Happy Birthday To Us

December 7th Richard and I both celebrated our birthdays. For anyone who doesn't know, my husband and I were both born on December 7th. It's kind of nice sharing our birthday!
It's fun to see people's faces when they realize we have the same birthday.
We spent our birthday morning sleeping in. We finally got up and around and headed to Panera for a late breakfast. We then went to Target and did a little shopping. We mosied around St. Johns Town Center and then finally headed to Firehouse Subs for lunch. If you sign up on their website they send you a coupon for a free sub on your birthday. We then headed to the theatre and watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". It was very good...made me cry, but it was good.
Afterwards we went home and changed into warmer clothes, then headed to Adventure Landing and played mini golf. It was cold, but a lot of fun! I started out nicely, thought I was going to win for once, then completely lost it! We finished the evening at Coldstone Creamery. I discovered that Cheesecake Fantasy is my new passion. Yum it was good. Gracie liked it too! We ended up back at home and ordered a pizza later. We had a nice birthday together.

Richard worked all day Monday and I puttered around the house taking care of odds and ends. We ended up at Walmart later that night and he got something to fix the tree. So we finally have a whole Christmas tree!

I had finished off my Floradix Sunday and decided to see if I could go without it. Big mistake. I've only been off of it for two days and I am completely worthless. I slept most of the day! We went and got more this afternoon so hopefully it will kick in soon. Cuz I'm tired!

Unfortunately with my pregnancy brain I forgot to take a camera along on our birthday. I also completely forgot that I have a camera on my phone. So no pictures. I do, however, have some lovely pictures of the fur kids! Ha. Yes, I know what you're thinking. "If they take this many pictures of animals how many will there be of Gracie??" A lot...a whole heck of a lot.

Colds, Turkies & Christmas Trees

I'm not sure how this happens. I seem to lose track of time and before I know it, it's been ages since I've blogged.
Things have been busy around here. I'm still stuck in November. It's hard to believe it's December and Christmas is right around the corner. I don't know why, but it doesn't feel like Christmas.
I had an interesting Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I was miserably sick. I had been in the nursery at church the prior Sunday and picked something up in there. This isn't the first time this has happened. I managed to do okay until Wednesday night. Driving down South I started feeling nasty. By Thursday I was miserable. I couldn't taste or smell. So much for Thanksgiving dinner! I was NOT a happy camper! LOL! Friday was the same. It was the first time ever that I did not go shopping. I was even more unhappy. Richard, on the other hand was on cloud nine! They rented a Harley for him and he and my Dad went riding! You should have seen him, he looked like a little boy on Christmas morning! Unfortunately I have no pictures. Thankfully Mom and Amanda got some.
Later on, Mom came to the rescue and brought home some Zicam. I could finally breathe! Sweet relief.
Saturday night we went to the River House to celebrate Dad and Mom's anniversary. On the way home we stopped at BabiesRUs, and then stopped by Amanda's dorm room so I could check it out. We had an interesting episode with a bug. LOL!
Sunday evening was spent playing Taboo. We had fun. Belly hurt laughing fun. Bottom chairs and straight jackets fun. Please don't ask. LOL!
Monday came way too soon and we had to head back home. Once we were back in Jacksonville I took advantage of the rental and got my grocery shopping done!
Phoenix must have really been worn out because he slept the rest of the day. He didn't even want treats! He and Ella had too much fun. Now he misses her!
Tuesday and Wednesday passed in a blur. Richard yanked down the Christmas tree. It was brand new and we had put it up last year just to make sure it would work in the house. The top broke when we were taking it back down last year. Why we didn't take it back I don't know. Actually it probably had a lot to do with the fact that we had gone through 3 or 4 trees for one reason or another. He was sick of returning them. Now it's too late. So it sat half put together in the living room. He rigged it for me and I went to put ornaments on it tonight, only to have it snap off. I'm feeling kind of scroogey. Ha. I had serious thoughts of just tossing it back in the garage and not having a Christmas tree. Especially since two hoodlum cats can't keep themselves from chewing on it! Anyone want two cats?? Just kidding.
On to a happier note. I had a baby appointment this morning. Gracie is doing just fine. Oh by the way, we have officially named her! After much debate. Mommy won out! Teehee. I had been smitten with Gracie for a very long time. Thanks to Ben Folds. The song is in my playlist...take a listen. Richard was completely opposed and hated it. Even though I used his Mother's middle name Lee. It seemed everyone else liked it except for him. I had decided to just leave it alone and figured we'd eventually figure something out. Finally in the middle of the grocery store one night he decided he liked it...except her official name had to be Grace. He didn't think she'd like Gracie once she was all grown up. Fine...just know I'm calling her Gracie...forever. =) So Gracie Lee it is.
Gracie is a very happy baby, so says the midwife. She kept wiggling while we listened to her heartbeat. And Mommy didn't gain too much weight after Thanksgiving...so she is very happy!
Since I haven't put any pics in for a while, and promised a picture of the leaf "bowl" here are some. These are my Thanksgiving crafts.

