Rounding the Corner

So, I'm almost done with my first trimester, which is good, because it hasn't been a cake walk. I've had horrible morning (read between the lines - all day) sickness, and have been pretty reliant on the Zofran my midwife gave me. I'm thankful it's worked well. Almost everything makes me gag - the smell of coffee, leftovers in the frig, my toothbrush, laundry detergent, car exhaust, and the dead animal in our backyard that showed up yesterday, which made me throw up in the kitchen sink (fortunately, some other animal dragged it off and it doesn't smell bad anymore in our yard). I also have a complete aversion to any kind of meat and I can't floss my teeth, which is driving me crazy. I'm not as tired as I've been with past pregnancies, but I do notice that I love a brief nap several days a week. :)

I've noticed this week, though, that I'm starting to turn the corner, which is a huge relief. I've made it through entire days without needing my Zofran. Today was a great day - I even was able to do a bunch of laundry (which has spent the last month just sitting in the hallway). I am starting to feel like my "old self" again at times, which is really nice.

I've been craving weird things to ward off the nausea - anything orange flavored - orange sherbet, orange jello, orange juice, orange slushes from Sonic, etc. I also am going through an apple phase. Unfortunately, I'm also going through a Cap'n Crunch phase too but I guess the milk is good for me. Pizza also has been a favorite. And like my pregnancy with Anna Claire, I don't really love the taste of Diet Coke anymore and I can't stand thinking about chocolate - blech! Those of you who know me well know that normally I LOVE chocolate. And now the thought of anything sweet - except for the aforementioned orange flavored items, of course - grosses me out. So weird, those pregnancy hormones.

I've found a good midwife here - she's very nice and reminds me of a good friend of mine, Jenny. My new midwife is definitely not my beloved Margie, who delivered my girls in VA, but she's great and I like her a lot. I go back in a little more than 2 weeks for another sono and checkup.

Catching Up

I didn't really intend to let a month go by between posts. It just sort of happened. In late December, I was in the process of finishing up my job, getting Christmas cards out, finalizing shopping and packing for our trip to Portland, and attending the girls' Christmas events/parties, etc. It was kind of a wild time.

So, we found out on Dec 21 that we had a little surprise package coming! I was so shocked to find out that I was pregnant that I spewed my toothpaste across the bathroom. We are very excited and the baby will be coming in August. I've already had a sonogram and a dr's appt and everything looks great. It wasn't really my plan to be in my last trimester of pregnancy through a Texas summer, but God had a different plan and we're thrilled.

We left Dec 22 for Portland, OR. I woke up that morning feeling really sick, and thought it was a little early to already be having morning sickness, seeing how I had just found out the day before that Baby #3 was coming. We got on the plane and hadn't been in flight for more than 30 minutes before I started throwing up. Every 20-30 minutes. It was horrible. The low point of the flight was when I had to lean across the aisle and ask the guy in the other aisle seat if I could have his blue vomit bag because I'd already used all three in my row. Score. I ended up needing a lot more bags than that by the end.

After getting diverted to Eugene for awhile because the runway needed to be plowed in Portland, we finally arrived, only to wait 2+ hours for our luggage. I slept on the floor of baggage claim and didn't even really care. By that time, I knew I had a stomach virus. We finally made it to my parents' house and I was able to sleep in a real bed. It was heavenly.

Unfortunately, Gary also got it but we were able to tag-team and my parents were immensely helpful in taking care of the girls – they were having so much fun, I'm not sure they were even aware we were sick. All in all, we had a really nice Christmas and had a great time seeing my brother and sister-in-law, Mom and Dad, and just relaxing.

Since we arrived home on the 30^th, morning sickness has kicked in full-swing, so I've spent a lot of time just lounging on the couch and grabbing a nap whenever I can get one. I am finally starting to have a day here and there where I feel good, so it's fun to get out and do normal things.

Leah is talking SO much – full sentences now! It's so fun to listen to her jibber jabbering in her crib in the morning through the monitor we keep next to the bed. She is loving her mom's day out program and plays so well with AC – the two of them are such good friends.

AC is back to school and loving being back in her routine. She's very into crafts, playing outside with her friends and talking on the phone to any relative who will listen to her.

We're getting excited about my parents coming to visit in a couple of weeks – and we've been enjoying the warm days here – sometimes up to almost 80 degrees! We've had some cold ones, too, but it's so nice to have our windows open in January. We're getting spoiled!

Have A Coke And A Smile

I need more sleep.

I just asked Leah if she'd like yogurt for breakfast - she nodded and sat down at the table. I promptly went to the frig, pulled out a Diet Coke, opened it, and put it down in front of her.

"Momma?" she said in her little voice.

I cannot believe I just did that!

Power Balls

OK, these are seriously my new favorite snack - and they really keep you FULL in between meals, which reduces the snacking. My niece gave me the recipe and I've enjoyed making these for the family and keeping them in the frig. They freeze nicely too (just put them between layers of wax paper). And they're GOOD for you! :)

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup honey (I use raw honey)
3 cups oats (not the instant kind)
1/2 cup milled flaxseed (you can get this at HEB, Wegmans, any health food store)
1 cup chocolate chips/white chocolate chips
1 cup any of the following - nuts, raisins, craisins, dried apricots, etc.

Mix peanut butter and honey until smooth. Gradually add in oats and flaxseed, then fold in other ingredients. You can do all this in your mixer. Then roll into ping-pong ball sized balls and place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper. When you roll them they will appear and feel kind of oily from the peaunt butter. Once chilled - they aren't.

You can get really creative with these and add different combinations. I did chocolate chip/almond ones for the kids and pecan/white chocolate chip/craisin ones for Gary. They were a hit!

What We've Been Doing

Sorry for the bloggy break there - we've been sick. I have a sinus infection and mild double-ear infection, Leah has had a cold, and Gary has also had a cold. In the past 24 hours, Leah has thrown up on me (while I was on a conference call, no less), gotten poop all over her new Christmas shoes (they were a total loss - couldn't even clean them with a toothbrush), peed on the floor, climbed up on my bathroom counter and unrolled most of my dental floss, and broken one of my favorite dishes. She also keeps stealing baby Jesus out of the various manger scenes we have around the house and shouting, "MY baby Jesus!" I'm running constantly and can barely keep up with her in between popping 800 mg of Motrin and holding my head because it hurts so badly.

Anyhoo, we've been busy the past couple of weeks! We had a Christmas activity extravaganza last week - I hosted a Christmas brunch for over 30 women from my Bible study (we had a great time), Gary and I attended Beth Moore's Christmas event, we attended a friend's Christmas show at her church, and we drove with friends to have dinner in College Station, TX and see the lights at a local light display - it was so fun! The girls were so exhausted, they fell asleep on the way home (see picture). On Sunday, I took the girls to the mall to have their hair cut and to do a little shopping while Gary worked.

I spent the first part of the week napping whenever possible, and now I'm scrambling to get caught up with work and get our Christmas letters out the door.

It looks like we're going to have a white Christmas in Oregon - it's down in the 20's there and they keep getting snow! Fortunately, my parents were able to find snow boots for the girls so they can play in it. Snow boots are hard to find down here where the weather is often 70 degrees. :)