Ocean City and Beyond

Its just plain painful when long weekends end! After a nice relaxing weekend away at the beach, here I lay in bed, dreading tomorrow! It came too fast. Way too fast! End of month + holiday weekend= not so happy Molly tomorrow. Sorry Hubs, and anyone else that comes across my path in the next 24 hours. But, my weekend was great!

We were invited by our friends the Saias to their family beach house in Ocean City MD. Eh-the beach- friends- sunshine- vacation- eh I dont know- YES!!! PLEASE!!! I'm so glad we went. Neither of us had ever been to the east coast OC before and had no idea what to expect, but let me say, it was MUCH better than I had envisioned in my head over the years. I dont know, somehow Maryland has never struck me as a beach state. But, I was delighted when we pulled up to the house and saw the beach out front! After a first day of "Is it going to rain? Is it not? Should we change out of our suits? Should we change back into our suits?", Mr. Sunshine decided to show up and stayed the rest of the weekend! The boys got in a little body boarding. We preggo ladies soaked up a little sun (on our backs and sides only- so if my backside looks a little ghostish, please don't laugh and point in my general direction). Great weekend. Great games. Great laughs. All around just great time! Thank you Saias for including us :)! Our condo beach next time. AND FYI- Christi, I still am baffled at the fact that you went to CNU for quatro years and have NEVER stayed in OBX! I might have to revoke your 757 card if we don't fix this soon! Which we will. I swear!

My belly looks huge in this picture of me sitting on the beach. I just had to post it for the shock value.

The wonderful Saias

I brought a few little presents with us up there for little baby Saia. Maximilian George actually, Cheyanne's beach buddy. I've been wanting to post pictures of my presents for him for a while, but since I couldn't let Christi see ahead of time, now I can share! Remember my post where I debuted Peapod's first onesie? Well, I got baby Max a matching outfit! I had to :) And, just in the nick of time, I finished knitting a baby blanket for the little man too. Its green like his nursery colors and super soft. 100% washable and dryable too fyi Christi, forgot to mention that. Hope he likes it one day.





________________________________

Totally other subject- back to reality. You all know about my niece Winter that I have mentioned countless times. Please send up a little prayer for her. She's had a rough weekend. She had a low grade fever all day Friday that her mom kept an eye on. Due to her very low blood count and drastically dropped hemoglobin levels, her oncologist canceled their Memorial Day plans to go camping at Lake Gaston. Late Saturday night (after 12:30am Sunday morning) Winter began having a harder time breathing and her fever spiked up above 102. Anything above 100.4 means an automatic 48 hour stay at CHKD (children's hospital where she is treated). They rushed her in and that is where she is now. She still has a low fever but it seems to have stabilized. She has sores all in her mouth that are making it hard for her to eat, but this has not stopped her amazing spirit. As soon as we got home today, we went to see her. Big Mike needed some play time with his Winter and I just needed to be around. Her doctor is returning tomorrow from the long weekend, so we will know more then as soon as he comes in to look at her. If you don't mind, just say a little prayer for her. Its always scary when her counts drop this low with little definitive explanation besides "Well that's just Winter on chemo."



I love this little girl! :) As soon as I walked into her room, she said "HEY MOLLY! I can see your baby in your belly!" Well I hope she couldn't really see her, but who knows, Winter is quite special! :)

A little weird?

Is it weird that this 12 year old kid has stole my heart this week?! I mean not in a creepy cougar perv way, but just listen to this kid Greyson Chance. He's amazing! I saw him on the Ellen Show last week when he made his debut (she found him on youtube- how cool). This week they announced that Ellen has started her own record label and signed him up first. So, important things- when is his record coming out?!!!




There are a couple different videos of him performing on youtube, so check them out.

Great Things Come in Twos

Today is a celebration day!!! Happy Anniversary T & Jonny!!!! AND Happy Birthday MOM!!!!

______________________________________



Some reasons why I love my sister and my brother-in-law:

1. I've loved Jon since the first time I met him years and years and years ago, even though I can't remember that exact day because he's been in my family far longer than he's actually been in my family.

