14 weeks!

Hello 2nd trimester!

I honestly cannot believe how quickly the weeks are flying by. It seems like just yesterday I pissed on a couple sticks and was telling Diesel he was going to be a big brother. (you're all probably thinking I'm oddly obsessed with my dog now after yesterday's post and the fact that I just admitted he was the first person I told. whatevs.)






Baby size: Lemon
Any symptoms? sore boobs went away for a day or so but don't worry, they hurt like a mother now.
Cravings? I've been wanting buffalo flavored things this week, wings to be exact.
Favorite part this week? FINALLY hearing the heartbeat on the doppler or when the ultrasound tech confirmed my greatest fear.. the baby inherited my head. More on that in a minute.
Least favorite part this week? more bleeding, like actual bleeding this time. More on that in a minute too.
Boy or Girl? still feeling like JellyBean is a boy
Names? We basically keep adding names to each list, but not dead set on "this" for a girl or "that" for a boy.



So, the more that I was talking about.

Monday I woke up to some bleeding. Awesome. Every pregnant woman's worry was happening. I wasn't sure if I should call the doctor or not since I had a regular appointment scheduled for Thursday (yesterday) and Danny and I had, in the words of Blake Shelton, done what married people do, the day before. I went to work, the guy I work with could tell something was wrong and said I looked pale (worrying much?). So, I went home and got in bed for a couple hours until my meeting with my customer. Around noon the bleeding had stopped. Great, everything is fine.

Tuesday, same thing happens and of course Danny is at work. I decide 2 days in a row is worth a phone call to the doctor, regardless of there being an appointment in 2 days. I had my mom on stand by to go with me in case the doctor wanted to see me since Danny was at work and him getting coverage on short notice wasn't a sure thing. The nurse told me my doctor wanted me to get an ultrasound done and I could come in as soon as I could, then go to her office afterwards. Danny's coworkers are awesome and one came in to cover for a couple hours and my mom still made her way up here (I'm a lucky girl). Danny and I went back for the ultrasound and the tech immediately found the heartbeat! Thank you, Jesus. I had Danny go get my mom so I could laugh at her for crying, which she did and I got my laugh. The tech got some really great pictures and did some measurements for us.
Side note: My dad had a LARGE head. One size fits all hats do not fit all. Fitted hats, he wore a size 8. Average is like 7 1/4 or some shit. I got my dad's head and Danny makes fun of me almost daily. So much, in fact, that our niece asks her mom when they are at Claires "if the headbands will fit Aunt Erin." Cute, right? Carry on...
 As of Tuesday, which would have been 13 weeks and 5 or 6 days, the body was measuring 13 weeks and 4 days and the head was measuring 14 weeks and 2 days. Sooooo shocking. My mom and Danny lost it. Awesome guys, since you know, you're the ones that will be pushing it out. My mom has rights to laugh since she had to push a giant Overman head out.

Turns out I probably won't be "pushing" it out either. The doctor reviewed the images and it turns out I have placenta previa which basically means the placenta is blocking my cervix. Dr said its a complete previa now and she's not very confident that it will move on its own, which partial previas usually do. What does this mean? I'll most likely have a c-section at 38 weeks. Going into labor on my own is bad. So, as of right now, this kid will be here in the middle of December and not at Christmas. Which I'm not mad about. I'm also not too worried about this condition. I am in wonderful hands and the OB unit at the hospital is awesome. I may be partial since my sister-in-law is a nurse there, but that's okay.

Check up yesterday went great. The doctor was able to find the heartbeat just using the doppler this time. Which makes me excited because with all these "scares" Danny and I decided investing in our own was a good idea. It should be here next Tuesday. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Anyone else have placenta previa or know someone who did?

Introducing Diesel Summers

W're not naming our 2 legged child that. I know there are a few new ones around here that probably know I'm a soon to be mama of a baby, but they probably don't know my first baby, Diesel.

 

This morning when I woke up to pee for the 2nd time around 3:40 (actually, my bladder didn't wake me up, Diesel did. I thought he had to go outside. Nope, he just wanted me to get out of bed so he could take my spot in bed, forcing me to snuggle with him.), I couldn't go back to sleep until like 4:30 after I moved to the couch. After I thought about what flavors I'm going to get in my sno cone after my appt today (cherry and lemon lime.. I'm hoping for a cherry sprite taste) I decided I needed a cute blog post and who better than my reason for being awake.

 

Diesel Summers

 

Diesel was an impulsive buy. It was a month and a half after my dad died and my life was changing rapidly. Danny and I agreed early on that when we moved in together, or one of us had the chance, we'd get a puppy. That time came unexpectedly. I asked Danny to live with me at my dad's house (my parents were divorced right before my dad passed away so my mom was out of the house) and he said of course. One night on our way to a concert, we stopped by a pet store. We almost said screw the concert and walked out with a rottweiler. Except for the fact that we didn't have $600 on us (dog, cage, food, etc) We went to the concert and I was pretty much sad for most of it. I needed some puppy lovin.

