Happy New Year!

I hope everyone else's New Year is going as well as mine. The move was very smooth, and we're settling into the parsonage. I absolutely love it. It's so nice and open. The parishioners have been great. There was supper waiting for us when we got here on Tuesday and someone's bringing by more food tonight. Yum-yum! :o)

My FIL is doing much better. His spirits seem to have improved, and, aside from a slight cough, he is healthy. We were told that his heart is still very strong - much stronger than it should be after a heart attack. And then we found out yesterday that the hospital will more than likely cover the costs of everything. That's a huge answer to prayers. I can't even fathom how much money that would be. So, the chances of them getting our old house are much better. We'll still have to wait and see, but at least there's hope!

I also found out yesterday that my SIL is having a boy. His name is Eli Landon and we're expecting him mid-July. They really wanted a boy - and I really wanted them to have a boy, too. That way, if I have a girl, I'd at least have the first girl grandbaby and my parents would be more inclined to drive four hours to see her. (I know - it's silly and childish, but it's the truth.) Cyrena's cyst is half the size that it was a month ago and the doctor told them that it's not a reason for concern anymore. Another answer to prayers! We're on a roll! :o)

Booger and I are doing fine. I just unpacked the scale this morning and it was up way more than I wanted it to be. I haven't weighed myself in close to a month, and I'm not happy at all with the results - somewhere around 10 pounds up! But, it was after eating breakfast so maybe that's a little bit of it. I've just really have to buckle down and start eating healthy foods again. Now that I have a functioning kitchen I should be able to do a modified Core plan and maintain. The hub keeps saying, "You're pregnant! You're supposed to gain weight!" Yeah, but not that much weight.

So, I'm bound and determined to walk around this beautiful church of ours for exercise, limit sweets, and give Booger good stuff to eat. I'm just so stinking hungry - all the time! I never feel full long. I ate two pieces of toast, three slices of bacon, and a glass of skim milk this morning for breakfast, and I'm already watching the clock for lunch. (T-minus 2 hours to go!) I'd love some suggestions. Maybe oatmeal will stick to me better? Our pantry is a little bare, but I have oatmeal. :o)

My first doctor's appointment is a week from today. It's with a group that consists of just two doctors, and I can't pronounce my doctor's name correctly. I don't even know if it's a man or a woman, but I know that I'll be seeing my doctor of choice just as much as I'll be seeing this other doctor, so it's the best that I'm going to get. I can't really complain - at least I finally have a doctor!

My Google Reader wouldn't load on this dinosaur with dial up that I'm using, but I'm going to try again now. I miss you all and I hope that you're having lovely OP days!!

long time no sing

(am I really tired or is that sorta witty?)

Lawzie lou! So much has happened since the last time I blogged.

First, my FIL had a heart attack on Friday. Thankfully, he's doing as good as possible now, but he gave us quite a scare. He'll be coming home tomorrow morning. Because he doesn't have health insurance they're in quite a bind and will no longer be buying our house. Which means we'll be carrying a mortgage down to Auburn with us on a salary that doesn't account for a mortgage. Thankfully it's only about $400 a month, so I can totally cover that while working part time some where.

It's been a world of ups and downs, but right now it's definitely up. God has definitely given us plenty of opportunities to trust in Him, and thanks to my wonderful husband I've been able to see things that way. I know that we'll be taken care of.

We get the UHaul tomorrow and the guys will be loading 'er up. I won't have to lift a finger. Because the house will still be our's we can leave some stuff here (ie: a piano that's a pain in the arse to move) and tha makes life easier.

On the preggers front I've been doing alright. I'm not eating as much of a variety as I should be, but I've been moving around so much I don't feel like I've gained any more. My Kelley took a picture of me - profile - on Christmas Eve, and I don't look like I've gained any there. Although I was sucking it in. It's way too soon to have a bump! :o)

There's soo much I want to tell ya'll, but I'm having to steal time to just "check in" (although I've already rambled more than most of you...) I've been reading blogs off and on, but I haven't left any comments, so let me leave one big one to all of you saying, "Happy New Year!! I love you!! Smooches!!" :o)

I'll check back in ASAP, but if you don't hear from me for a little while don't worry. It might take a while before I brave the dial-up at the church. *gulp*

I hope you all have wonderfully OP New Years!! {{HUGS!}}

PS: Amanda - I don't know how to make Booger's counter bigger - I might have to find a new one. I just stared week 6, though, I think. Yay!

twas the night before Christmas

Editor's Note: Upon reading back over this, I've realized that it's completely spastic and a little disorganized. For this I apologize. I'm blaming my Preggo Brain and the fact that it's not even daylight yet.