2. T & Jonny are my advice givers. Many people can give advice, but few people give trustworthy advice.

3. T is just simply one of my best friends.

4. T & Jonny have always been a couple I admire and look up to. They beat the odds together time and time again, even on seperate continents.

5. Countless times, I have said to myself (and others at times) "If T & Jonny can do it, then I can do it too." I think that will again be coming in handy very shortly.

6. They concreted my love of country music :) Thank you Jon for introducing George Strait into my life.

7. They rock! Nuff said.




______________________________________




Some reasons why I love my mom:

1. She's still sane after raising me and my siblings- me who left home to live in a 99% Muslim country on the other side of the world in the Middle East for 6 months to experience the world knowing no one and not a word of the language but determined I could do it, my brother who drove her car into a pond at age 2, and my sister who went away for a summer to jump out of airplanes like its nothing.

2. She's the sweetest natured person anyone could ever meet.

3. You ever heard the saying by Eleanor Roosevelt "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water."? I think Eleanor knew my mom.

4. She is 95% of the time the first person I call to talk to when I need a familiar voice.

5. She makes me want to be a better person, for me and for my child.

6. She taught me love unconditionally and unwaveringly.

7. She's not just my mom, but she's my best friend.

___________________________

And absolutely not to leave my cousin Adam out! His birthday is shared with my mom too! SO happy birthday ADAM! Hope to get together soon!

Tuesday Newsday

I love Tuesdays for one reason and one reason only. Well- two reasons technically. First, its one day closer to the weekend. Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. And second, the main and most important, reason is because of my Tuesday Newsday emails! Every Tuesday morning I get emails from a few different websites reminding me of what week I'm now on and what baby Peapod is up to this week. Some Monday nights I get too excited and even sneak peak at the sites to see what size fruit or veggie they'll be comparing her to in the morning. My two favorite sites with my tuesday newsday emails are babycenter.com and thebump.com. I get FitPregnancy emails, but for some reason they are always a week ahead, so I just delete those. The other two though are very informative and in place English for us non-OBG terminology people.... Let's face it, I was quite clueless about the whole pregnancy/ body changing rapidly thing pre-January 11th (date we found out). As my sister can attest (due to my constant texts like "Can I have ranch dressing?" or "T, I just hopped off the counter...is Peapod ok?", I'm still quite clueless on some things, but I'm learning as I need to.

Today in Tuesday Newsday news, we are at 23 weeks!! She's the size of a large mango or papaya.



This is from my babycenter email this morning...

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

This Week's Activity:

Write a letter to your baby. You and your child will treasure this gift for years to come. Go with your heart and follow your inspiration. If you need help getting started:

• Describe your feelings toward your baby and what it's like to know she's growing inside you.
• Imagine a perfect day with your baby and what you'll do together.
• Write down your hopes, dreams, and wishes for your baby.
• Think about what being a mother means to you and your definition of what makes a good mother.

If writing isn't your style, put together a collage or a memory box of pregnancy mementos, says Diane Sanford, a clinical psychologist whose focus is on helping women make the transition to motherhood.


I forgot to post the picture from last week, so I'm including that in this post as well for a comparison. I don't know about you, but it seems to me they made my baby shrink this week from week 22 to week 23. You think?


UPDATE: I just noticed the difference between their week 22 and week 23 comparisons. My mango is the weight (a little over a pound and measuring about 11inches). Week 22's spaghetti squash is the length of about 11 inches and weighing just under a pound.

Winter's new playground

What a cool day yesterday! Winter was chosen by a local charity Roc Solid to win a playground set made especially for her. I'll give you a little explanation and information before I share my many pictures and videos. Roc Solid was started by Eric Newman, now 25, was diagnosed with fatal liver cancer as a young child. He and his family weren't given much hope, but he beat the odds. With experience running a construction company, he founded Roc Solid in 2009 to provide a little emotional and physical relief for children suffering from cancer. Made up of almost 40 volunteers, Roc Solid showed up at Winter's house early early to start construction on her new playground in her backyard. We knew she was selected, so it wasn't a surprise they would be there, but none of us had a clue how big and magical the day would be and how absolutely amazing these workers were! To get the family out of the house in time to start construction, they sent Winter and her parents to breakfast and then out for a few hours. Normally, they send kids to Chuck E Cheese for a few hours of play, but because Winter's counts are down and she's back on steroids there was no way she could go there. So, instead they went and picked strawberries to enjoy the sunshine. At noon, we all got to the house for the big revealing and cookout. Winter didn't know what to think, but she loved it! The girls played for hours. OK, now on to the show...