 

The next day we went to Rural King but missed the puppy adoptions by about 10 minutes. A kind lady told us a nearby animal shelter was at Petsmart that day though and if we hurried we wouldn't miss them. Puppies were $125 and they came nuetered/spayed. Sounds good to me. Danny picked Diesel out and I immediately fell in love. Nevermind the fact that we thought about getting a dog for all of 12 hours, it was the week before fair meaning I would be on my own potty training, and what was I going to do with him when I was gone working and at school all day. Didn't matter because one look at the face and I didn't care. We'd figure that out later.

 

A little more about Diesel.

- He will sleep where ever he wants too. He doesn't care if it disturbs you (like this morning) or if it's a piece of furniture

 

- He knows that we think he is 110% adorable and doing things like sleeping on end tables will eventually be okay.

 

- I mentioned he forced me to cuddle this morning. He doesn't cuddle on your terms, but on his. Whether you're laying in a queen size bed or sitting in a one person patio chair, if he wants to snuggle you will snuggle.

 

- Diesel LOVES ice cubes. I really wish I had known this when we were potty training him. I would have saved a fortune on treats. Every time he hears us filling our glass, he stops whatever he is doing and run to the fridge. I've seen him wake up out of a dead sleep. The same thing happens when he hears the cheese/deli drawer, especially in the morning. If he can tell I'm making eggs for breakfast, he knows there will cheese involved. He lays on the rug by the door very patiently, then when he hears the shredded cheese bag, he runs to his bowl and waits on his breakfast cheese.

 

- He is a drama queen. One night at the old house, I was busy all night packing or crafting or something and wasn't paying (enough) attention to him. Well, he followed me back to our bedroom and when we were walking down the hall to go back out to the living room, he just stopped, sat down, and held up his paw like he had hurt it. Okay Diesel, I'll play along. I picked him up and carried him to the couch. When it was time for bed, I carried him to bed. But not 10 minutes after we got in bed, my brother got home and Diesel couldn't get to him fast enough. His paw was magically better.

 

- He doesn't realize how big he his. When we first got him, the only dogs he had to play with were my mom's rat terrier, my cousins toy poodle, and Danny's mom's 2 schnauzers. All of which are pretty small. After months of playing with them and rough housing a little bit, they started hiding from him and he kept trying and trying to get them to play with him. He didn't realize that he had grown to TWICE their size and the play rough housing was getting real. I like to describe him now as that big goofy kid on the playground who has no control over his body.

 

I don't think there is a dog that could love us more though. A year ago, the idea of bringing a baby around Diesel terrified us, but he was still a puppy. Now that he is 3, he's calmed down and starting to act like a big dog. We know that he is going to be an awesome brother and friend :)

 

 

Weekend Recap

This weekend was very low key. It could almost be called boring. I ain't mad about it.

Friday night we had dinner at the local ice cream and hamburger joint. That cheeseburger never disappoints. Instead of sliced cheese.. they use cheez whiz. Its been that way for YEARS. Even through multiple owners. I honestly think if a new owner tried to deviate from the whiz, they'd have to close shop. I had a chocolate peanut butter shake for dessert that sent me flying over the line between comfortably full and miserable.  Luckily Danny went to help one of his brothers with a few things so it was acceptable for me to lay on the couch the rest of the night. When Danny got home around 9:30 our neighbors called and asked us to come over since they were having a party. This is basically what I told Danny.

I told Danny to go enjoy himself. Truth is, I'm still exhausted. I went to bed at 10 and that was that.

Saturday morning Diesel and I went to the park and walked a whole 1 freakin lap. I swear, I'm not taking him anymore. Ol boy is holding me back. When I got home, the hubs wanted McDonalds for breakfast so being the good wife I am, off I went. After breakfast, Danny went to help his brother again and I took me a little snooze. And by little snooze, I mean a 2 hours. I went to the store to get supplies for Danny and I's cookout date at home just the two of us. We dropped the ball on arranging the cookout we wanted to have, but there was no reason we couldn't have fun still. I told Danny he was in charge of the main dish and I was in charge of the side, dessert and drinks. Shannon at Life After I Dew talked about her Fruit Pizza on Wednesday. I had been wanting some for a while now so our cookout date was a perfect excuse. The pizza was DELISH! And easy. I'll definitely be making this again and again and again and again. We ate almost the whole thing ourselves.

For Danny's portion of the meal, he threw together some shishkabobs. He marinated the steak for a while and it was fantastic!

After dinner we were lounging on the couch and around 8pm, my Grammy calls. She thought she had a blood clot in her leg and was pretty worried. She's got heart problems and is on blood thinners so a blood clot is big deal. Not that they aren't for any other person. We headed over there and her sister was already there. We knew she would likely be going to the hospital, so we warned the fire department on our way (Danny works there so its nice to give them a heads up on things like this) We all headed to the ER, which was PACKED. After 5 hours, yes 5, we got the clear to go home. It wasn't a blood clot, but the doctor suspects cellulitis again. We got her home around 1:30 and Danny and I got home around 2 am. Long night.

