Great news!

We found out yesterday it's only going to cost us around $170 to get our car "fixed". Turns out, there wasn't really anything else wrong with it, the spark plug wires were just connected wrong. I guess that was kind of an expensive lesson to learn, but so be it. I was fully anticipating it costing a good $1500 to replace the catalytic converter in the car, so I was MORE than happy to hear it was only going to be $170. Mark and I were EXTRA careful when we took the old wires off. We put tape on the engine and on the new ignition coil with numbers on it marking which wires were connected to where. And we double checked it 3-4 times before we unplugged everything and 4-6 times after we'd hooked everything back up. We came to the conclusion that the 2nd place we took the car to didn't hook everything up right when they took it apart. Mark wishes he would have messed around with it more before we took it down to OKC, but when you don't have a lot of experience working on cars, and your car is making horrendous noises when you turn it on and you're thinking the engine's going to drop out of it any minute, I think we made the right decision by letting the pros deal with it. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Mark said we get to go down to OKC when we pick it up and spend the "extra" $1200 we thought we'd have to spend on the car. =) (He was kidding of course.) (But we're still going to Target while we're there.) We're picking the car up on Saturday.

Today I had lunch with some friends that are moving to Phoenix around the same time we are. It's nice to know people when you move to a new city before you even get there. We had a good time talking and I'm excited to spend more time with them in Phoenix.

On my way home I stopped by Ross. I got a new maternity shirt (for $7) and a new purse (for $10). And then I got Abbie a few outfits.... They're so cute. I know I shouldn't even go in the baby section of that store but I swear it has some weird gravitational pull and I just can't help it. I got her this really cute onsie that says "Mommy and I agree: Daddy is charming". How can I not buy something like that?? Plus it was $3. Anything that says anything about "daddy" I have a very hard time turning down. I absolutely cannot wait to see Mark with our baby. He's going to be an amazing dad, just like he's an amazing husband. I couldn't really ask for anything better.

Other than that, not too much is going on here. I had one of my freak out sessions last night thinking about our families coming down after she's born and having house guests for weeks in addition to figuring out life with a newborn, but I think we came up with a solution to it and hopefully everything will work out. Mark said that now that I'm done worrying about the car, I had to find something else to worry about, which is pretty much true. =) It helps a TON though, that I feel like he understands how I'm feeling, even though he doesn't understand why I feel that way. That's been one of our biggest hurdles to get over and it's a big relief that we're making some progress. It seems to be more of a "we'll get through this" instead of a "you need to get over it" situation now. And I think too, I've chilled out a "little" and get over my freak out sessions more quickly now than I did before. Mark said it might have taken him 3 years, but he's got me figured out now. I'm just glad one of us has me figured out. =)

(Taken 2/3/05 - before we were dating.)

Made it there and back

This car situation has turned into a huge PITA. I had to tow the Jetta down to OKC today by myself since Mark was double turning. (For those of you not married to pilots, double turning means they either have 2 flights, 2 sims or a flight and a sim to fly in one day, so basically they're busy all day.) I worked from 8am to 11am and pretty much the whole time I was at work I worried about getting the car dolly hooked up correctly to the SUV and then getting the car onto the dolly. (The car doesn't run at all right now.) I grew up around car trailers and boat trailers and horse trailers, so it's not like I'm a novice at towing things or hooking trailers up to towing vehicles. When I moved down to FL, I towed the horse trailer FULL of all my junk from WI to FL by myself in a straight 12 hour shot, although a girlfriend did ride with me. But still, it seemed like everyone was so worried about me being pregnant and going by myself, and I was worried about being pregnant and trying to get everything hooked up correctly.

So I left work and went to get the dolly. That was relatively painless since the guy hooked everything up for me and I was on my way. I'd been calling the base auto shop for the past hour at that point, so I was worried about them for some reason not being open. If they hadn't been open, the Jetta would have been locked in the shop and I couldn't have gotten it out. So I was getting more and more nervous every time I called and they didn't answer. I was also worried about getting on to base pulling a trailer. The could not make the entrance to base more curvy if they tried, and sometimes you have to go through narrower areas with curbs on the sides. The dolly stuck out 6-12 inches on both sides of the SUV so I was nervous about making it through the narrow areas without hitting the curb. And I didn't know know if I had to get the trailer inspected (meaning I would have to enter through a different gate). But anyway, I made it onto base without any problems.

At that point, Mark called. Since he was double turning, I didn't want to bother him with anything and I knew he was already worried about me. He told me he had time to go over to the auto shop on base and help me get the car on the trailer, so I headed to the squadron to pick him up. For some reason, when I hung up with him, I just started to cry. I think mainly because I was relieved that he was going to be there for the part I was dreading the most. I sat in the parking lot waiting for him and trying to compose myself so I didn't freak him out, but it didn't work. I lost it all over again when he got in the car and I felt bad. I don't really even know exactly why I was crying, but I was. Stupid pregnancy hormones. After a minor complication getting the straps out of the winches before we put the car on the trailer, we got it on with the help of 2 guys at the shop and I was on my way. I stopped by home to pick up my co-pilots (aka weinas), and I stopped for gas and lunch on the way, but I made it to the dealership in about an hour and a half, and dropped the car off (2 guys got it off the trailer for me) and then headed back, and was home by 4:30pm. I'm glad that's all over. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the fix will be relatively inexpensive.

