Lago Vista

Lago Vista is a little town outside of Austin that sits on Lake Travis. On Saturday they had some sort of festival and there were tons of cars parked down on the "beach", live music, BBQ, etc. Chad's best friend, Bryan O'Hair, was in town so we all went out and spent a good amount of time there. Brooks was completely entertained with a bucket, a golfball (that he found in the mud), and a football. He spent 10 minutes alone just filling the bucket, walking it up on the shore, and dumping it on the grass. Fun stuff, right? He was extremely happy. Of course he spent some time swimming in the water with Daddy. It's a fun place - I'm sure we'll be back there a lot this summer.

13 weeks

We had a great time out at the lake today. We just watched all the boats go by swam. We took this silly family photo that I love. I'm 13 weeks (almost 14 weeks) and I have yet to take a picture of my belly...so here it is. My favorite part of this picture is Chad's belly, of course. He has this unique ability to push his belly WAY out...it's funny.

We took lots of fun pictures out at the lake - I can only stay up long enough to post this one.

Happy Birthday Parker!

Brooks and the Birthday Boy...Best Buds.

Brooks wouldn't stop kissing and hugging on Parker.

We tried to get a cute picture with all of us looking and smiling...this is the best we could do.

Like I said: Brooks wouldn't stop kissing and hugging on Parker.

Parker enjoying his cake.

A Cool Afternoon

On a cool afternoon in Texas, we might as well all put on our cowboy boots and a beanie, right? Well, Brooks seemed to think it was a good idea. He was the cutest kid on the cul-de-sac!

Happy Mother's Day??

Well...Mother's Day was a little bit of Déjà vu. Not a good Déjà vu, but more like a "I'm in the hospital because I can't stop throwing up" kinda Déjà vu. It started Wednesday night with my usual routine: I ate dinner and then threw-up, but then I threw up again...and again...I slept a bit...and then threw-up again. You get the picture. This same thing happened with Brooks, so I knew it wasn't going to stop. My condition is labeled as:
"Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a severe form of morning sickness, with "unrelenting, excessive pregnancy-related nausea and/or vomiting that prevents adequate intake of food and fluids."[1] Hyperemesis is considered a rare complication of pregnancy...Estimates of the percentage of pregnant women afflicted range from 0.3% to 2.0%." Basically, I start a violent cycle and I can't stop until I get enough fluids in my body. Chad took me in Thursday morning about 8:00 and we stayed in the ER until about 12:00. I got a bag of fluids and was finally able to eat some Jello. I was feeling better, so they sent me home. I walked in the door and went straight to the bathroom to throw up. Uh-oh. The cycle was not over. I throw up a bit more and tried to keep some Sprite down, but nothing was working. I decided to drive myself in again. This time I was even throwing up with my IV. I was feeling pretty awful. They decided to admit me because after one bag of fluids I was still sick. They moved me to the woman's center wing and I got a more comfortable room and more fluids. They pumped my veins all night long while I tried to get some sleep. I was finally released Friday afternoon about 4:00 after being able to eat some Jello and chicken broth. My mom and Mark came down Friday night (as originally planned) so we could spend Mother's Day together. Well, I don't think I left the couch on Saturday. My mom did everything! I threw up once at night, but that's normal. On Sunday I got up a little bit, but I was still pretty weak and not eating much. Chad was going out of town for the week, so my mom decided to stay to make sure I had time to recover and to help out with Brooks. I am so thankful that she was able to do that for me. I came home from work everyday and crashed while she cooked, cleaned and took care of Brooks. Mother's Day wasn't a big party or anything this year...but I sure did have plenty of time with my mama. Thanks, Mom - You're the best!

Just so you don't think she did it all of me...

...Brooks and Gammy had plenty of time to hang out!

I hate the smell of soap...

...I gag when I brush my teeth and I don't really feel like myself.
Let me just start by saying that I LOVE being pregnant. I love that God has blessed me with the miracle of life. I know there are so many women out there who are dying to be pregnant. So many women that are heartbroken every time they hear of someone else getting pregnant. I know because I was that woman once. So...I have to make it very clear that I LOVE BEING PREGNANT. Unfortunately, I'm not thrilled with the way I feel when I'm pregnant. I'm only 9 weeks in and all the symptoms that I had last time are already setting in. Here are my TOP TEN complaints about how I feel:
10. I gag every time I brush my teeth. Something about all the toothpaste in my mouth makes me want to throw up.
9. The smell of soap is like the smell of manure. We used to have Irish Spring and I couldn't even stand to cuddle Chad after he showered. We switched to Dove and it's slightly better. But I think I'm going to have to switch to something with no scent at all.
8. Gagging over the sink is a bit embarrassing. I very frequently stand and gag over the sink. It could be a smell or just something that makes me feel better for a moment. It's embarrassing.
7. I can't do much cooking. Cooking meat, garlic, anything really is a serious chore. Right now I am cooking pasta and baked potatoes. Poor Chad has to cook his own food and often he cooks for Brooks as well. Everyone is suffering.
6. Dirty diapers are the worst. Chad graciously changes diapers when he's home, but there have been a few times when Brooks poops in his diaper and I am the only one around. I try to breath out my mouth and not throw up on my son.
5. I have to constantly be eating. It's actually a chore. I have to remind myself to eat every few hours otherwise I get sick.
4. Acid Reflux has set in again. I threw up twice last night just because of the acid in my system. It feels like my food is just sitting on top of my stomach instead of being digested. Instead of burping...I throw up. Gross.
3. Almost every afternoon is when my nausea sets in. That means that I don't really feel like playing with Brooks or being active at all. I eat to feel better, and then I throw up to feel better, and then I have to eat again. It's a vicious cycle.
2. Forget sleeping in on the weekends. I HAVE to wake up to eat. I drag myself out of bed to eat something and some times I can go back to bed, but often I'm up for the day. I joke that between this, having an infant, and breastfeeding for a year -it'll be two years before I get to sleep in again.
1. I'm exhausted. Working all day with 19 first graders, coming home and attempting to play with Brooks, making dinner (kind of), and hanging out with Chad is leaving me completely wiped out. My bed time is getting earlier and earlier. And 5:45 am comes WAY too soon every morning.

With all of that off my chest, I was telling Chad that really in the end, you forget about all of this. I "remember" feeling bad with Brooks but really I don't. Does that make sense? All of these aliments are only temporary, and in the end a new life is born. And having a healthy baby is really the only thing that matters. 7 more months of this and a lifelong with another child...not much to compare.