Okay. It's more like the butt crack of dawn Christmas morning. More specifically it's 4:20 am. (the more juvenile Mandy would comment on this. Now that I'm a mature & responsible mother I will just gloat at being so above this.) :o)

I woke up this morning at 3:16. I wake up every morning in the three o'clock hour now. This morning what I thought was nausea turned out to be some serious heart burn. Serious. So, since I couldn't sleep I decided to check in.

Most of the family knows that I'm pregnant now, and they're all excited. I've taken to calling the baby Booger because it has to have some sort of name besides "Baby". I hate to admit this, but the hub and I have fallen into a disgusting habit which includes calling one another Baby, so the name was already taken. Speaking of the hub - things have been a little weird between the two of us. I think between me being a little extra hormonal (I know - shocker!) and him not knowing what to do makes us feel a little awkward. Sunday afternoon I let loose on him because he was hitting my leg and was intentionally swerving on the way to church - despite me saying, "Ugh. I so could throw up." I don't want special attention. I know I'm not THAT pregnant. But come on, dummy. At least be nice to me. And ever since then he has been. I cried a little more than what I had to just to make sure he got it. :o)

I'm really not doing well on the food front. It's so hard to watch what you eat at Christmas, but when people are saying, "Go on, eat more. You're eating for two now." it makes it even harder. It's a total lack of will power. Obviously I have no will power against food - I'm the Fat Lady who's not singing yet. I think I should temporarily change my blog title, though. I'm not fat - I'm pregnant! :o) (Actually today I just feel fat)

Once we move (which is in a week from today, btw) I'm hoping that I can get some sort of schedule down which includes exercise and healthier eating. I'm thinking that foods on the Core plan would be a really good guideline, but I think I'm going to tweak it to include low fat dairy and not just fat free dairy. I feel like I need to follow something pretty strictly, otherwise I'll be trying to birth a 10 pound baby in 9 months. (BTW - how come we were never told about this 40 weeks stuff before pregnancy? That's 10 months! I only signed up for 9!! I mean, I have no choice to go along with it now, but they could have warned a girl!)

Well, I'm off to check Google Reader and to update my page a little. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas & I can't wait to hear from ya'll soon! I've missed ya!!

101th

You know what I just realized? My "I'm Pregnant" post was my 100th. That's kinda cool, isn't it? :o)

I started "feeling pregnant" yesterday. I don't quite know how to describe it. It's kind of like a little bit of nausea mixed with excitement. It's slowly sinking in. Just as soon as I think I've mentally mastered it I realize that in nine months I'm going to be a mommy and it all just blows me away again. It's wonderfully enchanting.

And I'm scared to tell my mom. It's like I'm 16 or something.

Because we're moving and our insurance is changing we've elected to wait to go to the doctor until we get to Auburn. Which means I'll have to pick my OBGYN based on recommendations. Fortunately, one of my best friend's sister lived there for a while. Hopefully she has one that she loves. If she doesn't there a few ladies from church that I can ask. I'd just kinda hate that to be one of our first conversations, you know? (good news - I'm knocked up and still a prude!!) :o)

I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be and not supposed to be doing. Like, I know free basing coke is out, but is it okay if I Windex my glasses? I guess I'll be doing more research today. Maybe I can get my hands on a few of ya'll's books suggestions soon.

Somehow my coworker guessed me out yesterday. She said she could just tell. I think it was because I was scarfing down cheese straws. She says it's because she's been pregnant three times. What was it? Did I accidentally wear "mom jeans" yesterday or something? Maybe I'm a little paler than typical. Maybe she could hear my horrific gas trumpeting out of the bathroom. (Sorry - TMI? It's really been bad, though) I thought I was being discrete. Apparently she's a Jedi Master of Preggos. Either way - my mom finds out tomorrow morning. Before someone else tells her that her youngest daughter was walking around Wal-Mart somehow looking pale and green at the same time, horrifically contorting her face in effort to keep from tooting her own horn down the produce aisle.

Oh. And after today I'll be unemployeed. Undefinitely. The lack of income has never made me happier. :o)

Since I don't know if I'll be blogging before Wednesday I want to say that I hope that you all have a Very Merry Christmas. May you and your family be blessed in this special time of year!

xoxo

oh wow

oh wow.

guess what?

I took a pregnancy test yesterday, and it came out positive.

So I took another one - different brand and everything - and that one was positive, too.

I'm Pregnant!


It's really not quite sunk in yet. I haven't started having crazy symptoms or throwing the crockery at my husband. I just didn't start my period on time so I thought I'd take a test.
So I did. :o)

I'm in the fourth week, but I'm only two weeks along. That doesn't quite make sense to me. I'm going to do some major studying today. Either way - the baby is due at the end of August. It's gonna be one hot summer!