The leaf bowl was a ladies church craft. The turkies I did for place settings at Thanksgiving.

Jolly Beggars

I came across this quote while I was organizing the office today. I have a bad habit of writing things down and then misplacing them! Or having a little help misplacing them! Ha!
It is from the book "What's So Amazing About Grace" by Philip Yancey. In it he quotes CS Lewis. Anyways, I thought I would share.

As a child, I put on my best behavior on Sunday mornings, dressing up for God and for the Christians around me. It never occured to me that church was a place to be honest. Now, though, as I seek to look at the world through the lens of grace, I realize that imperfection is the prerequisite for grace. Light only gets in through the cracks.
My pride still tempts me to put on the best front, to clean up appearances. "It is easy to acknowledge," said CS Lewis, "but almost impossible to realize for long, that we are mirrors whose brightness, if we are bright, is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us. Surely we must have a little-however little-native luminosity? Surely we can't be quite creatures."
He goes on, "Grace substitutes a full, childlike and delighted acceptance of our Need; a joy in total dependence. We become jolly beggars."
We creatures, we jolly beggars, give glory to God by our dependence. Our wounds and defects are the very fissures through which grace might pass.
It is our human destiny on earth to be imperfect, incomplete, weak, and mortal, and only by accepting that destiny can we escape the force of gravity and receive grace. Only then can we grow close to God.

I'm Still Here

It's been quite a while since I've blogged. I'm still here. Tired...but here!

A lot has been going on since I last blogged. Dad, Mom and Amanda were here for a weekend. We enjoyed ourselves. After they left I caught Richard's cold and we were both sick for a while. So basically nothing got done around the house!

We are both better and back to somewhat normal.

Last week some of the ladies from our church had craft night. We made fabric leaf bowls. I made two of them. Naturally had help with the sewing! Me and sewing machines don't mix. Ha. I'm looking forward to our next craft night. We're making some kind of gingerbread pots.

I had another appointment this past Friday with my midwife. The baby is nice and healthy! She's got a good heartbeat and very active. I had my glucose test and my blood sugar is well. No gestational diabetes for me! They also tested my hemoglobin, which was too low. This explains a lot. I've been extremely tired. I blamed it on being sick and then the weather. It just seemed like I had no energy and I slept all the time! So now I am taking Floradix. Hopefully I will start feeling better soon!

Today I am at 24 weeks. It's so hard to believe that I'm this far along already. Time has just flown by so quickly. I've got a big prego belly. Richard enjoys poking fun at me! He's fascinated with all of this. She likes moving around and poking me non stop. She's quite the night owl as well. We're waiting for her to start kicking hard enough to see from the outside. He's already informed me that it's quite strange!

I've been in the nesting mood for the past couple of weeks. The house has been torn apart! I've been cleaning and organizing everything. It's funny being pregnant.

Anyways, that's it for now. I need to go clean. =)

I came across this on YouTube yesterday and thought I would share. If you've never read Gianna I would encourage you to go pick it up. It's about Gianna Jessen.

It's a Girl!

It became official as of Friday! We are having a little girl! We are very excited. As are a certain Grandma and Auntie! We've already gone shopping!

My Mom and sister were able to come along to the ultrasound with Richard and I. It was such a nice place. We had a 4D ultrasound done and saw our little miss swimmin around! Thankfully she behaved herself and sat still long enough to show us she was a girl!

I will update our weekend adventures later. For now here are some pics!


She kept putting her fingers up by her face.

So sweet

Love those baby feet!

Ho Hum Days

There's not a whole lot that's been going on around here. Everything's pretty ho hum. This weekend will be filled with excitement. My family is coming up, we are very excited. Phoenix is itching to see Ella. He gets very excited when I say her name. He understands me, he does.
We are also having a 4D ultrasound. Very excited for that. This kid better cooperate or I'll probably cry. I'm dying to find out the sex. It's been killing me.
It's been very cool here this week. Highs only in the low to mid 70's. It gets chilly at night. I absolutely love it.
Richard has started serving in the Audio/Visual Room at church. He's in charge of the powerpoint and making sure everything is running smoothly. This means he is at church at 7:30 on Sundays and 5:30 on Wednesdays. Not my favorite part! It's very time consuming but he loves it.
I'm still in the Nursery with the babies. We'll see how much longer that lasts.
It's been forever since I've posted recipes on here. I need to get that up and running.
I do have a movie recommendation. Richard and I watched Miss Potter a few days ago and loved it. Very clean and very good. It's about Beatrix Potter, the author and illustrator known for her children's books. I highly recommend it.