On a different note, Mark had his form check ride (formation "test" basically) today, and he did really well. He did well on his sim too. I'm so proud of him. He could flunk out of his course tomorrow and I'd still think he was the best pilot I know. I'm slightly biased though. =)

On to plan B...

Mark and I spent almost 5 hours today working on the Jetta, trying to fix it. My dad had gotten us the parts that the guy at the stupid auto shop told us needed to be replaced. We replaced the engine coil, replaced all the spark plugs and all the spark plug wires. Actually, Mark did most of the work, and I held the light and handed him the tools. =) We got it all put together and started it and it seemed to be running a little better, but we hadn't driven it for 2 weeks so we didn't really know. When Mark took it for a little test drive, all the problems were back and the check engine light was flashing once again. Yay. We took a quick break after the test ride to regroup and grab some lunch and were planning on hooking it up to the base's diagnostic system when we got back. Come to find out, their system doesn't work on German cars. What IS it with this town? They think everyone drives American cars and to hell with the rest of us. 39 days until we're out of here.

So since we've exhausted our options here, plan B is to somehow get the car to Oklahoma City, which is where the nearest VW dealership is (an hour and a half away). The only problem with this is that we don't have a car trailer, and U-Haul will not rent to 2002 Explorer's because of tire problems they had shortly after they were made. So we have to figure out how else to get it down there. Fun times.... I just hope it's not going to cost thousands of dollars to fix it. We've already spent about $700 in parts, towing and paying that stupid other auto shop.

On a happier note, our house in Phoenix is all lined up! We're renting a 4 bedroom 2.5 bathroom house that was built in 2002 and it's only 2.7 miles from base!! We've been approved and should be receiving the contract tomorrow and we are very excited and relieved to have one less thing to worry about.

A taste of civilization

Living in, what we kind of consider to be, the middle of nowhere, when we get to go to "the city", it's kind of a big event for us. Today Mark and I went to OKC (Oklahoma City) for the day and had quite a good time. Sometimes it's almost overwhelming since there is so much to do and see there, and so many places to visit. We're not used to that since living in Enid. We went to Penn Square mall and had lunch in the food court, and then we got my diamond ring checked at Kay's for insurance purposes. One of my friend's had given me 2 coupon's for Express that were spend $50, get $25 off. Not a bad deal, especially for Express. I LOVE Express, but unfortunately, most of the clothes there don't fit me anymore. However, their size large tank tops do, and that was what I was after, since they're long enough to cover my belly and I like using them to layer with things. So I got 4 of those, and then a really light weight cardigan (made of t-shirt type material) and Mark got a polo shirt. So those 6 items came to over $100, but we paid a little over $50 for them. We also stopped at Motherhood Maternity. I really like that store and they had LOTS of clothes that I really liked, but I ended up getting a pair of white linen pants (that were on sale) and a pair of black cargo pants with the "capri roll option" and then a cute green shirt. My only complaint about pregnancy - besides the weight gain - is how limited my wardrobe is now. It's really hard to feel "cute" in anything, when most of the pants I have are too short and/or too saggy. Nothing seems to fit really well, especially pants, and unless the shirts are more fitted, most of them just make me feel really frumpy. (Yes, that is the technical term for it.) I'm also trying to think ahead and figure out what I'll be able to wear in Phoenix when I'm 7.5+ months pregnant and it's really hot outside. I'm trying to get more short-sleeved and lighter weight clothes now. Anyway, so then we ate at a Japanese Steakhouse (YUM) and then stopped by Marble Slab Creamery (double YUM) and then we headed home. We were going to stop by Target on our way out of town, but it was closed. I was kinda bummed about that.

In other news, I think we have a house lined up for Phoenix already, which I am SOOO excited about, and even more relieved that I don't have to worry about that anymore. We found a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath that's about 5 minutes away from the base. Seeing the pictures of it makes me even more excited to get to Phoenix. We're kind of gambling by signing a contract before seeing the place, but basically anything we rent there is going to be better than what we're renting now. To say our current place is a sh**hole is kind of an understatement and we are MORE than ready to get out of here. So we weighed the risks and decided it was worth the chance with this house in Phoenix and sent off the application today. Hopefully it'll all work out smoothly and we can tell the movers where to take our stuff and dates to meet them there. I'm excited!

Our Valentine's Day

These are the flowers Mark gave me for Valentine's Day. He had them delivered to my work on Friday, but they didn't get there until after I'd already left for the day, so I had to go back and get them. But they were worth it. I got Mark chocolates and underwear (that he really needed). And I made him the dinner he requested - crab legs and twice baked potatoes.

Here's my first attempt ever at steaming crab legs, which I guess was kind of a steaming/boiling combo, but it worked.
And here's the end results with the twice baked potatoes and the shallot butter. It was the first time I'd made twice baked potatoes and the first time I'd used shallots in a dish. Turned out pretty good! The crab legs weren't as good as the ones we ate in FL, but they weren't bad considering we're in OK... Not exactly the seafood capitol of the US.

We pretty much just hung out all day on Saturday, watched a movie and just relaxed. I guess we didn't really have much choice since there's not a whole lot else to do here. If we can get our car fixed on Saturday, we might run in to OKC on Sunday to pick up some things and do some shopping. I hope it works out because I'm dying to get out of Enid for a little bit, even if it is only an hour and a half away.

