Ramblings . . .

Let's see here, I wanted to document my birth story so just FYI-- this may not be for the faint of heart...I am SURE this contains WAY too much information for the general public!!!

How life gets in the way of blogging.

I'm not quite sure where to begin since it has been so long, so I'll give a brief recap of the past few days.

I am on bed rest. Boo. It all started when I was leaving work on Wednesday and felt a little dizzy. Being the supportive hubs that I have, he suggested I stop by my OB's office in case it happened to be high blood pressure. Well, my Dr. wasn't there because he was in surgeries all day so some of the nurses that work for him made me go ahead up to triage because it would be possible for me to have more tests done way more quickly there than what they could do in his office. By the way, at this point of the day my legs were so swollen they resembled tree trunks more than actual legs. Boo again. So I get to triage, they put a fetal monitor on the baby and a contraction monitor onto me and of course the baby is perfect, me-- not so much.

My Dr. ended up keeping me over night for a 24-hour urinalysis to check for preeclampsia and to watch my swelling. After 24 hours, and an additional 3 hours for the results to come back in I was discharged to strict bed rest, meaning I can only get out of bed to go to the bathroom and or to go to my Dr.'s appointments. When meeting with my Dr. throughout this experience, he informed me (from my ultrasound) that sweet little Haddie girl is already 7lbs11oz so if I don't deliver her soon (i.e. before 37 weeks) she will not be able to be delivered vaginally and therefore I must have a c-section which I hope to avoid at ALL COSTS.

So, here I am, writing from my recliner and trying to talk this little baby into coming into the world on Tuesday because that would work with every one's schedule, including my Dr.'s--haha...so now it is just a waiting game.

PS- from the ultrasound, this little chunk in my belly has the chubbiest cheeks and the pouty-est lips...I am so in love!

I know I have said I would post a pic of my belly for some time now...actually, I think I was planning on posting when I was 14 weeks pregnant...and here I am, 20 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Crazy how time flies...

These are a couple pics from a lil while ago; I think I was almost 16 weeks in the first pic and I thought I was big then...sheesh.


This pic is when I was almost 17 weeks pregnant...I think there was a big jump from 17-20 weeks!
Here I am tonight...20 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I can't believe it has flown by so quickly...I also can't believe I am going to be approximately double this size. And here is a pic where hubs had to help me up off the ground after it was taken because it's clearly getting too hard to move from the ground to standing on my own...
I am still feeling her move all over the place and I absolutely love it, I am pretty sure there isn't a better pregnancy feeling than movement! And, if I haven't mentioned it before, her name is Hadleigh Ann and we can't wait to meet her!

I can't wait to get out of town!!! We have been having our statewide standardized testing ALL.WEEK.LONG. and I am MUCH more than over it! I have been looking forward to this camping trip long before I was pregnant, so we will see how much I enjoy it toting a couple extra lbs now... Hopefully it will be no big deal, but we will see how comfortable I am while sleeping.


Mostly everyone will be arriving tomorrow during the day, but hubs and I are going up early today to scope out the scene. We will go ahead and set up our tent and canopy, etc. and wait anxiously for everyone else to get there! Hubs and I have already toyed with the idea of taking sweet baby girl next year when she is merely 8 months, but we will obviously see about that later.

I am unfortunately missing a talent show at my school and one of my students asked me if I could reschedule the the camping trip for another time so I didn't miss their dance. As politely as possible, I told her that I would miss almost anything, except for H.A.'s birth to go camping. Maybe next year we can talk my sister and parents into going too...We will see, be back on Tuesday!!! I hope y'all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!!!

I am embarrassed. That is basically all I can say right now. I am looking at my "before" pictures and they make me want to hurl something across the room. Let's look at the facts;

1. Hubs and I have never been the neatest people. When it comes to us, we are always well groomed -- showered, clean clothes, hair done, nice nails, etc. Our house is a different story.
   
2. We are also the exact same person split into two different bodies, so we are both basically the most stubborn person in the world at any given moment.
   