I had to throw this one in of the Giant at the after-cookout. Love him.

Charley Horse Strikes Again

What a way to wake up---IN PAIN!!! What is this whole charley horse straight from hell thing?! OH MAN! This is the second one I've gotten ever, but the first one in my calf. These things are noooo joke!! Thought my calf was going to explode, and I wasn't quite awake enough to deal well, nor was Hubs! After my first one last month (in my foot--while in the bathroom--which scared me to death because I had no idea why my foot was shooting pain and frozen--at which point I yelled for my husband to come lift me off the toilet--embarrassing!--I cried--he laughed--so is my life), I've been eating bananas constantly. That's supposed to keep it from happening, or at least help...ha...liars. In case you haven't guessed, I'm an openly admittant WIMP when it comes to pain. I'm working on it....

Two minute post

Here's my have-to-do-it-myself-because-my-husband's-favorite-show-is-on-tv-and-can't-be-bothered-right-now week 22 baby bump photo before I head to bed. It gets the point across....Maybe I'll catch him tomorrow to take a better one.

And so we're all clear--- I am not a fan of horizontal stripes-- especially on me preggers-- especially after seeing the photos taken tonight. I vow now to you. I will N.O.T. be wearing this shirt again until I am no longer preggo and then and only then will I reconsider wearing it at all ever again. Horizontal stripes= bad idea.

OH!!!!!!!

Cute cute cuteness that I completely forgot to post in an earlier post. Peapod's first onesie from us!!!!! Bought in Myrtle Beach on the Giant's surprise birthday getaway trip.

It looks big in this picture, but I got a 6 month size since it's short sleeves. GET IT?! M&M? Love. Love. Love. And Peapod will too :)

Two minute post- see it is doable! Minus the extra delayed upload photo time (argh my internet is too friggin slow!). On that note- Goodnight all.

Doctor's Visit- 22 weeks

Thankfully, nothing to big to report! I went to the doctor yesterday for my once a month checkup. I met a new doctor, new to me at least, which completes my rotation to all the doctors at the facility. They make every OB patient do this to get a feel of which doctor I want to stay with. I'm sticking to my little feminine doctor for as long as I'm at this facility, I've decided. I can't pick another one. I like her, plus her sister is an OBG at the same hospital my sister's an OBG at in San Fran- too crazy of a coincidence to pick someone else over her. The doc I met with yesterday was nice too, a little quirky, but he was just fine. We listened to baby girl's heartbeat which sounded great. I asked him why I hadn't felt her moving too much recently, like maybe only a few times since last week's "incident." Since I've felt her kicking a few times since then, I haven't let myself get too nervous, but it was one of those things always in the back of my mind. He said all was fine, he was sure. Apparently its still a little too early to get too concerned about limited fetal movements. Give it a few weeks and if still not much, we'll take a second look to make sure, but I feel pretty good about her. Maybe she's just sleeping a whole lot more. Wore herself out the last few weeks with all her newly discovered dance moves. I go back in 4 weeks for another visit. So far, 3-4 extra pounds gained but it looks like a lot more to me.

On a related note- I gave in and bought the fetal heart monitor thing a few days ago, around $30 or so.... One word. Crap. I did hear my own heartbeat, so good news, I'm alive... The box says I need to be 28 weeks to hear anything. I'm not waiting that long. It's getting returned- as soon as I figure out how to put the box back together. So, anybody got good information on the renting option? Expensive? Worth it? More importantly- not worth it?

