Fun Saturdays

Last night I fell asleep at about 9:00p. I slept so well, and must have needed extra sleep, because it was 10:30 when I got up this morning! Michael and I made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast while Terry ate cereal. We watched a little bit of Animal Planet, a dog show, and then got ready to go outside. Since I don't have work this weekend and we have Michael, I wanted to do something besides stay inside and clean. So we bundled up and decided to go for a hike at Hocking Hills. It was a blast. It started off cold but the more we walked, the better it felt. The trails were snowy and some places even icy so we had to be extra careful but it was gorgeous down in the hills! We stayed for several hours and by the time we got home it was late afternoon and we were all worn out. Well, maybe only me! :) So before dinner I took a little nap. Now we are all just sitting in my bed doing our own thing before time to go to sleep! It was such a fun day with my boys! Thank God for good family time!

It's Friday and I am awake!

Go figure! Michael is home tonight and Terry said there were no good movies so I am not falling asleep to movies tonight! I got all of my proposals done this week and shipped off so I have no work to do this weekend!!! So cleaning and playing / relaxing is on my agenda! I think we may go to the Y tomorrow and swim plus try to get out and do some walking. My sciatic nerve is really bothering me. I didn't have problems with it with Michael but this time is horrible. I sit so much at the office, I am not sure if that is the problem or what, but I can not sit still without tossing and turning from one butt cheek to another! Still no movement from the baby...I can't wait until I feel him move. Terry listened to my belly for a while this week and could swear he heard our little man moving but it was probably just my stomach grumbling!

It's 8:30 and I am so tired! I think tonight's going to be an early night!

Back Among The Living!

Finally alive enough to blog!! Friday of course you know I went to sleep! Saturday I worked on a proposal all day long, and Sunday...oh Sunday. I woke up early with a stomach ache, Terry's annoying breathing thing, and wires flapping against the side of the house in the crazy wind. I used to never have problems sleeping and now I can't go an entire night without waking up. Anyway, so my belly hurt pretty bad. I went to the chaise lounge downstairs with a nice big blanket and stretched out with a trash can. That was at about 5am. 7 something I was up and puking my guts out and I would rather die than puke. Oh it was horrible. And it would have been better if it ended there but more, several more trips to the bathroom with the garbage can in cart. I have never thrown up more than once in a row before. Then it was coming out of the other end. I tried water and gatorade and that came up. Then I tried pepsi and my heart was racing. What a horrible, miserable day. I laid on the couch all day long, wrapped up in my blanket, but of course that caused my sciatic nerve to start aching and then my lower back and then all of my muscles. Then the fever came. No Terry helped me with a shower first, thank goodness, because when my fever did come, Terry made me lay under the sheet, down comforter and our other comforter. Sweat was running off of me, and you know how much I hate sweat! I told him, "I really don't like you right now!" But he took such good care of me and even took care of my vomit each time. Oh how I hate to be sick like that. Michael kept coming in and asking me if there was anything he could do for me. He even sat on the bed and watched a couple of cartoons while I dozed just to be in the same room with me I think! I have such great guys in my life! The unfortunate part is that the entire time I was soooo sick, I kept thinking about my goofy proposal that was due in DC today at 3:00pm. I knew it had to get done sometime and there was noone else that could do it since I had spent some 40hours on it already. So fortunately I was able to sleep all day yesterday because I was up at 3:30a this morning working on that proposal. It is done now and I finally felt better late this afternoon. So my two flu shots, the regular flu shot and the H1N1 shot, didn't keep me safe this time! Last time I am getting those!! And here's my only picture...my proposal cover.

My little baby is so grown up!

Today was lunch with the third graders at Michael's school so Terry and I went to school and ate lunch today. Michael came right to us but he always acts so shy when I/we are at school with him. His friends walk past and say hi and he just says hi realy quick and nothing else. It was funny watching Terry get into the little table/bench combo thing then I had to get in too! :) Michael and I had a slice of pizza and pineapples and Terry chose salad and chocolate milk! Michael was glad we came but was definitely ready to send us on our way so he could go out to recess. I wanted a picture of all of us but I told him I would take it quick so he wouldn't be embarrassed, so Terry just took one of Michael and I. Im going to make a page out of these sometime but for now, here are the pics.