Remembering Our Babies

October is Miscarriage Awareness Month. As many of you probably know, we lost our baby on March 19th of this year. It's hard to believe that I would have been giving birth this month. Nine months passed so quickly. My heart still aches, but it's gotten easier. God has blessed us with another little miracle, and we are more thankful than words can ever express.

So to everyone out there who has ever lost a child, my heart is with you. I relish in the fact that our baby is safe in the arms of Jesus.

After our loss I came across this website. It's a little presentation sure to make you cry. Click on the "View Presentation" link on the right.

http://www.ispokewithmychild.com/

The Crosswalk

We complain about the cross we bear but don't realize it is preparing us for the dip in the road that God can see and we cannot.

Whatever your cross, Whatever your pain, there will always be sunshine, after the rain.... Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall; But God's always ready, to answer your call.... He knows every heartache, sees every tear, a word from His lips, can calm every fear... Your sorrows may linger, throughout the night, But suddenly vanish, by dawn's early light... The Savior is waiting, somewhere above, to give you His grace, and send you His love.

Congratulations to Me!

I am officially 20 weeks along today! I'm halfway there! Yay! Hard to believe 20 weeks have already passed.
Richard informed me it's all downhill from here. See, this is why men don't give birth. LOL! He doesn't have a clue.
I think it may kick in around 20 weeks from now. =)

Our Crazy Life

So it's been a while since I've blogged. Things have been pretty crazy around here.
It started last week. I was working and kept hearing these scratching noises. We have a dog and two cats that are always into something. I didn't think a whole lot about it.
On my break I headed out and found Maggie sleeping on the bed, Boomer looking out the back door, and Phoenix snoozing in the corner. Okay, must have been Boomer. So I sat and ate lunch and watched the news. All was well until I heard it again, but this time everyone was asleep, and Maggie came racing out of the bedroom staring at the ceiling. My little heart dropped into my stomach. I imagined all kinds of little creatures infesting my attic. Ohh it was bad. I didn't even want to go back to work. I was ready to pack up and move out. To make it worse Richard was working and not answering his phone. I left a desperate sounding message.
Sooo, we ended up calling the landlord and they assured us they would take care of it as soon as possible. Almost a week later we got a call and someone came out to "take a look". He affirmed what I already knew, we have visitors in our attic. He didn't have anything with him so it would have to wait. Gee thanks. And we needed someone to come out and confirm? So we wait.
Monday was my next checkup. I was having a glucose test for gestational diabetes, so I thought. I was up at 6:30 forcing myself to eat this huge breakfast. Seriously thought I'd never make it. I got it all down and managed to keep it down and we headed to the office. I got all my vitals checked and we headed in to make sure everything else was okay. I asked about my blood test. "Oh we'll do that next time. It has to be done at 24 weeks." Ughhhh! Since we thought I was further along there was a mix up. It didn't get unmixed after my ultrasound. So I'll be eating all that at 6:30am again. At least I have a month to recuperate! As for me and baby, we're doing just fine. I'm measuring right and babies heartbeat is still good and strong. Although baby is still more interested in moving about. As soon as she put the doppler on baby moved. Little booger.
Meanwhile, this past Wednesday our AC went out. It's October, still hot, I'm pregnant, these do not make for a good combination. Thursday was torture. It would work for a while, then go out. We had called that morning and they said they'd send someone out. Finally called back to see what was going on and were told it couldn't be fixed until Friday. Umm, excuse me...I think not. Didn't matter what I thought because that's what happened. Friday afternoon, the tech showed up 30 minutes late, but he fixed it darn it! I am pleased, and cool.
At the same time we let the landlord know about the AC we asked about the creatures in the attic moving out. "Oh, that's your responsibility." Well thanks for not bothering to get back with us and just letting us sit here. Never mind the fact that they wouldn't be in the attic in the first place if you'd have fixed the screen like we'd asked. But now it's our problem. "Oh, unless you want to pay us $420 to take care of it". I don't think so. My brain might be shrinking because I'm pregnant but I'm not that stupid! What's so funny is that when the guy was out here, he told Richard all he does is put a cage up in the attic with a piece of peanut butter laden apple. We both agreed, for $420 those must be golden apples. Hah!
So our visitors are still here, overstaying their welcome. I hear them from time to time and shudder. As long as they stay up there we'll be fine. Not that they'd last very long if they did decide to come down. Phoenix and his sidekicks would see to that.
Now our neighbor is having a new roof put on. All we heard today was bang, bang, bang. I hope they hurry. The screaming kids out back were enough. It's hard to drown out all that noise!
I'm waiting for more crazy things to happen!
Well, Phoenix has been patiently waiting on me to finish so I'm wrapping it up. He learned that pushing the keyboard in does wonders.

Four Years

Happy Anniversary to us!

The Big News

Here is the long awaited big news of the day!

What are we having?

A baby!

Unfortunately baby was more interested in moving about than revealing the gender! The ultrasound tech was having a hard time keeping up with all the movement!

