Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Tribute to Transformers!

White sands desert is the largest white sands deposit in the world. This means nothing to me, but a lot to movie production companies! Instead of filming movies on site over seas, they come to my little town of Alamogordo to shoot!

In the past 6 months there have more than three major films that have been shot in Alamogordo New Mexico (Who would have thought, right?!?!) We all got to meet Jack black for the one movie, and a couple of other big shot celebs.

I work at Chili's restaurant, and we get word of when new movies are going to be filming usually 6 months in advance. There are only two places to eat in this town, so this means that we are going to be packed and they like to be nice and for-warn us! We got word that they decided to make a transformers 2 a while back and were going to be coming at the end of the summer to start production! They did film transformers the original here about 2-3 years ago, and used the Air force Base along with the desert to film!

So for past three weeks transformers production crew and celebs have completely taking over our town! They have been taking over Niles' shop that he works on on base, using their equipment and what not, and also my work keeping us super busy and eating us out of food!

As a Curtice the crew opened up to the military and their families a display of the cars and auto-bots that are used in the film! I only know who bumblebee and optimus-prime are....so Ben and kyle you are going to have to help me with the other names of the cars!!! They did let us know that there are going to be 8 new transformers in this film and one of them is a 2011 corvette!!! But because they didn't want the secret to leak, we were not allowed to see those cars/auto-bots!!!

So this is for you Ben, kyle, and will!!!!! Hope you enjoy!!!































Daddy's little Mini-Me!

Everywhere I go that I have Dorian with me people are constantly telling me how much Dorian looks like her Father! They have the same head shape, the same eyes, the same everything! Her babysitter always tells me that the faces she makes makes her look even more like her daddy! Aunt Liz tells me she feels like she is watching a lil' Niles all day when she watches Baby D!!!

So lately I have been making fun of Niles because he has his own Mini-Me (like in Austin Powers!). Niles totally disagrees with me, and thinks she has some features of mine, but he is completely wrong!!!! She has his looks and my attitude (not a good mix, would have been better visa-versa...but what can ya do!?!?!)
Here is my tribute to Daddy and his lil' mini-me...Dorian!
Check it out and tell me if you don't think they are identical!

Monday, September 15, 2008

All Smiles!

Being a baby is such hard work, and for the first 5 weeks it has been nothing but eating, sleeping, and changing diapers! For me being a first time mom, I kept thinking...WHEN is she going to start being one of those babies you always see on the commercials smiling and giggling!!!
So recently in the last couple of days, Dorian has been starting to transform into a very VERY happy baby!! Everything makes her smile, and she has even started to talk a little! (of course I mean cooing and making cute sounds! lol) Even by simply touching her nose she gets a huge big ole' smile!! And it has been so much that we are able to take pictures to share her smiling lil' face!
It has been such a huge change, and such a wonderful experience to see her grow and change so much! So I hope you Enjoy!










Saturday, September 13, 2008

Introducing...Dorian Renee Putnam!

After 40 weeks and 2 days, on August 2ND of 2008...Dorian Renee Decided to come into this wonderful world! It was a long pregnancy, but thanks to friends and family, we all made it!

We found out we were expecting on Thanksgiving of 2007, and ever since then prepared and shopped for her to come home! FINALLY Dorian is here and is such a wonderful addition to our interesting lives!

I went into labor on August first hoping to have her on my brother-in-laws birthday, but she just wasn't ready yet! I called Niles at work and said very calmly.."I think you might want to come home now." and he said to me "okay I'll be home when i finish work"...so with that I called my sister and she stayed on the phone with me until he got home from work, very patiently timing contractions! They were almost 4 minutes apart by the time he got home from base! Niles kept saying I think we should go to the hospital, and knowing that it wasn't quite time yet...I made him walk laps around our apt. complex ha ha ha

Finally at 2pm we made it to the hospital, contractions still about 4 minutes apart, and after 2 hrs they sent us home! I was livid! But took the medicine they had given me to sleep and they promised me that when I woke up it would be time to have our baby. Who would have known I would wake up in less than 2 hours!!!

Again we made it back to the hospital at 6pm...they told me I still was not ready to have the baby and needed to be in an hour or they were to send me home again! Niles called in reinforcements...Liz came rushing up to the hospital with her game face on! We walked, and sat in the shower, and walked some more! And 4 hours later they admitted me, and I was allowed to have medicine!

At 11am, the next day, I was ready to have baby d...but yet we still had to wait...and Finally at 12:51 Dorian Renee Putnam was born! It was long and rough, but I had Niles and Liz for the entire thing...and with out them I would not have been about to get through that experience!

Niles was amazing, and put up with a lot...and Liz with no sleep went home to her kids and came back before she had to go to work, and again after work and was with me through the entire thing! Thank you to you both...you were my saviors!

So...with out any further interruptions...Dorian Renee "Baby D"....

The Putnam's


Niles and I met in college when we were both 21. We actually officially met on my 21st birthday! He bought me this disgusting shot, and ever since then were going out buddies! We would go bowling, or meet up after class with Derek (my next door neighbor in the dorms at Lycoming College) and go get dinner or some drinks. I remember going to watch him play softball at his college (Penn Tech) on Thursdays and cheering him on. He was the only person to meet me half way late at night, when I walked to the bars...I was so scared to walk by myself, but it always took me longer on the weekends to get ready because I had to cheer at the games and they didn't get done till later! But every weekend Niles would meet me half way, so I didn't have to walk down the sketchy ally in the dark by myself! ha ha


Anyways...for two years we were just friends. Most of the time we hated each other, but other times we got along well and JUST hung out with "the gang"! Everyone would make fun of us, because of this love-hate relationship, and swear that one day we were going to get married because we were just perfect for each other. Honestly, back then the thought of being married was absurd and at that to NILES!!!


We both graduated college in May of 2006 and attended each others graduations. It wasn't until his graduation from Penn Tech (also in wiliamsport PA), that we decided the give it a go with the whole relationship thing. The only thing was it was going to have to be long distance...I moved back to DuBois PA, and he moved back to Wyalusing PA. We visited each other a lot, when we could...but it was only about twice a month. I eventually moved to Harrisburg and became soooo extremely busy with my new jobs that we decided to take a break.


Niles still came to harrisburg on occasion, because he made the decision to enlist in the Air Force. So about once a month, he would have to come to his PT test and paper work at the Harrisburg office and each time he came always made it a point to visit me or get ahold of me. Niles flew out of Harrisburg on February 12Th of 2007 for basic training in Texas. In basic training, they take the battery out of your cell phone so you are not allowed to use it. You have to earn your phone privileges and even then are only giving a certain time limit on your calls....I was not going to hear from him for a whole 16 weeks!!!


Thinking I would never hear from Niles again (I'm very dramatic)...I went on with my life in Harrisburg working my three jobs. So 16 weeks later when I saw Niles on my caller ID, I about had a heart attack! We became really close while he was in Tech school down in Texas. He found out that his first base station was going to be in Alamogordo New Mexico, and asked me to move down there with him once he was out of school. I agreed, and within a couple weeks we made the decision to get married!


On September 11Th 2007 we were married in Harrisburg PA, and shortly after I made the long drive to New Mexico and Have lived here for almost a whole year! Amazing that someone you meet randomly on your 21st birthday is the man you will spend the rest of your life with! I am so glad our lives constantly crossed each others paths, and I really think that we were meant for each other. He is opposite me in so many ways, but completes the things that I lack in life.