Cruising along... 15 weeks and counting!

Just cruising along, starting to grow a baby bump and enjoying this being pregnant business. Still feeling pretty nauseous, but I have my good days where I barely notice it.   Hoping/praying for more good days to come!  The latest preg related thing (I think) I felt was last night, I got a crazy pain in my butt (seriously, it was like in my butt cheek muscle, sorry TMI).   I think it's my sciatic, but I haven't had much time to research it.  It was the most crazy painful feeling, almost like a charlie horse in your booty.  It went away today, so I'm hoping it was just a weird cramp and this isn't going to be a normal occurrence, but I have heard of preg peeps mentioning this sort of thing.

On Monday, we had our once a month appointment and baby Ball seems to be doing great.  We heard he/she's heartbeat again, which is always the greatest feeling.  Thought we might do an ultrasound and be able to tell more about the sex, but I was wrong.   We won't be 100% sure until our 19 or 20 week appt.  So the wait continues.   

Bump Watch

15 weeks before our doc appt. 

 Outside the set for our friend Tessa's movie! (Shane and I tried our hand at being movie stars yesterday by being extras on her set.  So FUN!)

The beer belly, jiggly mid section (that's actually not so jiggly) is starting to form more into what might?! look like a baby bump to others.  If not to you, it does to me, so humor me people! BTW, I really like to touch and poke it.  Probably not very nice of me?  Shane keeps telling me the babies going to come out with indentations on it's head, but I quickly tell him, it's protected by gooey stuff (I'm so technical about my body, I know).

In other baby news, this past weekend we visited Shane's family in Fresno and got the cradle that him, his two brothers and nephew all slept in as babies.  This cradle is very COOL- it's wooden and very vintage.  We plan on having refinished, so baby Ball can use it too.  Before and after pics to come. 

This weekend it's off to the desert to see The Sensiba gang.  I am excited to take pics of Rhodes and Sevi and meet my cousin Trent's girlfriend and see the rest of the fam of course.

It's the busiest time of year and I just love it.  Lots of yummy food, boots, sweaters, scarves, fires, Halloween (which I'm skipping this year, but going double big next year, so watch out) and MY BIRTHDAY; so many things I love!  Now if only the weather would cool down for more than a minute, so I can get cookin some soups from Siriously Delicious. 

XO,

S

P.S. Pardon how random and all over the place this blog post is.  It's a little like my brain these days.  Rumor about pregnancy brain, TOTALLY TRUE.

ALS Walk

At the beginning of this year, we found out our dear family friend, Paul Jolly was diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gherig's disease.  You can read more about it here.  With Paul in my often thoughts, I saw a sign about an upcoming ALS Walk in Ventura County and thought it would be nice for my family, Rick (Paul's partner) and I to walk and raise money in honor of Paul.  We signed up without hesitation and began our mini crusade.   Little did we know, that we'd rise to the occasion and raise the most money of any team walking. Collectively, we raised $14, 627 and the number is still rising.   I couldn't be more proud of our team.   

Yesterday was a beautiful day for the walk in Ventura.  Our team, The Jolly Walkers grew from the original 5 to 14, including Paul! We were honored at the event and Paul and Barney spoke on behalf of the team.  Those buggers brought me to tears with their heartfelt words.  What a great feeling it is, to do something for someone we love and a very worthy cause. 
Paul is now in a clinical trial and we are hoping and praying that the treatments help slow the progress of this awful disease.  Meanwhile, we'll continue to be there for him and give him lots to live for.  

We are still collecting donations. 

Click here to help!

XO,
S

$1 Oatmeal at Jamba on Wednesdays!

Not sure how long this goes for, but I can't wait for Hump Day this week!
My fav is with blueberry and blackberries.
For what it's worth, I also think it's better than Starbucks and Coffee Bean's.  

XO,

S

I.die.

Baby Ball's 1st Trojan Gear from Shaneenie at work.   

(don't mind the pic taken with an iPhone on my keyboard)

LOVE.

XO,
S

Kinda obsessed...

...with these frames

I'll take one of each.  

You can get them here, Delta Girl Distressed Frames.

I can't pick a favorite. 
Found these thanks to this fab blog.

XO,
S

"Morning" Sickness...

If only it was only in the morning!  I got pregnant thinking, I can deal with this "morning" sickness thing, but what I didn't know or realize is that this so called sickness plagues you into the night and on bonus evenings, it even wakes you up!  The best line I've heard or read is that the term "morning" sickness was obviously made up by a man because it clearly doesn't stop and start in the a.m. 

Mine had started to go away, or at least I was knocking on wood and thought so, but now it seems to be back. Hopefully it's temporary.  At least I can rest on the fact, that I haven't heard of anyone being sick their entire pregnancy, the longest seems to be around 16 weeks, so I've got a few more to go.  WE CAN DO IT!