The good news is that baby is healthy, has all the necessary organs, a great heartbeat, and a LOT of energy!! .

Here is a pic.

P is For...

Comment and I’ll give you a letter. You’ll then have to list 10 things you love/ that are a part of your life and begin with that letter. After that, post this meme in your blog to give out letters of your own.

My letter is P

1. Phoenix - He's my beautiful Siberian Husky. I love him.
2. Pumpkins - They remind me of Fall. I can't wait to go pick some out!
3. Pregnant - It's what I am!
4. Pictures - Keep our memories from fading.
5. Perfume - One of my favorite accessories.
6. Presley - Elvis Presley...need I say more?
7. Peaches - Sweet and fuzzy and they taste oh so good.
8. P.S. I Love You - Has to be one of the best movies. I cried the whole way through.
9. Poetry - There's nothing like sitting down with a good book of poetry.
10. Peanuts - I'm addicted to them. I'll eat the whole can.

Let me know if you'd like to play!

Thanks Amy for giving me the letter P!

The Goings On

Hey All! I'm trying to be more consistent here in my blogging. I can't believe I actually used to blog every single day. Some other people I know need to blog more too. Ahem. Nudge nudge!

Anyhow, this week has been pretty good. It is about 70 degrees in Jacksonville this morning. Talk about gorgeous. It stinks having to be cooped up inside on a beautiful day. I had to coax Phoenix inside, he was quite happy sprawled out in the grass. When asked to come inside he looked at me as if to say "Are you nuts? I'm staying right here!"

Sunday was officially my last day of the progesterone. I've been doing better than I thought I would. Monday I got up and worked for about an hour, but then was feeling so sick I cut the rest of my shifts and went back to bed. I ended up feeling better that evening. I'm still getting nauseous from time to time. It is just kind of hit and miss. Hopefully it will be completely out of my system soon.

Tomorrow is the big ultrasound day! It's been a looong week! The days seem to drag by at times. We are so very excited about finding out how far along I really am, and especially what we're having. At our last appointment, Sharon asked if we wanted to know what we were having and she got two resounding yes's! A baby she replied. =)

So what else is going on? Well, I am anxiously awaiting the opening of the new Dunkin Donuts right down the street from us! Being pregnant I've missed my coffee. Mom and Amanda introduced me to their decaf iced coffee and now I'm hooked.

Richard and I will be celebrating our fourth anniversary on this day next week! It's hard to believe sometimes. This year has just flown by. The kitties will be celebrating their fourth birthday soon as well. My babies are growing up! =)

Speaking of my fur babies, here are some funny pics I took earlier this month.

Watching the fish!

He's fascinated. He especially likes to watch me feed him. He also likes getting into the shrimp and he's figured out how to open the bottle. Bad kitty.

Happy Fall

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but here in Jacksonville Fall is definitely in the air! It has been so much cooler here. Phoenix and I have taken to sitting outside enjoying the weather. He doesn't want to come in some days. I don't blame him.

Publix is ready for Fall. They have their Cinnamon Brooms out and it smells sooo good in there! Everyone is starting to get pumpkins too. I can't wait to pick out ours. I already have my scarecrows ready! I even bought a pumpkin scented candle. Mmmm.

Now all I have to do is make some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins...yummy.

Oh and no, this picture is not here in Jax. I wish! It was taken in Tennessee last November.

The Great Escape

I've had my exercise for today thank you. Mr. Phoenix decided it was time to open the gate all on his own. I tell you that dog is too smart for his own good.
I was in a hurry getting ready to start my shift and I sent him packing outside to do his thing. A few minutes later I walked outside and saw the gate hanging open.
So I ran back inside, changed out of my pj's and grabbed my phone, keys and treats and went running out the front door. I'm sure it's amusing seeing a pregnant woman run. I didn't feel very amusing.
Thankfully he was one street down marking the stop sign. I yelled for him and he came running, then faked me out and darted across the street. I tell you it's a good thing there were no cars or that crazy nomad would have gotten hit. And I would have felt HORRID!
He decided to play games and outrun me, which is pretty easy to do. He wasn't coming back for anything, not even chicken treats.
I am so glad that Christy was out with her kids. They were able to distract him long enough for me to grab him. Then he promptly pulled the lay down technique. I forgot his leash so I had to drag his butt back across the street!
So to say the least we're both wore out. I guess it's time for a lock on the gate.

Why do Huskies have to be so stinkin smart?

It's a good thing he makes up for it in cuteness.

