Good Morning! 

I'm sorry it's been so long in between updates from me again...  To be honest I don't have all that much going on in life right now... I mean you can only say "I'm PREGNANT" once and you can only say I'm sick as a dog so many times... And since those two things have pretty much ruled my life since the second week of October I find myself with very little to actually say.

However, this week was a little bit different! 

For those of you who will ask, we concurred the skunk!  I'm washing the very last load of skunk affected material right now.  I've found that pouring a bit of vinegar into the bleach trap takes the smell right out.  As far as Gandalf goes... well, if you get right up in his face his jowls still smell of skunk a bit so we just keep applying the spray.  BUT the rest of him smells lovely from all that expensive skunk shampoo! :)  The worst part of this whole ordeal is that he is MY dog.  He comes to ME when he wants attention, petting, lovin' on, ect.  And because my nose is so darn sensitive at the moment, I pretty much have to beat him off in panic if he comes up to me unexpectedly...  because, let's face it, close up dog breath perfumed with Pepe Le'Pew's new Ode de colon... "Week old skunk" is NOT good right now.  It breaks my heart to see his face fall and have him walk away with the "what did I do wrong mama?" face on.  I've been making Ryan spend lots of time with him and every time I walk by when he's laying down I make it a point to pet on him and rub his belly with my toes... but I know it doesn't quite make up for it.  Poor guy!

Back to the news! 

This week we had unexpected guests!  Ryan's parents, Denny and Cheryl, surprised us a few days before Thanksgiving and asked if they could come to us for the holiday.  We, of course, said the more the merrier!  This was the first big holiday that we've been with any of our family since Christmas of 2005 so it was a banner day for us!  They got in on Wednesday night and stayed until early Saturday morning. 

In those two and a half days I got exactly ONE picture!  Pffffftttt....  I whipped out my camera just before we ate and got a picture of the spread and only my Father in law, Denny, is in it because he was ready to eat!

We had; turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry stuffing, vedalia onion cornbread, sweet potato pie, rolls, green bean salad, corn nuggets (these lovely little local bits... cream corn breaded and deep fried! YUMMO) and of course off the table are my famous Pumpkin Cheesecake (I hope everyone I shared the recipe with found it a great addition to their holidays!  I know it's one of my very favorite recipes!) and a homemade Pecan Pie.  It was quite a lot of food for four and I have to be honest... I left out a few of the traditional family dishes just to cull it down a bit!  CRAZY!

As for the rest of the time they were here...  There isn't all that much to do in Del Rio...  we spent a lot of time just visiting, which is a GREAT use of time in my opinion!  On Friday we had a slow morning and then hit the town.  We took them on a tour of the town... it took about 30 minutes :)  Then we went to the base and showed them all it has to offer... That took about 15 minutes...  Then we showed them Ryan's office and headed home.  Then on Friday night we hit the town for some good old fashioned Texas BBQ.  They treated us to dinner at Rudy's which is a fun place to eat.  I have pictures from a dinner when my mom and dad were here but I FORGOT MY CAMERA this time.  I was so bummed!  I was looking forward to doing a post about the Rudy's experience (you sit at long picnic tables and eat off of a wax paper placemat with your hands then wash off at a trough when you're done... it's a blast!!!) and I still will but I wanted pictures of both sets of parents...  BUMMER!  I've just gotten out of the habit of taking my camera along these days... there isn't all that much to see around here.  :)

All in all we had a lovely time!  It's always fun to have some good one on one visit time.  We've been the visitors for so many years now that we almost never have a chance to get a lot of time with any one person or couple during a trip.  Having a HUGE family and usually only 10 to 14 days to visit all of them does create a very busy trip! 

The only problem with their visit was that we could NEVER stop talking and as a result we were all up until 2am on Friday night.  They woke us up on Saturday morning at 6:45am to say goodbye and hit the road for their 13 hour drive after only 4 hours of sleep.  THAT I wouldn't wish on anyone.  YIKES!  They made it home safe, sound and exhausted!  We had a great time... Thanks for the last minute visit Mom and Dad!!!

The last bit of news is that I am now in my 2nd Trimester!!! 

After 9 years and 3 miscarriages I'm only a few weeks away from feeling my baby kick for the very first time... It doesn't feel real... not one bit.  No matter how sick or tired I am I just keep expecting to wake up! 

One thing that's making it feel a little more real now is that I already can't button my pants... In fact the little hairband trick isn't working for me anymore either!  Because of the nature of my surgery five years ago the doctor doesn't think I'll gain very much weight during the pregnancy because I've maintained a solid weight for over four years now.  I seem to have the perfect balance of getting just the nutrients I need and nothing more.  This is why, in my doctor's opinion, I am VERY anemic and they've now put me on B-12 supplements as well.  He thinks I get just enough for me and the baby is taking it all so I'm running on empty!  LOL  In fact at 13 weeks and bit pregnant I have a HUGE pooch and I've actually lost 3 pounds.  I can't even throw up so who knows where it's going.  I now have to up my calorie intake as well.  So they are anticipating a small gain and due to the nature of the surgery and my body shape (as in I literally have 4, count 'em, FOUR inches between the bottom of my rib cage and the top of my hip bone) they think I'm going to look like a torpedo!  Should be fun...

All that said...  Everyone is asking for belly pictures and I happened to actually feel good enough to get out of my PJ's today... so here you go! 

This is the only comparison picture I could find.  This was last Christmas on my four year anniversary of my surgery and I have not changed a bit since then... well UNTIL I got pregnant.

