Announcing The News

Once I found out I was pregnant I had to decide when and how to tell everyone. I love to hear stories about creative ways people shared this precious news with loved ones. In fact, this is one of my favorite parts of pregnancy. With the first pregnancy J and I went to the Macaroni Grill and played hangman with the crayons on our table cloth. I spelled out "You are going to be a dad" and that is how he found out! It was really special moment.

This time while J was working I had Z color on a piece of paper that I folded in half and then on the inside wrote "dear daddy, I am going to be a big brother. Love, Z."
I had to wait till the end of the day for the opportunity, but when the time was right I had Z give it to him. Once he read it he was really excited and it was nice that Z got to be a part of it.

Next up was to tell the family. I tried to get video footage of Z saying "I am going to be a big brother" and I just couldn't get him to cooperate when the video camera was on. Then as I was going through some of our old web cam videos (preparing for video week on this blog) I came across this video that Z recorded of himself. He is jabbering about numbers and letters, but pretty much the whole thing is unintelligible so I thought why not put subtitles making him say whatever I want him to say. So this is the video we sent to our family members.


After nearly a month of keeping our secret I was ready to share the news with the world and that brings us to this week where I finally got to tell all of you!

You can't trust the intuition of a woman on a mission

Wisdom always tells us not to over think things. You almost always find the what you are looking for when you stop looking, whether that be your sunglasses, a spouse, or in my case a positive pregnancy test.

We hadn't been trying to conceive for that long, but with each passing month I began to get a little more anxious. So I decided the "it will happen when it happens" approach that we took with our last pregnancy wasn't going to work this time, and I was going to have to take control of the matter. I began to journal everyday about the whole process, charting every detail that would pertain to fertility. I was tracking my temperature using a basal thermometer, taking prenatal vitamins everyday, and being very aware of what phase of my cycle I was in. I was a woman on a mission and the mission was to get pregnant!

By the end of the month I began starting to feel like I could be pregnant and those feelings increased everyday. There were a lot of things that pointed toward pregnancy and my intuition was telling me that I was. The journal entries escalated from "I think I might be pregnant" to "I am %99.9 sure I AM pregnant." I even posted on my friend Lexi's blog that I thought for sure I was, but like I said I guess you can't trust your intuition when your a woman on a mission. I had my due date calculated and everything was planned out, but with each negative pregnancy test I began to be really confused. I was so desperate for answers that I even spent $75.00 for a blood test, which confirmed that I was not nor had I been pregnant.

I was discouraged to say the least. It's not that I wanted to be pregnant THAT bad, it's just that I didn't understand how I could be so certain and be wrong about it. That's where my quest for fertility ended. The following month I stopped taking my temperature, stopped charting, I even stopped taking my vitamins, which I now regret. It was on the 4th of July that I began to feel a bit off and the idea popped in my head that I could possibly be pregnant. I said last time that I wasn't going to put myself through that again, and so I tried to get the idea out of my head. That night I dreamt that I was pregnant, I woke up and argued internally on whether or not to take a pregnancy test. Finally I decided that I wasn't going to stop thinking about it until I took one, so I went ahead and took a test that I already had on hand and I didn't even have to set it down for the positive line to appear. At first I was just in shock, but it didn't take long for me to spring into maternal action and start to calculate the due date, take my vitamins, and get ready to embark upon another one of life's most amazing journeys.

Look Back and Laugh: Oh the Smells

The heightened sense of smell has already begun which begs the question, what's up with that? There are a lot of bazaar things that happen during pregnancy, but for me, smelling everything and having really wild dreams top the list.

The other day I was feeling queazy, so I went to the fridge to grab a piece of ginger because they say that the scent of ginger is supposed to help. The only problem is it smelled like the ginger had been fraternizing with the onions, so it only worsened my condition. Ginger is fragrant, but onions are stronger and far less soothing. The smell of "gingions" was not what I had in mind.