Ohhhh and my pop news announcement for the day---- John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston are expecting! Remember they lost their son Jett last year to a seizure and just yesterday their dog was hit and killed on a airplane runway. I bet they could not be more in need of some great news this year. She is 47 and pregnant!!! Wow. Good for them.

photo taken from people.com

Ok, that is all :) Thanks for reading!

Summer Movies

Does anyone else love Ellen Degeneres as much as I do? Her morning show is my absolute favorite. How am I watching that while I'm at work, you ask?... maybe you shouldn't...on to the important part here. I was just watching her this morning and she had on Jadan Smith (son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith), who is starring in his first movie Karate Kid. This got me thinking about summer movies I'm super excited about seeing. I've never been a huge movie watcher- too hard to sit still comfortably for that long- until I met my hubs who loves to watch movies. Now, its become a quick and fun date idea for us- especially since Cold Stone Creamery is right next door to the theatre. Anyways- here are my picks for the summer. We'll see if I make it to any of them. Thoughts?

No sweetheart, I will not make you go to this with me. Not that you would EVER anyways! This would be the exact reason I need some girlfriends around here. Any takers feel like driving/flying down here to go with me? I'll pay for your movie ticket...!

Next....breathe Molly breathe...!!!!.....

OK, my most anticipated... "Hi. My name's Molly and I'm a Twilightaholic." Now all in unison "Hi Molly." I get a little tweenish (and yes I am embarrassed to admit that fact) at the idea of haaving to pick a Team Jacob or Team Edward. Ugh- ok it's out there now. PHewww! But in my defense, I'm a book Twilighaholic, not a movie Twilightaholic. Books are always better.

This one could go either way. I have a feeling the book might be way better. I'm not usually into chick flicks, so we'll see. But I think it has cuteness potential.

And finally (this one's a stretch since its not actually coming out until November)... but I thought it was coming out in the summer ugh so the disappointment right now is almost unmanageable! I never even saw the first Harry Potter until maybe 2 years ago (sorry Cara- although you were my inspiration for sitting through the first one at all). I never gave it a chance before then because it seemed so "faddy" aka "faddish", says the girl that is a Twilighter..yeah I know. But, seriously, great series. Now you'll never catch me reading the books. The size intimidates me, again, yes I know even though I read all 2,900 pages of the Twilight series. Hypocrit. Blah blah.

So, what movies are you looking forward to this summer? And any takers on the Sex and the City 2 movie yet?! Seriously... movie's on me. I'll even throw in some popcorn if I must. Going once....going twice....

Thursday Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down

I'm squeezing this one in today... but I am bringing back the Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down Thursdays! Here's my list for the day.


_______________________________________

________________________________________

One) Most of all.... my number one Thumbs Up goes to Peapod today and her baby kicks! In the last week + I've been feeling her more and more and I absolutely love it! Even at 3am when I'm up for my nightly potty break and she decides to wake up too. Can't describe exactly how cool the feeling is, but it is. (Note: when I google imaged "baby kicks" this is the pic that came up. Its not- I repeat NOT- me. And frankly, it sortof creeps me out and I have no idea if its real, but I needed a picture).



(Another side note: I hadn't realized how used to her movements I've become until yesterday when I was asked if she was moving. It dawned on me she hadn't moved all day that I could feel. Got a little nervous after the night before I'd pulled a little jump move that apparently pulled a groined area muscle - but all's fine per Dr. T- so I didn't worry too much But putting two and two together in the midst of a small silent panic attack- slight exaggeration. Tried all night last night to feel her. Still nothing. I decided to go to bed and if I didn't feel anything by today, I'd go buy one of those prenatal heart monitors for my peace of mind. Woke up at 3am as mentioned above, went to the bathroom, said a little prayer and asked God to please make her move just so I could go back to sleep and breathe a little easier. Got back in bed and I promise within two minutes, I felt two very definite baby kicks. One right after another. Then nothing. It was like God gave me just exactly the sign I needed that she was fine and I fell right to sleep. Well, right after I shook the Giant and said "Babe, she just kicked me, she's fine!!!" to which I got a groan, a thumbs up over the shoulder...and that was it. Back to sleep I went).