After we rolled out of bed Sunday, we did some running around town and said bye to some of our friends who are going to Gulf Shores this week. So freaking jealous. I went to Target and grocery shopping in the afternoon. Picked up a cute shirt that will show of the baby bump all cute like. *Side note, the bump has arrived. It literally just popped out while I was sleeping Saturday night/Sunday morning really.* After my grocery trip, the hubs said he wanted Cracker Barrel for dinner. Why wouldn't I take him up on an opportunity to not cook dinner? We stuffed ourselves silly then headed home.

That was it. Like I said, pretty boring but it did have SOME excitement Saturday.

In other news, the Twinkie is on its way back to store shelves. I'm not too thrilled. Not a huge Twinkie fan. I did predict this though. I knew it'd be back.

13 Weeks!!

These weeks are starting to fly by. And that's fine with me, even though there are a bajillion and one things that we need to get done before this little one arrives.

Time for the 13 week bumpdate. And... I have a picture this time! Basically, the hubs walked in from work this morning and I said, Hi how are you? We need to take a bump picture! It kind of worked out not taking one for a couple of weeks because now there is actually a bump starting to pop out.



Baby size: Peach
Any symptoms? boobs still hurt but not nearly as bad. I'm still pretty tired too.
Cravings? still loving the popsicles
Favorite part this week? when Danny came home from being gone all day and said "holy baby bump"
Least favorite part this week? had a tiny scare with some bleeding this week. went to the doc and got all checked out. All is okay!
Boy or Girl? no dreams this week, but I feel like Jellybean is a boy.
Names? One of our girl names is still good to go, the other one might be in jeporady. Danny says it doesn't fit a "chunky blonde girl" which is what we'd have lol. Boy names are getting better.



Overall, I'm starting to feel better. I had an awful headache yesterday though. I left work early and came home and napped in bed for a little bit. It seemed to help. According to The Bump, this is the last week of the 1st Trimester. Hopefully all the people who keep telling me I'm going to love the 2nd Trimester are right. I'm tired of feeling exhausted all the time.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Danny has Friday-Monday off and I am so excited!

Our Big Day - Wedding Link Up!

Today I am linking up with two of my favorite ladies, Holly and Melanie, to talk about Danny and I's big day. Or as my BFF Shelby likes to call it.. Our Big Redneck Weddin'. She's kind of an ass and I hope she reads this one day.

Wedding season is in full swing all over the country. Danny and I are still considered to be "young" since we are going on 24, so not a lot of our friends are getting married so wedding season consists of 2 weddings for us this year. I ain't mad about it. Since I'll likely feel like a fatty for most of it and won't be able to drown my sorrows at the open bars. Anywho, this post isn't about those weddings, its about OUR wedding!





I'm going to try to spare some details so I'll actually have something to talk about when our anniversary rolls around in August.

A little background... We got engaged in November of 2010. I still had a year left of school and Danny still had a year and a half. We decided to set a date for June of 2012 so that we would both be done with school. June 16, 2012 it was... until March of 2012. Danny came to me at the end of February and told me that with the way his medic school program was going to work, his National Registry test, aka the test that his JOB depended on, could easily be scheduled for the week of, DAY of, or week after. He didn't know when for sure and there wasn't really any way to know for sure until school got closer to being done. Cute, right? We didn't want to take a chance of him taking a huge test like that days after getting married and not be able to enjoy the biggest day of our lives (at that point) or take it before and God forbid he fail and be in a pissy mood, not able to enjoy the biggest day of our lives. I told him I refused to wait any longer so the only option was to move the wedding up to the coming summer.

June was too soon, July was out of the question with the 4H fair... August it was. But it had to be the first weekend in August since school was going to start again and his sister was going on vacation the second week. His mom thought we were f'ing nuts but went with it. We were paying for it ourselves so it didn't really matter.

I had already bought my dress in January of 2011 because I got excited, we knew where we wanted to have the ceremony, reception, colors, blah blah blah. The big stuff was "planned" but had to really come together in 5 months.

Onto the link up...

 

Location - It was a given that we'd get married in our hometown since we were both from there and our families still lived there, mostly. We had the ceremony in his dad's backyard. I picked that spot about a year and a half after we started dating. We were over there for a holiday or something and I was sitting in the sunroom and it just looked perfect. The reception was at my dad's house where we had been living since he passed away. We invited way too many people to have it at a venue and it being our my property, we had the freedom to do what we wanted. It just required what resembled a circus tent, 7 large fans, some generators, a rented dance floor and 2 carts full of booze from Sam's Club.. and just in case you think I'm kidding...

 

We had 3 kegs too

 

Colors? an aqua/teal color and orange.