Last picture for tonight is my 18 month prego picture.

Twerped Tonight!

GRRRRR, so TJ left to live with this guy and his girlfriend; he's been gone for just over a week. Before he left we clearly explained that our help is over. And would you believe for the last three days he has been texting his dad asking for help. He supposedly needs money for the electric payment or it will be shut off. Then tries to make Terry feel guilty about it. Terry told him to go give plasma, go ask churches, go get a job!! And TJ gets mad. Today he told his dad that they aren't taking plasma and he and his roommates just need help, they really need help.

First, I can't believe he has the audacity to even ask. I must be too proud or something but if I was in that situation, I wouldn't even ask the person/people who spent tons on me for Christmas, paid for my GED that I never took, put a house over my head and food on my table and warm water on my back and new clothes and shoes and need I go on.....And now he asks for more help.....WHY? I just want to scream. And if my husband falls for it again I am going to be mad! So far so good, but TJ isn't texting me about it...just his dad. I dont feel one bit sorry for him because I have tried and he has been hateful and nasty and I have continued to try just to get the same things from him. So, that's all for tonight!

World's Best Husband!

I'm standing by the fact that I have the best husband in the world! Michael was complaining about his belly hurting last night before bed, but I went ahead and tucked him in like normal. At about 10:30 I heard him crying and hopped up to find him standing in the bathroom with vomit all over the side of his face. I put him in the shower and went to look at his bed. It was EVERYWHERE! I'll save you the details but lets just say it was so bad I couldn't deal with it. I started dry heaving and just couldn't deal with it so I called for Terry and he graciously took care of all of the vomit on Michael's bed for me, washing out the sheets and pillow cases, etc.

I made Michael another bed in the other room, and sat next to him while he puked in the garbage can; inbetween the vomiting he was having the worst diarreah. I felt so bad for him. But thank the Lord for my husband because if it had just been Michael and I, I would have let the vomit dry and thrown the whole set away! UGH, I just can't stand vomit! I already know my hubby doesn't mind dirty diapers and dog crap, and now vomit....man, this is great!! Cuz my stomach can't take it!

Michael didn't throw up any more after that but was up with diarreah several more times through the night. I think it was the time at 4:00a when I got up, helped Michael, tucked him back in, and then came back to bed myself. That's when Terry's snoring/loud breathing started. I could not get back to sleep. I couldn't go in to Michael's room because of the evening's vomit incident and so I had to try to go to sleep in the bedroom. I nudged Terry several times and, I just know he was ignoring me!!! He wasn't rolling over or anything. I ended up having to put a pillow under my head and a pillow over my head with my arm over the pillow over my head just so I could have a little quiet. I remember thinking... "I wonder how many men are smothered because they won't stop snoring?!" Finally got back to sleep and it was time to get up again to help Michael. Oh the men in my life! :) Can't wait to add another one!

I just worked from home so I could keep Michael home. He laid around most of the day and rested and he was feeling a little better when I tucked him in for bed. I tried to be a good mom and take care of Michael but stay far enough away where I hopefully will not get it...whatever it was!

Last but not least is another outfit that came in the mail today for our little guy. My dear hubby shopping on ebay again! It is so cute though!

Mondsy, Monday

I could never work from home while Michael is here with me! All day long he would come in and chat, or want something to eat, or want me to play, or ask if I was almost done! Each time he left he would say, Love you mom, which was super sweet, but I still wanted to wring his neck! :) And he is hooked on Monopoly because all day he wanted to know when we could play Monopoly. Really I dreaded playing again but for him I will. Tonight we got Terry in on the Monopoly game. Of course, all ready, Terry is cleaning up the board, buying everything, and he's the only one with hotels so far. SO I am sure this game won't last long and we'll be playing again!

Be praying for my father-in-law, Dick. He found out the end of last week that he has colon cancer. The doctors believe they caught it early enough to take care of it, but we are still concerned about it. About 4 of his family members have died in the last sweveral years; all with cancer, so it is a little disconcerting.