My mom recently told me a story about how her mother who was pregnant for the 5th time was forced to pull over and vomit on the side of the road due to one of my uncles outrageous farts. I never met my grandmother who passed away before I was born, but after hearing that story I really felt a connection. Poor thing.

So the smell thing can be bad, but it also makes you appreciate certain scents you may not notice otherwise. I know it's weird, but during my last pregnancy I enjoyed the smell of wisteria, fresh cut grass, and plain yogurt. This time I haven't really craved any smells, but my nose is open to it and if the right scent comes along I will know.

Bun In The Oven.

I thought I would cut to the chase with the blog title and put it all out there plain and simple. Baby #2 is on the way. I will have plenty of details to share later this week, but for now I just wanted to get my announcement out there in the blogosphere. Not that anyone notices or worries about it, but my post have been a little off kilter this past month. I usually blog everyday Monday-Saturday and lately I have fallen short. For example some weeks there have been 5 posts or yesterday I posted Saturday's post a day late, yada, yada, yada, and who cares. Anyway, I just wanted to give an explanation (even if it's only for my own sake) of why I may be a little less consistent these days.

On the other hand I just renewed my domain name for another year, so I am not going anywhere. Well, virtually speaking, because right now I am actually going to go finish my chamomile tea and crackers so that I can hopefully reduce this morning sickness before I go to bed. Blah!

Last but not least

I have said a lot of things about my husband this week. I shared a few secrets, showed a few photos, and told some stories about how silly and "unique" he can be at times, but I can't just leave it at that when there are so many other positive qualities about him. So I thought I would show a few more photos to finish things off.

Here he is saying goodbye to some of the kids at the orphanage he visited in Mexico.


Here is a photo of him helping with relief efforts in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina.


Here is another photo of him leading worship for kids in England. This is the only time you will ever see J with a shaved head. He shaved it to show support for a young man from our church who was going into the air force. They both shaved their heads together.


He is the college pastor at our church where he mentors all kinds of young men, from Bible school students to recovering drug addicts, but their is one little guy I know that looks up to him more than anybody. This is a photo of Z's first smile and it was when he was looking up at his daddy.



I could go on and on about J's big heart or his generous and compassionate spirit, but he would hate that. He doesn't like to draw attention to himself or do things for show. He would stop this public acknowledgement if he knew about it. The thing is he doesn't read my blog so I can gush about him as much as I want, but before I get too carried away let's just end with one last embarrassing photo.

Identity Crisis

Haven't we all been guilty at times of trying to be someone we are not? For some people this just means acting out of your true character, but for others it mean literally acting like someone you are not.

For my mother this happened when she switched schools and told all her new class mates that she was Goldie Hawn's daughter.

For my husband a similar thing took place when he went to a new school and felt like he didn't fit in. That summer he got a totally rad new hair cut. It was a little bit longer in the back parted and spiked on the side like so...

Look out Jonas brothers! This hair cut made him feel like a whole new person and he wanted his peers to see him that way too. So he made up a story about having a twin brother that lived in another part of the world. He would take on a new name and tell everyone that he switched with his twin and no one would see the "nerdy brother" ever again. This was has chance to start all over. Luckily he never went through with it.

One time I came up with a new persona myself and started a website called the messy mom and told stories about my domestic blunders and eccentric family.

Just kidding, it might be nice to say the real me does not have a closet that looks like this

or that I never set my kitchen on fire, or that I don't have meaningless disputes with my husband, but that would be a lie. All 430 posts on this blog are the real me, which I am learning to be okay with, and for the record my mom and my husband have too. They no longer have to make up lies about who they are. Well, if they really are my mom and my husband, or is that just another act???

What The Heck Is That!?

What is this ancient tribal sculpture and why do we own 2 of them? Well, first of all it's not any kind of sculpture although maybe the antique road show could tell me otherwise, and the story behind why we have it is a bit complicated.