Bridal Party? Freakin awesome. I had 3 friends from high school and 2 sorority sisters. Danny had 2 guys from the fire department, 2 friends from high school and my brother. We had 2 junior groomsmen (nephews), 3 flower girls (nieces) and 1 ring bearer (my godson). To this day, my brother says he was the "Star of the Wedding" since he had to walk our mom to her seat, walk me down the aisle AND stand with Danny.  We had awesome shirts made with different "rules" from the movie Wedding Crashers on them. If you don't know what I mean by rules, watch the movie before you come back here.

First Dance Song? Lookin Back With You by Craig Morgan

Honeymoon? We went to Nashville for 2 days and then rented a cabin in Gatlinburg for 3. This happened in Nashville... 

We met Blake Shelton and Chris Young bought us a shot of Crown in celebration of us getting married. Pretty cool, huh?

What would you do differently? get married on a beach with our family and closest friends then have a reception a couple weeks later. It's not that we didn't love every second of our big day, it just would have been A LOT easier.

That's it! It was a beautiful day that we'll never forget!

So What Wednesday!

I absolutely love this weekly link-up that Shannon from Life After I Dew hosts each week. Its almost like you're saying "F it, I do what I want" to all those things that you and your friends or family do. 

 

 

SO WHAT! if....

- I had 2 Firecracker popsicles last night after dinner.

- I flat out told the rep from one of the companies I write for that I wasn't going to his agent update meeting because it was on my birthday.

- I'm thinking about taking my nieces to get snocones tonight just so I can get one

- I spent $50 on a Snoogle. I've slept like a baby the past 3 nights.

- we didn't want to go to the lakes this weekend. If I'm going to be around my uncle for 2 days in a row, I need to be intoxicated for majority of the 2 days.

- we're thinking of having a cookout this weekend and haven't told a soul

- we still haven't found that second litter of kittens

- speaking of kittens, I haven't even seen the first litter in days

- I'm ordering a new pair of Toms today just because this happened...

 

I am on twitter ErinShell1021. I tweet good shit, obviously.

 

 

So yeah, that happened last night. I'll be making a purchase at some point during the work day, because thats an important task. I was looking last night, before the big tweet, and there are about 4 or 5 pair that I want. The bank account can only handle one right now so this is a problem. I may have to enlist my Instagram (erinshell10) followers to help me choose.

 

Alright, I'm out of here. Have a good Hump Day!

remember when I thought I had a boy cat and a girl cat?

Something you need to know about me: I am TERRIFIED of mice. Like jump on a chair, run outside, scream, come close to having a heart attack afraid of them. Hate the little assholes with a passion. This fear requires that there be at least 1 cat on the property that I live on at all times. I even go so far as to feed them a little less when fall gets closer. Hungry cats hunt mice. Cruel? Maybe but its not like I'm horrible to the cats. I pet them, I feed them well during the warm and cold months and generally make sure they are in the garage during winter. I have them at my house for a purpose.

When there are cat(s) at my house, I don't have mice. When October rolls around, I get nervous. I knock on drawers before I open them and kick cabinets too. I distinctly remember opening a drawer at my parents house and a mouse was just chilling on a pot holder. I couldn't get out of the house fast enough.

About 3 days before we got the keys to our house, my sister-in-law asked if we wanted 2 kittens that a friend of hers had to get rid of. Our property is near a wooded area and there is a corn field across the street. Being that we were moving in in November, I didn't want to take a chance. I begged Danny and the day we got the keys, she came over with 2 kittens in tow that were named Maggie(?) and Bixby. I just assumed Maggie was a girl and Bixby was a boy. Danny didn't love the names so Maggie became Bridget and Bixby became Nigel. Mister "I don't want these cats" named them himself.

Bridget is the one on top, Nigel is at the bottom

Fast forward to March/April

Bridget is lookin fat. And gets fatter and fatter and fatter. We come to terms with the fact that she's pregnant. Kittens aren't THAT hard to get rid of. Post it on Facebook, they are gone in a couple weeks. Memorial Day weekend, she pops out 5 kittens that we didn't find until 2 days after she had them. We only knew she had them because she was huge Thursday and skinny Saturday.

It was nice of Bridget to move them to a box with clean cups in it. Real sweet.

Fast forward to last Friday...

We were so focused on Bridget being fat that we didn't notice Nigel was packin on some pounds. We started to notice, but since he was a boy kittens weren't a concern, until he got HUGE in just the stomach area. Danny calls me at work and says "Nigel isn't fat anymore"

And just like HER sister, Nigel hid the babies and we have yet to find them. I don't know if she had 2 or 4 or 6.

All I know is I became a married cat lady over night and this 4.5 acres is some fertile ground.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was another busy one. I have a feeling they are going to be like this for the rest of the summer. Thats fine... thats what this time of year is all about.  Spending time with friends and running around like you're nuts.

Friday night the hubs and I had a date night. We planned on going to eat at Red Robin then making our way to Buy Buy Baby so I could spend more than I needed to on a Snoogle. Well, as the life of a firefighter goes, Danny got called in off duty for a house fire and didn't get home until 7. We still went to eat, but there was no way we were making it to Buy Buy Baby before it closed. We walked around Bed Bath and Beyond in hopes that they might have a few since they are owned by the same company as Buy Buy Baby, but no luck. We did, however, find these awesome cups.

