My belated birthday dinner

Last weekend my sis and her two girls came up from Bryant for about a day or so. We were gonna have a big birthday dinner for me. The original plan was to do it around my birthday back in April but it was too busy for all of us and Jeremy and I were back and forth to LR so much, so it didn't really happen then. So we planned it for last Friday night. My bro and his g/f Kelly, Laura and Katy and Keely, me and J, and mom had a big dinner complete with one of my favorties: Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, green beans, brown beans, cornbread, and rolls. Then for dessert Darren made a New York style Cheesecake and mom made her famous ice cream cake. (Jeremy said the funniest thing about the ice cream cake. He asked me how my mom baked the cake without the ice cream melting. I looked at him funny and said, "Really?" As in- are you really seriously asking me that? His knee jerk reaction was, "No" even though he still didn't know quite how it worked.)

This is a pic of my sis, Laura and me before dinner. Yes I'm taller than her. She hates it. :)

The next day I had a wedding to do hair for. It was for a relative of a friend. We were also invited to the wedding. It was so beautiful. The bride was absolutely beautiful and they had Marketplace cater the wedding. Yum! The wedding cake was so pretty and actually tasted really great. You know how pretty cakes usually don't taste that good? Well this one did.

Sunday morning Jeremy and I had cinnamon rolls in bed. (A huge treat for both of us, because usually I will NOT buy such unhealthy things.) It was Father's Day so, peanut and I gave J a card. We went to church and grabbed some lunch with our friends, Matt and Mindy and their two boys. They suggested Ruby Tuesday because it was close and we'd get the food started fast with their salad bar. They were saying how cranky the boys can get when they are hungry and I was thinking how cranky I can get lately about the same thing. I had a avocado and cheese quesadilla. It was simple but really good. J and I then went home to recover from a super busy week. We held the couch down for a couple hours. So nice after a hectic week!

8 week checkup

I went in June 10th for our 8 week appt. I just spoke to them about our finances and insurance coverage and saw the nurse. She asked me the customary 1 million questions, then sent me downstairs to the lab. I have gotten to know that place quite well. Anyway, they took tons of blood. I didn't think they were gonna leave me any.

It turns out that since the baby is due January 20, 2009...guess what? We get to pay another deductible! Our deductible is quite high because we pay for private insurance. So luckily God has blessed us with paying off my car this month and that will allow us to apply that money to pay for this baby! My car is not fancy or anything exciting but it is safe and plenty roomy for a carseat. So I am praying that it will last another 2 years.

For me, everything is going well as far as I can tell. I have gained 3 lbs. I have been eating well! I am not sick unless I forget to eat. Sometimes I get worried that something could be wrong and I don't even know it. Then I remember how tired I am and how I am STARVING every 2 hours. Those symptoms do reassure me some.

The starving thing is so strange. I'm sure that other women can attest to this, but you just don't know what starving is until you've got a little peanut in your belly demanding to eat. I'm convinced that it is God's way of getting me used to how often I'm gonna have to feed this baby and how desperate he/she will feel when hunger strikes. Usually I can eat something small for breakfast, then have a Lean Cuisine for lunch then maybe a snack around 4, then dinner at whatever time we get around to it. Not anymore! Breakfast must happen right when I get up, then a snack around 9 or 10. Then lunch at 11:30 or 12. Then some fruit or something at 2, then again at 4, then dinner no later than 6. For some reason I don't really get hungry again after dinner. Boy and some foods disgust me. Meat, chicken in particular...ew. For a couple days when my husband even mentioned cheetos to me I wanted to hurl. I had an early early preggy craving for cheetos and ranch dressing and now the the thought of them both makes my stomach churn.

So the next stop is 11 weeks. I have an appointment July 1st. We will hopefully hear the heartbeat. I am anxious to hear that little fast beating heart. For the first trimester, because of my trouble conceiving, I am not to exercise much. I can walk. So I have been doing that, but maybe when I hit the 2nd tri then maybe I can step it up a little or do something different. We'll see. For now, I'm just trying to squeeze into my clothes. No fun, but part of the game.

There is a heartbeat!

Notice I said "a heartbeat." That's because there's one little baby in there. We went to the doc May 28th (I know, its been forever since I've updated...sorry!). Jeremy came with me and we held our breath as Dr Bailey did the 6 week ultrasound. He told us that there was one baby in there and showed us the little blip on the screen that was our baby's heartbeat! He said it probably had started beating the day before! We couldn't believe it! We were so excited to have proof that there's something in there!

My Fertility clinic called me later that day to tell me to stop taking the progesterone shots. I was happy to quit those! Being woken up at 5:30 am to have a huge needle stuck in your hip did not make for a cheery girl. I am still on a different form of progesterone at least until my 11 week appt. That's totally fine with me. They also told me that I was released from the fertility clinic and I was a regular patient. Me? Regular? What a nice thing to hear.

Shortly after my drs appt I headed to Orange Beach, AL with my best friend Natalie, her two kids, her sister, her two kids, and their mom. It was a really pretty place. We had great weather, good food, good shopping and a beautiful beach. We had fun one night looking for crabs on the beach with the kids. Natalie and I wanted to catch a big one so bad, but we were both so feaked out by it, that everytime we tried to get him in our net, we both would scream like little girls! So funny! The kids would run away while we just screamed and laughed. I wish we had that on video tape! Poor Natalie woke up one night with a horrible earache. She had to go to the walk-in clinic and they gave her all kinds of medicine to make her feel better, but it was a good day and a half until she felt partway human again. She is still fighting that ear infection. I pray that I never have to deal with one of those.

Lately I've just been working and trying to keep my house together! My husband so kindly cleaned our house from top to bottom while I was on vacation. He kept telling me on the phone that he had just taken it easy because he was so tired from work. He's been working M-Sat and clocking around 60 hrs a week. He had NOT been taking it easy. He cleaned out our closet and garage. He picked up and cleaned our bedroom and bathroom, dusted, vacuumed, everything! What a wonderful thing to come home from a trip to. He can be a real sweetie.