Puppydogs

I feel like a bad doggy mommy - the past 3 months, I've only posted about the baby growing in me and have neglected my fur babies! So here's a post dedicated to my furry darlings:

Littledog

My sweet Little is just as obsessed with me as I am with him. I know mommas shouldn't have favorites, but, he is our first-born and he's super small and fuzzy and cuddly...

Hubby and I take turns taking the pups out at night - and by "take turns" I mean, I take them out twice a night for 3 nights, and finally on the fourth night when I can't take it anymore, I have to kick him to wake him up and he begrudgingly takes them out. This fourth night has developed a little problem...Little, who follows me everywhere, is taking his love for me to the extreme. He absolutely will not go downstairs with Jonathon. Sadie happily prances along behind him and takes care of business outside, but Little will hold it until morning when he spins in circles til I take him out. Poor pup. He loves me just a little bit too much. It's kinda cute though - I feel so loved!

Crazy Sadie is entering her tween stage. She's just over a year so she's around 11 or 12 human years. This means, she's a brat. A spoiled, rotten, prissy little brat. It's a good thing she's so pretty (I may be a bit biased, but I'm pretty sure she's the prettiest hound dog you ever did see. You can't deny those puppydog eyes and her cute white paws and her huge floppy ears!). 

This little miss certainly has a lot goin' on. A few weeks ago, she was playing with Jonathon and they both got a little too wound up. She ended up scratching his eye (on accident of course, she adores her daddy), sending us to the urgent care center and getting him a whole week off work. It was rough. Poor guy was miserable. She felt pretty bad about it too. 

Then, earlier this week, I came home to find her playing with a jalapeno. Yes, those really hot peppers, ya know, the ones that make things spicy. She found it in the fresh produce bowl on the counter and chewed off the end, ensuring that she tasted those juices! Apparently, this chick likes her some spicy. She absolutely wouldn't give it to me. Took me 5 minutes to chase her through the house and get it to the trash can. Ridiculous. 

Next time, I'll leave a habanero out and see how she likes THAT!  

Ha! 

And finally...Sadie is obsessed with blankets. She won't lay on the couch unless she is either on or under a blanket - sometimes it takes both. She won't go to her bed until we cover her up with her favorite princess blanket. We actually have to tuck her in. At first, I did it cause I was trying to be a good mommy. But now, she literally will not settle down until she gets her blanket. I've never seen a dog need a security blanket.  Jonathon said she's the dog version of Linus (yea, the one from Peanuts). 

These are my babies and this is how they greet me every day:

How much is that doggy in the window....the one with the waggley tail....

I'm really worried about how they will transition with the new baby. On one hand, they're going to be delighted that I'll be home all day. Though they won't get even close to all my attention, they'll get a whole lot more than they do when both hubby and I are at work all day. I'm not too worried about them being jealous. We can deal with that. However....my dogs are crazy and rambunctious. I won't be able to let baby have tummy time on the open floor with them running around. That means baby's gonna be in pack n' plays or baby gates will have to go up asap or pups will go outside (ha...like that'll work...). So, lots to think and worry about. I'm sure it'll all work out, but, as a worrier by nature, I worry. 

That's pretty much all that's up with my furry loves at the moment. And you just can't deny how freaking cute they are...

Little thinks momma's bra is comfy*

Sadie wishes she could wear it*

 

or eat it*

Candy cane bone at Christmas

 

*none of the above bra pictures were staged - all were taken on different days. They just really love bras.

14 weeks, 3 days

14 weeks, 3 days and counting....

I am successfully into my second trimester and have gotten away with only about a week's worth of very, very mild morning sickness. GO ME! My body must like being pregnant. My headaches are going away and my back is barely hurting and I almost feel normal (with the exception of my baby bump...which is mostly bloating in the picture below since it was taken at the end of the day...oops). 

baby bump!

There's not a whole ton to report on...I've been overly busy with work and just day to day stuff. I'm due for a pretty nice promotion in the next few weeks which is exciting, however....I'm not coming back after I have the baby. Kinda stinks that I'm just now getting this promotion, but, I guess the experience and extra money will help regardless. 

We've decided to use my old crib for jellybean. I wanted a nice dark wood crib, BUT not only does my crib have sentimental value, but it matches the desk that we'll be using as a changing table almost perfectly (oh, and we don't have to spend several hundred dollars on it). My sweet hubby bought me the gorgeous glider rocking chair I wanted for my birthday - he even set it up and everything! Go hubby! 

