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!

The Backstory...

As mentioned in my previous post... here's the story of the first week of this pregnancy. It seems like much longer than a few months ago...


The last thirty-six hours have been some of the craziest of my life. Really, I've had some time to think as I've been laid up in bed recovering from emergency surgery, and I still can't seem to wrap my brain around it all...

Tuesday, after not starting my period for what seemed like a while, although I haven't been extremely regular lately, I took my second pregnancy test for the month. It was positive. I was in shock. Especially since I had taken a test 6 days earlier (when I "should have" started my period) and it was very, very negative.

Well... the next few days I spotted. It wasn't anything crazy, and yet I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe something was really wrong. I didn't get too excited about the possible pregnancy, and made an appointment for Friday morning at 8:15 to see the nurse practitioner at my doctor's office for a quick exam and ultrasound.

It didn't turn out to be so quick after all. After what seemed like forever, scanning the ultrasound screen for that familiar picture of a tiny baby... we didn't see one in my uterus. But, as the nurse pointed out, there did appear to be one measuring around six weeks in my right Fallopian tube. Not good.

Then, we waited. My doctor was in surgery, and so we didn't get to see her until around 10:30 I think. I'm not sure. It was such a blur. Carson was with Sean and me at the office that morning, and entertaining him while fighting back tears seemed to pass the time fairly quickly, fortunately.

When Dr. Levin returned from surgery, she met us in the ultrasound room for another scan. This time I couldn't stop crying. I just kept looking at that little dot on the screen that may have been a baby, and I couldn't help mourning the fact that I would never meet it. But, the ultrasound tech said she didn't see a heartbeat, which was reassuring to me. We had to end the pregnancy no matter what seeing as it was in my tube, and as long as the baby was already gone, I felt better about it.

My doctor and the ultrasound tech had a discussion, and then my doctor went over my options... which weren't many. One actually. We had to get the pregnancy out of my tube. Although at this point, my sweet doctor kept going over the dates and asking me questions about when I started my last period, when I got the negative pregnancy test, when I got the positive test, and she said it just didn't add up. According to the scan, the pregnancy was about six weeks along, and it was highly unlikely that I would have ovulated in time to already have a six week pregnancy, and if I was six weeks pregnant, I should have gotten a positive pregnancy test much earlier than I did. She said she would try to preserve my tube, and she would not touch my uterus during the procedure, since she has been around a while and knows that things aren't always what they seem. She explained everything to me, thank God for her, and sent us right over to the OR.

My sister came to pick up Carson, and then Sean and I got prepped for surgery. The last thing I remember before going under was the anesthesiologist hugging my face while I sobbed for the loss of this baby. I don't think I'll ever forget that feeling of desperate loss. And for a life I had only been aware of for 4 days.

I hear I was in surgery for about 45 minutes. When I woke up, I barely remember hearing the nurse telling me that what they removed from my tube was a cyst- not a pregnancy. As far as they knew now- I was still pregnant. I probably then asked her about 100 questions, half of them repeats... and truly it wasn't until my anesthesia completely wore off the next day that I was able to talk to Sean and understand what happened.

According to Sean, who talked to Dr. Levin after she was finished with the surgery and before I woke up, the cyst in my tube was bleeding profusely and that was what was causing the spotting. She was able to keep my tube intact and everything else looked great. She didn't touch my uterus, as she said she wouldn't, and nothing else about the procedure would harm a fetus. From what she could tell, I was about four or five days pregnant- which would explain the late positive pregnancy test as well as not seeing an image of the fetus on ultrasound. I have blood work scheduled tomorrow and Wednesday to see if this pregnancy is progressing.

Well, you know me well enough to know I didn't wait for the blood work to take another pregnancy test. This was all so shocking that I needed to see what would happen. The spotting had stopped, but could this really be true? According to the test I took this morning... we are very much still pregnant. We were trying to conceive, without a doubt, but even we can't figure out when it would have happened. I must have ovulated much later than expected... and we honestly don't understand how it all happened the way it did. Our dates just don't seem to paint a clearer picture for us.

I know that all the prayers offered up by our family and friends are what got us through the last few days. I've never had such a powerful lesson in faith.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13


Since I wrote this post, I've had blood work and three ultrasounds to measure the baby's growth- and everything is great. I just reread this entry and I feel just as emotional and just as shocked as I did the day I wrote it. We are so, so very blessed.

