T minus 1 week til the Big Reveal!!

I'm not what you would call the most patient person in the world. In fact, Jordan would say that I'm not patient at all. I've threatened many times to stop on my way home from work and just pay out of pocket for a gender ultrasound, rather than waiting for our scheduled appointment. But here we are. At exactly 1 week from this post, we will FINALLY know whether we will be having a boy or a girl. And at this point, I don't really have a gut feeling which way it's going to go. Other than my face breaking out like I'm 16 and certain body parts getting rather large, everything else has been the same as it was with Austin. So, whether we'll find out we're having a little Mackenzie, or an unnamed little boy, I guess it's up to God. All we care about is having a healthy baby. Til next week with breaking news!

The Texas heat will cause you to lax on your standards!

Growing up in the country, I saw my fair share of white trash. Kids running around grocery stores with no shoes on, or in just a diaper. Even kids running around naked. Well, I guess I can count me in that group now. With record number of days in the 100's lately, I've kept Austin inside the house 98% of the time. Even going to the pool is too hot. The other night after dinner when the sun started going down, I was playing with him in the driveway. I decided to turn on the faucet and see what he did. Well, it's his new favorite playtime! He started out the first night fully clothed, in shorts and a shirt. The next night, we took off the shirt.
Then stripped down to the diaper. Well, last night he pretty much ripped off his diaper and so he went full monty on us. Luckily, we live on a cul de sac, so we don't see much traffic. He loves to fill up a cup with water and poor it on himself and stomp around and yell 'cold, cold, cold!'. Or he just looks down and says 'peepee' and laughs hysterically. It's pretty entertaining. So, as long as it's still over 100 degrees, neighbors in Woodcreek, don't judge me! :)

Here's to 7 wonderful years!!

July 26th marked mine and Jordan's seven year wedding anniversary. I really can't believe it's been that long already. But we've been married the longest out of all of our friends, so that's quite an accomplishment, especially since some that were married before us are already divorced. I can honestly say that our relationship is stronger today than it was seven years ago. Our journey as a couple has brought us a long way, and reached a new level after becoming parents. So, here's to us babe, and 70 more years to come!

Making progress........

Two weeks ago we went in for an ultrasound to check on the BeBe and check for some abnormalities. All tests results came back normal and we got a great peak at our growing bundle of joy. We asked the doc if he could determine the gender yet, but he wasn't certain. So, it looks like we'll have to wait til next time. We should find out on September 7th, whether we will once again be joining the blue team or venturing over to the unknown on the pink team. Once we find out the gender, you can bet I will have this nursery up and going shortly after! :)

Parasite or Baby?!

Over the past two months, I've begun to wonder if I'm pregnant with an actual baby or a parasite. Because whatever it is, it's literally sucking the life right out of me! I know pregnancy is supposed to be one of the most amazing and wonderful times in a woman's life. Well, not so much for me. I just don't think my body is cut out to bear children. If I'm not vomiting, I feel like I could at any moment. I've already had to go to the hospital on three occasions to be treated for dehydration because I just couldn't manage to keep any liquids down for a long period of time. The actual medical term is called hyperemisis gravidarum. Basically it's a severe form of morning sickness that can last an entire pregnancy!!! This comes as no surprise to me, since I experienced this with Austin as well, but I just HOPED this time would be different. My latest trip to the hospital involved me getting 3 bags of IV fluids and some wonderful phenegren in my IV. After running some labs, they considered actually admitting me to the hospital, which would not have been fun at all. Right now, I'm in my 15th week and I've lost 15 lbs. so far. And it's just so hard to function when you feel like crap 24/7. Thankfully, Jordan and the rest of the family have been really great at helping out and picking up the slack in taking care of Austin when momma's not feeling so hot.

I'm hoping things take a turn for the better here in the next couple weeks. But if not, I know it will all be worth it when I hold this sweet miracle in my arms in January. I guess I should try to enjoy this pregnancy a little bit, since it'll be the last time. :(

Happy Birthday to my Hubby!!!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful hubby, Jordan! Hope you enjoy the last year of your 20's!!!! Love you!