Here's a shot I took of Mark getting in some good snuggle time with Ollie. I swear Ollie is getting softer by the day, and he was really soft to begin with! When he was a puppy people used to ask us what we fed him because of his coat. We absolutely love snuggling up with the little guy and luckily, he pretty much lives for getting snuggles. He'd stay like this all day if you laid with him.

aches and pains

I figured it was time for a pregnancy update. Here I am at 24w4d. (This was taken last week.)

And this one was taken today, at 25w5d.

Overall, I still have been feeling great. My hip pain went away for a few weeks, but now it's back... and 'better' than ever. If I've been sitting or laying down, sometimes my hips "crunch" a few times with the first few steps I take and I get shooting pains in my pelvis/hips. Sometimes my pelvic bone REALLY hurts, which I lovingly refer to as "my crotch falling out". =) Pretty much what it feels like. My OB tells me it's only going to get "better". Yay. I've also been having reflux pretty bad too. Not really acid reflux, because it doesn't hurt, but if I drink anything, I get the "I have to burp" feeling, and when I burp, stuff comes up. If I lay down after I drink something it's REALLY bad, so I try to avoid doing that. Today, I have been REALLY tired, like I was in my first trimester. I was hoping that this exhaustion wouldn't come back until my 3rd trimester, so hopefully this is just a fluke. I basically felt dead to the world today though, and I took a short nap around 5pm, and woke up feeling like I'd been run over by a truck. Hopefully I can sleep tonight because Mark has to be at work by 6am, and since we're still sharing a vehicle, I get to get up extra early with him. Oh well, at least one of our vehicles work. Also, today Mark put his hands under my belly and kinda lifted it up some so he was supporting the weight, and it felt SOOO good! I didn't realize how heavy it was until he did that, but my back and pelvis felt instant relief. I think I've gained around 15-18lbs so far.

Just for fun, here's a few pictures of Mark and our weina babies. Here's Sadie nibbling on his ear - she loves to do that to him.

And here's Ollie trying to make out with his daddy.

I've been wanting to post about our weekend, but Mark's been working on a video all weekend for a company in town. He's done with it now so I'll try to post another blog tomorrow.

Don't piss off a pregnant woman!

As I might have mentioned in an earlier blog (honestly, I can't remember if I did or not), my car pooped out on me on Thursday. It was severely misfiring when I was driving it home, and started making a funny noise and it smelled like something was burning. And the check engine light was flashing. (It's always on because of an O2 sensor, but I'm good at ignoring it until it starts flashing at me...)

So our car insurance covers a tow. We called a shop in town and asked if they worked on Volkswagen's and they said they did. We had it towed up there Friday around 1pm and on Monday around 2pm they finally contacted us and said they didn't know what was wrong with it and they couldn't fix it because their diagnostic machine wasn't compatible with VW's.... Hmmm. Pretty sure that's why we called you in the first place and ASKED if you worked on VW's... I was pissed. Mark, being the nice guy he is, said that you couldn't fault the guy for trying to make a living and hoping it was an easy fix. Actually... I could, but I let it go. So we had the car towed to auto shop #2 on Tuesday.

I called auto shop #2 today and asked if they'd found anything out about the car. He said that the ignition coil and modular (which is one component) went out on it, which was causing cylinders 3 and 5 to misfire, and that the ignition coil needed to be replaced, along with the spark plugs and spark plug wires. And that the air filter needed to be replaced also. I asked how much that was going to be and he said (brace yourself): $1370. ....!!!!! After my heart started beating again I asked for a breakdown of that bill. He wanted to charge $560 for the coil and $140 for labor for the coil, and then the spark plugs, wires and labor were going to be another $450 and $55 for the air filter. The air filter price is what tipped me off. $55 for a freaking air filter??? What's it made of? Gold? So I figured out pretty quickly that this guy was trying to rip me off. I told the guy I'd get back to him and I called a parts store in town and got a price quote for the coil, plugs and wires, which with tax and everything came to $599.... That's a pretty darn big difference! $771 difference to be exact. There was no way in hell I was going to pay someone $771 to fix my car which would maybe take 2 hours max.

On my way home from work, I stopped by auto shop #2 to get an itemized quote. When we had car towed over there we asked how much it would be and the tow place said $35. However, on this bill from the shop, it was showing as $53.85. I asked the guy about it and he said "Well we make a commission on tows and that's for us doing the paperwork." I asked him what his mark up was and he said 30%. I said, that's more than a 30% mark up. That's close to a 70% mark up. He didn't respond. So I took the quote and left and called my dad, knowing there was no way in hell I was letting that place work on my car.

Long story short (well.... kinda) my dad has a connection in Dubuque where he can get new VW parts (not aftermarket replacements) from and thought that all the parts would be around $450 or less. He's going to get them for me and then overnight them to us here. The base has an auto hobby shop that is available for us to use. You pay like $8 to rent a stall and they have certified mechanics there to help you with whatever you're doing and show you how to do it, and you get access to all of their tools and machines and car lifts, etc, all for $8! So we're definitely going to be doing this ourselves. I'm breathing normally again now that I know it's going to cost around $500 instead of almost three times that much.

While this whole situation is frustrating beyond belief, I am so thankful that my dad taught me well and gave me a decent background in mechanics. One of my good friends at work said she wouldn't have had a clue they were trying to rip her off because she has no car background. I am very lucky I grew up with an exceedingly mechanically inclined dad who was more than willing to share his knowledge with me. All in all, I'm one lucky girl! (But still don't piss me off!) =)

You might think....

You might think that our baby due in May is our first baby, and if you do, you're wrong.

