, the back pain, the headaches... I think the list could continue for 100 or so more words.

But seriously, let's be real for a minute. I know there are countless women out there who would give their right arm to have a healthy pregnancy and I know I should be grateful for every blessing God gives me, most importantly every day I get to spend with my family and children, born and unborn. But, I've got to confess, I don't like being pregnant. I don't like it because I don't like who, or rather what, I turn into when my hormones and quick temper take over me, especially with Ryan.

Yesterday after church, a simple task of changing clothes turned into a battle and crying fest between me and my precious son. How could I yell at him? All he wanted to do was sit for 30 minutes on the potty and pee. Who am I to tell him he can't do that? Who am I to yell at him and absolutely lose it to the point I had to remove myself from the room?

I vow to try very hard to keep my hormones and emotions in check for the remainder of this pregnancy as well as afterwards. That is not the kind of mother I am and it is not the kind of mother I wish to be. The look of care and concern on the face of my son while watching me sob like a baby is not something I will soon forget.

He's only 2.