1st Cravings

I think I officially had my first pregnancy craving this past week. For Valentine's Day this year, me and the hubs laid low, cooked at home and decided not to exchange gifts or candy. However, I had been looking forward to one thing, and one thing only, the entire day.

Chocolate milk.

We usually keep chocolate milk in the fridge, and Tuesday was no different than usual. We had almost 1/2 gallon left, so I knew I could have a huge glass when I got home from work. There was only one catch-- the expiration date was Tuesday. I had held out hope for that date to only mean that it couldn't be sold in stores after that date and it would still be delicious.

It wasn't, and thankfully the hubby poured it out before I had to figure that out for myself.

I have to admit that I got more upset and aggravated than normal when the hubs told me he threw it out, and even though he offered to go get me more, I declined as I tried to reason with the psychotic side of me that wanted it so bad.

Long story short... I couldn't get it out of my mind and we mad a trip to a nearby store at 9 p.m. to get a bottle.

So far, this and other very mild cravings have been only 1 of 2 symptoms I've had since I've been preggo. The other symptom being fatigue. I tried to blame it on the rain, but I only got out of the house today for about 2 hours. Went a few places and felt drained so I came home and took a nap.

I'll enjoy it while I can. :)

I'm back!!!

Wow, a lot has changed since my last post in 2010 a few months ago.

Since my last post I:

1. Got engaged

2. Got married
3. Went to Jamaica for a fabulous honeymoon

4. Got pregnant... not to mention welcomed new babies to the family and our circle of friends.

See that tiny bean? This week he/she is only a 1/4 inch long. It's hard to believe that in a few short months it will grow into a beautiful baby full of life.

So, a quick catch up...

Matthew proposed on my birthday in 2011. He surprised me with some cupcakes and a beautiful princess cut diamond engagement ring neatly placed around a chocolate straw on one of the red velvet cupcakes.

We got married September 17th and vacationed for a week in Montego Bay, Jamaica. I really can't say enough about Jamaica. It was beautiful and relaxing--just what I needed after the stress of planning a wedding on a budget in 7 short months.

We found out we were expecting about 2 1/2 weeks ago. We starting "trying" in January expecting it to take a few months before it actually worked. Well, it worked the very first month. I probably took 5-6 tests and still didn't believe I was pregnant until our first appointment this past Thursday when we had our first ultrasound.

The hubby was so sweet to go with me to this appointment (he knew how nervous I was) and had a huge smile on his face during the entire ultrasound. I didn't get as emotional as I expected, but felt a huge sigh of relief when the lady told me there was only ONE baby instead of two.

So far, I've had no pregnancy symptoms except fatigue. And, I'm usually tired all the time anyway, so this is really no different than my everyday life. I'm so thankful that I haven't been sick and hope it stays that way. Several of my friends went their entire pregnancy with no morning sickness, and I'm hoping to join that circle of the lucky few.

The hubby has been so sweet and attentive to my needs since we found out about the baby. For example, I've spent most of the past weekend under the weather battling sinus problems. He's made numerous trips to the pharmacy to get the only 3 types of medicines I can take, and has  made sure I'm eating well and getting plenty of rest.

My due date is October 6th. I have lots on my to do list, so my brain seems to be running at 90 mph all day long. One thing on the top of that to do list is to find names. Any ideas?

Low-Key Halloween... just the way I like it

In a vast contradiction to last year's Halloween, Matthew and I thankfully enjoyed a calm weekend with friends. Last year was quite dramatic so I'm so glad that we didn't have a repeat situation.

Friday night we tagged along with our great friends Matt & Megan for dinner, pumpkin carving & trying to scare some kids at a Halloween party. Some of the older kids at the party commented on how they weren't scared this year, so Matthew & Matt hid in a field with a chainsaw to scare them on the hayride. I'm pretty sure they were freaked out, whether they wanted to admit it or not!

Saturday we had a garage sale at my house and made $322 to put towards our mountain trip! :) I was shocked to make that much money, especially since I felt like I was selling everything for a quarter. I'm not very good at garage sale pricing because I always think about how much I originally paid for them.

Molly, Matt & Megan's baby, dressed up as Snow White for Halloween. Isn't she the cutest thing ever??? She HATED her costume though!

Pumpkin carving took way more concentration than I was prepared for on a Friday night, but we had a lot of fun making them! Mine & Matthew's pumpkin is the bat on the left.

Post-Wedding To-Do List

Just when I thought my life would slow down after this weekend, I stumble across this super fun blog and come up with a completely new to-do list!

Suzanne at Our Southern Nest is a fabulous do-it-yourselfer and is gracious enough to share her tips and instructions to recreate your own version of her ideas and projects. I've already added pumpkin topiaries (my fav so far), magnetic frames and a console table to my project list for next month-- and that's only because I haven't made it very far in reading all of her posts. I'm sure they'll be much more to come!