Our 3 year old Dachshund, Oliver, truly is our first baby, hence the reason we call both of our dogs, weina babies. From the day he came home,

to present day,

this dog has been my baby. (Okay, admittedly I didn't like him much at first. He was - and still is - worse than a kid. I couldn't do ANYTHING without him being RIGHT there. If I took a shower, half the time he jump into the tub with me and stand at the back of the shower, and the other half of the time he'd sit on the bath mat and cry the entire time. That took some getting used to and luckily he doesn't do that anymore. Well he'll still lay on the bath mat, but he doesn't cry.)

Anyway, Oliver (and Sadie too) sleeps with me every night, or anytime I lay down. He's a world class snuggler and all I have to do is pat the bed next to me and he gets into "position". His position is his chest to my chest, with both his front paws tucked in and his long nose buried between my neck and the pillow. I wrap my arms around him and that's how we sleep pretty much every night.

If I'm in the kitchen, he takes his post in the doorway, with his right leg always out behind him, and watches me until I'm done. (Unless I drop food and then he's there to catch it.)

Pretty much any time I'm sitting down and he's not in my lap, I can look down and see this:

I (we actually) are pretty worried about how Oliver is going to handle this baby coming into our lives. I am absolutely terrified that things are drastically going to change when Oliver starts playing 2nd fiddle in our lives instead of 1st, like he's been used to for over 3.5 years. I realize that change is inevitable and that the baby is going to come first. But Oliver truly is my other baby. He's not, and never has been, "just a dog" to either Mark or I. (And neither is Sadie, but our relationship with her is just different than it is with Ollie.) I know people who have completely gotten rid of their dogs after they've had kids, and I've talked to people who have said that they'd like to get rid of their dogs because their dogs are "rebelling" from the lack of attention after a baby is introduced into the mix. Do any of you with children have good experiences to share with dogs and babies? I realize there's going to be an adjustment period for all of us, but can't we come out on the other side unscathed? I'm incredibly nervous about the whole situation at this point since I've only been hearing about how the dogs "just won't matter to me anymore". I cannot imagine my dogs not mattering to me anymore. I've had dogs in my family my entire life and quite honestly, life just doesn't feel complete without animals around me. I don't look at them as something to keep me occupied while it's convenient and then as soon as something new and better (aka - a kid) comes along I get rid of the dogs and replace them with the kid. As I said, I know things will change, but won't I have enough love for all three of them? (The dogs and the blueberry.) Is a baby going to be so time consuming that I don't have time for my dogs anymore? My parents had 2 golden retrievers when I was born (and I was a twin also), and they seemed to do fine with 2 big dogs and 2 babies, so hopefully they'll have passed those "coping" genes along to me. I know some of you have dogs and babies. Please share your (good) experiences and put my mind at ease.

I just cannot imagine not having this little guy in my life in the exact same way his is now. Quite honestly, I'm not sure he'd even allow being pushed aside. Besides, how could I resist looks like this??

My (reality) TV addiction

My TV watching is getting a little bit out of control. I can't help it. I've gotten really into a lot of these series, especially the reality shows. Our DVR is definitely worth it's weight in gold since sometimes I get busy doing other things or just don't feel like watching tv or go to bed early. I love that I can just record them and watch it whenever I get the chance.

Here's a run-down of what we watch.
Sunday - Desperate Housewives (although I haven't watched this in a few weeks. When I get the chance I like to watch it.)
Monday - The Bachelor and True Beauty
Tuesday - American Idol and House
Wednesday - American Idol (again) and Lost (Lost is more Mark's show than mine though)
Thursday - Survivor, Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice

Soon Dancing with the Stars will start and I think that's on 2 days a week also. We LOVE watching the dancing shows. We really like So You Think You Can Dance too, but I have no clue when that's on. Hopefully not any time soon because my TV watching schedule is full enough!

Creme de Menthe bar recipe

These are one of my all time favorite desserts that my mom used to make for me as a special treat. I've had a few requests for the recipe, so I thought I'd share. =)

Layer 1 (bottom)

Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) of Margarine in pan

Add 4 TBSP cocoa (not Nestle's, real cocoa powder)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 beaten egg

1tsp vanilla

2 cups (12 whole crackers) graham cracker crumbs

1 cup coconut (shaved - you get this in bags)

***I've had quite a few people tell me they don't like coconut. This batch I made without the coconut, and I just added more (1/2 cup maybe) graham cracker crumbs. However, I don't normally like coconut, but I like it in this recipe.

Press into 9X13 pan, and stick in freezer.

Layer 2 (middle layer)

Melt 1/2 cup margarine in pan

Add 3 TBSP creme de menthe (this is a green liquor for those that don't know)

2 TBSP instant vanilla pudding

2 cup powdered sugar

Then spread over 1st layer in 9x13 pan and put back in freezer

Layer 3 (top layer)

***Make sure that the 2nd layer is frozen before you add the 3rd layer on it.

Melt 1/2 cup margarine in pan

Add 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

Then spread over 2nd layer.

Wait until they're all the way frozen and then cut into 1.5" squares. They're pretty rich so you don't want to make them into too big of bars. Although if I did that I guess I could eat one of them instead of like 4 at a time... =)

Enjoy!

My headache luck ran out.

You have to be kind of creative when looking at this ultrasound. The blog in the top middle is her hand. If you look really closely you can see a very faint outline of her face to the left of her hand. Her eye is the darker part and her little nose is the lighter part under that. (You can see her little nostril too.) He had much better pictures of her up on the screen when we were there, but he didn't print them off. Oh well. This is better than nothing. My next appt is Monday, to check on my blood pressure.

