Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Spring Break?

Spring Break? Has it already come and gone?

Day 2 hikers.
Once again we had an action packed week off from work. Here are a few phone pics of all of our shenanigans.

We set out early Sunday morning for good ol' Hot Springs Arkansas. Now this was a total shot in the dark because no one in my family had actually visited Hot Springs. Each family member had to submit a family vacation idea and mine was Hot Springs, the pressure was on! Twelve people ranging from 3 to 72 years old piled into two SUVs and set out for Arkansas.....the Natural State.

Cue up Willie...we are on the road again!

Don't worry, he wasn't driving:)

We stayed at Cozy Acres. I will be totally honest, driving up to this place I was sweating bricks. I had found this cabin online and the photos looked nice but after the 4th trailer park we passed I was getting a little nervous. I was very happy when we finally did pull in. This was a great spot if you are planning a trip to Hot Springs. Just FYI, it's about 30 minutes from the actual historic district through some winding Arkansas back roads.

View from our back porch

Day 1: Unpack, relax, play games, eat dinner

Enjoying some wine and a view



Day 2: We spent the morning lounging around which was really nice because we never really do that as a family. Mr. R has become addicted to dominoes after the marathon tournament that went on last week. After lunch we headed out to Hot Springs National Park which is literally in the town center. My brother, sister, Mr. R, 8 year old niece, and 4 year old nephew left first for the long hike. Just under 3 miles. That's a lot for little legs.....I'm talking about me:)
 
We later met up with the entire family for a shorter hike and then headed back for more drinking, relaxing, and games...I think I had a nap in there somewhere.

My girl MG!

I'm not quite sure what's happening here????
Last leg of the hike we starting losing steam!
The R's....all three of us!
Crasher Man!!


Day 3: We hit the town....not a whole lot to hit y'all! We had already driven past bath house row the day before and we decided when your in you're in Hot Springs, bathe you must! Me, Mr. R, my mother, brother, and brother-in-law woke up at the crack-o-dawn to be the first ones in line at the Buckstaff Bath House. What. An. Experience. A grown woman....eeeerrr several women saw be in all my glory. Hello Arkansas! One even bathed me, yep, it happened. Naked in a bath tub full of mineral water and scrubbed by a stranger. I might have enjoyed it if I wasn't totally freaking out. Do me a favor. Google Sitz bath Hot Springs....it happened....to all of us! The hardest I have laughed in a long time was hearing Mr. R describe his Sitz bath experience!!

Buckstaff Baths, Hot Springs

You cannot take your phones or a camera past the locker room, with good reason, so I do not have any actual shots of the bathing process. I will tell you if you are in Hot Springs you should try it. Go in willing to do and show just about anything. All of the women were so super nice and the stories and the laughter once we all got back together pretty much made the trip.

Buckstaff Baths, Hot Springs
We had breakfast at the famous Pancake Shop after the baths where we met up with the rest of the crew. After breakfast half went to the Alligator farm and half went antique shopping. Guess where I went? After an afternoon nap we enjoyed the lake. Fishing, paddle boats, and a little more porch sitting.

Day 4: When traveling with my brother not one moment goes unplanned. Our cabin check-out was at 10am and wouldn't you know ol' D planned a sunrise hike, out the door at 6:45. This was really a great hike and well worth it! We just hopped over to Ouachita National Forest and hiked a quick 4 mile trail. 
Oh hey Hot Springs!
I swear I wore make-up and something other than that old grey sweat shirt on this vacation but that is all that got photographed.

 
I had one of those moments on this trip. You know, the moment when you stop what you are doing and just look around for a second. As I am playing cards with my niece the little boys were running around together. My sister sitting across from me reading. A game of dominoes in the background. All the people I love in one room in total harmony. It's a surreal feeling and I hope my family felt it too because it was oh-so great!
 
We came home Wednesday night to a happy dog and spent the rest of the week working on the house. We closed out the weekend spending time with great friends. Mark it down for another great spring break y'all!

Happy Hot Springs!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Dang girl!!!!!

