What a nice surprise

Yesterday Brian and Emrie WASHED MY CAR! It was the sweetest thing ever. I was having kind of a bad day - at this point in my pregnancy it's hit or miss. So, while I was crashed on the couch, Brian and Emrie took it upon themselves to do a good deed for "Mommy." I'm pretty sure this stems from the fact the Brian could not identify the strange odor coming from my car on the way to church that morning. The culprit...a sippy cup filled with spoiled milk tucked under the backseat! Anyway, I got some much needed rest AND a clean car. It really is the simple things : ) 

Update from Easter Weekend

I totally meant to post this and some pictures earlier BUT whatever blew in with the rain on Monday has my entire family nice and snotty!

Emrie had a wonderful Easter - complete with 3 (count 'em) 3 Easter egg hunts. Now every time we mention the word eggs, even if it is just in regards to breakfast, she immediately starts hunting for goodies.

Thursday was her Easter party as Big School. She was so sweet. When her little boyfriend, Cooper, started crying she took him an egg and gave him a hug. I thought it was precious...Brian did not.

Saturday we went to Deanville and celebrated Easter with my family. The kids had a blast. Not only did they get to hunt Easter Eggs but they got to ride 4-wheelers and the Treckor. Aiden and the big kids rode the 4-wheelers all day and Emrie (thanks to my dad) thought she needed to drive the Treckor. He let her sit behind the wheel - she steered and he worked the pedals. One time was all it took and she was hooked. She spent the rest of the day sitting behind the wheel and trying to get Pap-paw (or anyone who walked by) to ride with her.

Sunday we went to the early church service and to Brian's sister's house for Easter with his family. The Easter feast was my favorite, HOTDOGS!!! I ate 3...and a half...and I didn't even throw up! After lunch Emrie, Aiden and Hill Sister's took off on an Easter egg hunt. More eggs = more candy = very happy (and hyper) kiddos. I can't lie. I snuck a few pieces.

Next year, I'm proposing an adult Easter egg hunt and we let the big kids hide them. Whoo Hoo!

Ready for the Big Hunt

This is Emrie's Easter egg hunting smile!

Today at "Big School" they're having an Easter egg hunt for all the little ones. Emrie was so excited about the party. All morning she kept saying "I ready to party! I ready to party!" Wonder where she gets that from?

To ensure her success, she and I did a mock run through this morning with some Easter eggs in the living room. Not to bad. I tried to teach her a 3-point stance that I used back in my football days but she didn't really seem to grasp my methods for being first off the line. Brian and I are both planning to be there for the excitement this afternoon. If all goes well, I should have a video for you tomorrow. I'll be the pregnant woman snatching eggs from the kids : )

   

IT'S A BOY!

That's right...it's a BOY!  I know it's hard to tell from the picture but the doctors swear its a boy. 


Brian and I went to Temple yesterday for a super-duper ultrasound. We had to do this last time with Emrie too because of my "advanced maternal age." SHEESH! Anyway, everything went well. Three doctors confirmed that our little man is healthy and growing strong. In fact, they moved up my due date by 10 days which makes it August 20 (very close to my birthday). When I told my dad about the due date he said "Look out! That's another Leo in the family. That little boy is NEVER going to listen...just like his momma." I don't know what he's talking about.

Panic No Picnic

Have you ever had an anxiety or panic attack? Not fun, right?! In fact, downright scary.

Well, right after I had Emrie I had a couple anxiety attacks. I actually felt like I was dying. They would sneak up on me in the middle of the night. Poor Brian didn't know what was going on. I was pacing the house like a crazy person, turning on lights, trying to catch my breath and calm myself down. The first one only lasted about 15 minutes but that was 15 minutes too long. I called my doctor first thing the next morning and luckily she had mercy on me. I wasn't crazy about taking meds while I was nursing but she assured me they would help. And they did. After a couple of days my hormones stabilized and I was able to stop taking them.