This week holds lots on the agenda so I am heading to bed!

Sunday, Sunday

The past two Sunday's have been horrible when we woke up, whether no water or no heat, so it was soooo nice to get up and get ready for church this morning like normal! We had a good church service then Terry wanted to go to Cols. to go shopping at Babies R Us. So we hit Frisches for their breakfast bar, which I love. I eat there just for the bacon! It was kinda chewy today, rubbery actually. But it was still good!

After eating we went to Babies R Us. Thank goodness we have to drive 35 minutes to get to one otherwise I am afraid what my hubby would come home with every evening! Today we went to look at cribs. We were excited about having sis's furniture this summer including the crib and the changing table, but the more we thought about it, the more we decided to look for something that we can keep for good. Terry really likes the convertible beds that will last quite a while so that is what we have been looking at. Well today we found a deal to get a free changing table with the purchase of a crib so we are going to do that. They didn't have any in stock but are going to call and honor the deal when they come in. I love the dark chocolate color as it really goes with the rest of the house and the clean straight lines of the furniture really look nice and contemporary. Anyway, I love it. So here is a pic of both.


This isn't the bedding...we haven't decided that yet! :)



So, sis, your furniture will be coming back your way for your use. Thanks so much for letting us use it but I would hate to have it if/when you need it!

While we were shopping, the fat from the bacon attacked and decided it needed a release so I was in the bathroom several times. And I was dying of thirst! Bad idea after all! We went home and I needed a nap!

Michael and I also finished out Monopoly game. I was trying to give him pointers so the next time he would know what to do instead of buy everything up every time he got some money. His average cash in his bank was probably about $75! :)


But after I beat him, he was ready to play again....tonight. I said no way so all three of us are just sitting on my bed on our laptops!


OK, I guess that is all for tonight! I was supposed to have off of work tomorrow but with two proposals due early next week, work is calling.....Michael is off tho so I am just going to work from home; that means work in my pj's!! WooHoo!! Miss you ladies!

Another Saturday Here Then Gone!

No news yesterday because I fell asleep! So today is Saturday. It was nice out today but the trees had to come down so while Terry was at work this morning, Michael and I worked on cleaning. We did the dishes, laundry, he helped me make some Cincinnati Chili and we let it simmer for several hours, took down the two trees and rearranged some furniture. It was a long day! But the house looks clean and ready to be destroyed again! Hopefully I'll be able to rest tomorrow during our Sunday day of rest!! Miss you ladies, my dear family!

Nothing New...

Not a whole lot going on today. My hubby had bowling tonight for the first time in about 5 weeks. He was determined to bowl no matter how bad his back hurt him...funny the laundry and dishes didn't give him that much drive this week! :) Speaking of drive, or lack thereof, I am just not in the mood lately, if you know what I mean. Well mood isn't really it, I am just so tired all of the time! If I didn't have to do any of the work that would be ok, I think! I can't remember with Michael but I hope this is normal for all ladies! I'm going to put forth a valiant effort, I have decided. We'll see how that goes....

ON the baby front, I think I may have felt him flutter tonight. I keep trying to feel him again and never realized just how well I can feel my heart beat...in every limb and my stomach and echoing in my head!! I just want to feel him move, but all I can feel is my heart but that is a good thing since without that he wouldn't be moving anyway! Terry saw this little outfit on ebay and couldn't resist! I wondered how long it would be before we had something blue and gold (not Michigan!) in his closet!

Michael will be home tomorrow. Im trying to decide what we are going to do this weekend. Terry has to work on weekends now until tax season is over so it'll just be me and Michael. I sure hope it warms up!!

Hump Day!

Ive been craving McDonalds breakfast for the last couple of days but I haven't stopped on the way to the office. This morning my urge was really strong because it took me about an hour and 20 minutes to get to the office and I pass about 4 McDonalds on my way in! But I didn't stop.