So I am writing this post about two months late. I blame some weird gene that I am lacking because as most woman want to scream this news from the roof top I am still trying to hide it. I am thrilled to tears but very guarded about the entire experience. And I guess that's why it takes 40 weeks to grow this little bundle.

No world, I didn't just eat a hamburger......I'm having a baby!!!

Yippee! Our family is growing!
I envy the women who say their pregnancies were easy and they enjoyed it because this lady has struggled a little bit. Don't get me wrong, Mr. R and I are excited but I had my head in a toilet for about 5 weeks straight! So I'm going to tell you how it is folks. I'm not going to sugar coat this, it is fresh on my mind and I am telling the women (and men) of the world what it might be like for them....here we go. Warning!!! It might be graphic!

Morning sickness is all day and night. Who ever named it, never had it...just saying! This horrible symptom of pregnancy will wake you from your cozy little bed at 3am. It will hit you with such a force your knees will buckle. I read that some women snacked in bed to suppress the urge to hurl in the middle of the night. But the thought of eating a Saltine in my bed next to my sleeping husband weirded me out so I opted for apple sauce and graham cracker in the privacy of my kitchen at 3am. It was the hardest weeks 7-12. Thank the Lord that was right in the middle of Christmas break and I could feel miserable in the comfort of my own home. Brushing my teeth was the worst and guess what happens after you puke....you have to brush your teeth again. Some days it took 20 minutes just to get out the door. At this point in the pregnancy I was screaming from the bathroom floor "this totally sucks!!!" and I meant it! Even this morning, week 20, I puked in the sink while I was brushing my teeth. GROSS!

Extreme exhaustion! I have always been a napper throughout childhood and into adulthood no one ever had to convince me to take a nap. I am the kind of person who needs 8 solid hour a night too. I rarely make it through watching a movie at home...I'm just a sleeper...that's me. Well throw a growing fetus in the mix and we have a different ball game people. I could have slept 18 hours a day. I was falling asleep during my off block sitting at my desk everyday! I would come home and take two hour naps and then go to bed at 9pm....and that was a late night. This, thank goodness, is over and I finally have that second trimester burst of energy.

Emotional Nightmare! This is something that really gets breezed over in all of the pregnancy books and every human being should know this. Every. Single. One. Pregnant women are crazy! No really, there is a hormone surge and I'm shocked more people are not killed during this time. I am normally a pretty even person. I am not a fighter. I tend to let things stew and then let them blow over. I like people to get along around me. I want my husband to like me so I try not to nag him. I cry when I am happy and sad but nothing too abnormal.

Before I even thought I was pregnant, before the pregnancy test, before a sonogram....I lost my frapping mind y'all. Tears, oh the tears, throwing myself on the floor because I had nothing to wear (And I know there are people reading this who think they have seen this fit before but nothing like this). Yelling at my husband for not edging the lawn...yep, it happened. Crazy crazy crazy thoughts!!!! Mind lost! Common words I used everyday were now lost somewhere in a pregnancy fog. I couldn't remember anything!! I think/hope I am getting better. Mr. R just walks away slowly when he sees my crazy eyes. And I do not blame him at all. As crazy as I am, I am totally aware of it, but have no control. And then I just feel pathetic for trying to apologize for being crazy. How do you say sorry for that?

Other non-glamorous things....
My once tight little booty........no more. It was the first to go, followed by every lean muscle in my legs then arms. I'm blaming the early pregnancy weight loss. I was so sickly looking! I looked at my back side in the mirror and actually asked out loud "Who's ass is that?". It happened.

Break-outs! What the hell! Finally over that, thank goodness!

Heart burn! Oh holy hell, I have had heart burn before, probably more than most girls my age. Boy Howdy! Everything gives me heart burn! Bananas give me heart burn! So so so so strange!!!

Having to change underwear 5 times a day. If you don't know why, google it! There is a medical reason and it feels like you tinkle yourself every 10 minutes. Pregnancy is so glamorous!

Oh, lets not forget the GAS!! Yeah, I went there.