Pregnancy Update

As promised here is my update from our last appointment.
Everything is looking good, a little more so than we thought! Ha.
When she felt my abdomen my uterus is right under my belly button. It's not supposed to be there until 19 weeks. Thus she is fairly certain that I am 19 weeks along rather than 15! Wow. That was quite the shock!
We have an ultrasound scheduled for the last week of September. Then we will find out exactly how far along I am, and if baby cooperates we will find out what we are having!! We are very excited.
I must say I was pretty nervous when I found out I could be that far along already. That means I'm pretty much halfway through! It's amazing how fast time flies.
As far as everything else Baby and I are doing just fine. I got the greenlight to stop my progesterone after I finish up my last bottle. So I'm going to wean myself off and hopefully not get sick!
That's it for now!

A Little Update on Life

As you can see it's been a while since I've blogged. We've been pretty busy here and there.
My family came up for Labor Day weekend. It was so nice to see them and like always it went by way too fast!
They arrived Saturday afternoon and we hung out at the house until Richard had to go to work. Then the rest of us headed out and ate dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. We had a rather interesting time listening to a fellow diner. Whew! Then we dropped Dad off at home and us girls went shopping!
Sunday was church and that afternoon we headed downtown to explore. We headed to Friendship Fountain, walked along the riverbank, then took the ferry over to the Landing.

Friendship Fountain

Under the Main Street Bridge

Friendship Fountain

Maxwell House Plant and the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in the distance

On the ferry crossing the St. John's River

I discovered that being pregnant and being on a boat do not mix for me! I've never been bad on boats but it made me feel wobbly! A Coke icee fixed that! =)

After taking the ferry back to Friendship Fountain Richard took us on the scenic route (teehee) and we ended up at Dunkin Donuts. I found out I can have decaf iced coffee, I'm very excited. I had to give up my Starbucks and McDonald's coffee. There were a bunch of chickens running around the parking lot. Richard ended up sharing his food with them. Why did we not get any pictures of that??

Monday was spent shopping again! We all headed to Smokey Bones for lunch and then they were headed back home.

Poor Phoenix was lost when they left. He laid by the front door as if waiting for them to come back! He also kept going into the guest room and looking around. He missed his Ella!

After our nice long weekend it was back to work. Ughhh. In preparation of another storm possibly headed our way, Richard was busy trying to get all the properties done early. He managed and was finished by Thursday.

As for me I'm doing good. I'm officially out of my old jeans and into the maternity clothes. I feel better now and the morning sickness is starting to finally go away. I have my next appointment Monday so I will update then. Next month we should be doing an ultrasound to get my official due date and hopefully see what we're having!! Can't wait!

Hope you all have a splendid weekend!

The Hairy Husky

Mr. Phoenix never really stopped blowing his coat this year. He started in Spring and it's still coming out in clumps! I'd been brushing him on and off, but last night I'd finally had enough! I grabbed a fine toothed comb to see if it would work better. Um, it did. With treats and a lot of patience, this is what I ended up with an hour later. Richard was astonished.

Rain, rain and more rain!

Thanks to tropical storm Fay just kind of plodding along we have been getting buckets and buckets of rain! We've all been cooped up in the house and Phoenix is starting to get stir crazy! Poor thing, when I woke up this morning it was pouring and windy. He had to go out so bad so I opened the back door. He walked out under the porch and looked at me like "I'm supposed to go in this?" He promptly walked back inside and started chasing the cats. =)
One HUGE blessing is that in all this wind and rain we have not lost our power once. On Wednesday they reported about 15,000 power outages in the Jacksonville area 12,000 of which were in the Arlington area (where we live). By Thursday it had jumped to 80,000 and 100,000 that night. The lights never even flickered!
Yesterday we did finally jump in the truck and head out. I can only stay in the house for so long! We headed down to the beach. As soon as you got out of the truck the sand was stinging so bad from the high winds. We headed down to the water along with several other people. I took one picture but because of all the rain it didn't come out. I did take video which I will try to get on here somehow.
People are funny around here. You would have thought a Category 2 was coming to town and not just a tropical storm. Everyone was freaking out. The stores and gas stations were full and our neighbors even boarded up some of their windows.
Unfortunately, my sunflowers that I had planted right before summer had just bloomed right before the storm. I don't know if they've survived. I haven't been able to get a picture for all the rain. The neighbors would really think I'd lost it!
Well, that's been our life for the past few days. Hopefully the power will stay on!