Call me cheap, call me frugal, call me whatever you want, but I'm the type of person who hates to pay for something I feel like I can make myself! So, this blog is absolutely PERFECT and exactly what I've been looking for to show me how to bring my ideas to life. Hello to homemade Christmas presents! :)

I'm the first to admit that my creative abilities are primarily great only in my mind and in real life tend to fall short of my expectations. But with some help and tips from blogs like Suzanne's, hopefully my projects will come a little closer to what I imagined!

I can't wait to get started!

here we go again

Well, here I go again with another desperate attempt at blogging. I'm starting to feel like I need to pick up the habit again just to keep up with my own life. I woke up today and realized... It's almost OCTOBER! What happened to September?? Did I sleep through almost the whole month? Or did I spend most of September at wedding showers and other volunteer events that I just don't remember the days without them? Yes, I think the latter is exactly what happened.

So, what have I been up to? Well, let's see... the past month went a little like this...

8/21 weekend- baby showers and wedding showers
8/28 weekend- more wedding showers and a wedding
9/4 weekend- Dad's birthday and one last beach vacation which ended in lots of money being spent, one birthday party missed and one boat being put up for sale
9/11 weekend- volunteered at Dothan CityFest (which was a lot of fun!)
9/18 weekend- wow... I really don't want to relive this weekend (even in words), but let's just say it was super busy with wedding activities and showers, plus a little Auburn football (aka... near heart attack from rising blood pressure)

Fill in the remaining week days with shopping trips for the numerous baby & wedding showers & my daily schedule of work, gym, clean, pass out.

My cousin, Amber, is getting married THIS SATURDAY!!! :) :) :) hence the wedding showers and activities. I'm so excited for her and can't wait to help send her off on a fabulous honeymoon! In the meantime, I can't wait to see the amazing details and touches she and her mom have put on the wedding plans and reception. They really have an eye for these things, so I know it's going to be beautiful.

So, I'll spend the rest of my month trying to desperately finish a wardrobe plan for dinner party Thursday night, dinner party Friday night and a bridal tea Saturday. Thank goodness I have the perfect bridesmaids dress for Saturday night because I just don't think I could fit anything else on my to-do list this week.

See you in October!

back in the routine

I'm just coming back to work from a 10-day vacation and I'm very much struggling to get back in the routine of waking up and being somewhat productive. Example: Today I woke up at 7:00 a.m. which left me with a whopping 25 minutes to get ready for work. Hence, the awful ponytail, minimal makeup, and outfit that consists of whatever clothes weren't wrinkled.

I had this problem before vacation though & thought I was just burned out on work and a few days off would somehow cure me of this horrible habit. So much for that idea because the horrible habit is back. It seems that no matter what time I go to bed (which is usually before 10:00--if I'm not in bed by then I'm cranky), I can't seem to wake up on time. I would like to say I wake up at 6:00, shower, get ready, have time for breakfast and get the dogs taken care of before I head off to work at 7:25. However, 99.99% of the time, I wake up between 6:45 and 7:00, shower as quickly as humanly possible, throw some gel in my hair and pray that I can tame it with a pony tail and put on makeup in the car. No breakfast. Dogs fend for themselves. Make it to work at 7:59.

I've tried taking B12 supplements thinking that improved oxygen and blood flow would help my engery levels rise from 0, but even with 5000 mg per day it hasn't made a difference.

It leads me to think that maybe I need to make other changes in my life. Maybe I can't seem to wake up early enough because I can't seem to get excited/motivated/positive/inspired... pick one... about my day ahead. I've thought a lot about this. Each and every single day in fact. And I'm struggling to decide what change I need to make. I think there's an obvious answer (which I won't name here in the rare case that the wrong person stumbles across this) to what I should do, but for now it's very much a waiting game.

So, any ideas to help with the motivation/energy levels? B12 doesn't work. Exercise is good, but doesn't help. Going bed earlier just means I sleep more while still waking up at 7:00. So, I'm open to anything.

capt. lou-lou charters

i FINALLY got to go fishing on Mary Jane (the bf's boat) this weekend in panama city. it was a gorgeous day out on the water, despite the hot & humid weather. we've all been worried about the oil spill (along with the rest of the gulf and U.S.), so the bf has been trying to fit in as many fishing trips as possible. after all this, who knows when we'll get to go again. so, here's what happens when i get to go fishing and have my chance to show up the boys. :)

my first fish of the day. at this point i'm wondering what the $@#*! is on the end of this line that's trying to pull me in the water?!? not to mention, the rod is jammed in my stomach, surely giving me internal bleeding, but i've been told to "never let go of the rod. if you get pulled in, we'll get you out before a shark comes." comforting, huh?

then i find out this guy in on the other end. a tasty amberjack. as hard as it was getting him in the boat (i'm attributing that to the fact that my stomach was hurting from the rod by the way), he wasn't even legal size. maybe half of the legal size, but a smaller aj nonetheless.

the bf always told me that i couldn't reel in an aj, but look who reeled in an aj!!!

who knew snapper had teeth like this?

since the bf went fishing the day before and had an awesome day catching lots of fish, he let me do most of the catching on our trip. but i let him sneak a few in every once in a while.