Another Awesome Announcement

Another announcement??  YES!  We have another announcement.  This announcement is quite exciting too.  

We are expecting another baby.  It is due in August.  

And we're expecting a baby boy!

We are very excited.  Mav is thrilled to have some extra testosterone in the house.  I'm excited to go shopping, along with the rest of our family.  And Squeaks, when you ask her about her new baby brother, she looks at you funny and says, "No.  It's just going to me, Squeaks.  No baby brother."  We'll see how that goes.  

So.  Now, I'm sure all the typical pregnancy questions are running through your head.  

Have you been sick?  Nope.  Just tired, like I've-been-hit-by-a-bus-tired.  

How far along are you?  Almost 20 weeks.

Wait.  You're moving to Vegas?  Aren't you worried?  Nope.  We did this with Squeaks.  Remember?  I was six weeks from having her when we moved to St Louis.  This one will be fine.  We're actually closer to home and have about ten weeks to settle in before this little one could come.  

You had an emergency c-section with Squeaks.  What are your plans this time around?  I want to avoid a c-section.  The recovery sucked, big time.  I don't want to do that again.  My doc says as long as I go into labor on my own near my due date, he would love for me to try vaginal again.  Then again, I'll have a different doctor when we move.  We hope he/she will let me opt for that.  It should be fine because we'll be delivering at a large facility.

Did you have a feeling it was a boy?  No, I had no idea.  And neither Mav or I cared which it was.  We've had too many other things on our mind to think about it much too.  

Do you have names picked out?  I thought we did.  But now that we're actually having a boy, those names I thought I loved, I don't like much anymore.  We probably have a middle name picked out because it's Mav's and his dad's middle name.  May as well keep going with it right?  

When did you find out you were pregnant?  Just after Thanksgiving.  

Why haven't you said anything about the pregnancy?  Because you never know what could happen.  I'm a relatively private person too.  We actually didn't tell our families till Christmas when I thought I was almost out of my first trimester.  I wasn't nearly that far along though. 

Have you gained weight?  Nope.  I'm super proud of myself.  I didn't lose all my weight from Squeaks so I've been keeping a close eye on it.  I've been eating super healthy, for the most part, and going to the gym three-four times a week.  I've actually lost weight. 

Maternity clothes?  Are you wearing them?  Yup.  I'm wearing maternity shirts.  I can squeeze into my pre-prego shirts but they don't look flattering, you know.  I have to do the ol' ponytail holder trick on my jeans.  I can't quite do up my top button.  And I refuse to buy jeans when it should get hot here in St Louis any second now and I'm moving to Vegas.  I am not buying maternity pants!  I want to skip right ahead to shorts and capris. 

What's up with the blue balloon in the picture?  Well, Mav is on a rotation he really likes and he's the only student.  He didn't feel like it would be appropriate to take off and leave them hanging without someone there.  I was totally fine with this.  It gave us a reason to party.  We had a gender reveal party with our friends.  It was quite a party with 14 adults and  15 children under the age of five.  My parents skyped with us and some of Mav's family hung out on Google+ to see the big reveal.  So when I went to my appointment I asked the ultrasound tech to write the gender on a note in a sealed envelope.  I took said sealed envelope to a party store with a giant box and asked them to fill it with whatever color balloons for the gender.  Squeaks and I opened the box.  Blue and green balloons floated out of the box.  It was really fun.  And we are always in for a big party! 

Life is Good

You know those moments?  The ones where everything is going your way and there is nothing to complain about?  I'm pretty sure the planets have to align just right for it to happen but occasionally it happens and you find yourself thinking, "Life is good." 

Life is good. 

Wanna know why? 

I'm home.  With my family.  My whole family.

Wanna know what else? 

I just spent all morning pampering my horse.  It's therapeutic for me.  And I have missed it so much. 

Wanna know more?

As I was braiding my horse's tail, I could hear Squeaks giggling as she was being chased around the yard by my dog. 

Life is so good, guys.  So, so good.   

Pretty Spoiled

Mav is on outpatient pediatrics.  It's sweet.

The weather here has been glorious.  It was 90 today.  Squeaks and I, along with our neighbors, blew up the pool in the backyard and played all day long.

Spoiled, huh?

Around five this evening, I felt horrible.  I thought I had tunnel vision.  I was woozy.  It felt like my brain was swollen and could possibly blow out of my head.  I was hot but cold.  Maybe dehydration or heat exhaustion.  Who knows.