I got to the office and my 5.00p proposal deadline turned into a 1.00p deadline so I had to hit the ground running. I was so busy I didn't even go to the restroom until about 1. And during the last hour I wondered if I would even make it. But I did!! I emailed the pdf to the recipient and several hours later he responded to my boss (the new one in Boston) and several others what a great job I did. He used about 6 other adjectives too.....made me sound like a Queen! Well, Ryan, my new boss, forwarded the compliments to his boss and several others, so that was nice. I don't do my job for compliments but when something turns out good and others think so as well, it is really nice to hear it!

My boss also told me today that his wife is expecting too. They have a little boy, who I found out is going to be 1 tomorrow. And his wife is 12 weeks pregnant. So they didn't waste any time! Anyway, it is harder to be close to a boss that is many states away from you but now that we have something in common, I am hoping he will be understanding about what I'm going through! Not that he hasn't so far but, ya know!

Michael is at his dad's tonight and tomorrow night; miss my little guy. Bed time now!

Here's the cover of my proposal that was due today. It was for North Carolina State University Student Health Center.

I Saw Sunshine Today!!

Just got back a while ago from my EWI (Executive Women International) Monthly Meeting. It is always a good time but I'd also kinda rather be at home! Especially after a long day! Terry fixed sloppy joes for himself and Michael and took care of Michael's homework and when I got home it was basically Michael's bedtime. So I tucked him in and I am ready to go too!

I talked to Amber tonight. She is 17 weeks pregnant too and it is fun sharing it with her. Every week she emails me and asks how far we are! :) I guess I can keep up with it better since I don't have two babies running around right now! She said she is really showing right. I just look fat still! But soon hopefully. I feel like I was bigger at this time with Michael than I am now. Oh well! I have felt really good lately. Thank goodness the nausea is gone for the most part! My belly has to be getting bigger tho or it is just at the right height for Michael to look at it. Tonight he was talking to me and just running his fingers back and forth across my belly, just talking away. I can't remember if I posted it last night but last night Michael put his ear against my belly and was talking to the baby. I told him to just wait until he could actually feel the baby push against my belly and against his hand! I love it that he is so engaged in his brother....right now. I pray that he always feels this way toward his brother. I know it is going to be different for him after the baby is here but I also pray for the strength and awareness to show him as much love and attention as the new one will be receiving!

I found myself day dreaming at work today about this summer and how nice it will be to have Terry home for a week or two with our little man and then when sis and mom come and having Michael home and really just enjoying my summer....I can't wait!

January 11, 2010 - Monday Again

Monday again. Today seemed like a long day....but warm compared to yesterday! :) After last night and TJ's decision to move, I made sure to tell Michael this morning that he better tell TJ bye just in case he was gone when we got home. I was afraid Michael would be upset about TJ leaving. He loved to play with TJ on the game systems. TJ is really his only competition because I am garbage! And Terry's not so good either. So they spent alot of time laughing and playing in Michael's room. Thats about the only time I could stand TJ; when he was playing nicely with Michael. Anyway, just as Michael and I were getting ready to leave this morning, TJ came down dressed and gave Michael a hug and told him bye. We left and Michael didn't mention it at all. Apparently, shortly after we left at 7 and before Terry woke up at 7.20 TJ had packed his clothes and he and his dog were gone because Terry didn't see him this morning. Even though it is the best situation for our family, it is still hard to know that he is really messing up his life. And trying to explain to Michael why TJ is the way he is and making sure Michael understands that I expect SOOOO MUCH MORE from him than TJ is kinda difficult. But anyway, Michael didn't mention him at all this evening so I am relieved.

My day at the office was long, a lot of research and looking at the computer. I like my job but wish everyday could be exciting and full of design! It was snowing when I left the office this evening but it didn't prolong my trip at all. Got home to a crippled hubby, his back still hurts him from carrying all of the wood yesterday, so I finished up dinner, did some dishes and laundry and Michael and I decided to forgo the gym and play games. So we set up the Monopoly game and started Michael's first run at Monopoly. He was buying everything! It was funny. We played for a while and then read a book and then I tucked him into bed. He has been such a pain to get up the last week that bedtime is coming a little earlier for a while and showers will be in the morning instead of the evening so he can wake up a little.