You see, my husband is obsessed with what things are made out of. He will size something up according to what the material make up of the item is valued at. For example my friend found a fire place mantel at a yard sale and when she brought it home and told her husband how much she had spent he thought it was a ridiculous investment. So J stepped in and said he thought that it was worth it. She thanked him for validating her purchase, but then he went on to say the mantel wasn't that nice, but he thought she could get that much for the wood. Of course selling it for wood was not what she had in mind, thanks anyway!

Anything that is REAL wood, REAL metal, or REAL anything gets two thumbs up from J. When we were shopping for fixtures for our bathroom J went through Home Depot thumping each faucet one by one like he was trying to find a good melon. I guess he could tell whether or not something was cheap by how it resonated when he thumped it.

One thing that makes my husband and I such a great pair is that neither of us are too proud to pick stuff up off the side of the road. Just last week we took our neighbors lawn chairs off the curb because she was getting rid of them and I have lots of stories like this. I don't just get any piece of garbage though, it has to be something that I could use. So, when J found these two extremely heavy metal pieces I had to ask "Why are you taking those?! What the heck are they?"


His response "I don't know, but it's perfectly good iron and I am keeping it."

That was several years ago. The iron collection now sits in our unfinished gas fireplace because we decided that they are supposed to hold fire wood. If you know what they are please tell me and confirm if our speculations are right. Or better yet if you can think of your own creative use for them then let me know. This could mean that they might possibly migrate out of our living room. Until then we have yet again, another conversation piece, which fits my personality better than "we got it from Ikea."

Confession Session

Since yesterday was J's birthday I am making this week's topic all about him. On Sunday night I tried to conduct an informal interview in order to come up with some material straight from the source, but somehow this turned into therapy/confession time. Here is what I gathered:

"In kindergarden I put a piece of construction paper in my ear and forgot about it. A month later my mom smelled something funky and took me to the doctor. So the doc pulled out the construction paper that had rotted in my ear and that took care of it."

"When I was in 2nd grade I stole a pack of gum, but I got caught because my mom found it in my underwear." Then he clarified "It was in a DRAWER, my underwear drawer."

"Then in 4th grade I repeated a crude gesture that I saw another kid in class do, but I got caught and sent to the principal's office. I was ashamed."

These confessions went on and on. Stories of High School, College, the work place, and ministry. Final after about an hour I put down my note pad realizing that this wasn't really going anywhere.

We all remember those moments when we got caught red handed, guilty as charged. My husband just happens to remember a lot of them. Hopefully he feels better after having a chance to let it all out.

Look Back and Laugh: A Minnie Mouse Warrior

Today is my husband's birthday so the next few post will be dedicated to him and should include tributes, stories, and cute and/or embarrassing photos.


Like this one of him when he played football back in High School. He might look like a tough guy here but don't let the padding and stern face fool you.

We recently made a trip to the local snow cone shack so J could get his usual watermelon and peach combo. He returned to the car with his snow cone and a confused look on his face. I asked him what was wrong and he said "this is a girl drink". So I asked him what he was talking about and he said "I told her I wanted a watermelon peach snow cone and she said, Oh the Minnie Mouse. So I said, Minnie Mouse? I just want a watermelon peach snow cone, and she told me that it is called a Minnie Mouse."
I guess no one told him before.

It might have hurt his ego a little bit, but since he is a repeat costumer they call it a Mickey Mouse now, but for him only. When all the little girls order it it is still a Minnie mouse.

Shoe Vlog

Here is one final video for the end of the week. It was inspired by an incident that happened last night, but I think I am starting to notice a trend.

The Kitchen Reveal

On August 30, 2008 I had planned on revealing my brand new kitchen on this blog and it wasn't ready in time, which was disappointing. That's okay though, better late than never. Even though the kitchen remodel was done a year ago and we still have some minor details left to complete it is still considered new to me . However it is an extreme makeover compared to what I had before

This is what it looked like the day we moved in...


Here is the breakfast nook


4 years later when we tore it all apart


They rebuilt all the walls and rewired everything


My old gas stove that you had to light by hand


and here is a little video tour of what it looks like now.

