427 days later...

So my last post was February 22, 2012. It's been quite a while. I've been thinking lately that I should start back up... I always liked spilling my guts to the internet. So I sat down at the computer, with both boys busy (one napping and one throwing all the clean clothes I just folded around the living room floor) and started to type. And then deleted it. And then typed some more. And then deleted it.

 That's when it hit me. I have nothing to say.

 That's why I haven't written in 427 days. I have absolutely nothing to say. What the hell happened to me? Kids, yes. I blame lots of things on them so I guess this should be no different? (Flabby belly, gray hairs, and becoming completely uninteresting... sounds about right.)

 But seriously, what happened? Is it because I watch PBS kids all day long? The only words running through my brain are the lyrics to the Super Why theme song?

(And I've just typed and deleted another paragraph. Twice. And now three times. Sigh.)

 Maybe I worry that what I actually have to say isn't what everyone wants to hear? I'm not having the most! amazing! time! ever! taking care of small children day after day? Who wants to hear that? No one.

Seems to me people only want to see adorable pictures of my boys- impeccably dressed- doing super cute things with my captions about what FUN it is to be their mommy. Well... I am so sick of that, Facebook. Gag. Puke. Poke my eyes out.

 My kids are just like everyone else's kids: messy, demanding, adorable geniuses.

 And my mommy experience is just like everyone else's: tiring, repetitive, amazing.

 That about sums it up. The last 427 days, anyway. Maybe I'll try a little harder over this coming year to look at what's going on around me and finding something interesting to say about it.

 (Deleted another paragraph.)

 It could prove challenging.

A Little Bitching

Look, we all complain, right? It's not pretty or fun to listen to (so stop reading if you're not into this sort of thing), but I'm just about to burst if I don't do a little complaining right now. So, in no particular order, the things that are driving me crazy right now are:

1. Lack of sleep. My son has a cold and so the last couple of nights he's slept very restlessly and instead of getting up out of my bed every 15 minutes to check on him when I hear him on the monitor, we share the guest bed. That means I've gotten just enough sleep to function, but not enough to be pleasant. Or productive.

2. I'm huge. I'm uncomfortable all the time. Awake, asleep, sitting, standing, laying down- can't. get. comfortable. Everything I eat gives me heartburn. I barely fit in any of my clothes and I'm pretty sure I've still got at least 10 pounds to go. My back hurts. Lower back. Upper back. Middle back. It all hurts. I am tired. So. very. tired. I weigh a ton, but I feel like I weigh twice that.

3. I am a mess. I can't remember the last time I a) got a pedicure, b) shaved my legs, c) tweezed my eyebrows, d) got my hair highlighted. I feel gross and ugly, but don't even have the energy to do anything about it.

4. I have a long list of things to do to finish up the home improvement projects we've started... and I feel like I'm working so hard to get things done, but I'm not making any real progress. Feels like I'm just stuck. My list of things to do before the baby's here is growing longer and longer as well. I hope one of these days I've got the energy to tackle it.

5. Didn't I just clean my house? Why is it already a disaster? Why is the floor covered in... what is the floor covered in?? Do we really dirty this much clothing in a week? Seriously?

6. I feel very restless. Spring fever? This-baby's-about-be-here-restlessness? Not sure. Just not feeling very... me. I feel bitchy. And irritable. And pretty much not willing to deal with anyone. This has led me to, well, be a bitch to people lately. Sometimes I feel bad about it. Sometimes I don't.


OK. I feel better. I am absolutely aware of all the positive ways I could choose to look at the things I've listed above- and you know what? I usually do. I usually focus on the positive. But not today. It's not the day for it. I'm sure I'm going to feel stupid for posting such a whiny post when I wake up tomorrow... but right now it feels so good to just get it all out there.