3. We would rather do whatever we wanted when we wanted to do it rather than clean any time of the day.
   
4. We are having a baby in October, I believe I have started this "nesting" thing.
   
5. My sister is cleaning her house following simplemom.net and I am not one to turn down a challenge.

So there you have some simple facts. Our "before" pictures have our living room/dining room looking the absolute worst it ever has, this is mainly because I decided to clean out what will be our baby's room which was chock full of crap. A lot, and I mean ALMOST 99% of the junk in the pictures was moved from our bedrooms to the living room over the weekend. But, as my sister pointed out, these pictures should "keep it real" so I didn't lift a S.I.N.G.L.E. thing, so trust me, while our house is seldom ever clean, it is always, always, ALWAYS better than my before pictures.
Hubs seems to think we would win a competition from worst to decent. After looking at my "after" pics I can't believe how much more I love my house when it's clean. It is so nice and relaxing to sit on the couch and not have anything to complain about (at least in terms of cleaning--), and what was even better was waking up and walking into a pristine living room and dining room. We even ate our breakfast at the dining room table together, something that we have never done.


Today is living room: part 2, so we may tackle our living area in our basement, but it is not a very pretty space...we will see.

Keep your eyes posted for a couple important posts coming up in the next couple of days!!!

Um. I can't stop thinking about what is growing in my belly.

Actually, I am currently obsessed with finding out what is inside.

Thing is, I won't have another ultrasound (the BIG ultrasound) until I am 20 weeks pregnant. That is exactly six weeks away. Now, I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but I am dying inside knowing that this munchkin's little genitalia is fully formed and I don't know what it is. My fire was only fueled by the fact that Blair posted this gem today...

So, in true "copy cat" form, I decided to try the methods listed on her blog...

Labor of Love: Girl

Just Mommies: Girl

Bump.com: Girl

Babyman: Girl

Sexratio: 55% Boy, 45% Girl

Tvoy Baby: Girl

And of course there are innumerable old wives tales that I could look at to determine, but I'm not really far enough into this to decide if I am carrying low or high and I am craving everything; sweets, sours, meats, cheeses, blah blah blah...so I can't find a pattern there either. Maybe I will try the wedding ring test sometime...

The thing is, I could technically find out the baby's sex tomorrow. There is this place in town that specializes in determining the sex of your baby. You lay back in a lazy boy and the ultrasound tech goes to town finding the goods. It is only open on Fridays and you have to call and schedule an appointment through the lady's cell phone. She is an ultrasound tech that has Fridays off so she bought an ultrasound machine and determines the sex for $50, a fair trade in my opinion.

The only thing stopping me; well, the only two things stopping me are the fact that I know and really like the ultrasound tech @ my obgyn's office. She is a family friend and I pictured her telling me what my baby would be. Secondly, even though I am pretty sure this wouldn't happen, I am nervous that they may tell me the wrong thing. What if they tell me girl and I invest in tons money in girly things, and then find out from my ultrasound with my obgyn that it is a boy!?!?! Or vice-versa!?!? My sister's sister-in-law reeeeeeally wants me to go find out, and I kinda want to too...oooooh, decisions, decisions!!!

My gut tells me that it's a girl, I have had girl dreams and as you can see, most of the tests online point to "girl"...which reeeeeally leads me to believe it is a boy because I am thinking I am just getting my hopes up for a girl and should be more realistic when I see that penis on the screen!!!

Don't get me wrong, we would love a boy oh so much; I love my nephews and I even like our boy name more than any girl name we have ever come up with. But a girl would be so much fun, unless she turns out like me in middle school, then, not so much-- but that is a different post entirely!

Ok, I am off to go home and get some rest before a date with hubs! I promise I'll post a belly pic later tonight...maybe after my belly is full of dinner and sticking out extra far!!!

Well, I still don't really know where I am in this whole pregnancy game, but I am thinking that I'm in the second trimester now...I am 13 weeks and 5 days (tomorrow) pregnant and I believe that means I am technically in the second tri, but who knows. . .

I am still loving being pregnant, even though I KNOW I am gaining weight too quickly, but I am really beginning to enjoy being pregnant. I spent so much time in the beginning worrying about what could possibly go wrong and now I think I am finally getting comfortable with the idea that I am only in control of what I can control; what I eat, if I exercise, etc...