Yesterday I had another migraine. I was hoping that I wouldn't have any more during this pregnancy, but I guess my luck ran out. I had a full-on headache when I came home from work. I tried taking 2 Tylenol and laying down for a few hours, but when I got up, it was worse. So after 4 Tylenol and 3 midrin, between 2pm and 10:30pm, it was FINALLY gone when I woke up this morning. Thank God. Being the professional worrier that I am, I was really nervous that something had happened to her, causing my hormones to be off again, causing the migraine. Plus I hadn't felt her much all day (but that could have been because I was pretty much asleep the entire afternoon). Before we went to sleep though, she started kicking away. Mark felt 3-4 really good kicks, so I was pretty darn excited about that, and so was he. Today I was playing the piano for her and she started kicking a bunch while I was playing. That was pretty neat too. I try to play at least a few songs on the piano for her every day. If I get enough guts, I'll record me playing my (and the blueberry's I'm sure) favorite song and I'll post it on here sometime.... Maybe. =)

In other news, my Jetta is now in the shop. I was driving home from having lunch with my husband's classmates wives (got that?) yesterday, and it started driving really rough and making a funny noise and it smelled terrible.... So I spent this afternoon (with Mark's help) finding a place to look at it and getting it towed up there since I didn't want to drive it any more. He just called and said he's not 100% sure what's wrong with it, but he's going to start by replacing the spark plugs because it's severely misfiring. Yay.

Tonight is "First Friday". It's pretty much a tradition in fighter squadrons. The guys (and girls in the military) have a roll call, which is basically where they do all their "traditions" and is mainly a good opportunity to get completely drunk, and it's mandatory that they attend.... On First Friday, however, us wives get to join in. So they have their roll call at 4:03pm (:03 because his squadron is the 3rd) and then the wives can come around 5pm and I guess we're supposed to bring food and we all hang out and drink (water for me) and have a good time. Should be interesting, and I guess this is something I should get used to bc they have mandatory roll calls in most, if not all, fighter pilot squadrons. Mark will have these every other week, but the wives only join in on the first one of the month. We'll see how it goes. Luckily Mark has declared himself a non-drinker in this squadron. In the military, more specifically in fighter squadrons, it's pretty much an all or nothing attitude. So you can't tell them you just want one or two beers. If you drink they're going to make you drink a LOT, as he found out in his naming ceremony when he was in UPT. That was not a good night for us. But we both learn a lot about ourselves and each other that night, and it taught him the "all or nothing" lesson. It's unfortunate it has to be like that, but when you're not in the higher ranks, you kind of get bullied into doing things sometimes. Crazy military lifestyles....

Crazy OK weather.

Friday I took Sadie Roo to the vet to get her stitches out. Ollie went along for the ride, and both of them survived and made it back in one piece. (They HATE going to the vet.) Sadie is pretty much good as new again. This was her worst injury, and now it's pretty much all better.

Afterwards we went for a walk in the park and then Sadie came home and vegged out for a bit.

Monday we had a pretty bad ice storm here. Oklahoma rarely gets snow, but they get some crazy ice sometimes, and it's pretty much ALWAYS really windy. If it's going to be cold and gross, at least it could snow... But not here. Here's the extent of the "snow" that we got.

And here's a close up of the ice.

It was interesting driving around on Wednesday bc after being in the 20's, it was in the 50's. Ice was falling from everywhere - trees, roofs, power lines, stop lights. It was kind of dangerous to drive around because big sheets of ice were falling from everything. I saw a few cars get hit pretty good. By Thursday, it was over 65 degrees here. This state just needs to pick a season and stay with it for that season, not go through like 3 seasons in 4 days. I don't like that.

Other than that, not much has been going on here. I got my blood pressure machine, and I've been checking it multiple times a day, and it's pretty much perfectly normal. I'm just trying to keep a record of it to show my doctor when I go in next (on the 9th). I still feel great. My hip pain seems to be getting somewhat better, which is nice. It still hurts occasionally when I've been laying down for a while, but not like it used to. I'm getting stretch marks everywhere.... Yay... Mostly on my hips and a few on the front of my belly, which annoy me. Even more annoying are the ones on my boobs. I do NOT need bigger boobs.... Ugh. My belly button is a lot different than it used to be. Mark is pretty much fascinated by it and he's always sticking his finger in it, which bugs me sometimes. It's really "soft" now, and very shallow. Pretty soon it'll probably be completely flat, or maybe even turn into an "outtie". He'll probably be thrilled if that happens. I think I've gained about 15lbs now, depending on what time of day I weigh myself. I only wanted to gain 15lbs this whole pregnancy.... Guess that's not going to happen considering I'm only 23.5 weeks... Oh well. I'll just have to work extra hard to get it all off after she's here.

One more picture to prove that I cannot do ANYTHING without 2 weina dogs either directly on me or RIGHT next to me. Here I'm trying to knit a scarf for my boss. They have the entire couch to lay on, but they still choose my lap. It's okay though. I don't really mind most of the time. It'll be interesting once the blueberry is here though....

Before I forget, for those of you that get this by email, I put a new survey on our blog, but you have to go to the actual blog to see it. It's in the top right hand corner.

Hope you all have a good week!