And I'm sure I've offended a few people with this rant because although everyone, and I mean everyone, who notices that you're pregnant asks you "how are you feeling?" they don't really want to hear you say anything negative. I think it's pretty unfair that people are allowed to complain about their jobs (when tons of people are unemployed), complain about their spouse (when tons of people are single and looking), complain about being sick (when people are dealing with way worse things than your sinus infection), complain about the weather- how busy they are- a plethora of other things... but if you complain about pregnancy discomforts, it means you're ungrateful. It means you're not thankful enough for the baby you're about to meet... but that's just total BS. I'm pretty sure you're thankful for your job, your spouse, your cold- it could be way worse, your list of things to do around the house- you have a house to care for after all... but no one makes you feel bad about complaining about those things. Those are totally socially acceptable things to complain about. Pregnancy? Nope. Better shut up and act like you LOVE feeling like crap.

It's tricky. And it's not fair. But since this is my blog, I'll bitch if I want to. Geez, am I ten years old? Ugh. Tomorrow's another day. It'll be better. I'll be less annoying. Promise.

Oh, just a little rain...

What a fun day! And I'm really being serious... I kind of love when crazy things happen. It really makes for some unexpected excitement!

We had a serious rain storm here this morning! Some people in our area had serious damage- and I feel terrible about that. We were lucky. At the point I took these pictures, however, I thought we were about to get pretty unlucky! I was thanking my lucky stars that we have flood insurance!







The flooding was right up to the landscaping we have around our house... it just kept creeping up further and further. Thankfully, the rain slowed down and now, only a few hours later, all the flooding is gone. Our street and yard are pretty much covered in trash... but oh well! Carson, Jet, and I all spent a little time in our bathroom while some crazy strong winds were blowing. We had a tornado warning- specifically for our neighborhood, which was crazy- and a tornado touch-down nearby, but we were safe, thank God!

While the storms raged, Carson played with his Daddy's hard hat and safety goggles...



And I know I complain that he never smiles for a picture... so I have to post a couple that he actually did smile for! He is getting so skinny... my precious little fat baby is growing up! Sob!!!





In pregnancy news... I'm getting huge! I actually intended to take a belly picture the other day and couldn't find my camera. The desire to post a picture quickly subsided when I weighed myself and found I've already gained 20 pounds! I'm six months along!!! HOLY CRAP. Four months to go!! I wasn't in a huge hurry to have a photo shoot after that... but I will take a picture the next time I actually shower and put on real clothes, because I'm sure it's only going to get worse!!!

Seriously, the "experts" say we're only supposed to gain 25-35 pounds, right?!? How is that possible, I would like to know! I'm sure there are women out there who really do only gain the "recommended" amount, but I'm also sure there are lots more women like me who gain way, way more. Last pregnancy, I stopped weighing myself when I hit 45 pounds, and that was a couple weeks before I popped. Yeah. I'm no petite pregnant lady!

I'd like to blame some of these pounds on Pinterest. Every time I look I just get super hungry and end up making some ridiculous dessert like this cake I'm lusting after... The Chocolate Overdose Cake, courtesy of Annie's Eats (my new favorite food blog).





Or this one. This Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake is really doing it for me too. (Also Annie's Eats. This lady is about to get me into some serious trouble with my scale.)



Are you drooling yet? Me too.

Sean is super sweet (telling me I am not fat, for instance) and is super into Primal Blueprint eating so I am making healthy meals anyway. I am just craving crazy amounts of cheese and sugar and chocolate in between each protein and veggie filled meal. Oh, poo.

So, who wants cake? I am going to make a cake in the near future (possibly right now) and someone better come over and help me eat it before I go into a gestational diabetic coma, OK?

Nesting?

Well, my belly is getting pretty huge. Strangers can't help but know I'm pregnant at this point, although I'm pretty sure they all think I'm having triplets. Ahh, this belly. So big.

I think the belly is making me start to get anxious about the baby that's growing in it and how I'm going to manage two little people with two very different needs. I'm starting to feel the need to organize and get things ready.