Numero dos) Second thumbs up goes to... Jergen's Natural Glow self tanner. Love love love this stuff for people who *like me* one- don't have the time to lay out and get that beautiful early summer glow, two- have fair skin and take a few times to actually look like anything other than a ghost, or three- are preggo and can't fake and bake like they normally would... Through the years, I have used every product under the sun as sunless moisturizer, and this is by far my fav! Insert my official endorsement here.

And my third and final thumbs up for the day goes to chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Well, really it should be directed at my big sis Dr. T and her wise words to eat this little bit of heaven. :) Wouldn't it be great if a certain unnamed husband that is rather large and ridiculously good-looking... ahem... read this and had a bowl of it ready for me by the time I got home from my long, hard day at work?!!! What do you think the odds are? A girl can dream... with cherries on top.

____________________________________

________________________________________

I only have one...shocker I know.... but seriously.... this ones a doosie.

A BIG THUMBS DOWN to my belly button without my belly button ring in it! :( The belly button piercing I've had since I was 18 years old and have never gone more than 24 hours without a ring in!! I kept it in as long as I could! However, Giant blunt husband commented the other day that I looked like I had an outtie belly button because it was poking through my top. Which got me thinking... its time. However, I HAVE found pregnancy belly button rings online today! So, I may or may not be ordering one tonight and having it shipped as quickly as possible. My money's on the may be- but I'm just sayin'. this one absolutely DOES NOT need a picture... I'll spare you this time.

Have a great rest of your Thursday. Was yours as cloudy and windy as mine? Come one tomorrow and your 90 degree weather! HURRY UP!!!

A true survivor

To all who know about my 7 year old niece Winter and her ongoing battle with leukemia- Thank you for your continued prayers, support, and endless love. It's been a long 9 months (hard to believe its been that long). This weekend was a special weekend for our Winter. She was asked to participate in the Relay for Life SURVIVOR's walk! Even though she is absolutely still battling her leukemia, she is considered a survivor because she has NO more cancer cells! WOOHOO! You that know me know how important she is to me and my entire family. (A little background: my older brother Jacob who is now 29 years old, suffered and battled through the same leukemia that Winter has "ALL". He was diagnosed at 17, I was 12. I'm not sure if either of us remember much outside the hospital during those intense chemo-filled 8 months). I feel a little like a pro at this... When Winter first became sick, the whole family bunkered down and I think we all just knew. It was all too familiar. She was diagnosed almost exactly ten years since Jake was diagnosed. De ja vu? Oh yeah. Petrified? Beyond belief. Banded together? Absolutely. Thank the Lord for my amazing family and the strength that each person has. God absolutely designed my family with the characters it needed to make it through. I see that more and more as I grow up. And, now my family has two AMAZING cancer SURVIVORS! Two heroes. Two of my best friends :).

Back to my story about Winter's weekend.

She walked in a very symbolic and emotional walk that I hated to miss. Thankfully, other members of my fam were there to take pictures. I'm just so proud of her. Thought I'd share these ones with you! Thank you my dear bloggie friends for the support.

This one is very important to see because each bag was lit in memory of a child lost to cancer at CHKD.







This is Winter's nurse and son- and Winter's big brother on the end

I will leave you with this. In the oh-so-wise words of Destiny's Child ;) hehe it fits:

I'm a survivor
I'm not gonna give up
I'm not gon' stop
I'm gonna work harder
I'm a survivor
I'm gonna make it
I will survive
Keep on survivin'

And We're Back

We're back from the Giant's surprise birthday weekend getaway to Myrtle Beach. We had a blast! Lots of eating, walking, shopping, sunbathing, fishing, and just plain relaxing. It was a wonderful weekend just him and I. Thought I'd share some pictures from the weekend.

Starting at our surprise trip- he has no idea where he's driving!

Don't think I made him do this- this was all him. Getting in touch with his feminine side for tiny dancer.



She needs this, yes?

Hmm, where could our dozen have gone?

His mecca. We drove by the HOT sign 3 times before I agreed.






Can you see little blue fish? Squint- he's there.