August recap

August...August, August, August. What a busy, stressful, tiring month! We started August off with a little remodeling project. Little did I know that a wall can't be built in a day. Nope - it has actually taken the whole month of August and its not completely done yet. We closed in the dining room and added french doors to make room for the baby girl that will soon join us. Jesse, Justin and Neil put the wall up the first weekend of August and then every weekend after that Justin or Justin and his parents have been working on it. They had to float and tape it, texture it. paint it, sand it back down and re-texture and paint it. In the mean time we had new carpet installed in the two kids' rooms in the front of the house. Deacon loves his new room but he still refuses to sleep in his train bed or his room. :)

On my dad's birthday - Happy Birthday again Dad (although I'm sure you will NEVER read this) - I had my 20 week ultrasound at Dr. Strong's office. My mom, Janie, Granny and Justin came with me and we all got to get a peek of the baby. She was still a girl - which is a big relief since she already had clothes hung in her closet and wrapped up for a baby shower gift. :)

In the midst of all the construction we still found a little time to go to an open house at the new firestation nearby, we went to Chris' company's grand opening - which was totally fun, and I managed to take the passenger side mirror off my car by swiping the garage on my way out, UGH! No big deal, its fixed now - but Deacon likes to remind me of it all the time.

We have had record temperatures here - triple digits every day - its the hottest summer since 1980. Looks like me and my daughter bring in the hot weather with our birth years. Speaking of the baby, or Sister as Deacon and I lovingly refer to her, Deacon had some sweet stuff to say about her this morning on the way to daycare. He told me that he was so excited to get a baby of his very own. He also said he is going to play basketball with her, and race cars, and he is going to share his pillow and his blanket with her so they can take naps together. Then he started to cry a little and said "I miss my sister!". So sweet. Thought I should document that so when he is older I can remind him that at one time he was excited for her to get here and he really does love her. :) Happy last day of August everyone - here's to a Super September!

July recap

July was a good month for our family. On July 1st Paige turned 20 and we all celebrated by going to Gringo's for her birthday. Ryan got out of the hospital then so he got to join us - Thank God for healing Ryan. Chris opened his new shop and is doing great at it! Its a really nice automotive service place. Justin, Deacon and I celebrated Justin's birthday with lunch at Fish Place, dinner at Five Guys on Lake Conroe and then we went and fed the fish from the pier. It was really nice to be with my guys and just relax. On the way home we stopped by Kroger to get a cake mix and Deacon and I made Justin a funfetti cake.

We also got the pleasure of attending Dustin & Kerri's baby shower at their ranch in Richmond/Rosenburg. That was a lot of fun and Deacon loved having all the space outside to play T-ball and ride his bike. He also loved playing washers with the big guys.

Justin and I found out our baby's gender in July as well. We booked a sneak peak ultrasound for 16 weeks and went that morning, along with Deacon, to get a peek of our daughter. Yep - It's a Girl! That evening we had a birthday party planned for Justin and no one knew but we planned to reveal the baby's gender at some point during the party. It was really fun hanging out with everyone and knowing this secret that no one knew that we had. When it came time to open his gifts Justin pulled out a blue onesie that we told everyone would reveal the baby's gender. As soon as they said it they started to say "Yay, a boy!" and then he flipped it around to show them what the front said "Daddy's Girl". Everyone burst into cheers (and tears) and were so happy with our news. It was great to be able to surprise everyone.

To wrap up our July we celebrated Mark's 41st birthday at Pappadeaux with the whole family.

Like I said - great month!

June recap

June was a nice slow month for us as well.  Ryan graduated from high school, we swam a bit, had watermelon on our deck, celebrated Father's Day and enjoyed a relaxing month at home.  Granny turned 81 and Deacon and I had dinner at her house. 

For Father's Day we stayed at my dad's house on Friday night.  Deacon go to ride papa's big tractor and he got to control the front end loader.  He also played in the dirt and had his first ride on a boat (that wasn't a cruise ship).  He loved the boat and kept saying over and over "Papa's boat is fun!"  LOL  On Sunday we had burgers and Grandma and Grandpa's house while the boys played in the backyard. 

We had another ultrasound and the baby is doing great.  Everything is normal and s/he is healthy!

June was not so relaxing for Ryan.  He was admitted to the hospital and was in ICU for a while.  He had 3 blood clots in his leg and a large one in his lung.  Fortunately he is home now and on the mend, thanks GOD! 

May recap

May was an exciting month.  I had my first OB appointment that confirmed the pregnancy.  We heard the baby's heartbeat and got to see the little grain of rice on the ultrasound.  I'm still amazed that this is happening to me. 

This month we also celebrated Mother's Day.  I love this day!  I wasn't ever sure I would be able to celebrate it as a mom so whenever it rolls around I try to enjoy every second of the day.  Justin and Deacon took me to the mall to buy a maternity dress and then we painted pottery.  Deacon painted a shark that he will use for his "coins" and I got a great mug with his hand print.

Deacon's newest cousin, Hunter Stephen, was born on May 12th.  We were at the hospital when Cindy had him and we hung out long enough to see him and Cindy.  We went back the next morning before my OB appointment for a quick visit.  He looks a lot like Mia and is so tiny.  I almost have forgotten what it was like to have a baby that small.  Welcome to the family Hunter.

I had my second OB appointment in May too - that's what happens when you have had a miscarriage and are paranoid 24/7.  At 8 weeks 5 days we saw our little one again.  S/he had grown so much and had a really fast heartbeat.  Whew....relief!  Speaking of relief - if only that morning sickness stuff would pass then I could feel even more!

