Some Ups and Downs

Just wanted to share my happiness. . . I got my hair colored yesterday! For the first time since the first of November! Wow! I knew it had been a long time, but I didn't realize it had been that long!!  I have done a lot of research and nothing convinced me that getting my hair dyed is going to adversely affect my baby. Most of the more conservative books/web sites I have read simply suggested that if you must dye your hair, waiting until after the first trimester is the safest bet.  My red is back and I really feel more like myself again, and that is a tremendous boost for me!

I did find out something a few days ago that I am bummed about. No spray tanning. It contains a chemical that can be dangerous. Boo. Now I am going to be big, fat and white this summer. . . . great. {sigh} There are some self tanners I read that are ok, but I haven't been online to check out which ones are safe. I am just not very good with "self application". I tend to get impatient and then I mess it up.  I guess I will have to research that option a little better. 

I must admit it's hard for me right now. I know I should be thanking my lucky stars that I have felt so great. My complaints are all about my fading physical appearance. [note: the following is a vain ranting of the blog author brought on by devil (aka.  crazy pregnancy hormones), please feel free to roll your eyes while and/or after reading]. My clothes don't fit, and I don't look pregnant yet, just fat.  I am getting rounder by the day. I worry I will soon look like the girl that turned into a blueberry on Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory only not blue, I really don't want to buy maternity clothes just yet, and I don't want to buy new, bigger real clothes either!?  My face is horribly broke out, and I can't seem to get it under control. I haven't been this broke out since I was 14! My fingers are constantly changing sizes, in the morning my rings slide right on, but by the evening my fingers are so swollen I can hardly get them off!  I just wish I would pop on out there and start to really look pregnant so I could at least get a little sympathy for looking so bad!  . . . I know some of you must understand how I feel! Please tell me it's going to get better! ha!

Big News!

 

We are having a baby!! I am 12 weeks today! My due date is August 20th. We have been to the Dr. twice and everything seems to be  just fine. 

We took a home test Monday, December 8th, and it was positive! I went to the Dr. that following Monday to get a blood test to verify what I really didn't believe to be true. . .and again it was positive. Our first appointment was on January 2nd and they gave me the whole work up, we were there for over 2 hours! Whew! We had an ultrasound that day, but the baby just looked liked a lima bean! Our last appointment was last Friday and the Dr. couldn't pick up a heartbeat on the doppler heart monitor, so since they weren't that busy she took us down to get an ultrasound to see if we could get a visual of the heartbeat. When it popped up on the screen, I was amazed! It actually looked like a baby this time! The heartbeat was a strong 169! I was relieved and glad we got to get the additional ultrasound! The lady doing the ultrasound said it was hard to get a good picture and an accurate heartbeat since the little booger was wiggling around so much!

I have been feeling pretty good. I was really tired at first, but that is gradually getting better.  No strange cravings, no morning sickness, nothing major. .  .yet! I have gained 2 lbs, which the Dr. said was a good thing. . . . my pants, however, disagree. I still don't really "feel" any different. I have noticed that I get tired easier and I am hungrier, but that's about it!

Our next appointment is February 27th. We won't get to find out the sex until the appointment on March 27th, and that's only if he/she is cooperating!

So, I guess I'll have more interesting things to post about now! Thanks for all the well wishes we have received! Any advice is appreciated as long as it is positive. I want to stay naive about all the bad and/or hard stuff. Especially  involving labor!

Winter Blast 2009!

We were out of electricity from Tuesday night until Friday night. I guess we were lucky since there are still several folks with out power. I didn't work Tuesday-Friday because the office didn't have power either! I spent a lot of time with Uncle Brian, Christina and their girls, since Jarrod was out working and they had a gas fireplace and it was pretty warm there. Uncle Brian even cooked us some soup on his fish cooker! ha! I had a good time spending time with them, playing board games and card games. We spent Thurs night at my Mom and Dad's house since Jarrod got off at a decent time that night. When we didn't have electricity Friday afternoon I was frustrated so I packed up my stuff and me and the cat headed for Hickory Ridge. I had planned to stay until Sunday, that's when they were saying we would get power. Fortunately, when Jarrod got home around 9pm Friday night we had power! I came home Saturday afternoon and cleaned the mess in the fridge and freezer and did some much needed laundry! Sunday we had my grandpa's b-day party/lunch so I went back to HR alone, since Jarrod is working pretty much non-stop. I had a good day visiting with the fam. I am glad we have power, it really makes you think how blessed we are and how much we take it for granted!

This is Stillwater Dr.  the first street you turn onto in our subdivision.

  Tree down in Uncle Brian & Christina's yard!

Playing "Farkle" with the Gibson's

Napping after a hard day. . . .

 

Getting caught up. . .

So, I guess I need to make a New Year's resolution to update my blog more frequently, because I have really been neglecting it lately!!

We had a great Christmas.  We got to spend lots of time with our families and friends. I thoroughly enjoyed my week and a half off work. I slept in several days and even spent a couple days in my pj's, and you can't beat that!! I haven't taken my xmas stuff down yet, I kept saying I would do it tomorrow, and it's still up! Oh well, maybe I will do it  tomorrow. . . .

We didn't do much to ring in the new year, we went to church and then a group of us went out to eat and after eating we were all tired so we went our separate ways. Jarrod and I ran by the movie gallery and rented some movies. We were up to see in the new year, but we were asleep not long after.  I can't get over how old we are?? 

