Who needs AAA?

Beginning November 30th, I have been a magnet for all things wrong with driving.  My poor car is the same one my parents bought for me when I was in high school, BUT we have no payment and it still runs well...or did.

On that fateful day a nice young lady thought it was more important to talk on her cell phone that apply the breaks needed to stop her car from hitting mine.  After a few hours at the hospital making sure little man was ok and not suffering from the seat belt, I made it home only to begin my fight with her insurance company.  No worries, everything seems to be going more smoothly with this situation at the moment.

Next, I decided it was better to change the radio station going around a curve than watching the road, so I hit an inanimate object on my way to work less than a week later.  My poor car.  Seriously, this incident knocked the mirror right on off.

I thought my bad luck streak was over, but apparently the third time's a charm!  I went to start my car after work this Tuesday and she just decided to die.  Nothing.  No cranking.  No moving.  Nothing.  Did I mention it was in the 20s outside?  I called my dad to come help since Phillip was at work until 3 AM and it was only 6 PM at the time.  Who needs AAA when you have good ole DAD?!

While Phillip is in the process of repairing the irreparable, my parents let me borrow a van that they use for the florist.  Now, this should be amusing in and of itself since this is a HUGE Chevy Astro van complete with a sign in the window that reads "I'm delivering flowers and will return shortly."  I asked my dad if he was sure he didn't want the sign to put in another van while I had this one.  His response: "Nah!  Keep it.  You get to park anywhere with that thing!"  Oh bless him.

So I began my tenure with the trusty ole van.  I have to admit that I like being big.  However, I do not like being big on icy roads (I slid the other morning on the way to work...whole different story).  I left work one day and noticed that the heat was on but nothing was coming out of the vent.  I called my dad after fidgeting with the settings for a while to no avail.  I asked if there was something I needed to do or push that I hadn't seen.  Here's the conversation that ensued:

Me: Dad, the vents aren't blowing out anything in the van, but it says they are on high.
Dad: Oh, yeah.  You probably just hit a speed bump or something.
Me: What does that have to do with the heat?
Dad: Oh it doesn't really, but the fan just stops working sometimes if you hit a bump just right.
Me: Oh heavens!
Dad: There's a rubber mallet in the floor board there.  Just pull over, lift the hood, and start hitting the fan box until it comes back on.  I even made it easy to identify.  I marked the box with a X not too long ago.
Me: Thanks for the help there.

Needless to say, I did not pull over to beat the crap out of a van in the middle of Charlotte.  Fortunately, the van decided to remedy itself after having a little breather.  I love my dad for so many reasons.  Most of which include "solutions" to problems such as this one.

I'll have updates on life soon.  It's been a busy few weeks.  Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Little Bean Update

The day after Thanksgiving we had an appointment set up with my doctor and the ultrasound tech.  I was famished from fasting for almost 18 hours, but we were SO excited to find out what our little bean was.  So, with no further ado...

Phillip is beyond thrilled.  I am quite relieved because we already knew the boy name, the baby's heart beat is great, and it weighs right under what it should at the moment.  According to the pictures, he has long fingers and big lips (like his daddy).  He didn't want us to see his face for a while.  He kept putting his hands up every time the tech tried to get a profile picture of him.  I made my doctor happy by gaining a whole pound over the course of this pregnancy.  :-)  (I am sure Thanksgiving had nothing to do with this.)

Sandra and Steven got into town not long after our appointment and brought TONS of goodies with them, including this big baby foot in a bunch of balloons.

I will post more about our holiday later, but I thought this would be a great way to hold you over!

Thanks for all of the prayers!

Pearls aren't just for wearin'!

I have spent approximately the past four months living in my house, absolutely worthless as a housewife.  However, for the past week or so I've had some energy and my medicine has been effectively controlling my nausea.  This makes me quite happy!  

This past weekend I had committed to visiting Raleigh.  I had a shower to attend for my precious Bible study leader from college, Renn.   (P.S. - One of the cutest pregnant women I have ever seen).  One of my closest friends, Jenni, graciously played hostess to me for the weekend.   This included coming into Jenni's house and being welcomed with Snyder's pretzels (because they are the best) and caffeine free Mountain Dew (because this little bean has me drinking weird things).  It was awesome!  I was able to have lunch with my fabulous college roommate since she and her family are back from their years as missionaries in Thailand.  Unfortunately, most of my day Saturday was not a great feeling day, but I took meds and prayed for a better Sunday as I headed off to bed.

