Another Year

I can't believe another year has come and gone. On Tuesday the 22nd I turned 26. It sounds kind of dull. There's nothing terribly exciting about 26. Nothing really depressing either. I don't feel old, but it seems wierd to already be more than halfway through my 20's. There's something about the ring of "25" that I really enjoyed. I guess it sounded old enough to know what I was talking about, but still young enough to act a little silly. Now I'm on that downward spiral to 30!!! But my birthday was great! Duke was supposed to be home that day, but every job they've done this month has been very uncooperative, so they were just starting their last job instead. He surprised me though, with 2 dozen of the most beautiful long stem red and white roses. With them were a handful of balloons tied to a birthday bag which held an adorable, and very velvety teddy bear holding a box of chocolate covered strawberries. He sure knows how to spoil a girl!

That's my "I'm pretending to smell these for the picture" face!

It was nice to know that Duke isn't the only one who loves me! I was so spoiled at work! My boss also brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers & some balloons, and of course supplied some very fun, bright colored cupcakes which she described as "elementary", but I very much appreciated them, because they just made me feel that much younger!

Dad & Nancy made me dinner that night, so it was nice to also not have to cook! I think this is the first year I haven't made a huge deal out of my birthday. It was just like another ordinary day, which kind of made it even more special when I got all of these unexpected gifts! I felt EXTRA loved!

                                                 * * * * * * * * * *

Well Tuesday came, and went. And come Wednesday I was already in for an all new adventure. I went to do a little shopping on my lunch break, and had a shooting pain in my back, which then made my right leg go numb. No big deal, I thought. Probably just the baby laying weird on a nerve. It lasted about an hour and then went away. But at about 6pm that night it came back, and as the night progressed, so did the pain. It slowly moved from my back to my stomach, and then everything was like a giant cramp with shooting pains coming about every 45 minutes. "This is not normal" I thought to myself. I made an appointment first thing Thursday morning with my doctor and got to spend half the day at the doctor & in the labor and delivery triage. They did pretty much every test imaginable to figure what could possibly be causing me to have contractions. Luckily I wasn't dialated, but unfortunately it wasn't any kind of infection (this is probably the only situation where you're praying for a UTI or kidney infection, because not having an infection, means pre term labor.) The good news is the baby was being monitered the entire time, and he is looking GREAT! Strong heartbeat, and he was very active! I've now been put on bed rest, and will go back to the doctor on Monday for another check up. Lets hope I can be pulled from bed rest Monday, because it's been 2 days and I'm already going absolutely crazy.

My "I'm really thrilled to be here" face!

Thank goodness Duke called about an hour ago, and they are on their way home. It's been a long month without him, and I am so thrilled to see him. They should be home about 4am... he'll miss our 1 year anniversary by about 4 hours.

And speaking of... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DUKE!! One year ago today, I knew you were someone special, but I didn't realize just how special you would become, and what a huge part of my life you were going to be a part of. You have opened my eyes to a love I never imagined I would be able to experience, and you have shown me a completely different world than I ever knew existed. I look forward to what our next year holds, and I love you to pieces for always and always.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Back to Life

It's been a long time since I've felt like I've actually accomplished something. Duke has been working in the oil field for just over 3 months now, and I'm finally starting to adjust to my new life. It's still difficult, and I still have my moments, but I was really starting to lose myself. It was hard to get into a new groove of doing things without him. Before he took this job, I don't think we ever spent more than a day apart. So now, I'm finally starting to get back to me, and doing things that make me happy. I decided this weekend would be a good weekend to start on baby projects. This probably wasn't the greatest idea I've had, considering Duke will be back this coming weekend, and I really could have used his help! I decided to put the baby's bassinet together. And trust me, putting together a bassinet on the hard floor, by yourself, with a back that feels like someone is squeezing and twisting your muscles is not fun. But I did it! And I'm so proud. It turned out so good, and its nice to finally start getting the baby's things in order.

I'm nesting already. I thought this wasn't supposed to start until just a few weeks before baby comes. I'm constantly thinking of things that need cleaning, or dusting, or organizing. I'm really obsessed with organizing lately. The sad thing is, I haven't really felt good enough to do any of it. I'm always so exhausted, and my back is constantly making sure I'm not being productive AT ALL!! I don't remember being this miserable the first time around. How come no one warned me?!!!

That wasn't the only productive thing I did this weekend. I finally got back to photography. It's been a while since I've taken any photos, and the creative bug has been begging me to feed it! My friend Annie is due to have her second baby in May, and she asked me to take some maternity photos for her. I was so excited, but really nervous. I've never done maternity photos before, but I'm really happy with the way they turned out!

I loved doing these photos! I think these are such a great idea, just to remember that time, and where you were and what you were doing. Annie's cute son Noah was so adorable too. He was so cooperative, and was always willing to take his picture any time I asked. And he just LOVED touching mommy's belly. Then after each picture he'd run over to me, and say "I wanna see!" He even took a few shots of mom and dad... he's a natural!

And so now that I feel like I'm finally getting back into gear, I hope to start taking more pictures, and maybe even putting together a small scrapbooking corner so I can get back to that! I'm feeling so creative these days, I figure I might as well go with it!

