I.am.exhausted

Dear Lord, give me the strength to stay awake for at least 3 more hours...

I have never been more sleepy in my entire life. I go to be early, I sleep in late, and it never fails, by 1 or 2 I am struggling to keep my eyes open. What gives, and don't tell me I am getting to much sleep, because that is a total load of crap(at least according to book that Rebecca gave me). My theory, lack of caffeine! I live for coffee. While I haven't cut it out completely, I have come a long way over the last week. I normally have a cup on my way to work, one mid morning, and one or two during the afternoon. I never thought I drank it because I needed the boost. I would drink it because I love it! Now I am thinking that those afternoon cups of Joe did a little more than satisfy my taste buds and keep me warm. In reality, my exhaustion is more likely a result of the fact that I am growing another human being inside my tummy as we speak, but whatever! Either way, I discovered this afternoon that our FANTASTIC coffee machine at work now has the half and half (not creamer) K cups! Woot woot!

Now the real question is, how do I convince Zig that it is OK for me to take a nap while he makes me dinner every night. :)

PS. As an update to my vitamin situation, the ones that Sister got for me ROCK! I love them. They taste like the grapefruit Airbourne and better yet, no queasiness or jitteriness! Totally worth the extra money to not have the urge to yack everyday...Although I am told come week 6 or 7 it is inevitable. Boo...

Home Renovation

Since Zig and I moved into our house in October of 2005, there have been countless projects that have kept us busy. Our house was built in the mid 80's and the only thing that had been updated between then and 2005 when we moved in was the carpet and maybe, the Master bathroom (not the entire bathroom, I think they just changed the marble). Over the years we have added some paint (I painted my laundry room a teal green and the downstairs bathroom blue, I am not sure why, but soon the bathroom at least will go back to a nuetral color), we added a lot of tile, changed out the gold clad fixtures and best of all we re-did our kitchen. I am one lucky girl because I have a very handy husband! We did most of these projects all by ourselves or with the help of family and friends. We always find something to do, and this weekend was no exception. For a while now we wanted to stain the banister around our stairs from a pine color to a darker cherry to match the rest of our motif. My lovely husband is sanding his heart out in the garage as I type. I completely forgot to take some pictures before he started yesterday, but found some older ones on our computer. Anyway, here is the before...

Here are some during....

My wonderful husband hard at work!

And hopefully, over the next few days, we will have some afters! I think it's going to look great!

5 Weeks

I thought this was pretty interesting. We have estimated that I am about 5 weeks today, we will see what the doc says on Wednesday, but I anticipate this to be pretty accurate. I came across a site that doesn't show you creepy pictures of what your baby looks like at 5 weeks. I'll probably stick with these each week till the baby looks more like a baby and not a sea monkey. According to the site, Baby is still an embryo and the size of an apple seed. Here is what the site says about what is going on with the baby this week.

"Your embryo (looking kind of like a tadpole) is starting to form major organs (heart, kidney, liver, stomach) and systems (nervous, circulatory, digestive). Baby's presence in your uterus triggers production of hCG (the hormone detected by pregnancy tests)... which triggers production of other hormones like estrogen and progesterone... which trigger all those great symptoms you've probably been noticing! "

Anyone got the time...

Have you ever woken up and thought...damn where did the time go. I am thirty going on 15, at least according to Michele, she thinks I act like a kid. So I still like Transformers...so what...but seriously, I can remember my folks saying "Enjoy it, because before you know it, it's over." I wish I took them more serious because last week I was in college studying for mid-terms and thinking about the frat party soon to kick off later that day...man those were the days. Now, I'm older, much much wiser, better looking, feel like I'm 20...shesh, this getting older stuff really isn't that bad. I don't know what everyone always complains about.

Best of all, the news about being a daddy. I have thought long and hard about this and all I can think of is all the things I want to show him. How to change his oil, tie a bowline, mow the grass in a criss-cross pattern that looks like a ball field, how to rock out on Guitar Hero...you know the fun parent stuff.

I say him and I know some of you (Babe) are thinking, be happy with what you get...well here is my philosophy on that...I don't wish for anything, my life is blessed and pretty close to perfect, so if this is the one thing I wish for, should be simple right?. That being said, if I do have a daughter, believe me that she will know all the "man" secrets. She will be fully prepared to handle any crap ANY man can give her, and she'll even do it with class...I just won't let her out of the house until she's 22.

On a serious note, I am just really excited that I will have someone to play with again...Okay, I'm really serious this time, thank you in advance for the all the wonderful things that you all have and probably will do for us. We are very lucky to have such an awesome family, that loves us and supports us constantly. We can't wait to raise a beautiful child in such a complicated world, it will be like a cool breeze on your face...

More to come...stay tuned

Love you all, Daddy Z

Ireland, here we come!

Zig and I were lucky enough to get invited to go to Ireland with Jenn and Dan in May! We are so excited! I will admit, I am a little bummed that I won't be able to enjoy a delicious Guiness in an Irish pub when we are there, but I know I will still have a really great time. I love that we are going with Jenn and Dan, because we have never really taken a trip with just the 4 of us. Jenn had a great idea, that each of us will pick one place we really want to see while we are there and I have to say, I am having a hard time choosing. I want to see EVERYTHING!! Literally! So I have been doing some research and I came across the Cliffs of Moher. I am thinking this just might be my place. The pictures are breath taking, I can only imagine what they look like in person. I still have a few more months to decide, so it may change, but for now I think this is it. Anyone know anyone who has been to Ireland? I am totally open to suggestions!

Is it safe...