When I was expecting Carson, I filled my freezer to the brim with meatballs, spaghetti sauce, chicken and rice soup, and bean and rice burritos. And even if it seemed excessive at the time (my husband took pictures of me working out there because he said I was crazy) it all got eaten! This time around, I'd like to try a new approach.

As I was prepping dinner last night I had what I thought to be an epiphany: use the crock pot. And even better- prep crock pot meals in the freezer ahead of time and then throw them in the day we want to eat it. A major light bulb turned on, I tell ya.

Now, there are only a few problems with this. 1- I actually like cooking and enjoy making dinner for my family so I find this idea to be, well, boring. However, when I'm juggling a new baby and trying to adjust to a very new routine, it will probably be necessary. Plus, I won't have to do this everyday- just a couple days a week will be perfect. 2- crock pot meals, at least the ones I've tried, aren't always that tasty. I usually have an issue with the texture of things... but I'm not so snobby that I won't give it a try. Survival!

So- that's where you come in. If you've got a good crock pot recipe that your family loves, please send it my way! In the meantime, I've found a blog that does exactly this sort of meal prep (when I found it on pinterest yesterday, it was like divine intervention) and I intend to try a few of her recipes. The blog is Mama and Baby Love, and there's lots of interesting stuff there. Not all of it is up my alley (for instance, she ate her placenta. Yes. You read that right.)but it is interesting non the less. And her meal planning ideas are pretty cool.



I'll let you know if I find anything delicious and worth trying! Happy Nesting!

Vail and The Hair God of the Mountains

Sean decided to be extremely romantic and adorable and booked a trip, just the two of us, to Vail, Colorado this past weekend. We traveled Thursday, spent Friday and Saturday there, and traveled back on Sunday (traveling included a two hour mountain drive- which for this Texas girl- was scary. I'm not used to seeing signs for avalanches, falling rocks, steep grades, chain laws, elk crossings, and runaway trucks). It was a wonderful way to celebrate five years of wedded bliss... or at least wedded-ness.

One of many adorable streets in Vail Village.

I started out the trip learning about all the things I wouldn't be doing, seeing as I've got a bun in the oven. No skiing, no ice skating, no hot tubs, no wine (OK, I already knew about that one, but I had no idea Vail would have so much I wanted to try!), no snowmobiles, no horseback riding, and to my eternal dismay- no dog sledding. I really thought dog sledding would be fine for a pregnant lady, but their website flat out said NO PREGNANT WOMEN.

So... I did what any pregnant lady would do. I ate- oh did I ever eat. I got a massage. And I got a hair cut.

The food in Vail is wonderful. Amazing. As Sean and I would joke- every store in Vail is a "boutique" and every restaurant is a "bistro." (Oh, and it's also very Earth friendly in Vail- I've never felt so green before. We really did the Earth a solid by spending the weekend there.) I had the best hot chocolate of my life at Rimini's. I'll probably spend weeks and gain several pounds trying to create a copycat recipe.

My massage was wonderful, however I did find out the hard way that I'm allergic to whatever green laundry detergent they use on their towels... my face was bright red the rest of the trip. It was not awesome.

My hair cut- oh I'm sorry- my hair design was one of the more interesting experiences of the trip.

While Sean did some snowboarding, I had a personal hair design (if I said hair cut one more time, he promised to charge me $5 for incorrect vocabulary usage.) by the self-proclaimed, Hair God of the Mountains, otherwise known as Eric. He was a very thin, 50 something, Norwegian man. He was dressed in designer jeans, black v-neck t-shirt with several necklaces with pendants I am sure had some kind of hippy significance and he smelled like curry powder and coffee. I'm not sure what Norwegians eat for breakfast, but I spent that hour in the salon contemplating this.

After he told me he specialized in hair design, he measured my face (literally) and gave me a complete once-over before telling me I was wearing my hair all wrong. I needed a "very simple" design so that it did not make my "long face and average body build" look any longer. Also, I needed to lose 3 inches and stop sleeping on a cotton pillow case. I needed to switch to a silk or satin pillow case immediately.