I love the large Tervis Tumblers and I always grab one if I see one I like. Who doesn't love a red solo cup?? On our way home I begged and pleaded for some frozen yogurt and got to enjoy Orange Leaf for the first time ever. Holy smokes, that place is awesome. Any place that has fresh cut kiwi gets an A in my book.

Saturday morning Danny had his first 5K, the Tiger Trot. Our brother-in-law was running in it so Danny's mom came with our nieces and we all cheered them on. Irish even helped her daddy cross the finish line and it was just precious!

Danny didn't get any help crossing the finish line, but he did awesome!

Saturday was his FIRST time running outside. He's been running on the treadmill the days he works at the fire department and recently added in some weight training, but no outside running whatsoever. He was a little nervous the night before but he had no reason to be. He finished the run in 34 minutes! I plan on doing it with him next year and I can't wait.

Saturday evening I went to a friends house for a graduation party. There was a keg and the families famous Gin Bucket. The Gin Bucket tastes like candy and will knock you on your ass if you aren't careful. No worries though, I stuffed myself silly with food and cake.

Sunday I went shopping with my BFF Rach and our friend Chels to get shoes for Rachael's wedding. Chels and I found our shoes in the first aisle of the first store. Poor Rach didn't find hers until about 6 stores and another mall later. Rach was nice enough to take me to Buy Buy Baby and I got my Snoogle. I almost splurged and bought Jellybean his/her first pair of shoes...

Aren't those adorable! My baby will have a pair of these.

More on this Snoogle business... that thing is worth every penny. My back still hurts a little bit, but I woke up on my side 2 out of 3 times. (Thanks Diesel for 1 of those for NO REASON!)

That's all for this busy weekend! There isn't much on the agenda for this week. I ain't mad about it.

12 Weeks!

Oh Friday, I never thought you'd get here. This week has drug on and on and on and on and on and it has been SO busy!

Monday was a grocery trip, Tuesday I watched our nieces, and Wednesday I had a hair appointment. Last night was very relaxed... I did nothing besides make dinner... and it wasn't delicious. It wasn't that I f'ed it up... it just wasn't a good combination of things. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Anywho, its time for another bumpdate :) I hit the 12 week mark this week so I'm almost to the 2nd trimester. I can't wait for it to get here because I keep hearing how great I am supposed to feel once I get to that point. This little rumor might be true since I'm feeling almost like my old self again. Just fat and sober.

**I don't have a bump picture. Like I said, this week was super busy and the hubs didn't wake up before I went to work this morning. Womp womp womp.**

Baby size: Plum
Any symptoms? sore boobs, always.
Cravings? Danny made his first craving run last night. In my defense, I was nice and asked him to do it on his way home from fishing last night. The item of my desire: Firecracker popsicles. those red, white and blue ones. It was all that I had imagined!
Favorite part so far? browsing for baby items, even though its overwhelming and I can already tell our bank account is going to suffer.
Least favorite part so far? being so dang tired, but that is easing up. I still miss wine. (I'll be at a party with a keg Saturday. Though my liver is happy I can't drink, the Overman in me is crying inside.)
Boy or Girl? Had yet ANOTHER boy dream. I was in labor, which lasted all of 30 minutes from what I could tell (like I said, it was a dream) and the doctor, who wasn't my real doctor, shouted IT'S A BOY.
Names? I have 2 girl names picked out. Danny loves one, but he said the other one doesn't fit a "chunky blonde girl" which is what our little girl would be lol. He also said that he wanted the boy name to Willie Nelson Summers. Fat chance. We are coming to an agreement on a REAL boy name though.

Tonight is date night! We're heading to the Big City (Indianapolis) for dinner and to go to Buy Buy Baby. I've got a 20% off coup and its time for me to spend more than I should on a Snoogle.. one of those awesome "C" shaped pregnancy pillows.  I just hope its worth it!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Losing Weight Before Getting Pregnant

Yesterday morning as I was wrapping a rubber band around the button of my pants and through the hoop I was thinking that losing weight BEFORE getting knocked up was probably the smartest thing I've ever done. I have to remind myself of that in the morning when I tug at my jeans so I don't burst into tears that the 8's that I worked so hard to fit into... don't fit anymore. I mean they button, but it's uncomfortable and I look like a busted can of biscuits.

There are a hand full of reasons why I am glad I lost 15 pounds before getting pregnant.

1. My clothes will fit longer - I'm almost 12 weeks in and my skinny jeans are just now not buttoning. About 3 weeks ago I slid some shorts on that I wouldn't have been caught dead in last summer, not knocked up. I've held onto majority of my larger clothes that I wore regularly rather than get rid of them in the rummage. They are packed away safely in a box waiting for my "bump" to make its appearance.