Well, I laid on the couch and told Mav I was going to die.  Dramatic, I know.   He asked me what was for dinner.  I didn't even raise my head to stare at him but I told him I was going to make tater-tot casserole.  Now, I was doing nothing but dying!  I told him that he and Squeaks were on their own.

Mav told me to go take a nap and he'd make dinner.  I refused.  I needed to do my homework.  I only have two weeks left and I have to pass this blasted math class.  I tried to listen to a lecture.  I tried for about two minutes but couldn't manage.  I got up slowly and walked past Mav who was starting dinner.  I told him to wake me up in 45 minutes or so.

And I crashed.  I woke up 45 minutes later to dinner on the table.

Spoiled, huh?


Want the recipe for my tater-tot casserole?  Click below to see it.  My two year old and picky husband love it.  Best of all, it was easy enough to explain to Mav how to make it, all by himself. 

A Quiet Christmas

This was my first Christmas away from home, family and my dearest friends.  It was different.  I've never had a quiet Christmas before.  Mav has but I've always been the "off to grandmother's house we go" kind of girl.  Yeah, I was totally singing that song...

About 75% of me was excited to stay home.  I didn't have to worry about outrageous plane fares.  I didn't have to weigh my luggage a million times to make sure it was under 50 pounds.  No plane rides with a two year old!!  We didn't have to ask someone to drive us to the airport or to grab our mail.  I didn't have to try to fit everyone and everything into the short two week stay.  We didn't have to drag our two-year-old from one grandma's house to another in addition to two great grandmothers' houses.  Can you see why I was kind of excited to stay put this holiday season?  Stress free! 

Now.  What about the other 25% of me?  It misses home.  It misses our families.  It missed going to my grandma's house.  It missed feeding my horses their extra special treats on Christmas morning.  It missed the eggs and cheese casserole my dad makes every year.  It misses playing cards with my brothers.  It misses our friends.  It missed the snow.

I'm very appreciative of our quiet Christmas though.  I learned something from it.  During the quiet day, Mav and I both commented on how much we missed our families.  Oh.  How we missed them.  Christmas isn't about the gifts under the tree but rather it's about those who are around the tree with you.

A Good Crowd

We had an awesome Thanksgiving.  I hosted.  I'm amazed at how good my turkey tasted.  I'd never done a turkey until this year.  We had a total of 10 adults, 6 kids and 3 newborns at our house for dinner.  For dessert, we had two more adults, three more kids and another newborn join us.  Our house was full!  I love a good crowd. 

To me, that's what holidays are all about; having a good crowd around me.  It doesn't matter if it's family, friends or strangers.  My dad taught me this, everyone should have somewhere to go for the holidays.  Everyone.  He told me the story of my Uncle Byron.  He came to Thanksgiving dinner with a friend named John.  No one had met John before.  Someone asked Uncle Byron where John was from and how he knew him.  Uncle Byron looked up from his plate, "I don't know him from Adam.  I picked him up from the side of the road.  I just thought he'd like a good meal."

I've heard this saying time and time again, "Strangers are just friends waiting to happen."  I'm not sure if Uncle Byron and John are friends today.  But for a moment John's belly was full and I'm sure Uncle Byron made an impact on John's life. 

I'm at the perfect stage in my life to meet some strangers and turn them into great friends.  And this Thanksgiving season, I'm so grateful for the opportunity to do so.  

My Lifeline

Lifeline: support that enables people to survive or to continue doing something

My lifeline, my phone.

Lately, I have been wearing the battery dead.  I didn't use to.  I didn't have to charge my phone for days.  That changed about two weeks ago.  I realized I need to talk to people.

Before third year, I could talk to just Mav and be fine.  Occasionally, I needed to engage in girl talk.  But for the most part, I was fine with just Mav.  But now he's not home as often.  And I still need to talk.

I'm so happy we live in the age of technology.  I'm even more happy that I don't get charged for long distance (or at least, I don't think I do.)  And I'm sooo happy to have such goods friends and family that I can call and chat with whenever.

I would have gone absolutely crazy without my phone these past couple weeks.  

What's your lifeline?

Embrace What's Good

It's been beautiful here.  It's 80 degrees.  Perfect!

Our old home is beautiful too.  However, it's snowing there. Right now.

Yeah.  Whenever I start to miss our old home, I realize that I would be wearing my winter coat.  Ick.  I would be shoveling my own driveway because Mav isn't around to do that.

So, today, I am embracing the good life of living somewhere away from home.  A somewhere that is warm and beautiful.  A place where I have zero thoughts of packing away my shorts and flip-flops for the season.