What a great vacation!

Whew! I can't believe our vacation is already over and we're back to reality. :( We got up early last Saturday and headed to the airport with ALL of our luggage. Since I cashed in 100,000 miles to get mine and Austin's tickets, we were 'Priority Access', got to board the plane first and got to check all our bags for no fees! Woohoo! And the flight went great. Austin was awake playing and eating for the first hour and then slept the remaining hour and a half. I was so proud of him doing so well on the flight. Nobody would have even suspected there was a toddler on the plane! Then we headed to the hotel in Miami. All of us stayed in a two-bedroom suite at a Hyatt, which the setup worked out perfect for us. After relaxing at the hotel for the rest of the day, we got up on Sunday and headed for the cruise terminal. With our VIP status, we were checked in and boarded the ship in about 30 minutes; it was great. We headed to the Lido deck for a delicious lunch, 'Specials of the Day' drinks, and started enjoying the good life.

The week was filled with lots of family togetherness, gambling, drinking, eating too much food, soaking up the sun, and chasing my monkey around! The first full day was a 'fun day at sea', so we wandered around the boat all day and also took Austin to 'Camp Carnival'. He absolutely loved it in there and was an instant hit with all the staff! Oh, and it was my birthday! Jordan got our cabin all decorated, and they sang Happy Birthday to me at dinner. Day two we stopped off in Grand Cayman. Katrina and I took Austin to the Seven Mile Beach for his first beach experience, while Mom, Jordan and Logan went off to swim with the stingrays. I was worried Austin wouldn't like the sand or getting dirty. Boy, was I wrong! He got in there with his bucket and shovels and just went to town! The next day we stopped off at a hidden hideaway-Isla Roatan, Honduras. What a beautiful little secluded island! Another trip to the beach for all of us. Mom watched Austin for a bit while me, Jordan, Kat, and Logan took a ride on a paddleboat.....what a workout! Our next stop was Belize. Jordan and I had previously been to Belize, which is primarily a jungle destination with mostly high intensity excursions. So, we elected to stay on the boat that day with Austin and enjoy some downtime. Our last stop was in Cozumel; but it rained most of the day, so another lazy day experiencing life on the ship. The excitement and hustle of the vacation was starting to wear on us, so it was a welcome idea.

Throughout the week, we would take Austin to Camp Carnival for a little bit, so that we could enjoy some adult time to enjoy the casino, sun, or a show. Overall, he did pretty good in there. In the evenings, we would drop him off at 10pm, thinking he would be asleep in no time. When we arrived back at 1am, we were surprised to find a little boy up and still playing. But since he stayed up late, it also meant that he would sleep in, so that was okay for us! The casino was touch-and-go throughout the week for all of. We finally got Mom to leave the slots and come over to the darkside of Blackjack and she instantly became addicted. Close to the end of the week, I walked away from the table with $700 and was very proud of myself! Jordan, well, he wasn't very consistent. His consumption of double Crown and cokes often clouded his judgment.

On our last day, it was time to say goodbye to the ship, and also to Katrina and Logan who would be headed to Omaha for a baseball tournament. In the meantime, Mom, Jordan, Austin, and I ventured to the Miami Seaquarium to blow off some time before our flight back home. Needless to say, we were a little disappointed with it. Mom said it best, that it reminded her of the marine park in the episode of Jaws where they brought the sharks in to try to attract more customers. Yep, it was a little rundown, and it was so hot outside. We quickly grew hot and tired and headed to the airport. After entertaining Austin for two hours while sitting in the airport, we were exhausted. I was worried how he would do on our jam-packed flight back to Dallas after being so tired and ready to get home. Much to my dismay, he fell asleep before we even took off and slept the entire 3 hours til we got to our gate in Dallas! Hallelujah!

Overall, it was a great trip. It took us several days to recuperate and get back in the swing of things of everyday reality. To see the joy on Austin's face while playing at the beach was enough to make it a success in my book. As for me, I will never go on another cruise pregnant again! My nausea and vomiting came and went most of the week, and the exhaustion got to me. Not to mention, no 'Specials of the Day' for me either!