Move forward a year and half...I'm in bed Saturday night. It's 2am and all of a sudden I wake up in sheer panic. I have no idea why but I knew exactly what was going on - ANXIETY ATTACK! I turned on the lights and woke Brian and asked him to sit with me. He was great. He held my hand and prayed with me, read some scripture about being at peace and trusting God and basically just tried his best to calm me down. I was a basket case. I kept telling myself it was all in my head. I wasn't having a heart attack. Everything was okay. I was okay. I even tried walking outside and getting some fresh air. Nothing worked. Finally, after almost two hours of this I started to calm down. THANK YOU, GOD for answering my prayers. I firmly believe in crying out to Jesus in time of crisis and cry I did. 

I was finally able to catch a couple hours of restless sleep and when I woke up I wasn't in total panic mode but I didn't feel like myself either. I decided to go to church. Brian stayed home with the kids because Emrie was still sleeping and I didn't want to wake her. On my way to church I called the nurse hotline who put me in touch with the on-call doctor. He told me that I couldn't take any of the anti-anxiety meds I had taken before and I would have to wait to speak with my OB/GYN. WEll, that put me in total panic mode. I went to Sunday School a sobbing mess. Thank you, God for the wonderfully understanding friends in our group. The lifted me up with prayer and consoled me. I made it to church but was having a hard time sitting through the service. I just kept thinking about having another attack which I was afraid was actually going to trigger another one. It really is a vicious cycle. God was watching. One of my friends in the choir noticed I was having a hard time, came out of the choir loft and sat with me. She was great.

I went home and tried my best to distract myself by cleaning house and playing with Emrie but I always felt like I was on the edge of an attack. My sister-in-law gave me some breathing techniques which got me through another sleepless night but it was a long one. I made it to work on Monday but barely. Thank you God for good friends and co-workers. Two of my closest friends in the office recognized that I was out of sorts and immediately came to my rescue. They continued to call my doctor until they got a nurse on the line. I spoke with the nurse and then with the doctor who once again took care of me. She immediately prescribed some meds and assured me that that they were safe for me and the baby since I'm in my second trimester. Thank you, God for the miracle of modern medicine.

I filled my prescriptions, took the pills and went to my sister-in-laws to take a nap. I was comforted to know that the meds would help but not feeling good enough to be by myself. Thank you, God for understanding relatives like Kimberly who let me crash at her house for a couple of hours. Monday night was a better night and Tuesday a little better still. Today it is Wednesday and although I don't feel 100%, I do feel way better.

I know this seems like a very personal thing to share but I'm hoping that there are other people out there who may benefit from it. It is not in my nature to be weak or needy. I have always been a do it myself kind of person and I pride myself in being able to swing two jobs, a baby, a house and so much more - so coming to terms with this has been difficult for me. I want people to know that IT'S OKAY. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to let others share some of your burden. It's okay. And, when it seems like no one else understands...God does. He will never give us more than we can handle. AMEN.

Little Miss Sunshine

Yesterday on the way home from church Emrie insisted on wearing my sunglasses. Luckily her big brother, Aiden, was there to keep pushing them back on her little peanut head. My sweet babies. I can't wait to have another! Due date: Aug 30

Great Friends...Great Wedding!

So I told you about Emrie's run in with the law while Brian and I were in Fort Worth at a wedding...what I failed to do was share details of the wedding!

David and Bri (the bride and groom) had a wonderful ceremony. I work with Dave. He's a big softy so we had bets as to whether or not he would cry. My money was on yes so I had to sit extra close to see if I could spot any tears. I could not. I lost the bet.

The reception was at the Fort Worth Stockyards. It was a totally awesome place to have a wedding reception...unless you're wearing 4" heels. What? They matched the dress! I had no idea I would be subjected to cobble stone walkways. And, I truly did not anticipate the floor in the reception area to be cobble stone too. Anyway, after almost falling several times, Brian broke down and bought me a pair of flip flops from one of the nearby stores. This is the Stockyards so nothing is cheap - especially not Justin flip flops. So, $35 later Brian begrudgingly walked back in with my new flip flops. 

They didn't look as cool with my dress but they worked.

We had a blast dancing and eating. They had a popcorn bar with several different types of popcorn to snack on. What a great idea! And the actual dinner had MAC n CHEESE! Pregnant woman like. Pregnant woman like a lot.



All in all, it was a great wedding with great friends!