What's in The Bag?

I got tagged by Marin a couple days ago, but had to sit and think about how to organize. And define. I have 4 bags, but one is toys and papers to entertain the kids at church, and the other is only used for travel (you can slide any Harry Potter into it without changing the shape--perfect for a carry-on), so they're out. Here's the other two:

My purse for going out without children--dates, girls' night, whatever.


Contents: 1 purse hook
1 eyeglass case, empty
1 pen, black
3 lipgloss, various shades
1 eyeliner
1 blush brush
1 lip balm
1 hair comb
assorted hairpins
2 peppermint candies
1 sticker backing

The Diaper Bag--holder of anything that might be remotely important.


Contents: 1 ultrasound capture
5 diapers, clean
1 wipes case w/ 2 wipes
1 nursery rhyme book
1 eyeshadow compact
1 antibacterial hand wash
1 tin of floss
1 box of seed beads
1 gingerbread-shaped ornament
2 immunization records (1 per child)
1 pre-soaped washcloth
assorted candy
assorted bureaucratic paper-crap
assorted family pictures for Primary activity
assorted thank you cards from people at church
1 planner
7 hair clips
1 picot ribbon
1 tape measure
2 hospital bracelets from Elena's birth
1 clip-on necktie
2 pair mittens/gloves
1 pair dirty socks
1 disposable bib
assorted feminine products
1 liquid eyeliner, dark brown
1 mascara, black
1 lipgloss
1 pen, blue
1 mechanical pencil
collection of HEBuddy points
pile of old receipts, expired coupons, etc.

It's amazing what you can fit in something so small. I'm really, really glad I only have a small bag, and not one of the monstrous cavern-bags. Who knows what you'd find there. Anyway: Regan and Christina, you are tagged. If anyone else what's to show off, go for it.

Since When Have I Been This Out of Shape?

The weather has been so nice that I like to put the kids in the stroller and go for a walk. Sometimes we go to the elementary school around the corner, sometimes we go out to the rec center (about a half-hour walk), and sometimes we just bum around the neighborhood and wave to the people. It's the same route we've always taken, since Elena was a baby. There aren't too many hills--most of the time everything's very flat--and there are plenty of trees to shade us. Why am I wheezing like an asthmatic pug after only 10 minutes? I swear I could go the whole way with only the tiniest bit of puffing just a month ago. Mind you, I am pushing 40 lbs of stroller, and another 60 lbs of children, but those numbers haven't changed much in the last 4 months. I guess this goes along with the fact that I can only pick up toys for 4-5 minutes before the nausea gets to me. Which would be why my visiting teachers came to help me clean my house today, but that's another story. It's a shame about the walking, though. It's just about the only time I don't feel sick.

I Missed It!

I've had partial posts wandering around my head for my blog-aversary, so I went back to see when that was and I missed it! By almost a week, too. Here I was thinking it was the 21st, or something like that, and it was the 9th. Sigh...

Anyway, I had a lovely Valentines, though not in our usual tradition. I told Jonathan that, considering what happened the last time he made me a beautiful 5 course meal when I had morning sickness, he was off the hook and I'd cook something. It's easier that way, because I can gear everything to how my stomach feels. The whole family ate together, and we had Baked Chicken and Rice Casserole (I think that's the official name--we just call it Crunchy Rice) and a salad. As a special treat, I got HEB Creamy Creations Mexican Chocolate ice cream. I wanted strawberries, but all they had were the long-stemmed ones for dipping. At $9. And the chocolate was separate. At least the ice cream was good, and the cinnamon/fudge ripple through the middle was very nice. Hope you all had a lovely day with your loved ones, as well!

Part of the Reason I Haven't Blogged Much, Lately

I know, I have pictures already. That's part of the story, though. So, on to the huge saga...

*major Too-Much-Information alert--don't say I didn't warn you. Anyone of the male persuasion will want to stop here. Here's an adequate summary for you.

We're pregnant! (Yay!!!)
There were medical issues...(Oooh...)
But everything is fine now. (Yay!!!)