Embracing 30 and the Camera

My handsome husband, my baby, and me at my lovely 30th birthday party. (Will blog more about that soon...) My son refuses to look at the camera, and I refuse to pose for 50 pictures while we try every animal noise on the planet trying to get him to look at the camera... so that is what most of our family pictures look like.



That's a lot of smoke. I'd like to say it was from a smallish fire my strong, dashing husband saved us from... but it was from the 30 candles atop my cake. Blah.

It's a Funny Story...

So, OK. You know how you and your spouse always seem to have these little, stupid things that you pick on each other about? Well, Sean and I are always (really, always) arguing with each other about who doesn't listen. Or, who needs to get their hearing tested. Usually, Sean thinks I don't listen. And I think he doesn't speak loudly enough.

A normal day in the Hale house sounds a lot like this:

Sean: blah blah wah wah blah blah blah blah.

JoDee: What?

Sean: blah blah wah wah blah blah blah blah.

JoDee: WHAT?

Sean: BLAH BLAH WAH WAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH!

JoDee: Sean Michael! SPEAK UP! I swear you mumble! I can't hear you when you talk in the opposite direction/from the other room/with the TV on and you NEED to SPEAK UP!

Sean: You never listen to me/you need to get your hearing checked.

JoDee: My hearing is fine!! I hear the baby crying at all hours of the night while you're sleeping soundly! You need to learn how to communicate!

Sean: I speak clearly. You're losing your hearing. Get your hearing checked.

(Sean never yells. It's true. And sometimes it gets on my nerves. At least if he yelled, I'd be able to hear him.)

So... a few weeks ago, when I had had it with an earache that never seemed to go away... I made an appointment with the ENT. As I was sitting in the waiting room (in which I was the only person over the age of 6 and under the age of 60) I filled out my new patient paperwork. After checking "no" to about 100 random symptoms, I came across "hearing loss." Well, feeling daring, I checked YES.

The doctor came in rather quickly, examined my ears, and said they were fine. Clean. No sign of infection. So, why the constant earache that wakes me up almost every night??

TMJ.

That's right. My tooth-grinding must be at an all-time high because I now have TMJ. The truth? I have no idea what the T, M, or J stand for. All I remember the doctor saying was "arthritis of the jaw." Awesome. I'm even older.

After my exam, she asked me about my "hearing loss." Well, I didn't exactly know what to say because somehow, "My husband and I are constantly arguing about whether or not I'm losing my hearing, I know I'm not, but I'd like to settle the argument once and for all" didn't really seem appropriate. So, I lied. But, just a little.

Then. I had my hearing tested.

It wasn't the hearing test you remember from 3rd grade. I was sitting in a special little room, with these ear thingies in my ears that completely drowned out ALL sound except the sound of the (really adorable) woman's voice who was performing the test.

I felt a little guilty that I was having this test done while she could possibly make the day of one of the old men in the waiting room (seriously, she was so darn cute...) but I had an argument to settle and I was determined to settle it.

The results? Perfect hearing. I didn't miss a single thing. AH HA!!! I WAS RIGHT!!!!

I of course called Sean as soon as I got out of her office, proclaiming my rightness and his wrongness...

his reply?

"Then that settles it. You have selective hearing."

Of course he would say that. So now I have selective hearing. And TMJ. And a new night guard that makes me gag every time I put in it. Awesome.

Sprinkler Fun

Yes, I'm still updating about our trip to Minnesota...

We decided that this trip was the perfect time to introduce Carson to sprinklers. Not the best idea now that I think about it because even though it was nice and warm outside, the cold water up north of Texas is actually cold. Really really cold. Sooo... as you can see Carson wasn't all that into it...

At first we thought naked was OK...



(OMG that little baby butt is soooo cute!!!!)

Then when he hated it, we decided maybe swim trunks would make a difference. Ha.







Maybe if Daddy isn't such an idiot and runs throught the sprinklers instead of just standing there and waiting for the ice cold water to hit you...



Oh, no, baby! You still hate it? OK. How about some bubbles?













Bubbles (and Aunt Stephie) make everthing better, don't they? Yes. They do.

And because we obviously couldn't remember that ice cold water being sprayed at a one-year-old's face wasn't all that fun, we brought him to a little neighborhood water park (full of SPRINKLERS) the very next day!













What surprised me, after all the water is ICE COLD, Carson enjoyed sitting in the fountain more than being sprayed by the sprinklers. Go figure.





Something I learned about my son while vacationing? He's pretty much cool with anything.