I always do the same thing on Sundays in Raleigh: go to Hope Community Church with Miss Katie.  If you live in the Raleigh area and don't have a home church, I highly recommend this one.  It has been so great watching the church grow.  When I first started going to Hope my sophomore year of college, there were only 50 or so people at the church and we met in a small building somewhere.  Now, it's a massive church with a following that just speaks to the power of God and what His committed followers can do for a community.

When I got home I realized that I had a LOT to do regarding my very neglected house.  Sandra and Steven are coming in on Friday, so I wanted to try to get what I could done.  I've been working on and off all week (it's amazing how sore and tired I get in such a short period of time).  Tonight, I decided to switch up my "tablescape" as Sandra Lee calls it.  I turned up some Josh Groban Christmas music and got to work (don't judge me, it's close enough to Christmas).

Normally it looks something like this:

I use another center piece, but these have frequented.  Aren't green roses fun?!

As of tonight, it looks a bit more like this:

I love our formal china, but must admit that we seldom ever use it.  So I thought this would be a fun way to break it out and perhaps force myself to utilize it.  I also did not want to spend money to completely change the look of our dining area.  I took a cost effective route.  Obviously, the china was from our wedding (almost 3 years ago).  Several months ago Pier 1 introduced these lovelies to the market.  Like any good Meredith girl, I snatched them right on up.  Granted, they were $4.95 each, but I didn't consider that pocket money because it was spent pre-baby.  :-)

Pearls aren't just for wearin'!  I am in love with these, you should be too.  I had to buy the napkins because I had none that would match our china.  I was walking through Target today picking up some last minute things for the weekend when I stumbled upon these beauts!  And for $3.99 a pack, who could resist?! 

The only remaining problem was the centerpiece.  I knew what I would use, but I had to prep this while Phillip was gone (spray paint had to be used and he says I can't do that and be with child).  I bought some pillar candles last year post-Christmas from Target, but never found a candelabra to use.  Earlier in the year my mom gave me a brass one from the florist.  She said they never used it and told me to do what I wanted with it.  My solution: spray paint.  Now, I love new things as much as the next person.  However, this cost NOTHING...and I like that more!  :-)  Not too shabby.

Opinions?  Reviews?  I think for a total of $7.98 plus tax, it wasn't too terrible.

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll!

Living Out Loud

Being honest is always something I've prided myself on doing.  My husband is much the same way.  Sometimes we are brutally honest, but at least neither of us are hiding behind a veil of secrecy.  This whole baby phase caused me to re-evaluate the way I approach honesty, and when/how we allow people in our lives to know intimate details.

The problem is that a lot of the fertility issues we faced prior to getting pregnant left a strong sense of guilt lingering over my head.  None of the issues were under either of our control, but the problems were with my body and not Phillip's.  I can't express how much guilt I felt (and still feel) over this fact.  Either way, I have been ashamed of our problems instead of rejoicing in them as a way to bring glory to God.

I had been quite fearful that people would see our blog or listen to our problems and judge me for them.  Perhaps that was an irrational fear, but I judged myself so I could only assume others would do the same.  I don't care anymore though.  I am slowly realizing that this is a part of our story.  I believe that our child will be all the more special to us for the struggles we had to endure.  Maybe this was a way God used to better prepare us for parenting.

In any event, I talked to Phillip and we decided to make the blog public.  If you know someone struggling, feel free to share.  I did not have many people to talk to during this whole battle and I believe it is because so many people endure it in painful silence.  (For those precious few, you know you are my angels and I don't know where I'd be without you.)  If we can be a beacon of light or hope, then I want to put our story out there (regardless of the consequences).

Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  Keep 'em coming!

P.S. - According to thebump.com, this week the baby is the size of an avocado.  :-)

Silver Linings...

I've decided to take a leap of faith and jump.  We've had a little secret for about 16 weeks now, and I've just been too scared to let everyone in on it for fear that something terrible might happen.  

You see, we're expecting (we find out just what we're expecting in 2 weeks, so have patience).  

There is lots more to this story, but I don't have the words or the energy right now.   We just wanted to ask for prayer.  I am still weighing less than I did before the pregnancy began, so the doctor is wanting me to gain weight (because the fertility drugs didn't make me gain enough, right?).  I just got out of the hospital tonight.  I have had a tough time with 24/7 "morning" sickness.  I don't want to get too sick because obviously that's bad for the little one, and they keep wanting to slap me in the hospital (like today).  However for the first time tonight, I was able to faintly hear its heart beat (this is big and has been problematic previously), so I decided it's a great time to let everyone in on our precious gift!

So, with that said I will post more later.  Please send up a few prayers for us and thank you for your faithfulness thus far.  Love you all!