Today's encouragement from the Lord came from one of my VP's at the office. I IM'd him at the office and told him I needed a pick-me-up this afternoon and he came over to my office and we had a goofy conversation that helped me get through the rest of my day. He is a Christian so there is always some conversation about the Lord in our conversations and today the small conversation just helped.

So now, I think I am going to bed earlier like Michael! Miss you guys!


My pic for today is actually from Saturday - 16.5 weeks prego.

January 10, 2010 - I HATE this House!

You got it! I hate this house. Well, I love the space, and the layout, and my paint colors and design, and the location but I HATE THIS HOUSE!! All night last night I kept rolling over and thinking to my self how cold it felt in the house. I woke up this morning to get in the shower for church and the pipes on the far end of the house were frozen. Grrrr! Terry hooked up a small heater down in that room so they wouldn't freeze; what could have happened? So I went back to the bedroom to tell Terry and commented on how cold it was in the house. I put my house coat on with yoga pants, slippers, and a longsleeve shirt and went downstairs with Terry and guess what the thermostat said......39! 39 degrees! Yes you read that correctly....39 degrees. For some reason our new furnace appparently didn't run at all through the night and the house got down to 39 degrees. Terry went out back to get firewood to at least warm up the livingroom and help the furnace warm a small portion of the house, found that the dogs had knocked the extension cord for the heater out of the electrical socket and pulled his back carrying the huge basket of wood up the stairs.

So I had no water for a shower because the heater wasn't running because the dogs knocked it out of the wall, a freezing cold house, and a crippled hubby. It took probably 5 or 6 hours for the house to even get to 60. UGH! I hate old houses!!

This whole day caused me to be soooo thankful that Michael was at his dad's this weekend. Terry and I can deal with 39 degrees in the house so much better than Michael. Half of the time he sleeps all twisted up in his bed with 1/2 of his blankets on anyway. So we would surely have woken up sick! And that allowed me to thank the Lord for something during my freezing streak on the couch. Which also reminded me of the time in Youth Group when Luther challenged us to look for the Lord through our days. He said that you couldn't always see the Lord work in your days; sometimes you really had to look for it and you would see multiple ways he was working in your life. So that is what I am going to try to do each day....Look for at least one way the Lord was visible in my life each day. Today, it was the fact that our furnace didn't work on the evening Michael was at his dad's house so he didn't have to sleep in freezing temperatures and risk getting sick. I really believe that was in the Lord's hands.

OK, my last paragraph before bed. TJ texted his dad tonight and told him that he wanted to move to Cols with one of his friends and that friends girlfriend. We told TJ we would give him one more chance to help himself and if he decided not to help himself, we would not feel guilty about it anymore. So I told Terry to remind TJ of that fact and that if he left it would be forever. TJ didn't seem to care so I am not sure what tomorrow will hold but he apparently doesn't like our rules and our challenging him to make something of himself. As much as he irritates me, I still want him to succeed and I KNOW that him leaving will be the worst thing for him but how do you get a teenager to realize that? To realize that this 'friend' and his girlfriend will soon get sick of TJ, that he has no education and won't even try to get his GED if his parents aren't breathing down his back about it, that at our house he has warm clean clothes and food and a place to sleep and people who try to guide him in the right direction......he will never understand I don't think. So pray for that situation with TJ. And don't forget to find one way in which the Lord works in your life tomorrow! And now, bedtime for me! Back to work tomorrow!

January 9, 2010 - Lazy Weekend!

As most of you know, I was up from 7-9a this morning just playing on the computer because I couldn't sleep and my hubby was still sleeping. At 9.00a I rolled over to shake my hubby and I said "Terry, wake up! It's time to wake up! Im bored!" Next thing I knew it was 11.00a and Terry was shaking me "Jessica wake up! Im bored! So we got up and got ready to do some shopping. We went to Kohl's to see if they have maternity clothes and their selection was about 1 small rack, so we didn't get anything there.