Why have women not evolved from all of this?!?!?!?

Phew, glad most of that is over. Now, are you ready for the good things? Because with all of the crap I just talked about, the good out weights the bad. I promise!! And the best is really yet to come, right folks?

THE BOOBS!! Oh glorious boobs! I have been waiting my entire life for my boobs to come in. My entire life! When I was 5 years old I watch my early blooming sister buy her first bra and I thought when I was 10 I would do the same. 10 came and went....no boobs. Maybe I was a late bloomer? Middle school, high school, college...nothing. I was even excited to get on birth control because women always talked about how their boobs got bigger......nada! Late bloomer I am.....31 baby! Oh the boobs are so great! I know some women complain about this during pregnancy but when you have never filled out a bra it is a very big deal. Oh...so great!

Feeling the baby move. Imagine a little tiny person inside you moving....that's what it feels like. It makes me smile every time it happens. I felt the baby at 16 weeks and my all-knowing mother says that is early but I don't really have a lot of cushion to hide those little taps and jabs.  Something was moving in there!! After the alarm goes off in the morning I lay there for about 5 minutes and just feel him/her dancing around....best part of my day. Mr. R finally felt a kick this weekend too...he loved it.

We are expecting our little boy or girl in July! As I'm typing I am tearing up. We are having a baby y'all! I knew I always wanted to be a mom. Nothing in my past medical history led me to believe I would have any trouble getting pregnant or having a baby and still for some reason I thought it would be a little bit harder. I say this statement with a very heavy heart as I am/have been surrounded by woman who have struggled with this and my heart just breaks for them. Maybe this is why I am so timid to share this news because we are not promised any of this. This little person inside me is a miracle!

Even after several sonograms, a heart beat, morning sickness, etc you (ok I) didn't really feel pregnant until someone outside my immediate family notices. I was at the gym strolling to the bathroom in my usual work out gear and from across the gym I hear....


"Dang girl! You're PREGNANT?!?!? (Pointing at my mid section) I haven't seen THAT before, where did THAT come from?"

This coming from a trainer who has seen me prance through the gym weekly for the past 3 years. Until that moment the only words we have spoke to each other were hello. 

I was first mortified because half the gym turned around but after a few seconds of my face boiling red I felt kind of special! Someone noticed! AND I cannot tell you how happy I was he pointed at my stomach and not my ass!




So here is the progression so far. Not much to show. I hate hate hate the 12 weeks picture because I look so pale and sickly!! And I was! I'm kind of cracking up looking at these because it's pretty obvious I'm pushing it all out! The 18 week picture was moments before the gym call-out! George Strait really wanted to be in the picture....he is really excited!


We're having a baby!?!?!?
We told the R crew when we had everyone over to celebrate December and January birthdays. I made this onesie for my mother-in-law to open. Our little bundle will be her 7th grade child. Everyone was a little confused at first. My nephew shouted out...."It's underwear!" But soon the family figured it out. Grand child #7 was on the way.


We told my family on Christmas morning. We had a double surprise to share. You can read more about  it on my brother's blog. My sister-in-law is due two weeks after me! It really was awesome to see my Dad's face when he realized he was going to have two new grand babies this summer! There were lots of happy tears! I felt horrible hiding it from my sister/best friend for 10 weeks. She thought I was mad at her:) Little did she know I was avoiding her because I was so sick!

I'm not sure if the kids really understood/understand. One of my favorite quotes of this pregnancy is from my 3 year old nephew Cal.

Cal: (Looking at my stomach with a cute 3 year old twang) You gotta baby in there?
Me: Yep!
Cal: (Lifting up my shirt) Where is it?
Me: It's inside my belly.
Cal: You ate your baby?!?!

I am actually due before my sister-in-law but we were trying to trick everyone....and it worked! I can't imagine how much fun next Christmas will be!!

So there's our "leetle" secret, all out there for the world to see. Pray for our little bundle and that the rest of the pregnancy goes smoothly. We feel so blessed to have made it to the half way mark! Now lets decorate a nursery y'all!



Happy Belly!