8 months....

Is a REALLY long time to not write a blog post! SO MUCH has happened in the last 8 months, some great, some not so great, but regardless, the 'ole blog got put on the back burner. It's time to get back at it, and without skipping over the last 2/3 of a year, I'm going to randomly post catch-up posts.

• October, 2011--the first three weeks were spent preparing for the arrival of our baby girl. I had to have a few non-stress test's done to make sure she was still good in there. My sister and her family came to help welcome Baby Girl, and once they arrived, we waited, and waited, and waited until, finally....
• October 20, 2011--Emery Rae McKenzie is born! I will post her birth story soon.
• November, 2011--I went back to work (already!), Emery's First Thanksgiving, and I had surgery for a umbilical hernia (belly button), and went back to work, again.
• December, 2011--Emery's First Christmas, where she was given her first gun, a pink .22 rifle, thanks to her daddy.
• January, 2011--Time to get back to the house-hunting...ready for our own home! Until....
• January 11, 2011--I get a phone call at work, not long after I got there. Wade's boss tells me there's been an explosion at work, and they are taking him by ambulance to the emergency room. I'm told to meet them there, and Wade gets on the phone to assure me he's alive. More details to come.
• February, 2011--Still working on finding our new normal in many ways, with a fairly new baby, an injured daddy, and a full-time working mama/wife/nurse.
• March, 2011--Weekend getaway to Destin as a family of 3, and Emery's first beach trip to St. George Island.
• April, 2011--Emery's First Easter, and first time flying, as me and Em went to Washington, D.C. to visit my sister.

I think that about catches us up. Will write more on some of these events.

My 1st Baby Shower

Saturday, my dear sister threw me my 1st baby shower. It was amazing!! She kept the theme a secret from me, and it was perfect!! The theme was "Bedtime Stories" and all of the food and decorations went along with different childrens books.

Green Eggs & Ham

Paddington Bear

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

 

 

Winnie the Pooh, complete with honey sticks

Yummy Cupcakes 

Baby Girl received so many nice things, and I was overwhelmed with the kindness and genorosity of so many that love my little girl already!

Even the gift table was made to look like a bed, to go with the theme!

And., she has quite a library started already! Let's hope she likes to read as much as her mama does! 

Barbie even arranged for all of the guests to design their own page in a scrapbook. She is working on completing this, and I can't wait to see it!

Overall, my sister, my family, and my friends did an AMAZING job showering our little girl with so much love. I can only imagine how much she'll be showered with once she arrives!!



Footwear

So these are about the only things that fit on my swollen, puffy feet. Don't get me wrong, when my feet aren't swollen, flip-flops are still my go-to choice for footwear. Maybe its the heat, the convenience, the comfort, or a combination of all three. Fortunately, my job doesn't require dressy clothing, so these work just fine, and I can sneak them off under my desk and wiggle my toes. Also, our church is pretty casual, so I can usually get away with these. My dilemma is this: my sweet, awesome sister is driving all the way to Florida from Washington D.C. to throw me my first baby shower this weekend, and I don't know what to wear on my feet!!

I'm wearing a dress, but it's fairly casual, and its a maxi-dress, so its long. Will my flops pass the test for this special occasion? Will people understand that my puffy feet will NOT fit in anything else, anything cutesy and more appropriate? At this point, should it even matter??

I think I will not worry about my shoes. I think I will enjoy my baby shower, getting to spend time with friends and family, and celebrating the upcoming arrival of my baby girl. I'm a Florida girl, the forecast for Saturday is 100 degrees, and flip-flops just fit, no matter the occasion.

My Girl

We found out we were expecting in February, and realized after calculating our due date, we timed it really well! Baby is due October 18th, which is actually our anniversary. How crazy is that? This pregnancy has hardly been without hiccups thus far, but baby is perfect, and growing just like she ought to be.

• Feb.--found out we were expecting...whoo hoo!!
• March--miserable sinus infection, visited Primary Doc for antibiotics, where she forced me to go immediately to OB because my BP was high. Ensues panic, OB says everything is fine, and high BP was caused by evil Sudafed. Everything is fine...
• 3 days later....go to ER, sure that we are losing baby. After 5-6 agonizing hours, Doc says everything looks fine, and to take it easy for a couple of days....whew.
• May--severe belly pain for several days; Doc says "umbilical hernia....you need to see a surgeon immediately"; surgeon determines that we should try to wait until baby comes to operate, and just to deal with the pain in the meantime....whew, again. Baby is still fine. Will have surgery to fix hernia 4-5 weeks after baby comes.
• Late May--hoping to see a glimpse of baby....should we buy pink or blue?? Not cooperative....this baby takes after Daddy, and is stubborn as can be. We'll wait another 4 weeks....patiently (yeah, right).
• June--Baby still won't reveal the "goods"; Doc sends me to Radiology place for better US.....she was NOT shy at all.....yep, it's a girl!!
• Daddy doesn't talk to Mommy for 2 whole days....he really wanted a boy, and now he wants to know who is going to help him mow the grass.
• July--Daddy is picking out dresses for baby girl to wear, and he makes sure they are all LONG.
• Late July--Glucose Tolerance test....passed. Doc calls to say blood sugar was perfect, but "you're anemic". Makes me leave work and go to the store to buy iron supplements (and stool softeners....apparently they go hand-in-hand).
• 12 more weeks, and we shall finally meet her!

For now, hernia is not too bad, baby girl moves A LOT, except when Daddy wants to feel her, and I'm feeling pretty good (other than being tired). Feels like there's still a lot to get done, but we can't wait to meet our little one!!

girl parts

bigfoot

I see you!

Profile, with Daddy's round head

Ketchup

Wow. It's been A WHILE. Figured it's time to work on "ketchin' up" on the 'ole blog. In some ways, not much has happened in the last few months, and in other ways, it seems like A LOT has happened. The biggest news, I'm growing a baby girl in my belly!!

Wade and I have stayed busy with work, church stuff, and house-hunting. The house-hunting has been less than successful, but we're not stressed about it. We have no deadline/lease, etc. to be out of our rental place, so at this point, with "baby girl" expected in October, we figure we will probably just wait until the new year to resume the hunt. We'll get settled with our precious girl, and then find our perfect starter home.

I'm going to do my best to get back to blogging, mostly because this is the best way for me to remember things that we've done, places we've been, etc. My "journal" of sorts....stay tuned!

Happy Birthday, Maddie!!

Just one year ago, I was blessed to see this beautiful little angel, my niece Madigan, enter this world,

 And she brings me so much joy!

 I love you Ladybug! Happy First Birthday!!

"Can you believe I'm 1 already??"

My Husband Cheated

We are just about to start the process of purchasing our first home, and with that and some other major changes in our lives, Wade & I decided to "skip" Valentine's Day this year. He recently bought me a charm bracelet that I had been wanting, and we have gone out to eat a few times recently, so we made the decision not to buy gifts, go to a fancy dinner, or really celebrate at all. Last night, he actually sat through an entire chick-flick (the movie Valentine's Day, to be exact) and that was good enough for me!!

Well, he cheated. This morning, not long after arriving at work, an unmarked truck pulled up to my office, and a man walked up and asked for me. I thought to myself, "oh no, what did I do now?" but the nice man smiled and said, "I have some flowers for you". I started thinking "hmm, maybe my mom sent them. That was nice of her." The man went back to his truck and brought me my flowers. They were so pretty!! Wade's note read: "So sue me, forever my love" and I sat bawling at my desk.

What a sweet guy the Lord gave me!