Now for what "morning" sickness is for me.  I don't actually throw up (kinda wish I did if it would provide any relief, but I'm just not a pucker).  It's more like terrible nausea that I can only compare to a really bad hangover, minus the headache, although when it lasts for days on end, the headache normally comes into the picture.  The worst part,  I didn't get to enjoy my favorite tasty beverages to feel this way.  I was always willing to have a little nausea for some vino, but you can't blame that extra glass of wine or cocktail this time, it's just your hormones going crazy. 

 My lifesaver

Pretzels have been my BFF through this.  The salty carbs seem to make me feel a bit better.  Water is harder to drink and honestly even my favorite foods don't sound good when the nausea is bad.  The upside, I've only gained 3 pounds so far, so we're doing well in that department.  Too bad the waistlines were already tight on most of my clothes to begin with, so I'm going to need to do some serious shopping soon. Another upside, the hubby is helping out with the cooking and chores, which has been a life saver.  The last thing you want to do is cook and clean.  I have managed to squeak out a few meals, but I miss trying to replicate the cover of Cooking Light and hope to be back at it soon. 

That's all for today!  Here's to hoping I have a nausea free anniversary celebratory weekend in Escondido.  Poor Shane is sick of hearing, I don't feel well or seeing me with a sour face.   

XO,

S

First Trimester aka. "Scary"mester

Okay, so my 1st Trimester was not as full of excitement, as I'm sure some might be.  Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to be pregnant again, but I was scared from my recent experience and also got a major case of nausea around 6 weeks (that is finally subsiding, but not completely gone).  I awaited doctors appointments like they were Christmas, just to get that reassurance that everything was going okay this time around.  The time did indeed pass and here we are past week 12!  We've had 2 ultrasounds, heard a strong healthy heartbeat and had our 1st Trimester Screening yesterday.  We are thrilled with the results and now can finally get excited.   

Let's catch you up, how in the heck I am 12 weeks along, didn't I just miscarry on 4th of July?  Well yes, I sure did.  It was beyond hard and as a result, we threw caution to the wind, thinking there was no way in $(%# we would get pregnant again so fast and went on with our lives (at least we tried).  As planned, we went on vacation to Anguilla, went out with friends, drank wine/adult beverages, tried to get back into working out....  It was working at first, naturally I'd get sad sometimes, but I was able to think positive about what happened and get through it.  Until BAM, 4 weeks later, it was all over.  I was taking a Core Fusion class and felt like I was going to faint.  I was peeing all night, so naturally I turned to Advil PM (sleep and I are BFF, don't mess).  I would be excited to have cocktails with friends for some occasion and after a couple, I was over it.  I was back to crying at the drop of a hat.

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME?  I called my doc and said you need to take my blood, I think my hormones are screwy from the pregnancy.  My life is not normal.  I can't do anything I used to. I feel horrible.  So I mozzied into the office and had blood drawn.  She called me the next day and said, are you sitting down?  I immediately thought, oh no, there's something REALLY wrong with me.  And she came out said, based on your hormone levels, it looks like you're about 5 weeks pregnant.  WHAT?!  Are you sure?  Maybe it's the old hormones and she said, no it's definitely not.  So I made an appointment and went in the following week to have an ultrasound and there on the screen was a little fuzzy gummy bear looking he/she.  I was in love.  Scared, but in love already.

Baby Ball's first photo

I wont even tell you what Shane thought BB (Baby Ball) looked like. :)

What did this mean?  Was I going to miscarry again because it happened so soon?  The doctor couldn't guarantee anything, but said that everything looked good, so far.  My lining wasn't too thin and I was probably going to be okay because I didn't have to have a D&C.  PHEW.  The next week, I went back in for another ultrasound and the baby was growing exactly as it's supposed to.  So, here we are, just over 12 weeks and finally able to share our news with the world!

12 weeks and counting

 Still in the "is she fat or damn, she should lay off the bag bagels" phase, but it's a start!

More to come... 

 XO,

S

One chucks, two chucks, BABY chucks!

Looking forward to next Spring!

(understatement of the year)

XO, 

S

Happy 2nd Anni to my BOOS!

 In no particular order, just a FEW of the millions of our wedding memories.

 The day started with the most loving letter from my husband to be.

It was a gorgeous day at the Bacara... just a little wind.

 So handsome.

 I had so much fun with all the details, these were our programs.  

Like I said, the wind. :)

 So far, the best day of my life.

This is one of my all time FAVORITE pics.

 We'll never forget the speeches and song by our family and friends. 

Our first dance to Broken Road by Rascal Flats.

Wish I could serve a piece of our cake with dinner tonight.

 So us.

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes...

Looking forward to celebrating 2 years with my hubby tonight.  Cooking this, one of our favs, watching our wedding video and just relaxing at home = PERFECT way to celebrate. 
I love you more and more each day Shaners.  

Thinking year 3, may just be our best yet!  

XO, 

S