We're obviously really excited. We told my MIL last night and she went ape. I'm telling my family at Christmas. I'm going to make them open a gift with some sort of clue in it, or something like that. My brain is mush. I don't quite have it figured out yet.

But can you believe it? I so can't. Don't get me wrong - I'm perfectly content to not be throwing up, but I just feel much more normal than I thought that I would. Hmmmm.

Well, I'm off to compulsively track down pregnancy info. :o)

Hope you have fabulously OP days!

PS: I don't think any of you do, but if you know me IRL, PLEASE keep this quiet until my mom is told (on Sunday). She would be so hurt if she found out someone knew before she did! Thanks!

they so don't know what they're getting themselves into...

The weekend was fabulous. We got our U-Haul's load of boxes down there safely, and our precious new parishioners helped us unload the truck. They're all so excited for us to be there permanently. It's so humbling.

Each time I look at the parsonage I see something else that I absolutely love. Aside from the curtains (which I hope wont hurt any feelings when I remove them) and a room with yellow walls that doesn't match my decor it's absolutely perfect. I can't wait to live there. :o)

We arrived at the church at around 11:00 on Friday night and the sky was just gorgeous. It was an amazingly clear night and I could make out so many constellations. And we even saw a meteor shower. It was like God's Welcome Home gift.

I only have three more days here at work. It's really crazy how fast the time has gone by. I'm so ready for it, but also a little nervous. I guess that's natural.

I felt a little skinny this morning, so I wanted to weight myself but realized that Jeremy had already packed my scale. Oh darn. Christmas without a scale. How ever will I manage? ;o)

I've been having really bad heartburn the past few days so I'm really trying to watch what I eat. I keep thinking "Maybe You're Knocked Up!!" but I'm so trying not to get my hopes up. I did eat an awful lot of spicy stuff the last few days. I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.

Oh, and I have to tell you this. The people of Union have started calling me "The First Lady". How precious is that? It's so much more elegant than "the Preacher's Wife", isn't it? And, since I'm the most elegant person you will ever hope to meet, it's definitely fitting. I really think I need some big thick pearls, don't you? And maybe a hat with flowers? And definitely a rose colored suit (with a skirt that comes past my knees, of course) and some support hose that are three shades darker than my natural pastey complexion (aka - everyone else's skin tone) and some really good quality orthopedic pumps. Then I'll be set.

At least I can still wear my broach collection.
(yes, I really do have a broach collection. I love them more than words can say. But if I were to try to use words to say it they would be something like, "I really love them".)

I hope ya'll have fabulously OP days!!

keepin it real

Whew! We did it! We got all the boxes packed and stacked in the sun porch and still managed to get into bed by 10:00. That's not to imply that I actually fell asleep then, but at least we weren't burning the midnight oil.

I haven't talked about weight loss stuff in a while because I've totally been using ya'll as a stress reliever. Hope you don't mind. The truth is I think that I'm currently just holding steady. I'm not pigging out but I'm not counting points, either. I'm sure it would be possible for a normal person, but I just don't think I can add another stressor right now. And I'm hormonal. Lawsie am I ever hormonal! And I keep thinking, "Ohh I might be pregnant!" and that just makes things a little worse.

But how awesome would it be to be pregnant right now? I could so totally get away with not having to lug around those heavy boxes or help move furniture. Never mind that my mother moved while she was eight months pregnant with me, and obviously nothing is at all wrong with me. Jeremy has this concept of what a pregnant woman can and cannot do, with the cannot list a lot longer than the can's, and I'd just hate to burst his little bubble. Descent of me, isn't it? :o)

I'm almost finished with my Christmas shopping and that forced day off will actually help out a lot. I can run into a nearby city and finish it up. Each year Jeremy and I get each other an ornament and I've been looking all over my hometown trying to find a church ornament. So far, nothing. Not even on a web site. So I'll go to my favorite of all favorites - Hobby Lobby - and find a really good one. I might also get my hair cut.

Oh! And I got new funky glasses! I'm so excited about them. They're brown plastic frames that sort of have an understated cat-eye thing going. A little dorky, a little spunky, and definitely affordable. (just like me!) The hub even likes them. I can't wait until they come in.

We're heading down to Auburn tonight with a 14ft U-Haul and me in tow. We ordered a 10ft'er, but they sent a 14ft one and we're doing our best to not waste the extra (free!) space. Ya'll just pray for me. I'll have 4 hours all by myself on the trip down and there's no telling what sort of fantasy land I'll be living in by the time I get there. I'll probably be having two sided conversations about what color the drapes at the palace should be. Oh I so hope the impersonations don't come out. They're so annoying. Well, maybe my loverly satellite radio will save my sanity.

Well I hope you all have fabulous weekends and I'll see you on Monday!!

*smooches!!*