And the most exciting news of all....

I'm having a 4D ultrasound on March 10th! 

And equally exciting...my momma gets to come up tor it! I'm so grateful Jonathon agreed for her to come up for it. He originally wanted it to be just the two of us, but once he realized how important it was to me, he was ok with it. I'm so excited! Taking 2 whole days off of work...lots of sight seeing and shopping and hanging out....then the ultrasound...and then baby shopping! I'll be 18 weeks and 1 day, and we'll finally get to see what we're having!! 

(is it a kitten? a puppy? a chick?)

This pregnant lady is tired and her brain hurts...so that's all for now, folks.

It's facebook official :) (and my first ultrasound!)

Well it's official - FACEBOOK official. Yayy! 

And even more exciting than that is 

WE GOT TO SEE BABY!

Seeing my sweet jellybean's heartbeat was so amazing. I've been insanely nervous about this ultrasound. So many girls in my BabyBump forum were reporting miscarriages after their first US (ultrasound) so I have been really anxious about finding an empty sac or see a baby with no heartbeat. But my little one was super active, doing somersaults and waving it's hands and kicking it's feet and the little flicker of a heartbeat was going strong (heartbeat was 150 - old wives tale says boy...as well as all the other old wives tales...guess we'll find out soon enough)! We listened for a few seconds and got the typical galloping horses sound (which by the way is so much cooler when it's your own baby than when it's someone else's). Jonathon was so quiet - he sat and stared at the screen. The doctor and I chatted the whole time but he was 100% silent - shock? excitement? Who knows. But he definitely beat me to posting the official announcement on facebook - before the doctor had even left the room, he had posted it and already gotten one "like"!

Here's my favorite US pictures - the doctor gave us 7 but these were the best and the only ones where you could really see anything

Funny story: My doctor is obsessed with baby feet. The entire US, she kept telling us that our baby has the cutest feet ever and she kept squealing with excitement (unprofessional? maybe. But it was SO nice seeing her excited about our baby rather than it being "just another normal day at work"). Every time baby would put it's foot out, which was non-stop, she would snap a picture. At the end as we were walking out, she told me to hide the pictures before I left the room because she was really only supposed to give me 2, but since my baby had such cute feet, she couldn't help herself. Made me grin! 

And finally, my dad is so excited about baby. He's been waiting rather impatiently to announce it from the pulpit of his church and calls me all the time to check on me and baby. He's busy making plans and giving advice - I love it! My mom is equally excited, but no surprise there! And the uncle-to-be is apparently obsessed with baby as well. This is gonna be one very very loved baby. 

:)

9 weeks, 1 day...

I'm exhausted, I'm irritable, I'm nauseous about half of the time, I have a million random little tugs and pulls and pinches, I'm paranoid, my back hurts, my head hurts, and I'm ready for this first trimester to be over! 

*Disclaimer: this is a rant. I am overjoyed to be pregnant, and I was as aware as possible of what I was getting myself into when we began trying to conceive, however, as a hormonal pregnant lady, I'm entitled to a rant every now and then*

This isn't fun so far. Once I can actually announce the news, I'll be a lot happier. Having to hide Saltines at work and sneak to the bathroom every half hour isn't exactly making me happy. Several of the women there know that we've been trying to get pregnant for a while because we're a pretty close-knit group. One lady in particular is beyond nosy and every time she asks how I am and say anything like "I'm tired" or "I'm ok" or anything other than "perfectly fabulous" she goes "oh my gosh, are you pregnant?!".   

Ugh. Stop. Enough.

As if that's not annoying enough (if I weren't pregnant, the last thing I'd want to be constantly reminded of is me NOT being pregnant, so, either way, she needs to just stop), once I tell her I'm not, she proceeds to give me advice on how I should go about getting pregnant:

"Oh, it'll happen when you least expect it" 

"Just stop trying and it'll happen"  

Really?! 

 These are the two most annoying things someone could ever say to someone trying to conceive. Every blog, poll, forum, conversation I've read lists these two comments as the #1 most irritating piece of "advice" that is likely to solicit the receiver of the advice picturing the adviser in a Vulcan death grip. 

just shut up.

Now, on to my original statement:  

I'm exhausted - every day I come home, I take a nap. A two or three hour nap. The house is a mess (except my amazing hubby cleaned the whole downstairs yesterday - woohooo!), we're not eating well because I'm too tired to cook, much less go grocery shopping, and the poop pups are being neglected.

