Happy Halloween!

The girls are coming over tonight and I can't wait to see them in costume. I'll take lots of pictures since theirs will be the only costumes worn around here. :( Last year we went to a costume party and it was so much fun! Here we are in our costumes:





Hope everyone has a fantastic day and I can't wait to see all the cute little ones in their costumes!

Comments!

Matt and I decided to change the comments section to allow anyone to leave a comment. We love that our family reads our blog and would love to be able to read their comments!

So, comment away!

Making Friends at Cosmo Dog Park

Yesterday morning we decided to take the dogs to Cosmo Dog Park which is located in Gilbert, AZ, about an hour drive. We heard about it on the news as one of the newest and best dog parks in the area so we had to try it out! It has over 5 acres fenced with a small lake on one side and then a dry fenced area on the other side. We loaded up the car and we were off!

And just as a side note, although Payton and Maddie look a bit cramped up in their crate, they would NOT have it any other way. They HAVE to be together or they cry!

We were worried about how they would do around strange dogs but they really did a great job. Even Payton was friendly with the other dogs (and their owners!). She warmed up to a girl that was about my height and weight and followed her around. It was hilarious. And you know Payton, she kept licking the girls' legs. The girl was a good sport though. She said, "Um, I think she has us confused!"

At first they didn't want much to do with the water, but I waded in and called them and they finally got used to it. By the end of the day, they were all three running and splashing in the lake!

Maddux and Louie made a new friend named Reese. Reese is a rambunctious male pug who had NO fear whatsoever! You can see him here leading the pack!

Payton and Louie enjoyed fetching the ball from the water's edge, but they wouldn't go in over their heads.


Maddie liked to do her own thing, sniffing around and visiting other dogs. So much to sniff, so little time!

It was so much fun. I'm glad we got to take them. If we could take them to a lake all the time I really think they'd be swimming in no time!

Here is the newest belly shot for the week. 19 weeks along. Eek!

My appetite is NOT lacking...

The doctor tells me I've gained 9.5 pounds since my last visit a month ago! Yikes! She was happy with it though because it brings my total weight gain to -0.5 lbs. It's hard to believe I weighed more than this BEFORE I got pregnant! Look at that belly!

A Day at the Park

ahhh, the Fall days in Arizona are starting to rub off on me a bit! The days are so gorgeous and sunny with a nice cool breeze, so last weekend we met Kevin and Yasmeen at the park and spent some time playing with the girls. Kev and Matt threw the football and Mila played with her soccer ball. She also made a friend on the playground while Kira was introduced to sand...she liked it...she liked it so much, she ate a handful! Blech!

Here are some pictures of the day:


Kira loved the swing! She always had one hand tucked in...it was so adorable!


Here are both of the girls. I love this picture because it's so typical of their personalities. Mila is on the go as usual (I'm surprised she isn't a blur!) and Kira in the background plopped down, just hanging out oblivious to everything around her! We sure are going to miss them!

Holy Crapsticks Batman!

hmm...where to begin this post....How about we go timeline style:

September 28th - Boonville, IN...mom, Pam, and I are looking through the newspaper and spot a home in Lynnville on an acre of land. I called the realtor who agreed to meet us THAT night to check it out! Verdict: We absolutely love it! It's quaint and cute and homey and has a fantastic yard too!

Oct 8th - I'm back in AZ with pictures in hand to show Matt and we decide to make an offer!

Oct 9th - The sellers counteroffer and we accept, pending inspections.

Oct 11th - The inspection is completd and the report is NOT good. The home was built in 1930 so we anticipated some problems but the list of DEFECTS was a bit unnerving...

-all electrical must be upgraded to a breaker box (from a fuse box)

-improper wiring needs to be replaced throughout the home

-wires are spliced and fuses are oversized

-siding is damaged and loose

-there is no ground rod (eek!)