2. Even though I eat badly most of the time, I do know how to eat well - Its really hard to curb those cravings for sloppy joe's or taco bell, but I can do it sometimes. When you're pregnant, healthy snacking is vital. During my weight loss journey, I had gotten use to healthy snacking, so grabbing some fruit, carrots, or a cheese stick to take to work isn't anything new to me. Which brings me to my next point...

3. Less anxiety about losing the baby weight - Being able to shed 15 pounds was huge for me. Come February, I'll have to get into that mindset again and buckle down. I wanted to lose the weight so that pregnancy would hopefully be easier, but also to prove to myself that I am capable of losing weight. When we first got married, I had a lot of worries about how big I might end up after having a baby. That was before I experienced the "click" that everyone has when they are ready to make some changes. With the right food choices and some exercise (I can't wait to get back to Zumba by the way!), I'll make that baby weight my bitch.

4. Seeing the 150's isn't a shock - I've read on some other blogs and sites like The Bump that women have some trouble seeing those higher numbers on the scale. For me, I've seen all of the 150s, all the of the 160s and even the first couple 170s at some point in the last 5. I don't think I'll feel completely shocked until I get to 175. Now I wouldn't be even a little mad if I didn't reach 175 though. Although it will suck to see those 160s again, it won't kill me. I've seen them before and I've bounced back from them before.

So there you have it. Four reasons why I'm thankful I got my rear in gear before getting pregnant. It was the smartest and best decision I've made in a while. I don't know if it contributed to me not experiencing morning sickness, but on the off chance that it did, I will definitely be shedding enough weight to get back down to at least 145 again next time.

And since no post is complete without pictures, I'm going to share some adorable pictures of my niece. It was my mother-in-law's non-birthday yesterday. She turned 60 yesterday and isn't loving it. Her husband went ahead and had some of the fam over for ice cream cake. She wanted to make sure she got every last drop of ice cream off her plate...

 

I think she got more on her face and chest and than she did in her mouth. This is the same girl that last year at another family birthday party just picked the piece of cake up like a cupcake. No need to waste time on a fork.

Have a good hump day! After work I'm getting my hair did!

Weekend Recap

First of all, I apologize for posting a depressing story on Thursday and then not following up with my regular rambling and bumpdate on Friday. Sometimes when you're ready to talk about something sad and life changing like that, you just have to go with it and get it out before you talk yourself out of it.

There are 3 reasons for no bumpdate on Friday.
1. My mom and  I had to be at my mother-in-law's house at 6am to set up for the rummage.
2. There really hasn't been any change from the week before
3. We totally didn't take a picture last week.

Onto my weekend...

Like I said, Friday I had to be at Danny's mom's at 6am. The sun was barely out when we got there and that's just not okay. What is also not okay when you have to be up that early is ordering 2 hashbrowns from McDonald's and them not ringing them up or giving them to you. Assholes. The rummage went really well Friday and we had A LOT of shit set out. I didn't really have a lot, I had maybe $130 worth of stuff, but my mom, sister-in-law and her mom had a lot. We were fairly busy the entire day.

After we got everything covered up with tarps, my mom and I headed to my house to get ready for dinner with my brother and his girlfriend. My brother was taking a class for his insurance license this week and he passed the test! So that called for celebration. I was so tired though. I think I nodded off in the booth at the mexican restaurant.

Saturday's wake up call was an hour later, which was normal for me. Danny's stepdad made us all breakfast.. bacon, eggs, biscuits, sausage... it was great. He's a sweetheart. The rummage on Saturday was a bust. Not busy at all for some reason and we still had a lot of stuff. I made a whole $10 on Saturday. I wasn't too pissed about it. Out of $130 worth of stuff, I sold $90. After the rummage, we all headed to our niece's dance recital and it was ADORABLE! So cute, in fact, that Danny is not open to the idea of Jellybean being a girl. haha. After the recital Danny treated me to the delicious snocone I've been wanting for about 2 weeks now. It was all I'd hoped for. It was also really nice to have a green mouth when I showed up at my best friend's graduation party. Oh well.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my friend Shelby in Indianapolis. We went to lunch at Chili's and then shopping. Old Navy had some cute shorts and cardigans so I picked up 2 pairs of shorts and a cardigan that will work for this summer. Next we went to the Container Store. That store is comprable to Disney World for someone with OCD. Our last shopping destination was Buy Buy Baby and holy shit, Batman, did they have a lot of stuff. I'm really glad I had a chance to go look around at things before its actually time to start registering, picking out stuff and making purchases. I definitely would have been overwhelmed if the day we registered was the first time I entered the store. After Buy Buy Baby we went to The Flying Cupcake.

My after lunch dessert is on the right and dinner is on the left.

 

 

The rest of my night was nothing but lounging on the couch watching tv. Real Housewives of NJ made me cry last night. I won't spoil the tear jerker moment for those that maybe haven't watched it.

 

 

All in all, it was a pretty good weekend. Hope you all had a great one too!! :)



The Day My Life Changed Forever

June 6, 2010. 3 years ago today. Just thinking about it creates a lump in my throat.

