3+1=4

It is official. Our little family of 3 is FINALLY becoming 4. After many months of frustration and questioning if it was possible, those two little pink lines finally showed up. Here is the shortened story,

We had been trying for quite awhile, and I felt as if we had tried EVERY planning method there was. In fact, the month we got pregnant was the month before I was calling the doctor to schedule the specialist. I wasn't ever getting a positive test for ovulation, and was getting very frustrated. Someone I work with had told me to try the "smiley face" ovulation test, and low and behold (whether it was the test or my body just decided to work, I'm not sure), I finally knew my body was working.

The week of Valentine's Day, I had a hunch I was pregnant. I literally just "felt" different. After many negatives in the past, I didn't want to get Greg's hopes up, so I picked up a test on Valentine's Day from the Dollar Store. I took it in the middle of the day and it was a blue test (apparently not as accurate, according to my hours of googling), and there was a VERY faint positive. Rather than get my hopes up, I just ignored it and figured I would give it a few more days.  Saturday, two days after Valentine's, I still "felt" different so I woke up and ran to the store and picked up a few more tests....and they both had those beloved two pink lines :). Being too shocked and excited that it possibly could be true, poor Greg just got a phone call at work instead of me being creative to do something when he got home.  Two days later, I went and bought the digital tests just to make sure. After five tests, I figured it was true.

Probably two weeks after I got a positive, the sickness started. I'm not quite sure how those people on "I didn't know I was pregnant" didn't know.  I only threw up a handful of times, but the nausea was the worst! I kept the nausea at bay if I could gag food down every 1.5-2 hours. I'm pretty sure I kept club crackers and jiff peanut butter in business! I'm just grateful I'm not one of the poor girls who throws up every 2 minutes. After about week 13 I have felt pretty great, just taking it day by day.

Anyway, our little gummy bear is officially due October 28. We are what they call "team green" and are not finding out the gender of our little one. Today we had the anatomy scan and everything is looking great! We feel so grateful, blessed, and SO EXCITED!

2012....2013. where has the time gone??

Life has been wonderful...and CRAZY! We have had a great start to 2013..and I can't believe we are finished with the first week of February. Where to begin??

We had a friend of ours take some pictures of our little family so Ralphy would be part of the family pictures 

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I cooked my first turkey, a 22 lb'r nonetheless..and we had ONE meals worth of leftovers from work. I felt very accomplished and prepared for many more Thanksgivings to come.

We celebrated our FIRST anniversary. I can't believe it has been a year already. We have grown so much as a couple, and I definitely have grown so much as an individual. I am so grateful for a wonderful loving and patient husband. We celebrated by going to Wolfgang Puck's 560 (which is part of the Dallas skyline) and to see the Broadway production of Jekyll and Hyde. We loved every minute of it!

Early December we drove to Kansas City to have an early Christmas with my parents. We took Greg for some delicious Zarda BBQ and had a grand ol' time spending quality time together. I then went back a week later to spend some time with all the family, as Jamie and her family flew into KC for Christmas.


I flew back the night of the 23rd, worked Christmas Eve, and was surprisingly called off on Christmas Day. Greg, Ralphy, and I started the day opening presents and spent it relaxing and enjoying each others company. Greg and Ralphy got me a Cuisinart 14-cup Food Processor and family picture framed with The Family:  A Proclamation to the World. Greg got some new work clothes and Ralphy got some new treats and toys.

We have a new addition to the family. We purchased a Honda Insight the end of December...we still have not named the car...suggestions are welcome.

 

The biggest news of the last little while is Greg got a promotion at work! He was promoted to a SSS at Bank of America, and just 2 days ago was promoted to a Banker. He is also going to school full-time so his schedule is a little nutty. 

We also moved out of our first married home and moved into our new house. We are renting a cute little cottage and the 3 of us are loving being in a house. We now have a guest bedroom and are welcoming any visitors!

time to give thanks.

In lieu of all the recent Facebook posts of thanks and thanksgiving, I have given a lot of thought to what I am truly grateful for and how truly blessed I am. This year, or i should say this last month, has really shown to me what life is truly about and how extremely thankful I should be everyday for what we have. Over the past month, my dear grandfather passed away at a ripe old age, but not without leaving behind many memories. My sister in law, my brothers wife, was diagnosed with stage III papillary carcinoma, at a mere five weeks postpartum with her third baby and at 27 years of age. Lastly, I lost a patient, a dear friend, to a  battle that she fought so hard to win without one complaint. Life is so truly precious. I am grateful for a job that reminds me daily, just how truly special and precious life can be.