Restless Night Syndrome Update

About a year ago when I first started themessymom.com I did a little 5 day experiment with trying to get Z to sleep in his own crib through the night and I documented it with video blog. I called it the Restless Night Syndrome. Here is one of the bloopers from that series.


That was one of the first times that blogging accountability helped me to accomplish a goal. Thanks to that experiment Z hasn't slept with us since. In fact it's getting better all the time. It started with me sleeping on the floor next to the crib until he fell asleep then I would sneak out. Now I can leave the room right after I lay him down. That being said, he will have a big boy bed soon and that opens up a whole new set of challenges that I don't even want to think about. As always advice is more than welcome if you have any tips on trassitioning from crib to toddler bed.

Here is an updated video of Z and I talking about his night time routine.

I am just blown away when I see how much he has changed in a year. Now I know that his hair is a little out of control. His father and I agreed to give him first hair cut at 2 (if it were up to J it probably wouldn't happen until kindergarden.) Anyway that means in less than 2 months the scissors come out!

Look Back and Laugh: He Shoots. He Scores.

After watching Z play basketball a few times I have noticed he has a very particular style. One that I am not so sure would work for him on the court. I apologize for the annoying laughter at the end of this video.






The video is cropped on this site. To watch it in it's original format just click on it.

FLIP

For mother's day this year J surprised me with a Flip Ultra HD camcorder.

I really wanted one since the digital camera that I had used for video was stolen. I have never owned an actual video camera up until now, but once Z started talking, singing, and "playing guitar" I put this item at the top of my wish list.

In celebration of my latest gadget I am going to be vlogging all week long. For starters, I never got online on Saturday to finish VBS week, which is REALLY unsual for me. So, here is a little video/slideshow that I put together of this year's VBS. I know some of the parents never got to see this when it played at church so this is a special encore presentation just for you.

Aggressive Behavior

While I was busy volunteering for VBS Z was spending a lot of time in the church nursery. The very last night of VBS I went to pick him up and the nursery working told me it had been a rough week or him. No surprise there. I figured he would be a little out of sorts because of all the extra activities we had going on. Then she continued to tell me that he had be showing aggressive behavior. My response- GASP!

Was he hitting? I asked. Apparently he was hitting, along with biting, pulling hair, and knocking kids over. They had been putting him in time out as a consequence.

My boy? Really? I had a VERY difficult time receiving this information. I was not prepared to hear that I had a trouble maker. He isn't even 2 yet. Normally when I pick him up when someone watches him all I hear are rave reviews about how easy he is to take care of.

It was on the drive home that night that I had to let it sink in. At first I was emotional and discouraged, but when I finished my little pity party I realized I had a choice to make. I didn't want to be one of the parents that is disillusioned about having a perfect little angle all the while spoiling a child to become more and more of the teacher's nightmare. It had been a long week, and I don't think Z is destined to be tyrant, but we do have a situation on our hands and it's my job to teach him how to respect others. With that said if anyone has a toddler or child that exhibits this kind of behavior and has any advice about how to deal with it, I am open.

Let the parenting games begin.

The Many Sides Of Imajean

I did have a lot of fun as Imajean the hillbilly at VBS this year and it brought back a lot of memories that I have had as Imajean in the past.

This photo was from the 2002 VBS when my character was first formed.


Imajean crosses the border! Here I am on a mission trip to Acapulco Mexico.


2006 VBS


An SPCA halloween benefit run. My dog had a cow bell and black spots painted on him, but they quickly rubbed off.


And lastly, here is a shot of one of the skits from this years VBS.


And somehow I reckon we ain't seen the end a her yet.

Imajean

I was asked to play a character named Imajean in the 2002 VBS at our church. Imajean is a naive, but lovable (if I do say so myself) hillbilly. Who would have thought that this character would catch on and I will still be playing Imagene 7 years later. I used to have overalls, a flannel shirt, and big clunky boots, but eventually got rid of the original costume to make room in my closet for items I actually wore. So this year when they asked me to play Imagene again I did the best I could to come up with something that resembled a hillbilly. Our pastor said that the boots were a bit too Wellington for a hillbilly.