Windy Night In

Well, the night wasn't supposed to turn out this way. For the last couple of weeks I've had tonight all planned out, I was taking my sister to the Jazz game. I got the tickets from one of the real estate agents at work as a "thank you for being awesome", (because I am!) I've really been looking forward to it, because I haven't been to a Jazz game for 2 seasons... and not just that, I probably haven't been to any kind of sporting event other than high school football in over a year. It's sad, really. So needless to say, I have been in serious need of going to a sporting event with thousands of strangers, screaming at the top of our lungs for the home team to win, just as a constructive way to let go of some unwanted tension and stress! Unfortunately, that's NOT how the night went.

About 2 weeks ago I took my dog, Trigger in for surgery on his ear. Now, let me inform you, this was not a surgery he needed, it was more like an "elective" surgery. He had a mole on his ear that had grown to be about 2 inches around, and I could see it was only going to continue to get bigger, so I decided to have it removed. My good friend Dan owns a veterenarian hospital/clinic in the area, and agreed to do the surgery at a reasonable price. So 2 weeks ago I dropped my poor little man off at the clinic to have his surgery. I cried the whole way to work. I guess it must have been a mix of pregnancy emotions, and the fact that he didn't really need the surgery, yet here I was putting him through torture.

Poor guy after surgery #1.

That surgery went really well, and other than a lot of whining the first night due to him being in a bit of pain, and probably just knowing he had an excuse for some extra attention, he recovered very quickly. Or so I thought.
I am a sucker, and a TOTAL pushover when it comes to my dog. (Hopefully this is not a sign of the way I will be with my children!) I wasn't very good about keeping the "cone" on him like Dr. Dan suggested. He would look at me with his adorable little puppy dog eyes, and I could see them just asking me "mommy, why are you making me wear this thing? It's so humiliating." So, I rarely made him wear it. That was the WORST. IDEA. EVER. Once the stitches started healing, the incision became itchy, so he scratched. Hard. Which caused a hematoma in his ear. This made the cartilige, the skinniest part of his ear, swell up into a huge water balloon full of blood. I rushed him to the vet hospital Saturday, where I got the news that he would AGAIN need surgery. All this over a surgery he didn't even need in the first place.
I am now calling it the $600 ear. WOW! $600 for cosmetic surgery on a dog. I belong in Hollywood, my friends! So tonight, instead of going to the Jazz game with my sister, I decided to give both tickets to her so she could take her husband, and I decided to stay home and take care of my poor dog, who is now traumatized for years, or at least months to come, because I decided he needed  a mole removed.

Tonight, after surgery #2.

Mamma keeping her baby happy!

It wasn't a complete loss though, I really do enjoy spending time with my little boy, because he's currently not living with me given our tight living quarters. And not only is it nice to have him here with me, but it's nice on a night like this. With the wind howling outside the window, making the hail pound against the balcony doors. Every now and then there is a gust of wind, and I can hear the awnings above the windows getting pushed around. Nights like this make me lonely, Duke LOVES this kind of weather, and I always love cuddling up next to him just listening to the storm. So it's nice to have Trigger here, he keeps me company, and gives me something to cuddle up with when the storm gets a little too noisy!

Tonight's windy storm.

I hope everyone is enjoying their evenings. I better try to get to sleep, I have a feeling this storm may be waking me up a few times tonight.

L.O.V.E.

Well, I'm finally doing it, I'm starting a new blog! I've been wanting to start a new blog for a while now, but I guess I just wasn't sure where to start. I got so behind on my last blog, I feel like I have a million things to cover. So instead, I will start with today!

Happy Valentine's Day! Although I wasn't able to spend the day with my valentine, (because he's in North Dakota working), it was still such a great day! I guess I've never really been one to "pout" over not having a valentine, instead I like to celebrate how much I love all of my friends and family, and how blessed I am to have so many love me back! Plus today we had a cookie exchange at work, and that will cure ANY loneliness!

And so now is the time that I update you on our most exciting new adventure... THE BABY!!! I'm now 23 weeks along, and our baby boy is doing great! The doctor says he's measuring exactly on schedule, and his heartbeat is strong! We went and had our sonogram a few weeks ago, and everything looks great. Although baby was being very stubborn and was not wanting to move so we could get a good profile shot. Finally though, at the very end, we caught a profile, and it was so worth the moving from side to side and waiting! We still don't officially have a name picked out, but we're working on it! And just this week, the baby has starting kicking (and punching) hard enough to make my belly dance! I love waking up and just watching my belly move around. I'm so excited to meet him! Only 17 weeks left!




The disaster in the kitchen after baking the cookies!



The delicious cinnamon roll sugar cookies!



 



Our  little table of goodies at the cookie exchange.



 

I've been a bit reluctant to post pictures of my pregnant belly. I guess because I didn't want to be one of those annoying mothers-to-be that was posting a new belly photo every week. But I've decided that I do want to be one of those annoying mothers-to-be! I love my little belly, so while I don't have a recent photo of my belly yet, I have one from about 3 weeks ago when I was 20 weeks. Here goes nothing!!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!