Wednesday randomness

I've been feeling more productive lately. I've gotten out of my every afternoon nap habit and I've actually been getting things done, which is nice.

I figured out how to make a sewing machine cover, without directions or a pattern. It's not perfect, but it serves it's purpose. My sewing machine, however, has problems. Granted, I don't really know what I'm doing, but half the time it works fine, and half the time the bottom half of the stitches are WAAAYYYY messed up. I put the bobbin in the same way every time and I even tried oiling it, but it'll start making a funny noise sometimes, and then I know when I turn the fabric over there's going to be thread everywhere. It's frustrating. I'm going to try to find someplace in town to look at it so I can attempt to make the ring slings.

We "figured" out our taxes last night. I was pretty bummed. Last year we had to pay in around $250 for federal taxes, so I switched my exemptions to 0 from 1 hoping that this year we'd get a refund. We entered all Mark's stuff in first, and it showed us getting $1185 back... and then we entered in my stuff, and it showed that we owe $740. I almost cried. We still don't fully understand how to do our state taxes either. Since Mark is military, he doesn't have to pay IL state taxes. (We still both claim IL residency since we still have IL drivers licenses and he doesn't have to pay state tax.) We *think* that I don't have to pay state tax either since I'm his dependant, but we're not 100% sure on that. So this online program said that I had to pay IL $399 in state taxes, and I was only getting $179 refund from OK, even though I paid $307. Taxes are so confusing... and annoying.

Mark started IFF today. He's been out of the training environment for 411 days now, so he's very excited (and a little nervous) to be back in. He told me today that they're not flying at all next week though, because they're moving into a new squadron. Hopefully they'll be able to make up that time and still graduate on time. If they don't, I'm not sure what's going to happen with our trip going home. As of right now, he's supposed to graduate April 1st. But if that gets pushed back at all, we're probably not going to make it home in time for our own baby shower, which means we might not end up going home at all, and just trying to move to Phoenix earlier if possible. I hate the unpredictability of the military. I like to have a plan, and the military makes it impossible to plan sometimes. We most likely won't know until the week before if his graduation from IFF is pushed back, so I don't know what we'll do about the baby shower if we find out that late. The invitations will already be mailed and the whole thing already set up. No wonder I have high blood pressure.

Speaking of blood pressure, I got a blood pressure machine today at Wal-Mart, so I can check it at home. It's 126/73 at home..... Much better than the 155/91 at the doctors office. I'm going to keep a log to make sure it really is white coat syndrome vs. hypertension.

Sadie Roo gets her stitches out on Friday, and her last antibiotic pill is tomorrow. I'm glad to have that all behind us.

More later...

25 random things about me

Write 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 12 people to be tagged. Tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you (or I think you might fill it out - or you tagged me on this at some other point.

1. I actually met Mark in Germany for the first time, along with his parents and one of his brothers.
2. I took tennis, swimming, gymnastics, piano, ballet, tap, and jazz lessons growing up, along with a few horseback riding lessons.
3. I never played any sports in school, although I would have loved to be on the volleyball team.
4. Bad grammar is one of my biggest pet peeves. I cannot STAND it when people say "ain't".
5. I have played 3 instruments - the piano, the hand bells, the flute. I would love to learn to play the violin next.
6. I love off-Broadway theater. That was kind of my mom and my thing to do when I was growing up. We saw a bunch of plays. Luckily Mark likes theater too.
7. I feel prettier when my nails are painted.
8. My favorite city in the US is Washington DC. I've been there about 5-6 times, and it gets better every time.
9. I'm a firm believer that the true way to tour a city is by bicycle. I've done bike tours in Montreal, Washington DC, San Diego, and Paris, and that was my favorite part of visiting most of those cities.
10. I think burning candles make houses feel more "homey".
11. I have serious issues with my weight, and this pregnancy isn't helping things at all.
12. I think I would like to go back to school eventually and get a masters in sociology.
13. I love to cook, but I hate doing the dishes.
14. I've always wanted a pet cow, like Norman in City Slickers.
15. Sometimes I really miss my horse. I wish I hadn't had to sell him.
16. I think I'm entirely too addicted to reality TV. This stuff is so mindless, and yet I can't stop watching.
17. Sometimes I worry that I'm going to be too strict of a mom. I have high standards for myself, so hopefully I don't have too high of standards for my kids.
18. Half the time I feel like these blogs are a waste of time, since most of the people they're emailed to don't take the time to respond ever. I always try to comment when I read other people's blogs, just so they know someone's reading it and cares enough to respond.
19. I called Mark my "pretend boyfriend" for a good 6 months before we actually started dating.
20. I hope my dogs still mean as much to me after we have kids as they do now.
21. I have my motorcycle license and I really miss riding them with my dad.
22. I worked at my dad's quick lube business for 4-5 years. I can change the oil in my car, and check the filters and fluids and even change the transmission filter if I had to.
23. I much prefer driving a stick over an automatic, although I was afraid to learn to drive a stick at first.
24. I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 21 years old because I'm terrified of needles.
25. After Mark moved to Montgomery, GA and I was in Milwaukee, WI, I decided one night after work that I wanted to see him. So I got in the car around 9pm and drive 12 hours straight and got to him around 9am and ended up staying down there with him for a week.