I had a free meal at this restaurant in town called BD Mongolian Barbecue; where you get whatever raw meat you want, add fresh veggies, and then the third station has whatever kinds of sauce you want. You take it up to this huge grill and the grill guys take your bowl and grill it for you. It didn't really sound good today but today was the last day to use my birthday coupon so I figured I might as well try it. Needless to say, I tried one concoction and didn't like it, so I tried another...didn't like it either. Tried to eat a salad and it just didn't taste good either so I just picked at it until Terry was about done. Then I decided I would get this......

I look like garbage but the dessert was sooo good. Fortunately Terry ate half of it so I didn't consume all of the calories! :) It was the best part of my meal!

Then we drove to the mall and went to Destination Maternity where I tried on this 7month belly....

Terry thought it was so cute, I just felt huge. But I got the sweater and pants and another pair of dress pants.

We came home and now we are just relaxing. Seems like we have been doing alot of that lately and I love it!! I have to do it when Michael isn't here and before the next baby comes because I know it wont last forever! Night!!

January 8, 2010 - Catch Up

Yes it is Saturday morning, 6.59a to be exact, but I am awake and can't go back to sleep so I figured I'd write my post for last night since I fell asleep tooo early. Apparently I'm not that into cooking or Julia Childs becasue the movie Julie & Julia put me to sleep! It was so long too...or maybe the fact that we started a movie at 7.30p on a Friday just put me to sleep, but probably the fact that I just sleep through most movies is what did it! Either way, I missed an email from mom that I was waiting for and an IM from my Aunt Kim, and now I'm up at 7.00a on a Saturday!!!!

Nothing exciting happened yesterday really. Worked from home. It was cold....11 to be exact. Michael was at his dad's so Terry and I went to Glass City Barbeque for dinner, then he watched to movies. Somewhere in there was a dog lesson from sis and I cleaned the study up a little. Now-a-these-days that is a full day for me!

Not sure what we are going to do today. I said I was going to take the trees down but I'm not sure about that anymore. I need to go get some more maternity clothes and we have another gift certificate for my birthday that expires today so we'll probably eat there sometime today. But it's so cold out I kinda dread going out! Have a good day everyone!

January 7, 2010 - Found the Snow

It started snowing at about 11.30a and kept snowing until I left at 4.00p. It was pretty looking at it through the office windows but my 2 hour and 15 min. drive home was miserable. My butt was even numb when I got home! And Terry's bowling was canceled tonight so now we are sitting in bed surfing the net and watching tv. Exactly what I wanted to do when I got home tonight...nothing....I'm just not doing it alone now but its ok!

On my way home Terry sent me a text telling me to beep the horn when I got home and he would come out and help me through the snow. So I got home, and I was a submissive wife (for the second or third time :) and beeped the horn then waited for a minute. Nothing. So I beeped the horn again....and waited. Nothing. So I got my things and walked myself to the door where I met my dear husband giving me this 'why didn't you follow my directions' look. I told him I beeped twice and waited and couldn't sit in there forever; plus it was the thought that counted anyway I guess! :)

Now I am just relaxing and looking through past emails. Sis, I took these pictures of TJ's dog for you tonight since I have forgotten in weeks past.

January 6, 2010 - 16 weeks pregnant

Well today marks 16 weeks of pregnancy and I am feeling pretty good! Slept in a little this morning and worked from the house due to the snow and my doctor's appt. I got so much more done here than I ever do at the office plus it was so quiet! My appt. was at 3.00p. Nothing major during the appt. I lost 5 pounds since December 2, my last appt. My doc didn't mention it so I assume she isn't concerned. She only wants me to gain 15 to 20 pounds anyway so I hope Im on the right track. I am not eating as much as I used to, mainly because I just get full quicker and stop so my stomach doesn't get upset. I don't ever feel hungry and when I do I eat so I am definitely not starving myself! Still not craving chocolate, sweets or salty stuff really, which is different than pre-pregnancy! The baby's heartbeat dropped a little since last time. It was only 157 today. Probably sleeping like his momma loves to do!