How am I to argue with the Hair God of the Mountains? I let him do exactly what he wanted to do. He proceeded to cut my hair while I was standing (I thought I deserved some sort of discount for this). The end result was just fine, albeit reminiscent of the haircut, I mean design, I had from ages 3 to 13. It is simple... which some might say is boring, however he did tell me the "simple sophistication complemented my personality." I was sold.

It was only after I was blow dried and ready to leave that I found out he charges $125 for this simple, sophisticated hair design. I guess I should have asked first, but seeing as I've never paid more than $50 (and almost puked at that) for a cut, I never imagined I'd be paying $125 (more than my massage!!) for this hair design. I guess I got a deal seeing as he is the Hair God of the Mountains.

Sean and I took a gondola trip up to a very picturesque spot and spent a few minutes there ooohing and ahhing at the gorgeous mountains while trying not to get hit by a passing skier.





We also went on a little carriage ride, which would have been a sleigh ride if they had more snow. The horses they used to pull the carriage were not Clydesdales, I can't for the life of me remember what they were, but they are similar in size. HUGE. They were absolutely HUGE. Of course we had to give them some pets... and even after fessing up to the carriage driver that I was pregnant, he still let me get on one of the horses. Sean said "he made you get on one of the horses." He was just very friendly, I think.





Even though I wasn't able to do many of the things I would have loved to do there, I had a wonderful time. Sean chose a great destination. The cold weather and snow felt like Christmas, the views were incredible, and the town was adorable. We really enjoyed ourselves! Thank goodness for grandparents who are willing to keep your nearly-always-grumpy-almost-two-year-old!

Fall Frenzy, I mean, Fun!

It's been a busy, busy fall for the Hales! Here's what we've been up to...

First, I finished a project that I thought I never would. It sat, unfinished, in my closet for months. It's one of those projects that just never went right. Nothing about it was easy. It was really frustrating. So, I finally just finished it. It's nowhere near perfect, but at least it's not sitting in a pile in my closet!



We took a trip to the zoo with our friends Tamra and Lee. The boys were total boys and were more interested in squirrels and birds than the actual animals we paid to see, but we still had a great time! Going to the zoo in the morning is really the way to go... the animals were really active! Carson loved it!





We happened to see Dora and Diego while we were there. Carson had no clue who they were, but we still took a picture with them... he may have been a little freaked out.



While Daddy was away hunting, Grandma, Jenni, and I took Carson to his first school Halloween carnival. The elementary school down the street put on a great carnival! There were lots of games Carson was able to play... he was pretty cute and so he "won" a prize at every game he played! He especially loved riding on the train with Mommy!



The bean bag toss game really cracked me up... the sweet girl running the game handed Carson the bean bags one at a time, and one at a time he placed them right in front of the board. Totally didn't get it! But, he still won a prize!





Showing off some of his prizes...







This Halloween, Carson dressed up as a fireman- the cutest one I've ever seen! He wasn't too interested in wearing his costume until he saw the first trick-or-treaters come to the door. Once he saw the candy get dropped in their buckets he followed them right out the door and on to their next stop! I had to chase after him with his costume and bucket!







Carson had SO much fun at BP's family picnic!! You can't tell from this family picture we had taken (check out his grumpy face- I laugh every time I see it) but he loved it! He rode the pony- twice- and didn't want to leave the petting zoo! Threw a nice little fit as I carried him out of there... yikes. Who knew goats and chickens could be so fun?





He took pony riding very seriously. And he was a natural... not scared in the least.