4 days after my brother signed to play college baseball.
2 days after he graduated high school.
1 day after his open house.

That morning I woke up early and headed an hour and a half north to a softball tournament for a 10 & under team that I was helping coach. I had talked Danny into sitting through 1, possibily 2 games. Thank God I did. We lost the 1st game and were done around 10:30 or 11am.  Thank God we did. Danny and I got in the car and headed back home. We were driving out in the country, making shapes out of the clouds in the sky and having a great time. I had no idea what was about to rock my world.

I got a text from my brother that read something along the lines of "get home now"  My mind immediately went to my Grammy and that she had a heart attack or something. I texted him back and said what is going on. 10 minutes went by and I never got a response. That was unlike Drew so I decided to call. I was very shocked when it was Grammy who answered. As soon as I heard her voice I knew who it was that was in trouble.

She asked how much longer til I was home. I said "an hour, what's wrong."  She said she'd tell me when I got there. I said "no you're going to tell me now" She responded that she didn't want to tell me while I was driving. I assured her that Danny was driving and she was going to tell me what was wrong right now. Again she told me no. Again I told her "yes you will"

She finally caved and said "Your dad is gone"
And life as I knew it was over.


It was like my mind intentionally interpreted the words wrong to spare my heart the pain for another second or 2 and before I knew it the words "where is he" came pouring out of my mouth. Her answer was "he's dead." What was said after that, I can't tell you. I don't remember.

What I do remember is struggling to tell Danny what happened as he demanded to know. I couldn't say the words. I finally got them out and started screaming. I screamed, kicked what I could, cursed, and cried. I don't know how long it lasted. I just know the hour long drive home felt like 6. Danny drove a consistent 85 mph home, passing cars in the left hand turn lane when necessary and got me home as soon as he could. I'm not sure he would have stopped if a cop tried to pull us over.

I was jumping out of the car while we were coming to a stop. I had to get to my brother. I had a gut feeling he was the one who found him and I was right. Being a protective big sister, if there is one thing I could change about that day, with the exception of bringing my dad back of course, it would have been me that found him. Not Drew.

Losing a parent is hard. If its expected or unexpected. If you're younger or older. If you're close or not close. Its hard. It sucks. And its the worst thing I've ever experienced.

This is the first time I've actually relived that day. I think about it very often, but never from beginning to end. As soon as I start to think about it, I stop myself. I don't like to "talk" about it, but I think writing about it helps. And someday, I'll write about why my life changed because of all this. That would require a series of posts. I'm not kidding you, the first year and a half after my dad's death was a whirlwind rollercoaster. Now that I'm ready to put it into words, it's going to take a while to sort it out.

June Goals - May Goals

Today I'm skipping Shannon's So What Wednesday. The only thing I've done in the last few days that I can say so what too is bribing myself to fold laundry with frozen yogurt... and then proceeded to put equal amounts of peanut butter and yogurt in the same bowl. What can ya do?

We're now 5 days into June and I have yet to put my goals for the month into writing or recap my May goals. Lets get too it.

 

June Goals

1. Walk 4x's a week - Starting next week, I think its possible for me to walk 3 times during the week and then once on the weekend. That's doable.

2. Start working out - My ass is now back to flabby and the small amount of muscle definition that I had in my arms is gone. I've found some great references for pregnancy workouts on Pinterest and its time to put those to good use.

3. Finish bedroom collage - I've been meaning to make a collage for our bedroom since about October when we closed on the house. I have the wooden plaques, paint and pictures.

4. Get the baby's room cleared out - I know we still have a while until it actually has to be ready, but there is a bunch of shit in there. After the rummage this weekend it will be pretty cleared out though. I just know that as soon as we find out what Jellybean is, I'm gonna want to get to decorating. Thats just how I am.

5. Evaluate our budget - I set up a trial budget for us for the month of May. I think it went pretty well. I just need to go back through our spending and make sure we stuck to it and if any changes need to be made.

6. Have a pool day with my mom - Her apartment complex has a really nice pool area. Last year she moved in the first week of August and by the time she got settled in we were out of time to enjoy the pool

 

 

May Goals

1. Create a Budget - I created a trial budget so I accomplished this one.
2. Walk at least 4 times every week - This was a big fat fail. I walked maybe 4 times the whole month. Womp womp womp.

3. Get rummage stuff together - This was done. I'll probably do a walk thru tonight and tomorrow to make sure I didn't miss anything that we don't use anymore, but its done for the most part.

4. Get my office in working order - This is done for the most part. My desk is now visible so that's an accomplishment in itself

5. Read a book - My Kindle has become nothing but a place to put my phone and hasn't moved in months... still. I think I read a few pages of What To Expect When You'r Expecting. I'm not exaggerating when I say "few" because it couldn't have been more than 3.

6. Bridal Shower Invitations - I got these designed, ordered and handed off to the Maid of Honor. I blogger-failed and didn't take a picture of the final product though.
7. Spring clean my kitchen - I cleaned it a couple times, but I didn't like get down on my hands and knees or anything. It just isn't going to happen.