I am dreading the weekend because I have to get the Christmas trees put away and all Christmas decorations stored. What a big task! Michael is going to be at his dad's so I should be able to start and complete pretty quickly. I want to do some scrapping too! Here is a picture I found recently from when I was pregnant with Michael. I was so big! Hope not to get that big again! :)

January 5, 2010 - Where's Our Snow?

Sis is making me super jealous (not really) with Hannah's snow days. We haven't gotten enough snow to do anything except extend my drive to the office from one hour to two. Hate driving in the snow because of the other morons on the road! Michael sure would love more time off from school as well, but the snow is just teasing us.

Today was just a normal day and I opted to get all of the laundry finished up and the kitchen sparkling instead of going to the gym tonight. It was later than last night and Michael had more homework than normal so it just seemed the best solution.

I did come across all of these pregnancy tests this weekend when I was straightening up.

These are all of the pregnancy tests I took in 2009. Good thing I started just buying the $1 and $2 tests from the dollar store! It is still amazing to me that I am 16 weeks pregnant after 3 miscarriages. I feel so good and I think I have lost weight, in the last month anyway, not a whole lot but maybe a couple of pounds. I will find out tomorrow at my 16 month appt. I am excited to hear the little guys heartbeat again! It is so comforting! I forgot how absolutely amazing this baby process is and how much it shows the awesomeness, super control, detail and power of the Lord!

January 4, 2010 - Back to the Old Grind!

Well, back to work and the old grind this morning. The alarm went off at 4.45a and, after snoozing for quite some time, I finally got up at 6.15a. My shower was sooo warm though, for which I was very thankful! Michael was a bear to get up, because he is used to sleeping til 9ish and I was so wanting to be a stay-at-home mom so I didn't have to leave and go to work. Because we are trying to eat dinner at the house and not out, I put pork chops in the crockpot with cream of mushroom soup. I needed to add worchestershire sauce and ketchup, like mom used to do, but of course I couldn't find the worchestershire sauce. With a 19 year old in the house, weird food items keep disappearing. Not sure if they are all him but I KNOW I had worchestershire sauce.

So I just forgot about the sauce and improvised with some black peppercorn marinade of some sort and dumped it in the crockpot, crossing my fingers! Michael and I left, I dropped him off at the Y, and started downtown to the office. It was lightly snowing and freezing and so my drive took about 1.25 hours. Fortunately, I didn't have anything too pressing to get caught up on, just catch up from the last 11 days of being off. My day went pretty quickly and I was definitely ready to leave but the drive home in the snow took nearly 1.75 hours....I hate driving!

Dinner wasn't bad. I made some rice to eat with the gravy of the pork chops and some steamed broccoli with just a sprinkle of cheese. The boys eat, we did dishes then went to the gym. I want to focus on toning and healthy eating during this pregnancy so I can perhaps lose weight sooner after my baby is born. I also want to try to help Michael lose weight. And, handsome as my hubby is, he does need to lose as well. So, because of time, we ate first then went to walk on the indoor track at the Y.

13 times around equals one mile. I wanted to start out small so we wouldn't get burnt out so soon this year, but our 1/2 mile soon turned into 1 mile. Not sure how quickly we were able to do the mile because I didn't bring my phone but tomorrow I am going to so we have something to work against. Michael and I ran several laps and Terry and Michael ran several laps. I was very proud of him. I really want to encourage him to keep working to lose weight, but the hard part is enabling him to eat the right foods. We are planning to go back to the Y tomorrow evening. I am not sure if we will walk again or swim. I figure right now, any exercise is better than none!

So now I am sitting in bed with my hubs. I love to sit here with him in the evening after Michael goes to bed. Both of us are usually on our laptops; Terry watching TV and I just listen to it, but we small talk and just relax. He is looking at cribs! :) He is so excited for the baby! I love it. Last week he bought $100 worth of clearance stuff for the little guy; stuff that will fit him next fall and winter.

Speaking of the baby, Terry took the first pregnancy photo of me and my belly last week. It was taken on January 2, 2010 and I was 15.5 weeks.


I'm not sure where it's going to end up on the page based on loading my first image! OK, I am going to bed soon! On to tomorrow...I'm sure it will be a little more boring since we are now back to the 'old Grind'!