So I wanted to go over my resolutions from last year and see how I did, this is a time for reflection afterall. . .

My 2008 Resolutions, and how I did. . .

1. Laugh everyday, I'm sure it will be mostly at myself. ~check!

2. Spend more time in prayer. It's so easy to get busy and forget, I have to make the time this year. ~check, but I can always do better.

3. Study the Bible everyday and try to keep up nightly devotional and prayer with Jarrod. ~check! (except for the month of September when Jarrod was gone!)

4. Lose 10lbs! Ha! It's a long shot but it's a worthy and attainable weight-loss goal. ~Ha! Didn't even come close, if anything I gained another 10!

5. Eat better, less mac & cheese and more salads! ugh. ~Let's not even go there. . .

6. Smile more, even when it hurts! Even in the morning before I get my coffee. . . ~ it's still a work in progress, you can't expect me to change over night. . . .or in just a year?!?

7. Save more money! again, ugh. ~hmm, we could have done a lot better.

8.  Take vitamins everyday, uh. . .starting tomorrow! ~check!

9. Talk less, and listen more. It's sooooo hard for me to to! ~I think I made some definite progress this year, but I will keep working on this,too!

10. Worry less,  especially about things I cannot change. I need to accept that God is in control and put my trust in him. ~I have been trying a lot harder, and doing better, I think. But I have a long way to go still!

I think I will keep the same list again this year, I don't think I did too bad. There is definitely room for improvement though. But this year is going to have a lot more challenges than the last, so I don't think I will impose any new goals on myself!

Happy new year everyone, I hope you have a great year in 2009!

Branson, and getting iced in!

We made it back from Branson in one piece! We had a good time, we went to several shows and did some shopping and of course LOTS of eating! We left Wednesday afternoon and got home Sunday afternoon just in time to make it to church. So, it was a long weekend!

Then we get back and they are calling for bad weather, sleet and freezing rain and sure enough Monday afternoon about 2pm it really starts sleeting and freezing raining. So, we all left work about 3pm. Then I didn't get out of the house on Tuesday, and today I didn't come to work until noon. I found that I am the only one that came in today! Oh well!

Yesterday morning. . . .

I suspect that this next week is going to be craziness. Sunday at lunch we are having a birthday party for my grandma Joy Kay, whose birthday was on the 8th and Dillon whose birthday is on the 23rd. Then the holiday festivities begin! I am pretty excited about this year. We are having Christmas dinner with the Wilson's on Christmas Eve and then doing Christmas with my mom and dad and Dillon and Brandy Christmas Morning before heading to lunch with the Gibson's. We aren't doing Christmas with the Staggs until Friday so that will be nice to be able to take our time and not be rushed to go anywhere! I will be off work from the 24th-Jan. 5th! I am sooo excited about getting some time to sleep in! Haha!

I will try to update after this weekend, but if I don't get to. . . . .

Merry Christmas!!!

It's been awhile!

I know, I know! Quit harassing me! I just haven't had any time to update lately!!

It seems like since we got back from our "mini vacation" we've been running non-stop! We've either been gone or busy every weekend and during the week I am trying to catch up on all the stuff that I didn't do that weekend!

Jarrod was gone the weekend before Thanksgiving to a friend's (Josh, who was in the same Fraternity as Jarrod when he was at U of A) bachelor party in Fayetteville then it was Thanksgiving and that was a crazy week and weekend. We stayed at Jarrod's parents house Thanksgiving night since Jarrod and his dad has tickets to the Razorback game. So we got home late Friday night and about 2:00am Jarrod gets called out, and didn't end up getting home until 6pm the next day! So, that was supposed to be our Christmas decorating day, which didn't happen since I can't get all that heavy stuff out of the attic by myself! We just got that stuff put up last night (December 8th. . . that's late for me!) and I am glad because I was worried that we wouldn't even have time to put it up this year! 

We had a benefit auction to go to in Hickory Ridge on that following Tuesday night for a guy that was on the volunteer Fire Dept. with Jarrod at Hickory Ridge, who has cancer. I made a holiday themed gift pail, with 40 cards and 36 tie on gift tags and 90 "to & from" labels. It turned out super cute and ended up going for over $100 (thanks Laura!) I love being able to use my talents for a good cause!!

Then this past weekend we headed to Fayetteville for Josh & Kimber's wedding. We had a good time. We stayed at the new Staybridge Suites across from the baseball complex and it was really nice. The wedding was at an old church downtown and it was really pretty. The reception was in a really neat building downtown beside the Ozark Smokehouse,  It was a little tight for the amount of people there, but the food was good and we had a good time. It had a great patio area, but it was a little chilly to stay out there too long. This is a picture of the Farmhouse guys serenading the bride! That was too funny. . . that's Jarrod at the top right.

 

Josh & Kimber and the Farmhouse men

   

The Farmhouse guys and the Farmhouse wives (all five of us!)

This week is another busy one! We are leaving Wednesday afternoon for Branson! It's actually a "work thing" for the Armor/Delta King annual "MAP" Conference, but we get to do a lot of fun stuff while we are there, and of course stay in the always wonderful Chateau on the Lake!! I look forward to this trip all year! After we get back from Branson, it's going to get nuts! Wrappping up all my projects, and speaking of wrapping I haven't wrapped a single present! I am almost done shopping, with just four to go, but there is still a lot of work left to do!