My mom got me a couple pacifiers, some undershirts, and a bib for the baby for Easter but I just bought the first couple things for our baby yesterday...A few weeks back Hubs bought our stroller and car seat when he was out of town because we didn't have it in our town, but I hadn't bought anything for the munchkin...Well, yesterday I bought two pajama/lounge wear type outfits. They both have birds on them and very cute little hats. One is very definitely "girl" and the other one could be for a boy or a girl. I understand if we have a boy he will not be able to wear the pink one, but it was very inexpensive and I will find somebody to use it if I am not having a girl...but I still have a slight "gut" feeling that it may just be a girl, but who knows...I'd be totally psyched either way!!

And on the belly front, it definitely is getting bigger by the day and I can no longer "suck in" my belly anymore and my tummy is getting harder, it's strange, but I am loving it!!! And I promise, later this week I will post a belly pic, even though it's not so pretty in pictures!!!

I have decided to do a sort of "random" post about 13 confessions that have been on my mind in the past week....here it goes;

1. I haven't gone a day in the past four weeks without a nap: I have always loved my sleep, but this is a whole new level. I have no clue how I am going to go back into the work-world without my daily 1:00 nap time.

2. I had my first pregnancy melt-down last night: Hubs called me "stupid" for giving the dog my jelly-covered crusts (he thought it was the whole sandwich that he just made for me...) so I got off the couch, punched him, and then went into the kitchen where I put my hands on the sink and cried like a baby. He felt so terrible, he just kept saying he was sorry-- then he rubbed my feet and back...pretty sweet deal since I was the one that punched him.

3. I have been wearing maternity pants for the past 3 weeks: Yes, it's true. Getting pregnant when you just so happen to be at your heaviest and your regular pants are already too tight is not necessarily advisable. However, I have some adorable maternity pants that you would never know were maternity pants unless you pulled up my shirt and looked at my belly. BTW- if you pull up my shirt and look at my belly I will probably kick you in the crotch and or throat punch you.

4. I have gained weight in the first trimester: All this bull about not gaining weight in the first tri...yeah, I suppose in an ideal world. I quit drinking all my diet mt. dews and water just doesn't fill that void. I have been drinking juice which packs all kinds of calories and non-caffeinated sodas that are also chocked full of calories. Not to mention the very cold things that quench my real thirst, like chocolate milkshakes...yuuuum. I think I have spent a whole 2 years of pseudo-watching what I eat so I just threw caution to the wind and ate whatever I wanted...I have to get back into a better routine now that I am going back to work. ALSO-- (not that I am complaining ooooooone bit--) I have never had a day of morning sickness or throughout the day sickness. Not one episode of vomiting so that means I have kept e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. down that I have eaten...and don't get me started on the constipation...it looks like I am just trying to rationalize the fact that I have gained 1.6lbs...I'll stop now.

5. I don't want to go back to work: I don't need to explain that...I reeeeeeally don't want to go back to work.

6. If we could live on one income, I wouldn't go back to work: Another fact. I have always worked...even when I was in high school, cheering 3 nights a week during basketball season and dancing the other 4 days a week...I always had a job. If we could live comfortable on hub's salary, and he was into it too, I wouldn't go back to work. I would spend my days playing with my nephews and taking naps...awwww, that would be the life.

7. I haven't taken a bath in 6 weeks: Somewhere along the pregnancy line I read/heard that it was unsafe to take baths...well, the steaming hot baths that leave your legs red and almost welted like I love. So, I switched exclusively to showers...can somebody let me know if this is a real or rumor type thing? Something about elevating the baby's body temp? Anybody have thoughts on that??? My mom always took baths when she was pregnant, so what's up??

8. I haven't cleaned my house in probably 10 weeks: It would be cool if I could blame that on pregnancy, but it's just the fact that I don't really enjoy cleaning. Never have. Hopefully this whole "nesting" thing will kick in somewhere down the line and I will like it...until then, I'm lucky hubs knows how to clean.

9. I have cooked about 3 dinners in the past 6 weeks: The thought of preparing food makes me nauseous. And, for some reason, my fridge stinks but I am the only person that can smell it. Hubs and his sister have cleaned my kitchen, thrown out anything that can smell in my fridge, but I still smell it. Also, we have some leftover green salsa in our fridge and the thought of that and or sour cream makes me gag-- which is odd since we ate chicken quesadillas about 4 times last month and none of those things bothered me before...I haven't been able to eat Mexican since I found out I was pregnant...