I'm irritable - I don't want to talk to anyone or see anyone pretty much most of the time. They irritate me. All of the time. Most of the time. I don't even know.

I'm nauseous about half of the time - so morning sickness hasn't really hit me hard at all (hence the reason I've accepted the fact/assumption that I'm having a boy - thank you to the old wives tales and just a "feeling" - go ahead and laugh at me), but almost every day once I get settled into work, I just feel like poo.

I have a million random little tugs and pulls and pinches - there's pin-pricks in my side, my belly button feels like it's bruised, everything is stretching and pulling which results in tons of odd sensations. None that really hurt, but, are noticeable and irritating and enough to make me go "ummm....huh?"

I'm paranoid - since the pregnancy started out with some spotting, I've been overly paranoid about a miscarriage. They are oh so very common, especially this early on, I'm doing everything I can to prevent one (no drugs/alcohol obviously {this is harder than you might think....because no drugs/alcohol means no Excedrin for my migraines, no muscle relaxers when my back aches, and no cold medicine when I'm all stuffed up}, taking it easy, not eating the million foods on the list of no-no's, etc.). However, all the little tugs and pulls and pricks just keep me on edge. Thankfully I've started to calm down and stress a little less over this the last week or so as stress only makes things worse, but I'm still nervous. I'm really looking forward to my first ultrasound so I can see my little jellybean and hear his little heartbeat.  

Make sure my baby's ok.

My back hurts - constantly.

My head hurts - constantly.

And I'm ready for this first trimester to be over! - I can't wait to have a baby bump, to feel him kick, to really "feel" pregnant, to find out the sex, to get the nursery ready, to start buying stuff, to start having fun! Yes, I know I will only get more uncomfortable as time progresses, but so far, I'm just the same ol' me with nothing to show for it. 

Just ready for that next step.

I'm gonna have a little tiny baby!

It's official: 

 I'm pregnant! 

Jonathon have been trying since April and we found out December 11, 2011 that we are indeed going to have a baby. This month, we decided to hold off on trying during the holidays and pick back up after my birthday in February. I guess this relieved a lot of stress and totally unexpectedly, a baby was conceived! And I'm pretty sure it was Thanksgiving morning - haha. Sunday night, I had a sneaking suspicion that I was so I decided to test before we went to bed. I was thinking it would be negative regardless since you're supposed to always test in the morning, but I got 2 lines immediately - didn't even have to wait a whole 30 seconds. I freaked out, ran in the bedroom and threw the test at Jonathon who was already asleep. He wasn't sure what to say so he kinda sat there and stared at it and said "well, looks like we're pregnant" or something non-exciting like that. The next morning, I came in late to work and stopped at CVS to get more tests. And yes, I tested in the office bathroom when I got in and got 2 very, very dark lines. Go me :)

I'm a solid 6 weeks, 1 day pregnant today 

and my due date is August 11, 2012. 

I had my first OB appointment this past Tuesday with Dr. Stephenson who was fantastic. I'm actually disappointed she doesn't get to be my doctor for the whole pregnancy. Kinda strange, this military thing - my first appointment was at the Quantico clinic with one OB where they did bloodwork (but never did a pregnancy test which I found amusing...what if I was crazy and lied about being pregnant? they just wasted a whole 2 hours....but whatever! Figured that would've been priority numero uno!) and I signed more papers than I did when we bought our car. The rest of my appointments will be in Woodbridge, which is oh so convenient for me since it's about 10 minutes from my office. Woohoo!

My next appointment is when I'm 10w1d where I'll get my first ultrasound. Can't wait to see my little jelly bean (baby's nickname, by the way)!

Today was especially exciting. I got my first baby and maternity clothes from Angelfood (along with a box of food - mmmm) which is an organization that gives boxes of food to military families E-5 and below, as well as gobs of clothes. They have a whole room set up with clothes that you can pick through and just take whatever you need. I got a pair of maternity capris and a maternity skirt, and a whole bag full of neutral baby clothes. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be working on cleaning out the to-be nursery so that when I slowly start collecting baby items, I'll have somewhere to put them! It's a good thing I won't find out the gender for several more months, otherwise, I'd have already have the nursery bought and put together lol. 

one of my favorites - says "my best friend" and is covered in dogs hehe

So, that's pretty much it. My head is swimming with baby thoughts, so there's really not much room left for anything else at the moment. I think it's time for a nap!