This Thanksgiving, I am so overwhelmed with the Spirit. I have been brought to my knees in prayer with tears in my eyes, both in pleading for comfort and thanking the Lord for all the blessings.  I am so grateful for the knowledge of eternal life that I have.  The Plan of Salvation is such a beautiful concept, and I am so happy that I know that death is not the end. It brings so much peace and joy to know that someday, we will all meet again.  Our Heavenly Father has a plan for each and everyone of us. He knows each of us, as individuals. I am so thankful for my health, my family, my loving husband, our sweet Ralphy, our jobs, our home...the list can go on endlessly. 

july.

well, this post will be lacking really any pictures because of recent events.  The last weekend in June our car was broken into and my whole purse was stolen. It had my wallet (credit cards/drivers license/social security card....learned a hard lesson), camera, i-pod, gift-cards from our wedding, and plenty of other things in it. I am grateful for my safety and that something worse didn't happen but it still wasn't an easy pill to swallow.

The week after was the 4th of July. I had to work...but I still love that holiday. We stayed pretty low key and just went to a barbecue after work. Ralphy wasn't too fond of the fireworks so we ended up staying in afterwards.

That following weekend we went to St. George, Utah to meet up with Greg's family and do some boating. We rented a car after flying into Vegas and ended up getting a brand new red mustang. It was fun to drive but a little cramped. It was nice to get out of Dallas for a few days, so we took advantage of already being out-of-state and went to Las Vegas for 2 days. We relaxed, shopped, and enjoyed sleeping in. We stopped by Gold and Silver Pawn Store that is on the show "Pawn Stars," but no such luck in meeting anyone. We were happy to get back and see our Ralphy, and he was happy to be home.

Since then we have been back to the daily grind. I started a new PRN job in addition to my regular job and love it. It is a nice change for working on the floor. Greg is still working and we are looking into future career options and possibilities for school. This coming weekend we are heading to Kansas for the weekend.

somebody graduated...

he wasn't so thrilled about having his picture taken with a cap on.

Ralphy graduated from his class and passed with flying colors. He was so cute and we are so proud.

april..may..JUNE

oh geez...over a month has gone by...again...since we've updated. life has been great and busy. ralphy  has fully adjusted to being a member of our little family and boy do we love this little guy. he brings so much happiness and extra laughter into our home. we spend lots of time on walks and at the dog park....and at petsmart. he is spoiled :)...and deserves it. we have been taking beginner classes at petsmart and he is passing with flying colors. the instructor has even asked if we have considered training him as a therapy dog. he is doing great with off-leash walking...even though mom is still stressed he is going to run away.

other than ralphy, the dog park, and just plain being outside, we haven't had much exciting news. Greg just started the summer semester and is taking classes online so he can work extra hours. it is nice to have him home more. we went thrift store hunting a few weeks back because i was dying for a new project. the only two things we could find that we wanted was either too expensive, or too big for our apartment. so i talked greg into going to home depot and building from scratch. we're not quite done with it, but we built a blanket chest/future toy chest (not an announcement). this was sparked by the cedar chest that we had found at a consignment shop but they still wanted almost $200 for it. we had a lot of fun building it together. all we have left to do is add hinges, which are sitting on the kitchen counter.

the mostly finished chest

being mischievous

Ralphy after his first haircut...he wasn't super happy about his photo shoot

ralphy and other updates.

here are a few more pictures of our little ralphy. we are adjusting to lots of trips up and down 4 flights of stairs for potty trips and early mornings...but he is totally worth it.

overall, he is a great pup :)

here are a few other pictures. i was cancelled the friday before Easter so we had the chance to color eggs (it was Good Friday, so school was cancelled, too). wilbur (aka the Easter Bunny) also came to visit our house this year. we had my brother and his family over for dinner and it turned out great!

i also finished the nightstands that i started re-doing prior to the wedding. they turned out super cute.

(before---got them for 20$/piece at the best thrift store in town)

(after-- not too shabby)