Update on our Week

Ahhh, the week is finally over! I always like the thought of not having to go back to work until Monday. Not sure why because the weekend is always spent cleaning or something similar. I've been in a throw it out, re-organize, clean everything mood. I'm ticked that it's sunny while I'm working, then when I want to wash sheets and curtains and hang them up outside it's overcast. Blech weather.
Because of this blech weather Richard is super behind. That's why he's working all day today. Poor thing. I feel bad for him.
Other than that this week's been pretty good. Richard had an estimate to give on Thursday so I headed out with him. Afterwards we ended up at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner! Yum! It was crowded but we only waited about 15 minutes. I loveee their BBQ Ranch Chicken salad. Richard finally found something he likes there, so now he doesn't mind going!
In other news Mr. Phoenix has been quite the angel. Thursday when we left we decided, (okay Richard decided..I was skeptical) to leave Phoenix out of his crate. I informed Richard that he was responsible for any and all messes! For anyone that personally knows Phoenix they will know that this was quite the ordeal. We have previously come home to curtains and blinds torn down, and various items chewed on. I guess he's grown up and outgrown his childish ways. Over two hours later we came home to a perfect house. Mommy was so proud. However, he decided that once were home it was groovy to be bad. He jumped on the bed, chased the cats, and tore through the house like a mad dog. At least we were home!
The cats, however, have been quite another story. For some reason they have taken to lounging on my glass top table and snoozing on my kitchen table. I hate that! I'll come out of the house and see one of them scurrying to get off before Mommy sees. Too bad Mommy knows anyway because of PAW PRINTS on my glass table! Miss Maggie has also found kitchen counters quite fun to prowl about on. Grrr! I've racked my brain to think of some way to get them off there and keep the little boogers off.
Well that's about all that's going on in my little corner of the world. As for me, myself and I, I'm doing well. The progesterone has finally settled into some kind of agreement with my body, and I only have nausea in the morning and sometimes at night. The jeans, however, are starting to get snug. It's time to go shopping!

Idol Comes To Jacksonville

Well, Jacksonville has finally landed on the map! Back in 2005 we hosted the Super Bowl...has it really been that long? Now we are playing host to American Idol! Yes it's true, Ryan Seacrest was even here yesterday.
They've been here all week doing tryouts.
Richard and I drove downtown to the Veteran's Memorial Arena, which is where they are, to see all the people. I think there were more policemen and news vans than contestants! We must have hit the slow time. According to the news more than 12,000 people showed up! Now there are 200.
Next week Simon, Paula and Randy are supposed to show up. We may venture down to try and capture a glimpse! Or maybe we'll just watch it on the news!!

Pregnancy Updates

Now that the secret is out I'm sure everyone will understand why my blog posts have been few and far between lately! It's hard to get motivated when you don't feel good!
For those who don't know, I'll be updating my pregnancy here on my blog. It's just simpler. And I LOVE simple!
I'll start at the beginning, here we go!
I discovered I was pregnant on June 28. To put it bluntly I was scared to death. Probably not most women's reaction but such as it is. My recent loss was still quite fresh and I did NOT want to go through that again.
July 9 we went to see Sharon. I had previously decided to go through a midwife and birthing center, and stuck with the same decision.
Because of my polycystic ovarian syndrome combined with the recent miscarriage we weren't sure when we conceived. We tried a doppler with no success. So we scheduled an ultrasound. Sharon ordered my blood work as well as a test for my progesterone levels to make sure it wasn't too low.
July 10 I headed to St. Vincents Hospital to get my labs done. The lady looked at me and said, "You do know you're getting a LOT of blood drawn today?" Well no but okay!! She was excellent and I was fine.
July 15 was my ultrasound. We saw our little miracle for the first time. I can't describe the absolute joy of seeing that little heartbeat. The baby measured 5mm so Sharon determined me to be between 6 and 7 weeks along. I was hoping for 10 weeks but okay! I just wanted to get over that 9 week hump so I could stop worrying. That night we told my parents and my sister. They were pretty darn excited!
July 16 I got my labs back. Everything was good except the progesterone. It was too low, which is more than likely why I miscarried the first time. So Richard and I headed to the pharmacy and I got started on my Progesterone.
The next few weeks were, lets use the word interesting. The progesterone made me so sick. That along with trying to get past that 9 week mark without completely losing it made everything seem to take so long.
I find it fascinating the things that God uses. I had bought a jounal with my first pregnancy and never used it. The second time around I started writing in it. It's just a simple little journal and has Bible verses printed on the bottom of every page or so. What is so neat to me is that with each entry the verse at the bottom seemed to speak to what I was writing. When I was out of my mind with worry and anxiety there was Philippians 4:6. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
On August 6 we had our second appointment with Sharon. I'm staying on the progesterone for now. After we finished everything up she got a doppler and we waited patiently as she searched for the heartbeat. We found mine pretty easily, then heard the heartbeat of our little miracle. You've never seen three more excited people! Sharon even got emotional. I love her, she truly cares. That is hard to find.
I probably could have sat there for hours just listening. It was so comforting. Richard had the sense to suggest recording it so we did!
As I was writing in my journal after our second appointment the verse was Psalm 107:9. "For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." Tell me about it.
Before we even got out of the office Richard was sending out the video to my parents and sister!
Sooo, as far as my due date, that will be determined at 18-20 weeks. Because of the strong heartbeat and that it was so easily found Sharon is thinking I may be a lot further along. We were originally thinking I was due in March, but for now it's February. I'm going with 11 weeks for now, until I find out a more exact due date. You can also track that here on the blog. I have a growing baby widget. If you click on the weeks it will scroll through weeks and days to go, as well as weeks and days done so far.
Well, that is about it for now. I am doing well. My body has almost completely adjusted to the progesterone and I'm starting to feel a lot more energetic.
Will keep you updated!