-there is a leak of some sort in the crawlspace

-there is a moldlike substance in the attic that needs to be removed

-all gas piping in the home is copper and needs to be changed out to black iron

We were scared...but not scared off completely. We decided to respond asking the sellers to fix all of these critical items. We know that they do not have a lot of extra money (but hey, neither do we!) so we were hoping for the best. We figured if they agreed to do some of the repairs, we could suck it up and do the rest...

We received this email today from our realtor:

"Congratulations!! They are doing everything!!!"

We are thrilled, elated, BLESSED, and very very thankful! In three weeks, we'll be on our way to our new house!!

Here's are a couple of pictures of the front view and the awesome yard!

It's a.....

BABY BOY!!!

WOOOOT! And he has 10 fingers and 10 toes and is as healthy as can be!!! All his measurements looked great! Here is a great shot of his profile!

And here he is flexing for us, my little muscle man!

Here is a 4D shot they did. You can see his arm and hand up by his face. He was snuggled into me and wouldn't turn over! He's playin' shy!

The doctor gave us a CD with 173 images from the ultrasound! These are the ones we picked that show him the best. Now...we just need a name! Isn't he the most precious little thing you've ever seen!?

MVP

...and no, I don't mean most valuable player. I was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse in 1994 when I went in for a routine appendectomy. The doctor couldn't begin the surgery until my heartrate was stabilized. As I lay there on the table, in and out of it from pain, I could just hear phrases every now and then... "not stable" "cardiologist" "heart condition" Finally they called in a cardiologist (a nice guy who was gardening at home and came in asap in his shorts and tennis shoes!) who diagnosed me with mitral valve prolapse. The docs explained it as the most common heart valve abnormality and told us that most people are unaffected and only a small percentage actually need valve replacement. Ok great, I was thinking, now get my appendix out before I die from the pain!

The main inconvenience with MVP is that because some of the blood in my heart actually "leaks" backwards, infection is much easier to get than in a normal heart. So, before any dental cleanings or procedures I have to take antibiotics. No biggie! (Oh yeah, and no caffeine, only water and sports drinks like gatorade....oops.)

Fast forward to the year 2000 where I'm at a sorority function at my college...
Chest pains hit, dull at first and then very strong. With every breath my chest and shoulder ache terribly until I'm in tears. It's to the point where holding my breath was the only way to not cry, and then when I did have to breathe, the pain was literally unbearable. I called the cardiologist who had came to the hospital that day and he asked me to go to the Heart Care Center immediately. Mom rushed me in and I was diagnosed with pericarditis, an inflammation of the thin membrane that surrounds your heart, also known as the worst pain EVER. The inflammation was so bad that when I was breathing, my inflated lungs were coming into contact with the membrane and causing the terrible pain. So some anti-imflammatory drugs later, I was fine. The doc told me to take 4 ibuprofen every four hours and if I ever had a cold, or any type of virus, to start taking the 4 ibuprofen every four hours to try and prevent infection.

Fast forward to June 30 2007...
I'm now living in AZ with my hubby and we decided to go out and meet friends. We ate dinner and as we leave to go to a different bar, I start to feel chest pain, only when I exhale. I started to take shallow breaths hoping it would go away, but as the night continued the pain got worse and worse until I couldn't breathe at all. My left shoulder was radiating with pain and every breath I took made it worse. Matt brought me home and I took Ibuprofen and laid down, tears streaming down my face, determined to get through the night so we could go to the doctor. (I was so delerious I forgot that the ER is open 24/7!). The next morning Matt took me to the Urgent Care center where an EKG was done and returned some abnormalties. My blood was tested and my enzyme levels were fine, but because of my history with pericarditis, the doc wanted me to have an echocardiagram and some further testing that was not available at the UCC. We were instructed to go to the ER immediately.