Here are my tags. This is harder than it looks!
Billie R, Elyse M, mom, Erika W, Emily K, Liz D, Amber K, Jenn B, Kim H, Michelle O, Cathy L, Rachel G, Tricia S,

22w5d appt

We had an OB appt today... It was kind of disappointing. The baby is fine, so no worries there. She's been using my bladder as a trampoline lately, which is slightly annoying, considering I got up and peed 5, yes, 5 times last night between 11pm-7am. When we saw her on the u/s, she's laying sideways in a piked position though, so maybe she's actually punching me in the bladder, I'm not sure. But I always feel her movement way down low, underneath my belly. Her heart rate was 161bpm, and everything looked good. We got one picture of her, but it's really not that good. Oh well. I'll post it later.

My blood pressure was 155/91. The dr wants me to stop by base sometime this week to get it taken there. I think we're just going to get a blood pressure machine so I can start checking it at home, since hypertension runs in my family. It makes me worry every time I go to the dr and see it that high. They took it again as we were leaving, and it was still much higher than it should be - 149/90 I think... Stresses me out.

However, the appointment didn't really help my blood pressure situation... We talked to him about how to find a more "natural friendly" dr in AZ, and his answers disappointed us both. He said we should focus on finding a good doctor and then worrying about delivering naturally after that (which I can agree with). He went on to say that his c-section rate is around 45%, and that is typical of this area. (OMG!!! I thought he was kidding at first, but he wasn't.) And THEN he said you basically get to chose between a c-section or them using the vacuum/forceps, because apparently here in OK babies can't physically be born without some sort of doctor intervention.... I think at that point I was like "I hope you're not planning on taking my blood pressure again because I can guarantee it's not going to be any lower." He said if people focused half as much on being parents as they do researching the birth process that things would be much better and that at the kids HS graduation it's not going to matter if she was delivered vaginally or by c-section. I agree with that to an extent, but I also found it kind of insulting - like he was saying I needed to just forget about the birth because that, according to him, was the easy part, and I needed to just go with the flow. I understand that the birth isn't much in the grand scheme of raising a child, but why shouldn't I still educate myself on what options are out there, and why can't I have a plan in mind, even if it goes all the hell once the time comes, and why do I have to chose between a c-section and using the vacuum/forceps?? I was just really frustrated hearing what he had to say, and it almost made me glad that he's not going to be the one delivering our baby if that's his viewpoint on everything. He also contradicted himself some by saying that in 95% of births he's probably not even needed, and that it's the 5% of them you have to worry about. Well if your c-section rate is 45%, that seems like you're needed in closer to 50% of them.... He said in August 2008, he had 10 deliveries and all of them were c-sections. Ugh. Oh, and he said that he could think of better things to spend our money on instead of hiring a doula.

So now that I didn't get many answers from him, I'm still trying to figure out how to ask questions to potential OB's to figure out if they're pro-natural births or if they have a 45% c-section rate also. It all just stresses me out. No wonder I have high blood pressure.

Oh, and she's still a girl. We didn't see a wiener. Thank God.

A lil bit of everything..

It's been kind of uneventful around here lately. Well there's been some drama with our insurance and finding drs in Phoenix, etc, but it stresses me out to think about it so I'll write about that some other time.

We finished our baby classes, which was nice. Now I need to finish all the books I ordered. Good thing we have a few months before she's due. Our next OB appt is Monday so hopefully we'll have more U/S pics to share after that.

Sadie is doing great. She's pretty much back to normal and her boo-boos are healing very well. Her eye looks MUCH better and we stopped giving her the Tramadol (pain meds) bc we don't think she needs it. Thank God.

I got ambitious this afternoon and repotted all my plants. They looked like they were getting a little big for their old pots, so I got new ones for them. That was fun. I like playing in the dirt.

Here are a few pictures I thought I'd share.

We got this stuff from Mark's family. I LOVE the little tiny hats! If the OB says to us on Monday "Oops, there's a wiener", I'm going to cry. I'm already hooked on the thought of having a girl. =)

Mainly playing with the camera - but this is my new plant. I don't know what it is though.


I love close up shots of flowers.

I thought Rooser's squinty face was hilarious in this picture. Proof to you all that she's doing MUCH better! (And that she ALWAYS wears her harness outside now when I take them out by myself. If Mark and I are both out there on opposite ends of the yard we don't worry as much.)

I thought this was a neat picture too.

All of my plants in their new pots (except for the red one.)

My suspicions of them outgrowing their old pots were accurate.... One of the other ones was even worse than this one. It had like an inch of dirt on the top and then the rest of the pot was just roots. I didn't know the roots "ate" the dirt...

21 weeks 4 days pregnant.

We gave Sadie her meds stuck in peanut butter, which she loved, and then we'd spend the next 5 minutes laughing at her bc of her crazy tongue!! It literally wraps all the way around her nose!

This was taken last Saturday I believe, so she looks a little forlorned here, but she's doing much better now.

I can't help myself...

We went to a birthing class all day today. It was really interesting and we both learned a lot. It made both of us even more excited to go through the birthing experience and have this baby. I know Mark is going to be an amazing birth partner and I'm excited (WAAYY more excited than nervous) to see how it goes.

After the class I wanted to stop by Ross to look at more clothes for the baby. Mark gets annoyed when I want to buy her stuff, but I told him that I've heard from a few friends that they didn't get many clothes at their showers, so he'll be happy that I've been buying stuff all along so we don't have to buy her an entire wardrobe, along with all the other baby junk we'll need, at one time. Anyway, here are my purchases today. Mark picked out the one on the left/top, I picked out the one on the right/bottom. We're determined that she not have an all pink wardrobe. Some pink is fine, just not ALL pink.