I swear I'm standing up perfectly straight.  I'm straight up and down with that bump.  INSANE! 

Well, that's it for me today!  I have permission from my sister to share all of my pictures of my new nephew, Aaron, so those will be coming soon. 

Auf Wiedersehen!  (Yes I know I'm on the border of Mexico... but I just can't switch... I love the German!)

Courtney

Good morning,

I can't believe it's been almost a week since my last...  The days are just spinning away from me in a fog of sleep and sickness...

First of all I would like to make it very clear that I AM NOT COMPLAINING! 

I have never in my life been thrilled to be sick but honestly after 9 years of infertility, and 3 heartbreaking losses I find great comfort in being so sick and so tired!  Every normal sign of pregnancy is to be greatly rejoiced in and I AM. 

BUT...  I have never felt this sick in my whole life.  For almost a solid month now (beginning with my time in Phoenix) my life has consisted of being so tired that my one goal for the whole day is to get a shower and be presentable before Ryan comes home from work.  (The sad thing is I don't always succeed!)  To be honest I'm sleeping about 9 hours a night and napping on the couch during the day for 3 or 4 hours on and off.  I'm exhausted!  Poor Ryan has had to really pick up my slack around here... not so much because I'm tired but because every time I stand up I start dry heaving...

Prepare for a little too much information.  Most, if not all, of you know that I had a Ruen Y Gastric Bypass Surgery almost 5 years ago now.  One peculiar side effect that I had not really anticipated is that I CAN'T THROW UP!  I know it's gross but I'm just going to give you the physical reasons why.  I don't have a normal stomach anymore... oh my original stomach is still there but it's connected to my digestive system in a much different way now.  As a result there is literally no way for me to throw up unless I've eaten in the last 20 to 30 minutes, I can't even get bile.  This mean that when I get so queasy that I just can't 'hold it down' anymore I run to a sink or toilet just like anyone else... I heave and heave and pop blood vessels in my face... my eyes and nose run... I can't breath... ect.  BUT it doesn't help.  There isn't a moment of relief.  After all is said and done I'm just as queasy as ever.  So all that to say that if I'm up I'm heaving and if I'm down I'm sleeping. 

The VERY good news in all of that is this...  I never have to brush my teeth a second time!  (Gross I know) Also I don't have to worry about not getting enough nutrition since I'm not um... losing anything I'm eating.

So all of that to say this.  I miss you guys!  I read all your comments and intend to comment back, I try to keep up on your posts but to be honest I'm so worn out between the regular exhaustion and the physical toll that dry heaving all day long takes on my body that being on here is just too much work.  Other than a few minutes on Facebook in the evenings when the symptoms start to let up just to make sure my family has a little news from me, I'm not on much.  I think about writing almost every day.  I think about things to write and pictures to share and I have even had a number of crazy dreams about some of you and things I want to write about but in reality I come every day and think "one more day won't make that much of a difference I'll just write tomorrow" and then a week has passed again.

So, please forgive me for my absence... it seems as if Xanga is always the thing to give... I MISS IT!  I miss writing, I miss interacting with all of you, I miss YOU! 

On a happier note... I'm really hoping to feel better soon.  I really want to cook a good Thanksgiving dinner for Ryan and I... I want to decorate the house for Christmas right after dinner and then I want to spend that extended weekend cleaning out the office and turning that room into a nursery!  So hopefully I'll be back in no time with plenty to share... 

All my love and thoughts and prayers, I promise I'm with you in spirit if nothing else at the moment,

Courtney

 P.S.  There were two things I shared on Facebook that I didn't here and I would like to. 

1) Ryan got to march in the Veteran's Day Parade here in town yesterday.  He said it was a great experience.  There were sections of active duty military, tons of retired Veterans, ROTC with a float, old cars that carried the towns big wigs, three marching bands and the whole kit and caboodle.  They had a ceremony at exactly 11am at the end of the parade.  He said it was a great experience.

I was supposed to go, but I was feeling so sick yesterday morning... I tried to get ready and just couldn't in time so I missed it.  I'm in mourning because I wanted so badly to take pictures!  He promised me that he'll volunteer for next year.  That way I can hightail it out there with our almost 6 month old baby in a stroller and we can watch daddy march and wave our little flags and I'll get some great pictures!

2)  I have to brag for five seconds.  I made two Pumpkin Cheesecakes for the office on Tuesday.  (Up and baking for an hour was an adventure let me tell you!) They were having an auction to raise money for the squadron functions coming up.  My two cheesecakes brought in $70 bucks!  I was shocked!!!  The entire auction brought in $680 bucks.  What a fundraiser!!!

And here's one thing I didn't say on Facebook.  Remember before I left for Phoenix?  I cooked for weeks and filled the freezer for Ryan?  I have never in my life been so grateful for my OCD!!!  I've only had to cook dinner once since I've been home there was so much food.  Poor Ryan... he's got to be getting sick of what's in there by now!!!

At 1:30pm CT there was a shooting on base at Ft. Hood here in TX. 

The information is still coming in but currently they believe there are three armed gunmen... one in custody. 

The current report says that the gunmen were in fatigues but they don't know if they were military or civilian.

There have been shootings at the Howze Theater, the Soldier Readiness Center where there was apparently a graduation ceremony going on, and at the PX.  At the moment the casualty report says 7 dead and 20 wounded. 

Please just keep them in your prayers as they try to get this situation under control. 

I know three women from here on Xanga that are stationed there with their families.  Ladies please know that you are in my prayers as well as the safety of your families. 

God be with them.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,572305,00.html