April recap

April....April, April, April.  What a whirlwind of a month!  In April we celebrated Carrie's birthday with her parents at her house.  We love seeing Denny and Anita in H-town.  Then Justin, Deacon and I got ready for our week long vacation at Granny and Papa's condo in Galveston.  However, leading up to the vacation I started feeling kind of bad.  I was not able to stay up past 7:30 every evening and I was constantly waking up in the middle of the night.  What is wrong with me!?  On Good Friday I woke up, yet again, at 4:00 am and laid in bed wondering why I wasn't myself lately.  Then, out of the blue, I thought "could i possibly be pregnant?!"  No, that's crazy!  Hello - I had JUST met with Dr. Dunn and he told me that a naturally pregnancy wasn't possible - remember my March post?.  So I laid there trying to decide if I should get up for the day, since I knew I wouldn't be going back to sleep or if I should take a pregnancy test (ha, silly idea, right?), or if I should try to get back to sleep.  Curiosity got the best of me and I got up to go to the bathroom and decided to test - why not - what would it hurt?  Within seconds the test was showing postive and I was having a mini freak out session all alone in the bathroom with no one to talk to.  I mean, who wants to be woken up at 4 am anyway?!  I paced around our house for 4 hours waiting to tell Justin this massive news.  I finally woke him up and let him in on this amazing little miracle discovery.  Then we both paced around in shock and our carpet paid the price.  We decided to tell our immediate family for now. 

The next day we packed up and spent the week in Galveston.  We went to the train museum, the Strand, the beach a few times, Shrimp and Stuff like 20 times, and to the Rainforest Cafe.  Fortunately we hung out at the condo a lot, since I was still feeling kind of tired all the time and starting to get morning sickness (AKA:  All day sickness).  It was a great week away as a family.  I loved seeing Deacon play on the beach, discover all the fun things at the train museum and I especially loved seeing him have coffee with Granny in the mornings.

And to add to an already amazing month, Deacon was potty trained this month.  It took him about 3 days to get it down but now he is a pro!  Great job Deacon, mama is sooooo proud of you.

So as I was saying...April.....April, April, April - what a month!

March recap

In March the weather was warm one day and cold the next.  One day we would be out washing our cars in the warm sun and the next day we were in long sleeves at the Zoo just trying to stay warm.  March was a bit emotional for me.  I found out that my fertility insurance at work was being canceled and we would no longer have any help with treatments in the future.  This was a huge blow.  Justin and I talked and agreed to contact my RE for some tests and to see what treatments we could fit in in March.  I had some labs drawn and met with Dr. Dunn.  Everything looked ok for my age but not good enough for me to get pregnant on my own.  I asked to do an unmedicated IUI but Dr Dunn said that with my advanced endometriosis it wouldn't' work and would just be a waste of our time and money.  He and I sat in his office discussing our options and why endo causes infertility.  Before I left the appointment we agreed that we would look at doing a frozen transfer of our last 4 remaining embryos in June of 2012, after we had saved up for the procedure.  As I was saying goodbye to him (I love this doctor!) I told him "Well, despite everything, I am still believing that God will give me a miracle."  He smiled at me and gave me a nod of approval - although I wonder if it was more a nod of "poor girl just doesn't get it, it won't happen"  LOL

Besides the fertility drama we went to the livestock show with Deacon, celebrated my birthday (31 - woot!) and we had a baby shower for Carrie.  Then on March 24th we welcomed Layla Wahli Daligou into the world.  Congrats to Carrie and Dali and big sister Sophia!

I almost forgot to add that Deacon had his first dentist appointment this month.  He was perfect!  He laid in the chair, opened wide and sat still the whole time.  Afterward he got a toothbrush and a prize!

February recap

Justin and I came back from a cruise the last week of January for our 5 year wedding anniversary.  My mom and Justin's mom took turns keeping Deacon while we were gone.  I think I cried every day because I missed him so much, however, I didn't get the warm welcome home that I had hoped for.  He wasn't happy to see us and said he didn't miss us.  Ugh - kids!  Get me back on that ship!  LOL  February was pretty relaxed.  We took a trip to Chuck E. Cheese (Deacon loves that place!), it snowed one day and we got to stay home and see it, we made Valentine's, and just enjoyed a laid back month.

Snowed In

Well,  minus the snow.  Today we are all inside and keeping warm.  Houstonians don't really know what to do when the temps go below freezing for too long at a time.  Yesterday and today the weathermen called for snow.  We all waited with eager anticipation for this magical white stuff to fall from the sky.  Would we make a snow angel?  Build a snow man?  Have a snow ball fight in the yard?  Gosh, what do you do with all the mounds of snow we would be getting?!?!  They predicted 3- 6 inches in our area alone!  You know what I saw when I got up this morning?  Nothing!  No snow, no falling white stuff, nada, zip, zilch, zero.  *Sigh*  A day in the life of Houston weather - its just unpredictable.  Actually, I guess it is predictable in that if the weather man says something will happen then you can expect the opposite.    So now, what to do with a little boy that is about to wake up and ask to play in the snow?  Shall we cut snowflakes out of construction paper?  Watch a movie that has snow in it?  Or just hope he forgets we ever mentioned the stuff?

Night time prayers

Melts my heart every night!

Jumpy, Jumpy

Justin was playing a video game tonight and this one scene kept scaring Deacon, but he wouldn't turn away. We would ask him if he wanted to turn it off and he would say no. This video shows him jumping twice, it cracks me up how serious he is, yet how it scares him every time.