10. I have made my bank account go up in the past 6 weeks: Since I have been soooooo sleepy, hubs and I haven't been going out after our day at work. We would normally go to wal-mart, or sam's club...or shopping someplace else and I would drop $20/$30 a day...it doesn't seem like much, but it adds up. The other day I checked my balance and I was like HOLY CRAP...not like we have millions by ANY MEANS...but I was surprised at how much my little trips add up to!

11. I have been lifting my nephews even though they are above the "safe" limit of 15-20 lbs: I just can't help it. My sister and my mom tell me not to (because the nurse told me it wasn't safe...) but when it is raining and you know your poor, sweet, almost three-year-old nephew hates the rain, how can I make him walk in it? Or when your sweet baby nephew toddles over to you and raises his arms in the air for you to pick him up...how can you deny that??? But I have been trying to be more careful.

12. I a terrified something is going to go wrong with this pregnancy: I have absolutely z-e-r-o reason to think something is going to go wrong, but I a terrified that something will. Every blog I read,k book I pick up, sad story I hear, I am terrified that is going to happen to me. I know I basically have no control over what is going to happen but it is sometimes mind-numbing how scared I get. When I went to the ob for my first ultrasound I was almost SHOCKED when the tech said, there's your baby, here's the heartbeat because I had just read about a blighted ovum and was certain that is what was going to happen to me...I am trying to know that God is in control and that I should just enjoy where I am...but it is very hard not to be scared.

13. I have turned into a sympathy crier: I have always had a tender heart. I mean, something bad happens to someone I know, I break down and cry...but lately, it's like perfect strangers will start crying about something I have no clue about and I cry with them. I know it is partially the hormones, but part of me is just a crier. I can't help it. I joined a new ladies Bible study at church and cried my first night in there...sheesh, sweet first impression Ames...

Well, now you know some of my dirty little secrets...now, I think I need a milkshake!!!

Hello my long lost friends in blogland.
I had to go out of town for work this week, and while I kept myself updated on my readings, I slacked off on my own posting. So, without further adieu, V is for Valentine's Day.

I have a confession.

My name is Amy, and I love Valentine's Day. I know it is a ridiculous holiday, I know it is commercialized to the nth degree...but I can't help but love it. Maybe it is because I am a teacher, maybe it is because of my stellar valentine, maybe it's because I'm wack. Whatever it is, I love it.

Even though the hubs and I have been together for a couple Valentine's Days in the past, I still think my favorite V-day ever was probably the one time I didn't have a significant other. I honestly think I had boyfriends for every single Valentine's Day except one, my senior year of college.

My roommate Laura and I decided we were going to have a little dinner party, my friends Mary and Jen came over and we made steak (my roommate didn't eat because she was a vegan), salad, potatoes, chocolate cake, the works! It was fabulous. We didn't talk about boys, we weren't depressed because we didn't have anybody to share Valentine's Day with, we were just happy being with people we loved.

I think too many people look at V-day as a four letter word; thinking that it is miserable for anyone who is not in a fantastic relationship. I disagree. I think it is nice to have a day to celebrate someone, anyone, that you love.

I don't think hubs and I even have plans for the big day this year...I did get him a nice little book of my boudoir photos that he will hopefully enjoy, but as for dinner? Maybe I will look into whipping up something nice at home. I would much rather eat at home than going out this year. . .

Whatever you do, wherever you are, I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day with someone you love, platonic or not!

How dumb and predictable, I know. But, it just so happens that it fell at the right time for an “S” post.

Hubs and I got back yesterday pretty tired and sad from our visit to my brother’s house. We had a couple superbowl parties that we could have attended, but we decided that we would MUCH rather spend a quiet evening at home watching Troy Polamalu the Steelers play. With my ever-so-apparent love of food, I KNEW we couldn’t watch the game without a couple snacks, but we had been out of town for the past four days and had NOTHING in the house. . .

So, at approximately 5:00pm, I went to the grocery store (after a brief detour to my sister’s house where I sliced open my ankle on her screen door). Yikes. I knew everything would be sold out, but I tried my hardest to be creative.

This past weekend, husband and I were able to see one of our favorite bands play at a local bar here. We always love to see them whenever we can, but especially when they play so close to home. I became familiar with them when I was living in my college town through my best friend Melissa. 

it's when I'm cooking on a propane stove,

Making the world's best pizza sandwiches over a campfire,

Or on top of a mountain peeking over the edge.