Our Announcement

Twinkle, twinkle little star

How we wonder what you are

We hoped and prayed

It would happen some day

And, oh I'm pregnant by the way!

Due Date

February 2009

Only in America

Has anyone else heard about the genius who called 911 because Subway didn't put mayo and mustard on his sub? It happened here locally in Jacksonville so I don't know if this story made it elsewhere. I wouldn't be surprised.
Richard and I saw the story last night. The area looked a little familiar, probably because it was the Subway right next to our church! They actually showed the guy in their story, he was still mad! What was even funnier was when they played the 911 call. He was screaming and then asked the operator if she was still there. She replied, "Yes sir. I'm just waiting for you to finish yelling at me." Oy vey. Does this strike anyone else as crazy!?
Well, I guess we DO live in Jacksonville. You know you did something stupid when even the newscasters are making fun of you!
If you haven't heard about this and would like to read the story go here:
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/080308/met_312931891.shtml

I wish I could find a link for the video they showed on our local news, but alas I cannot.

And We Call Them Domesticated?

I was pondering something this morning. Why do we refer to cats as domesticated? Are they really domesticated? Maybe just a little more so than your average lion roaming the plains of Africa!

When Richard and I woke up this morning, I stayed snug in bed and he ventured out. He let the cats out of their room ( I will explain this in more detail later) and they proceeded to fly about like wild little beasts.

As I'm laying there, both of them proceeded to zoom about my bed. They were flying on and off the bed, jumping on furniture, and soaring over Phoenix as he calmly slept on the floor beside me. As one of them started attacking my foot I asked myself...And what exactly makes these creatures so domesticated?

Sure, they're a good bit smaller than their larger counterparts, but the actions are still the same!

They might not be able to bite my foot off, but that doesn't mean they won't try! Just last night as I was watching Law and Order, Maggie calmly approached me and bit me in the foot! Completely unprovoked I might add!

These two stinkers have their own sleeping quarters at night because they act like crazed, high on catnip, psychocats! We learned rather quickly that they do not sleep like normal cats. No, they prey about the house seeking slumbering heads to pounce on. More specifically, MY slumbering head! It didn't take too many times of me waking up screaming because something had just attacked my head for us to realize this is just not going to work. Hence, their own room complete with bed, food, water, and litter box.

Oh, and speaking of litterboxes...I guess sometimes it's just more fun to poop on the floor. And we call this domesticated!

The old saying, curiousity killed the cat will probably come true for these two. They obviously do have 9 lives, but how many are left?

I think Boomer is definitely the more curious. He doesn't like closed doors. He's figured out how to open one of the kitchen cabinets. It's a constant battle of me closing the door, and him opening it. So if you ever come in my kitchen and notice one of the cabinet doors hanging open, you now know the answer!

If they can stick their head in it, it's there. No bookcase is left unscaled, box left uninvestigated, shelf left upright, hair band not run off with, bug ignored, and in most cases, left uneaten.

They eat, sleep (during the day), play, and fight. I have never seen two 3 1/2 year olds fight as much as they do. They pounce, they bite, they chase, they growl and bite some more!

Don't get me wrong, they do cuddle and love on each other. It's very sweet, but even lions do that.

So I think the word we're looking for here is "ever so slightly more domesticated".

Or maybe it's just MY cats!

This is why I like dogs. Phoenix sleeps at night. He doesn't pounce on my head, bite my feet, or poop on my floor. Okay, well he has but only from being scared out of his mind from fireworks. That's different! He doesn't scale my furniture and he leaves my cabinets alone!

Yes it's true. He is my domesticated angel. Even when he does eat bugs.

Mmmm Good!

This is probably one of my very favorite chocolate cakes! There is only one word to describe it...YUMMO! I made it this Sunday afternoon. Yes, I know it's already Thursday but so what. It's been one crazy week! The best part is, there is still some left! Yay, I think I'll go spoil my dinner and have some.