 

So I was 4 for 7 on May goals. It could be worse so I'll take it. Hopefully June is a little better and I come out 6 for 6.

 

Tomorrows post will be quite different than what you're use too. I get into some serious stuff. You've been warned.
 

Graffiti Run

When I signed up for the Graffiti Run back in April, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew it would be a messy day and most likely tons of fun. I also thought me and the 2 girls I did this with would run the 5K. The combination of me getting knocked up and one of them just flat out not wanting too meant running was out. I know you can run while pregnant, but having never ran before, I didn't think now would be a good time to start. Turns out not running worked out for us. We noticed that the people who were running weren't as colorful after going through the color stations.

The night before we were all worried that we would be chilly during the walk. Sunday morning it was supposed to be 64 degrees and this girl packed a tank top and shorts, forgetting that I live in Indiana where the weather is bipolar. We lucked out though. Not sure what the actual temp was that morning, but the sun was out and shining the entire time. At 8:40 the 9:00 race started gathering by the start line. Once 9 am hit, they let waves go every 10 minutes. They had color stations set up every 1K. When we went through the orange station, we just walked normally with our arms up right down the middle of the path. When we got out of it, we barely had anything on us. We knew we had to get creative about it when we got to the next station. We saw a pink cloud up ahead and got excited. The game plan for the remaining color stations was to alternate between to walk on the sides of the path... left through one, right through the next... and spinning while doing so to make sure our backs also got the goods. Ooooh did it work.

 

 

If you think we had a lot of color, you should have seen the volunteers working the color stations.  By the time we got to the blue station, the volunteers looked like smurfs. Each participant got a color packet to throw at the end. I crossed the finish line behind one of the girls I was with. She threw her purple packet straight up and it landed right on my head.

Rockin a Kelly Osbourne do. The front doesn't look too bad... but the top was a completely different story...

I really didn't think I'd get that shit off my scalp, which would have been bad given the fact that I had a baby shower to attend 2 hours after this photo was taken. Even more concerning was my green armpit. I had to scrub that until it hurt.

All in all, it was a BLAST! There is similar run in September that we're considering doing, Color Me Rad.

Now to tackle the day on minimal sleep. I'm a genius that stayed up until midnight watching the first game of the college softball world series. It didn't get done until 12... so, today will be fun.

Weekend Recap!

Weekends go by wayyyy to fast for my liking. Why can't all weekends be 3 day weekends? Who actually works on Fridays? I know I try not too. This one was pretty busy, which might be why it flew by me. My social life enjoys weekends like this because it generally means I get to see a lot of my friends or family. My to-do list hates it though. Whatev.

Friday night when I got off work, one of my cousins stopped by for a few hours. I hadn't seen her in a month or two and it was time for a good heart to heart about some things. We didn't solve the worlds problems, but we made some progress haha. After I headed over to my Gram's house where another cousin was visiting for the weekend. Friday was my only chance to see her so we all ate dinner and just sat around joking and laughing. I peaced out shortly after they broke the Captain Morgan out of the cabinet. Not gonna lie, I took a sniff of one of their drinks to tide me over. It helped a little.

Saturday morning was a lazy one. I woke up around 7 absolutely STARVING. I quickly solved that problem then went back to sleep for a couple hours.  After a couple more hours of snoozin, Danny and I got up and got ready for the day since we only had a few hours to spend together. We had a lunch date and visited his dad. After that, I packed my bags to head to Indy with my BFF Rachael to pick up our Graffiti Run packets, which took for-freaking-ever. We stood in front of a family with two toddler girls who screamed bloody murder about every 20 minutes. So that was fun, you know, espeically for a woman who is 10 weeks pregnant and already nervous about her parenting skills. After we got our packets we headed to my mom's apartment where we were staying all night. We ate dinner at the Stacked Pickle. Its a bar type atmosphere, but also family friendly. It was pretty good. Shortly after dinner our other friends arrived and we had a blast sitting around the living room. It was almost like we were reliving senior year. I loved it and I know my mom did too.

Sunday we were up bright and early, 7 is bright and early for a Sunday, to head to the State Fairgrounds. It was paaaacked but everyone was so excited. I now get what I've been reading about marathons. There is something in the air and the excitement is contagious. Even for a 5k. More on the Graffiti Run tomorrow... I do have a sneak peak though.

Afterwards we all raced back home since we had graduation parties and a baby shower to attend. Another cousin of mine is pregnant and due at the end of July so her mom and friends threw her a baby shower yesterday. She's having a girl and all the cute little outfits made me forget about the drama queens at the packet pick up the day before. After the shower, I came home and crashed. My back hurt, I was tired, my head hurt from wearing the Graffiti Run sweatband all morning and I wasn't doing crap the rest of the day or night. It was glorious too. I caught the season premiere of Real Housewives of New Jersey. The drama just intensifies every. single. season. And it sucks me right in.

Now I'm off to kick Monday's ass.