My happy place is on the river or in the mountains, but away from society with hubs and my nearest and dearests; I wish my mom and sister would come with us.

Negative degree weather is making me not so happy. I want my happy place back.

Look what hubs did on Saturday!!!





He took our hainus faux brick kitchen floor from this. . .

To this. . .

Thanks hubs, you rox it on the realz.

*DISCLAIMER*
Just so you know, I wrote this post quite some time ago...I have been overwhelmed with work/buying a house/life/procrastination, etc...I could go on and on...that I haven't been blogging like I promised...Soooo, I am posting without pictures. I needed to resize the pics, and I never go around to it...so this post is minus the pics...I promise I will put them in sometime soon b/c you won't understand why I like it unless you see the pics!!! So, without further adieu...


There is something to be said about a working man. I do love it when my hubby wakes up early with me and dresses nicely to head on to his office job, but I love it even more when he puts on his grubby clothes and gets ready to do manly things around the house or on his car. Well, I had the privilege to wake up from a nice Saturday afternoon nap and find this in our garage…

*I have to load this pic...*

Yes, it is my husband and my papa, my two favorite men working on my husband’s car. This is, of course, after they already worked on my Daddy’s car. They are putting on rear brakes. Don’t let my husband know this, but, as much as I complain about that stupid car, I really do love it…and we could only get about $1000 for it, so we might as well drive it into the ground!!!

*and this one...*

So, do you want to know the best part about my husband putting new brakes his car???





They ACTUALLY work!!! So now we are driving in a relatively safe, hot little car…I must admit, when I am driving behind him, I really do like the way he looks at me in his rear view mirror with those Oakley shades. . . .mmmmm….

PFFD. It the grand scheme of things...it's probably not that big of a deal, but, in my little corner of the world, it's something we know well. PFFD stands for Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency. Or, I like to refer to this as "Stumpy McStumperson".

Let's go back a little ways. Not very long ago I ran across this boy that I thought seemed pretty cute, cool, arrogant, whatever you may call him. I really liked him and I wanted to get to know him better until my friend Weslie said, "isn't it crazy when Tyler takes off his leg to go swimming?" Well, imagine my surprise to hear the words "Tyler" and "TAKE OFF HIS LEG" used in the same sentence?!?! What could she POSSIBLY be talking about? After learning about his physical disability, I thought I would just call it quits. I didn't know him that well, we hadn't been out on a date yet, it would be easy for me to make a clean break, or, so I thought. At that point in my life, I honestly thought I was too shallow to date someone with a physical disability. I suppose I was just trying to see me for who I thought I really was, not someone I wanted to be. Nonetheless, I quieted my inner voice and decided to give Tyler a chance--and look where we are now...just a couple years later and we are happier now than we have ever been.

No one really knows what causes this birth defect; all we know is that it is environmental, meaning it is something that the mother has been exposed to during her pregnancy. I think, because he is my husband, that I sometimes take for granted the life he lives. I treat him just like I would anybody else in the world, but I sometimes forget that he is not anybody else in the world. Every time he wants to relax he has to take off his prosthesis, but if he wants to get up to get a drink, he has to put it back on. It malfunctions sometimes and currently is not working correctly which sometimes makes him a little anxious, as it should.

I guess the reason why I am talking about this is to say that my husband is a pretty amazing guy. I make fun of him A LOT, I am his toughest critic ALL THE TIME, but I love him more than anyone in this world ever could. He has done more in his 25 years than most will ever do in a lifetime. He has seen and photographed more of the world that I could ever imagine seeing. He is truly an amazing man that I am proud to be married to...most of the time, JUST KIDDING!!!

ANYWAY-- the REAL reason I am posting this is to tell you why he is so amazing...The other day, my students were reading a story about a little girl with CP (Cerebral Palsy). Our "essential question" for the week was; How do people with physical disabilities adapt to everyday life? Well, who better to talk about this than my husband?!?!? So, my husband came into my classroom full of starry-eyed young women to tell them what life is like without a leg. My girls had the BEST questions and thoughtful responses, one even asked if not having a leg ever made him want to cry...and I could answer that one, sometimes I want to cry. Sometimes he wants to cry. Sometimes, but only sometimes.

I wouldn't change one single thing about my husband. He is my love, my best friend, but most of all, my hero.