Invisible.

It’s like I don’t even exist.

I can’t speak about other military bases, but Quantico is 100% centered on
kids and families with kids.
There are playgrounds on literally every corner – including directly across from my house.
There are like, 8 schools, just for this one base.
The CDC (child development center) is huge and apparently they’re building a second (or is this the third?) one…IN my neighborhood. I see the crane from my house.
There are extra-wide sidewalks everywhere for runners with baby strollers.
Even the military spouses Facebook page I’m a member of is focused on kids. Every day, I get about 10 emails with posts with questions all relating to kids:
My kid’s screaming, someone wanna come babysit?
My kid is so cute, please vote for him.
My kid just burped. Awwwww.
My kid had a gross diaper and it looked like green peas – what does this mean?

Seriously??

I’m a dying breed on this base: not super newly married, working full time, and childless. Because of these things, I am invisible. I can’t go get coffee or go to the mall because I’m at work. I can’t go on play dates because I have no kids. I’m not a newly wed so I can’t even bond over that. Everyone here gets knocked up just by their husbands looking at them, so I can’t even bond over the TTC (trying to conceive) ordeal.

And then there’s the dogs. With as many people that have dogs on this base, you think they’d be a bit more pet-friendly.
Housing screws you over if you have pets – I’m talking, you gotta pay $1000’s upon moving out.
All the playgrounds have “NO ANIMALS” signs.
There’s not a single dog park (actually – no dog parks within 30 minutes of me).
Barking dogs are enough to get the cops called on you (but of course kids running up and down the adjoining stairs and screaming babies and annoying brats on the playground with the squeaky swings don’t warrant any sort of attention other than their mother’s going “awwwww look at my baby”).

I have nothing against people with kids – obviously, since I’ve been trying to have one of my own for several months now. But, even though I’d give my left arm to be a part of this elite majority, I unfortunately cannot be in this group right now. So what am I supposed to do? How do I meet people? I’m sorry, but I want to go to a nice restaurant and stay out late sometimes – screaming babies and whiney kids just make it miserable. I love kids, but since I don’t have any yet, I want to enjoy life without them for a while, but that’s apparently impossible here.

And another thing. How the heck am I supposed to meet new friends? I’m telling you, it’s impossible. And frustrating. And makes the TTC process just all that more frustrating.

Hello, have we met?

Well hello! It's been a little bit since I've stopped by. There's been SO much going on, I'm not sure where to start. 

My parents & brother just left after being here a week for Thanksgiving. We had an absolute blast! We made gingerbread houses and went to Occoquan and the National Zoo (we saw a cheetah fight between 3 brothers....very cool...and scary for about 3 seconds) - those are just the highlights. Sometimes I hate having people visit, not because it's an inconvenience or anything, but then it makes me miss them so much more when they leave. It's easy to stop missing them so much when it's been 6 months, but the fresh missing isn't fun. And who knows when we'll get to go home again...

It's almost Christmas! I have half the presents bought and the other half are planned and budgeted - just waiting for the money to appear on the tree outside to purchase them. Ha!  Hubby's getting a gun - I told him I was willing to splurge on the one condition that he keeps my freezer full of meat. I figure if we spend a few hundred on a gun, he (theoretically) could save us MANY hundreds on meat. Maybe I'll start using venison as our main meat instead of chicken. Mmmm. 

And of course, the main focus of my life has been baby-makin. 

FAIL. 

I absolutely can't seem to get pregnant. I think we're going to stop trying for the next few months - probably until after February - and just let things take their course. No more charting or stressing or planning. I need a break! After my birthday in February, I'll start charting again and if nothing by April/May (which makes the big, ugly, scary ONE YEAR mark), then to the doctor I shall go. In the mean time, I'm going to try to lose as much weight as possible. I don't have a real goal in mind (ok well kinda...) but just as MUCH as possible. Cause I definitely need my starting point to be as small as possible so I don't look like a tank/whale/ship/ whatever if/when I actually get pregnant. I want to have a basketball pregnancy....

My most recent reads, 

Something Borrowed & Something Blue by Emily Giffin  

are some fabulous books that Lindsey (find her blog here)  recommended I read. In the second one, the main character is pregnant (what a surprise....) and she's super vain and is determined to have a "basketball pregnancy". This is where you remain a perfect stick and just look like you put a basketball under your shirt. I could only hope......

So...that's pretty much my current life in a nutshell. Boring, eh?