January 3, 2010 - A New Year, A New.....Blog!

I guess I am going to try the blog thing. Since mom, sis and Jessica do it, I may as well try it! So far this year lots of things have happened too!

Yesterday was my 30th birthday. I rolled over to look at my phone when I awoke to see what time it was and it was 9:15...pretty crazy that 30 years ago I was born at 9:12...guess I didn't want to miss it! :) Got up and got in the shower, told Michael maybe we'd go to the park (before Terry told me it was only going to be 20 degrees) and cleaned a little around the house. Terry told me we had plans in the evening so the surprise and my constant wondering began early in the morning. Michael told me that he was going to go to the bowling alley with Terry's mom so a small piece of the puzzle was already figured out for me....dinner would be with Terry only, since the boys would not be with us.

It was soooo cold all day yesterday so we just stayed in and I tried to figure out what our plans were going to be in the evening. Terry didn't even clearly define if I should dress up for dinner or if I could wear jeans....no hint there. I wore my maternity jeans and a 3/4 sleeve button down shirt with my black boots and did my hair a little. It was so cold and I was kinda tired by the time we left that I kinda wished we could just stay home and eat Arby's, which sounded really good at the time, but we left to drop the boys off and be on our way.

Terry started texting / emailing someone and I knew if I could just get his phone, part of the surprise dinner plans would be solved...but he kept it close to him! Smart man! :) So I just went with it. It started snowing after we dropped the boys off and we drove to the northeast side of town, a new place I figured as we would never normally go that direction for dinner. We were supposed to be there at 7:30 and were running late but he didn't call to push the reservations so I thought it might be a pretty lax restaurant or we were meeting someone there and they were already there to hold our spot. I kept going with it though!

We ended up in Gahanna, parking in the garage, walking into a little wine shop restaurant and they led us to a seperate room where I was surprised by several of my closest friends waiting for me.....my FIRST surprise birthday party!! I was sooooo surprised I didn't even know what to say for a minute. The attendees were my Aunt Jennifer, one of my bosses and his wife, Terry's boss and his wife, my dear friend Mark and his wife and my dear friend Jamie and her hubby; plus my hubby obviously. I was soooo happy to have everyone there and the venue was beautiful. We were in a small, intimate setting at a high table. The lights were low and there was a fireplace with candles everywhere and white Christmas lights. You could watch the beautiful snow falling outside of the huge picture window. It was just perfect.

I ate spicy angel hair pasta with shrimp (actually Terry ate the shrimp) and Terry ate chicken marsala. It was so nice to visit with everyone and everyone got along so well. It was just a great evening! Terry and Jamie, my dear girlfriend, worked together to invite people that they knew I would enjoy (and obviously lived close enough to attend on a Sat night at 7.30p) and had everything worked out for the perfect evening. I have the best hubby in the world!!

Then today.....woke up this morning with my spicy pasta not exactly agreeing with my baby so I had to relieve myself (this is a relevant part of the story!) I realized something was wrong with the water when I tried to flush and nothing happened. Terry went to check the basement and the water was frozen, yup all of the pipes in the basement. Apparently it got down to single digits last night because it was only 10 degrees at 11.00a. Terry had to go get pipe warmers and insulation and all of that stuff, then the meter cracked so we just had to call the plumbers & HVAC guys that replaced all of the 'stuff' in the house before we moved in. They came over and by 2.00p we had water downstairs. We failed to check ALL of the faucets though because we attempted to get a shower a while later and the shower and upstairs faucets wouldn't work...grrrr. Terry worked on it for a while and finally got all of the pipes unthawed and working. My shower never felt soooo good. And finally we were able to flush the upstairs toilet with my spicy pasta....gross I know! Thank goodness it was so cold in the bathroom and not hot if you know what I mean! :)

Anyway, I wanted to get this blog thing started so I wouldn't keep putting it off. So it is 11.10p now and I have to go to sleep because 4.30a will be here awfully early tomorrow morning....and I still owe my hubby a little something-something from last night! :)