Now you can skip to the bottom*


I could skip the first several months but those are part of the story, too, and one really should "start at the beginning." You'll notice that posting took a major nosedive in October and that's because that's when the Grand Debate began. The Grand Debate was on whether to follow through with the Really Retarded Plan. The Really Retarded Plan was to be cute pregnant--but not whale pregnant--for our 10 year reunion this spring/summer (I know it's a dumb reason to get pregnant [see the name] but at least we had a plan). Arbitrarily place baby ETA in late July, count backwards, and conception would be last of October/beginning of November. Now you see the Grand Debate. Did I want to be pregnant yet? Could we afford it? If we're moving to St Louis, I want to be done before we leave (I don't want Missouri babies! And I don't want to find a new OB at 8 months!), but if we don't leave, I can wait. Blah, blah, blah, and it raged on for weeks. Anyway, we decided to go for it, because I knew I'd be able to handle the logistics of pregnancy (if not the actual child) if we were in Texas, and that meant now. And we started counting days. In six days (my birthday!) I saw every single one of the signs that had been present when I first found out I was pregnant with Joseph. For one glorious day I thought we'd made it. The next day, though, everything started to go downhill. I started my period a full week too early and it lasted for two weeks. I did take a pregnancy test and it was negative, but I don't know if it was a)too early, b)cheap and insensitive, or c)actually negative. This was all troubling and puzzling, but I couldn't do much because we didn't have insurance. The next month, it happened again. The second half of my cycles were already dangerously short, fertility-wise, but this was bad. So, January came around and we started counting yet again, hoping to see a sign of improved health. I made it to 7 days (beat October/November), then 9 (beat December). At 11 days (normal for me, ever since I'd had Joseph; 14 is average) I thought/hoped maybe the last two months had been a fluke. By the time I got to 13 days, I knew I was pregnant. I tested on day 14 and got a positive. A few days later I started spotting. I'd spotted with the other two pregnancies, but not this heavy, and not for this long. I called my doctor the next Monday, and they said to come in as soon as I could, that afternoon. I got blood tests, a physical exam, and a trip to the ultrasound office. This last one had plenty of good news. I was not ectopic, the baby was also nowhere near my cervix, there was only one, and it had a heartbeat (which is impressive for 5 1/2 weeks). The blood tests, though, said my progesterone levels were low and I now have a prescription for progesterone, which I have to take twice a day until they can hear the heartbeat on the doppler. After that, I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm stable now, and things are going fairly well. Yes, I feel cruddy, but no I'm not *sick* --that day is still another month and a half away, and I'm not sure if it's better when you know exactly when to expect it. We'll have more news next time the doctor checks me out.

*end TMI portion*

I figure I'm due Sept. 26th or 27th and no one at the doctors' offices has offered anything different. Oh, and the whiter spot, near the bottom arrow, is the heart. It was way cool to see it flutter.

Love & Marriage

Are you reading? Are you married? TAG!

1. What is your husband's name? Jonathan Richard

2. How long have you been together? officially, 21 April 1999

3. How long did you date? A little more than three years (sounds long, but subtract 2 for Spain)

4. How old is he? 28

5. Who eats more? Given an equal chance at a given quantity of prepared food, he does; given a house full of ingredients that take more than two steps to prepare, I do.

6. Who said I love you first? I think I did

7. Who is taller? Me, but only by 1/4-1/2"

8. Who sings better? It's a toss-up; I'll claim me, only because I actually sing my voice part and he tends to sing tenor to "help out" even though it's too high for him

9. Who is smarter? This I'm definitely calling this even

10. Whose temper is worse? Mine, and it gets worse as my children learn which buttons to push (whether they do it on purpose or not)

11. Who does the laundry? I do

12. Who does the dishes? Usually me, though he helps every now and again

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If looking at the bed, Jonathan does, but it changes depending on whether I'm pregnant (need to be closer to the bathroom, adjusted for the slope of the bed when it sags), nursing (need to be closer to the bassinette, adjusted for slope of the bed, position of the baby, and number of mid-night feedings) or lonely because he's studying all night (the whole thing is mine, and all the pillows too)

14. Who pays the bills? I do

15. Who mows the lawn? The cat?

16. Who cooks dinner? Me, because Jonathan and kitchens seem to have magnetic polar differences

17. Who drives when you are together? Jonathan--once I taught him to drive my car (it's a stick-shift) he decided it was his chivalric duty to drive me--and we stick with it because he's a bad passenger

18. Who is more stubborn? Me

19. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Usually him, because I'm very bad about holding stupid grudges (see above)

20. Whose parents do you see the most? Mine

21. Who proposed? Jonathan--came up with a whole fairy tale, complete with costumes and supporting cast, and acted it out

22. Who is more sensitive? We're both pretty sensitive, but about different things

23. Who has more friends? Real, close friends, me; people we hang out with, him, I think, but I make a slightly bigger effort to be social

24. Who has more siblings? Even at 6

25. Who wears the pants in the family? Probably me--you know it's a sign when home teaching companions come to you to check your spouse's availability

26. Where did you meet? The floor of the relief society room when we were not quite old enough for nursury

27. What was the first thing you said to your husband? "Ga?"

28. Where was your first date? I think he asked me out (-ish) to the grocery store to buy canned goods for an Institute activity

29. Where was your first kiss? At the playground near his house

30. Where did you get engaged? On a narrow winding road, surrounded by towering pines (100 yards from my parents' driveway)

31. Where were you married? The Houston Texas temple

32. Where was the honeymoon? Galveston Texas, in a 100+ year-old B&B

33. If you could have changed anything about it what would it have been? Not sure--the chaos of a delayed wedding was offset by a smoother wedding (it was worth it in the end, so I guess no)