Catching Up

Well, it appears that it's been a while since I've blogged. I'll try to update you on this and that going on in my corner of the world.
I serve in the baby room at church twice a month. Last Sunday was my first scheduled day for July. It's always interesting in there! We are outgrowing our room, we had 7 babies and it was tight. Thankfully we are getting ready to move soon. They are putting new carpet in our new room so as soon as that's done we'll have a lot more room! Yay!
Monday was kind of interesting I guess. Life always seems to be interesting when you have a Husky. I had cooked a whole lemon pepper chicken the night before. I put all the bones in the garbage, bagged it up and tossed it outside so it wouldn't stink up the house. It was late and I was tired so I just tossed it out the back door thinking I would take care of it in the morning. You know, I really should know better. Monday morning I was behind, had a couple minutes before I was supposed to start work and sent Phoenix outside and ran to start work. My first call was the most difficult person ever. I was sure he was just trying to be aggravating, but I had to deal with him. We can only hang up if they are cursing, insulting, obscene, things along that nature. He was just being difficult. I finally got off the call and ran to bring Phoenix in. As soon as I went to open the door I saw the trash all over the place. Grr!! Then here came Phoenix...his face COVERED in dirt! I knew he must have buried the chicken bones somewhere. I quickly wiped him off and brought him in. I had to go back to work, so I ran back in and finished my shift. Thankfully I hadn't scheduled more than a half hour.
Afterwards I marched Phoenix outside and gave him hydrogen peroxide. Note to all pet owners, this stuff is great! If your animal ever eats anything they shouldn't give them a teaspoon of HP per 10 pounds of body weight. It induces vomiting so they don't get sick. He did his thing and I started cleaning up the trash, only to notice a strange car pulled up in the grass by the side of the house. Naturally, I freak out not knowing what on earth was going on! I tried calling Richard and he wasn't answering. Great. Not to mention I was in my pajamas! I ran and changed and walked back out to see if anyone was in the car. Nope. Called Richard several more times to no avail. Meanwhile Phoenix did his thing , got everything out of his system and I started looking for his buried "treasure". Richard called me back and let me know it was his helpers car. Whew, everything is okay. He was actually done for the day and on his way back to take care of our yard. Once he got there he helped me look for Phoenix's buried treasure. He found several bones and I found the motherload. He had buried the whole main chicken bone up next to the house. He had buried that thing deep too! We dug everything up and got it thrown away properly!
It was funny because later that day when Phoenix was outside he went looking for it! Bad little boy.
So that's basically been our excitement for the week so far. I have babies again this evening. Hopefully all will go well. Last Wednesday was awful so I heard! They are usually hard as everyone is tired and cranky...the babies I mean! LOL!
Well, happy hump day to all. Hope you're all having a fabulous week.

The Fish

Well, here is a pic of the ever elusive Plecostomus. He's quite active nowadays and is finally doing his job and cleaning the tank! I guess we won't need a snail afterall! However, everytime I whip the camera out he hides!! Definitely camera shy. He swims around with me standing there, but pull out the camera and he's gone. This is the best pic I've been able to get of him.

Our Day Trip

This past Monday we decided to take a little day trip to St. Mary's, Georgia. We were originally going on Sunday, but literally at the last moment changed our minds!! Anyhow, Monday morning we headed up to St. Mary's and had ourselves a nice little day. It started pouring rain and cut our trip short, but we still had a good time!

On our way!



Crossing into Georgia. It's nice living so close to the border.



Orange Hall, one of our first stops. We stopped at the Welcome Center, only to find out it was closed for renovations. A lot of things were under renovation. We talked to a nice elderly lady who gave us the scoop and recommended a good lunch destination. On the way up to the house I stopped Richard and told him to listen. He didn't hear anything...my point exactly! It was QUIET there! A big change from the bustling city.



Marianne's, a great recommendation. The owner originally lived here, lost her husband and moved away, only to come back and open a small cafe...which eventually turned into this. She's received several awards, been written up in magazines like Southern Living, and obviously done quite well!




The bathroom. The whole place was very cozy.

Richard perusing the menu!

And his choice, Crab Cakes, they were featured in Southern Living.

And my choice; chicken salad, baked beans, and potato salad. Delicious!

Another view of Marianne's. They made you feel like you were coming home.

The garden's at Marianne's.

Pretty flowers.

This was a little shop called The French Quarter. It was a really neat shop with a huge assortment of this and that. The prices were huge too! That's why they call it window shopping!

A view of the St. Mary's River.

Another view of the St. Mary's River.

Getting rained on! I love Richard's "Huh" face!

We also stopped off at The Oak Grove Cemetery. It wasn't nearly as elaborate as the cemeteries in Savannah. Our next stop was the Howard Gilman Park. It was a beautiful park, unfortunately it started pouring as we got there. Too bad. One of our last stops was a little museum. I didn't get any pictures there either.

It's kind of interesting. St. Mary's is a totally different way of life than here in Jacksonville. It is a very slow pace of life and people are friendly!

I was excited to go to a place called the Golden Pineapple. It was a huge gift shop and looked really neat. Unfortunately, it was closed. I guess regardless of store hours, if you don't want to open shop you don't! Like I said, a very different way of life!

So we headed out of St. Mary's and got back on the road. Richard wanted to check out fireworks so we stopped and he got himself something, which he promptly set off last night! We then decided to take US 17 back to A1A and head through Fernandina Beach on the way home. We completely missed Fernandina.

And we are home again! The view of downtown coming off of the Dames Point Bridge.