On a side note, Sadie is doing much better. She's about 75% back to normal. Still moving slower than normal and she's very unsure about going outside still. She runs out with her tail between her legs and then pees/poops really quickly and then runs back inside. We think that she's (literally) not sure what hit her/ happened to her. This morning she actually played with Ollie some (she started the playing too) and was her normal self for a while, but it was short lived. You can tell she's still sore by the way she walks, but she hasn't been crying as much today, which is great. I am so thankful she's okay.

Update on Sadie (pictures included)

Sadie is one very lucky weina dog. I'm not sure it's possible for a 18lb animal to get hit by an SUV and come out with less injuries than she did.

I went and picked her up from the vet around 3:30pm yesterday and brought her home. She's moving very slowly and is definitely not acting like her normal self, but I guess that's to be expected when an animal is as banged up as she is.

Below is a picture of the damn roadrunner she was chasing. This this has been hanging around our house for a few months now. I don't like that bird.

Here are a few pictures of her injuries. She has the human equivalent of a black eye. We're not sure if her head hit the front of the SUV or the ground. Either way, she didn't have any head injuries except for her eye, which I am very thankful for. Her eye still works fine too. She needed 2 stitches in her left hind leg, but other than that, her legs are pretty good, except for minor cuts here and there. Apparently she slide across the road on her belly some, which is why her tummy is raw.

I feel terrible that it happened still, and if I could quit replaying the whole ordeal in my head, I'd be good. Luckily Mark has been overly supportive and never once got mad at me about it. She was so excited to see him when he got home, and she just sat there and whimpered and wagged her tail. He spent a good 10 mins on the floor with her, checking her over and looking at all her boo-boos and petting her. And then they snuggled on the couch for most of the night, until we went to bed.

Mark got up with her twice last night because she was crying. We thought she might have to go potty, but it turned out both times she just wanted a drink. We think the meds she's on (pain killers and antibiotics) might be making her thirsty. Tonight we'll keep a bowl of water in our room for her.

She's been eating a little here and there, but she's usually a little live-wire and she's been pretty calm. She doesn't want to play yet, and she has trouble jumping up on the couch. I brought our steps for our bed out to the living room for her so she could get on the couch easier. Today she actually jumped up on the couch without the steps, so she must be feeling a little better. She seems really hesitant to go outside now though. I don't know if it's because we're putting their harnesses on now and putting them out on a leash or what. I think she'll be better by next week.

She's been sitting behind me whining for 20 mins now, so I'm going to go lay down with them for a bit until Mark gets home. Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers. We really appreciate it and consider ourselves very blessed that this didn't have a worse outcome.

Our poor Sadie Roo

I got home from work today, and let our dogs out back so they could go potty, like I always do. We don't have a fenced in back yard bc we live in town home type things. Anyway, there's been this stupid road runner hanging around our house lately. I let the dogs out and Sadie took off after the stupid bird. I yelled for her to stop but she was all the all the way around the other side of our house. Oliver, thank God, just sat there. I chased after Sadie and was trying to figure out which direction she went, when I heard her get hit by an SUV. She was yelping and staring straight ahead. By the time I ran my fat ass over to her, she'd stopped yelping, but she was in a daze when I picked her up. The car kinda stopped but I just picked her up and ran back to our house. I was worried about Oliver coming around the side of the house too while I was inside. I went to let him in the back door (while still holding Sadie), and luckily, he was sitting there waiting for me.

I called Mark completely freaking out, telling him he needed to come home right now, and then changed that to meet me at the vet. I grabbed the dogs leashed and a phone book (to call the vet) and stuck Sadie and Ollie in the back seat and headed out. I couldn't remember the name of the damn vet so I called my co-worker who goes to the same vet and asked her to call the vet and tell them that Sadie got hit and I was on my way. I'm surprised she understood a word I said.

I got to the vet and my co-worker was waiting there for me, thank God, and she took Ollie in (who was along for the ride), while carried Sadie in. (On the car ride over, Sadie was sitting up and looking out the window, and seemed to be fairly okay, but one of her eyes started to swell closed some and one of her legs was bleeding.) When I tried to hand her to the vet tech, she tried to crawl back in my arms, which was a good sign, that at least she was with it enough to know what was going on.

After about 20 mins the vet got back with us (Mark got there right after I did), and said he thought she was going to be okay. She has a small cut on her back leg, which they might put 1-2 stitches in tomorrow, and her left eye was dialated, so he thought that could mean that she had a mild concussion or she could have bumped her eye. They're keeping her overnight for observation and I'm supposed to call in the morning for an update. Hopefully we'll be able to take her home tomorrow and she'll be fine. I'm just worried about the bump on her head... I don't know how serious it was, but the vet said he thought she'd be just fine, so that's what I'm trying to focus on.

I just feel so guilty - that I should have been able to stop her. And I think she got hit by the car when she was running back to me, because I was calling her since I didn't know where she went and she was coming towards me... I feel really bad about that. We got a stake with 2 cords to put in the back yard now, so the dogs won't go out unless they're on the cords from now on. It wasn't a problem before that damn road runner showed up, and this is the 2nd time they've chased it. Our next place is going to have a fenced in back yard, and hopefully Sadie will be around to play in it. She loves being outside.

Amazing..

My mom sent this to me in an email. These girls range in age from 6-8 years old. Watching things like this always make me cry. (And that happened before I was pg too!)