Carson got to dress up in a tuxedo for his Aunt Jackie and Uncle Alex's wedding! He was so stinking cute in that tux. He hated me putting it on him (so many steps!) but once it was on he was just fine! Carson had the very important job of walking down the isle as a ring bearer- and he did us proud! He walked straight down the isle- and then straight into the play room to have some fun while his aunt and new uncle exchanged their vows. He danced the night away at the reception! Man did he have fun!! I am hoping the photographer got some good pictures of Carson (and maybe his mom and dad too) and keep checking back to see if she has posted any... I hope she doesn't keep us waiting much longer! Until I have others to post, here are a couple my mother-in-law took (yes, I was Matron of Honor, hence the dress. Luckily I had time before the wedding to redo the HORRIBLE make-up job I got. Terrible. I have never seen such bad make-up in my life. My sister Jenni, the Maid of Honor, said she couldn't even look at me). Overall the wedding was gorgeous and so was Jackie! I can't wait to see the pictures!!!





My two men. Sigh. I love this picture, even if it is a scan. Need to ask the MIL for this one via email...



Oh, and I made the groom's cake. Chocolate with Chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries... super rich! Alex is a poker player and requested a poker theme. I was pretty satisfied with how it turned out... at least it didn't fall apart on the way over!



I can't believe I don't have more pictures from the wedding week... we had family in town and had such a great time... guess we were too busy to take out the camera! Kind of like Thanksgiving! We were either too busy eating, or too busy disciplining our nearly-two-year-old who has developed quite a defiant streak (WOAH) to get the camera out. I won't be making that same mistake the rest of the month... we have so much fun planned and I'm looking forward to this Christmas with my family more than I have in a long time!

Until next time... XO

Big Brother!

I realize it's been a really long time since I updated my blog. I've been reminded by a few people lately. Sorry.*

Anyway... the past few months have been filled with lots of morning sickness, bloating, fatigue, and doctor visits. That's right! Baby number two is on it's way!



I'm just about three months along. My due date is April 28.



We had an ultrasound about a week ago, and our little nugget, only about an inch and a half long, was just wiggling around like crazy! It was amazing to see such a tiny little baby and realize that it's in my belly. I know I've done this before, but it's still a miracle. Every pregnancy is.

This pregnancy is pretty different than last. Last time I didn't have any morning sickness and I was tired but it was manageable.

This time? Sick. Sick. Sick. I was nauseated and sick to my stomach and just plain gross for a few weeks. I have been WAY more tired this time around. Like- I'm a terrible mom now. Carson is allowed to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Cars and Finding Nemo as many times as he'd like to every day. My house is constantly a mess. Laundry constantly needs to be done. Dinner is whatever will only take me five minutes to throw together. That's the kind of wife and mother I've become. So. Dang. Tired.

Unfortunately, just like last time, I've started gaining weight right away. Last time five pounds in the first three months, this time three pounds (probably more but I refuse to weigh myself again because I ate way too much cake this weekend). I thought being sick would make me lose weight- or at least slow down the weight gain- but not so much. I hate that this bothers me. I mean, hello, I'm pregnant! But, sigh, it still does. Ugh.

Our family and a few close friends already knew the news... the fun of surprising everyone was taken away from us due to an emergency surgery I had just days after finding out I was pregnant. I wrote a post about it while I was recovering... and I think I'll post it after this post. It was a pretty emotional time and rather than recap the story in a few, short, unemotional sentences like I'm tempted to do now, I think I'd rather share the story as it felt those first few days post surgery. I think this baby's story deserves to be told in full.

And here's my big boy, who's going to be a big brother! He's 20 months old and is absolutely crazy fun! I can't get over how amazing it is to watch him learn and grow and change almost by the minute. He's such a blessing. I'm excited to see him with his new baby brother or sister. I think he'll be a natural.



Life it pretty amazing, isn't it?


*It made me realize that maybe people are actually reading this. I was starting to think I was really just typing away to myself based on lack of comments... and while I do have conversations with myself, I usually don't take the time to type them up and add photos. That would be a waste of time. Which was how I was starting to feel about blogging. Maybe it's been this sickness and fatigue that is making my attitude so lousy... oh well. I'm back!