So here is what I learned today...There are a lot of stupid pregnant people in the world. Seriously, so I was perusing through a website the my OB's nurse suggested I look to find some more information about being pregnant. I mean, overall I think it's a great site and there is a lot of helpful information on there, but added to that are some of the most ridiculous questions I have ever seen. I mean how many people had to ask these questions before an "expert" decided to write an article about it...


For your enjoyment, here are some of my favorite questions I came across...Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up

1. Is it safe to eat large amounts of chocolate? I mean, is it really safe to eat large amounts of anything? I chose not to see the answer to this questions.

2. Is it safe to get a tattoo during pregnancy? I can see how someone would be confused as to whether using a needle to permanently inject your body with some type of ink into their skin is safe. Sounds totally safe to me! What class of society really has the urge to go out an get a tattoo while they are knocked up.

3. Is it safe to bowl while pregnant? I just may start a pregnant bowling league.

4. Is it safe to ride in bumper cars while at an amusement park while pregnant? Here is my issue with this question...I don't go to amusement parks to ride the bumper cars. Why is there not a "Is it safe to ride roller coasters?" question. By the way, there's not.

5. Is it safe to live in a house that has been painted with lead paint when pregnant? I say, just avoid chewing on the walls...

6. Is it safe to use the microwave during pregnancy? This one made me think of my youth. Thanks mom for putting my high chair right next to the microwave. I turned out fine, so go for it!

7. Is it safe to have termites exterminated while I am pregnant? Umm...


I don't even want to tell you guys about all the "Is it safe to do XXX during sex while pregnant questions. There are a lot of them and none of them seem safe to do while not pregnant.


This site also lost a significant amount of credibility when it said one of the "Pregnancy Must Haves" was a pair of overalls...I mean really? Did they survey a bunch of women from 1992!?!?

Anyway, I thought this was humorous and thought it would be fun to share it with you!

Little Mama!

Well I don't really have a whole lot to say today. I am in Phoenix for the rest of the week. I am so tired of traveling and am hoping this is the last of it. I feel like I haven't seen Zig in weeks! Bodhi and Abby were the biggest snuggle monkies ever last night. It's like they knew I was leaving. The good news is I get to see Sister this week! That is one perk of getting to come out to Phoenix for several weeks each year. I love hanging out with her and getting to see Kiki too! Anyway, everyone needs a little bit of Abby in their life! How can you not love that face! I miss my little mama, Bodhi and I miss you too Babe!

Oh and everyone be ware, Zig has now been added to our blog as a poster! :) Just kidding babe! I can't wait to see what you are going to contribute!

Family

Zig and I are so lucky to have such an amazing support system at home. We decided to share our great news with our parents and siblings over the last few days. We will wait to tell everyone else, with the exception of maybe some really close friends till we are out of our first trimester. Everyone is so excited! We have shared lots of tears of joy and some estatic happy screams over the last few days, and it is such a relief that our families all know our great news and are so happy to share our joy!

I am such a worry wort, and am trying my best to stay calm and not stress too much. I am so scared of the unknown! I have taken a few tests and all have been positive so far, but for some reason I don't think it will really sink in until it has been confirmed by the doctor. On that note, after about a hundred phone calls to my mom and Zig, I finally made an appointment to see an OB on April 1st. Who knew it could be that stressful to pick a doctor! I knew I wanted to see a woman doctor, and talked to a few friends before we got pregnant about who they were using, but most of the doctors I called didn't have appointments till mid to late April. I didn't think I could wait that long to ease my mind. I mean, I don't think I live wrecklessly, but I already have so many questions about what I can and can't do. So April 1st it is. We have estimated our due date based on my last missed period to be November 27 and that puts me at 4 weeks 3 days! Looks like we may have a Thanksgiving baby on our hands, and believe me, we have so much to be thankful for!

So how do I feel so far...well I haven't really had any "symptoms" yet ::knock on wood::. I feel pretty good, but I am an emotional wreck. I cry at everything. I am hoping this unfortunate symptom subsides a bit over the next few days or my co-workers are either going to think I am a nut job, or they are going to figure out something is up! Oh and I hate prenatal vitamins. I tried taking them at the advise of my lady doctor a few months back and gave up because they make me feel really jittery and nauseated. Sister (aka Nicole/Koley) is going to order me some vitamins so hopefully those will work out a bit better. Otherwise, it is going to be a long 9+ months!

That's all for now. I promise not all my posts will be this long, and I hope I don't bore you all out of your mind!

The Journey begins!

We received some news that we prayed for for almost a year now. We're pregnant! It is still very new and very surreal. We decided to create a blog so we can keep family up to date on how we are doing, and really for us to have a way to look back on the journey we are about to embark on to begin our family. This is our journal and we are going to be very open about our experiences. It may not always be pretty, but this is our life. This is by no means the beginning of our journey, but we think its a good start!

So let me start from the beginning. Zig and I decided to throw caution to the wind in about April of last year. Our theory was, we will let whatever happens, happens...If it is meant to be, it is meant to be. Well, for those of you who know me, I am a HUGE planner and things just weren't working out as I/we had planned. We had many months of tears, and lots of heartache. Just this month we decided that if we didn't get pregnant this month, then we were going to take some time off and start again after we got back from Ireland (yeah, that is a whole other story and we are so excited) and we would consider possibly seeing a fertility specialist. At first I was embarrassed and immediately assumed there was something wrong with me, but now I look back and am so grateful that this wasn't something that came really easy for us. This whole experience made us so much stronger and in 9 months from now, we will look back and remember how hard we worked for this and how much we really longed for this baby. This news may come as a shock to most of you. It's not that we were trying to keep the whole thing a secret, more that we wanted it to be a big surprise when it finally did happen.

Anyway, welcome to our story. Over the next few days I will post some stories of how we shared our news with our families, and at Zig's request you guys might even get some belly pictures! (Scary thought!)