We arrived at the ER and were taken back right away where another EKG was done. I ended up staying in the ER for over 8 hours being tested, blood drawn, etc. I was on a heart monitor where my heartrate was going from 40 bpm up to 140 bpm in a matter of seconds. Alarms kept going off, and I was still in terrible, terrible pain. Finally they decided to give me some pain meds (via a shot to the rear, Ye-OUCH!) and the pain became more bearable. The doc said there were no signs to say that it was pericarditis again so he didn't see a need to even do an echocardiagram. After my EKG came back normal (who knows?) the ER doc informed us, "Chest pains are the most difficult thing to diagnosis. It could be your liver, it could be your heart...it could be any number of things. I'm not here to blow smoke and pretend like I know what it is when I don't. The tests came back showing that your heart seems to be in good shape, so get some rest." And whoosh, he was gone. Excuse me, what? So I was discharged with diagnosis "Chest pain-unknown cause" (Insert Sigh here)

The worst part of it all is that I don't know what causes these spells and I don't know how to prevent them or stop them when they start. Lately my palpitations are much worse and much harder to get rid of. Usually if my heart starts to beat rapidly I just lay down and take a nap, and when I wake up, everything is back to normal. But in the last couple days I can't even do that. I'll doze off and then jump awake with a pounding heart and hardly able to catch my breath. And since I've been pregnant I've had very little to NO caffeine and lots of gatorade.

I guess I'm just scared and it's pointless to go to the doctor because they never help. I think I might mention the palpitations to my doctor tomorrow at my OB appt. because I really am starting to wonder what my heart will do throughout the rest of my pregnancy, and delivery.

Sometimes I think it could be anxiety/stress related too, since I've lost my job, am moving across the country, bought a house 1700 miles away, have a house to pack in 2 weeks, etc. etc.

Here's hoping for a heart healthy day!

Lists

I'm such a list girl. I make lists for everything, for work, for school (when I was in school), for home projects, etc. However, at this point my lists seem pointless. Every room I walk into I can basically say, I need to clean everything in here, and pack it. So, instead of making a very long list, I just started doing things this time. I feel like I got a lot accomplished today, even if it wasn't all moving related. I

*did four loads of laundry (and still going)
*packed all my scrap supplies and my craft area
*took all three dogs for a long walk (they're exhausted!)
*met Kevin, Yasmeen and the girls at the park for some swinging, playing in the sand, throwing the football and kicking the soccer ball!

I told Matt if we each pack a box a day, the move will seem a lot less stressful. So far, I've kept up my end of the bargain...

But, he did just cook me a yummy dinner of chicken alfredo with a side of vegetable medley!

Wednesday is our ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby! It's also the day Matt will give his two week notice at work. His last day will be Oct 31st and we pick up our moving truck on November 5th!

Woot! Woot! Woot!

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”~ Philippians 4:6-7

My friend Andi posted this on her blog today and it was just what I needed to keep me at peace. Maybe some of my readers might need to read it too. Thanks Andi! I'm glad everything is ok for you and Keegan!

:cry:

Those are tears of joy! I'm so overwhelmed I can't even handle it. Everything is going so well with our moving plans and our mortgage approval and everything. I just feel so at peace! It's amazing how smoothly things go when they're part of a bigger plan that even you don't fully comprehend. Sometimes we try to do things and it's as if they are forced, nothing goes right, it's just a headache...and you wonder if you're doing the right thing. Then, there are times when everything falls into place and you KNOW that this was nothing you did because it's bigger than you. It's an opportunity that God has put in place for us and we are so happy to have realized it and taken the risk.

I think I'm rambling, but the bottom line is the winds have changed for us. I feel confident that our struggles and stresses are behind us and a new life awaits for us, a mommy, a daddy, and baby makes three!

We are making an offer tonight on the house we want, so I'm holding onto these positive feelings!

Belly Check!

Yep, it's there!

Here is the shot I took at 7 weeks, on August 12, 2007.

And here is the shot taken today, October 7, 2007 at 17 weeks. Whoa baby!

Matt calls me his "little Howitzer" which so lovingly is a type of German TANK!

I am only going to get bigger from here!! I'm loving it though. It's fun and the bigger I get, I know the baby is just that much stronger, and that much closer to being here!