Okay, so maybe a hillbilly wouldn't wear J. Crew rain boots, but it was the best I could do with what I had on hand. The reason I have these boots is because when we were in Colorado last year there was a freak snow storm at the end of April and half the time I couldn't get out of the car without stepping into a foot of snow. So we searched for some hiking boots with no luck, but really anything would have been better than the Birkenstocks that I had on. Being springtime J. Crew had rain boots for sale so I bought the green ones and wore them proudly.


I think VBS is the only other time I have worn them, but the kids loved them and didn't think anything of them being too "wellington". What's more fun than a hick with pig tails and green rubber boots right?



Photo 1- Imajean and her brother Jethro (a guy from chruch)
Photo 2- Me, J, and Z in Colorado

Look Back and Laugh: VBS Innuendos

Unfortunately in our dirty minded society everything can be turned into some kind of sexual innuendo and our children’s pastor somehow found himself stumbling over some in the middle of VBS. Now just to clarify this guy is a good ol' boy to the core and the furthest thing from having a filthy mouth. To him booty is still something that pirates steal. That is why when coming up with ideas for names to go with our camping themed week he thought nothing of the title “Camping Gone Wild”. However, someone else did and recommended not using anything “gone wild” for church promotional material so we went with “The Great Camping Adventure” instead. To go along with the camping theme the kids were divided up by age groups and each group had a forest animal name like, skunk, raccoon, or owl. Every night when the children’s pastor was trying to rile up the kids he would say things like “Are there any skunks in the house?” and the kids would scream. One time when addressing the owl team he said “Do we have any hooters in here?” he caught himself and immediately correcting it by saying owls, after his face turned completely red. The kids didn’t even notice (which is quite refreshing to know there is still some innocence left in the world). The adults on the other hand couldn’t hold back the laughter.

VBS

I live in the buckle of the Bible belt. Plus we are in Texas where people have enormous belt buckles so that means there are churches EVERYWHERE. You thought Starbucks was bad? Here we literally have one church, next to another, next to another. This also means that in the summer the whole town turns into VBS central.

We are in the thick of Vacation Bible School season, but luckily our church already had theirs. Don't get me wrong I think VBS is great, but it is quite the undertaking and ours isn't even that big compared some. Our VBS is like Polly Pocket in a world of Hannah Montannas.

I have been involved in VBS from the time I was in kindergarden. WAY BACK THEN it was more of an actual school setting. We had projects and lessons during the day. Remember flannel board? Then as I got old enough to be out of VBS I began going as a volunteer. So I have pretty much been going my entire life. This got me thinking, how did this VBS business get started? I wonder if they will have something on wikipedia, which is like saying maybe I can find something Sweet at Dairy Queen. Here is what I found out. "They" say it started in Hopeland Illinois back in 1894 by a school teacher who wanted more time to teach the children the Bible. The first Bible School enrolled 40 students and lasted 4 weeks.

Of course these days VBS is usually one week tops in the evening and is more like a kids crusade rather than a classroom. Every year is different and I always walk away with plenty of stories. This week I will be sharing some of the humor, turmoil, and success of my week at VBS.

America

Although it was unannounced the theme for this week was America. Seemed fitting for the 4th of July. So I shared some of things that great country that I live in.

Monday- Having 4 Distinct Seasons
Tuesday- Cultural Diversity
Wednesday- The beautiful and diverse landscape (see below)
Thursday- The little things that I take for granted like clean water and internet access.
Friday- The American holidays and traditions.

And of course there is so much more. I guess this would be a good time for a chorus of I Am Proud To Be An American or America the Beautiful, but luckily this is not an audio blog.

Now then, by request here are the names of the places shown in the photos I posted on Wednesday.

This first photo was taken at one of my favorite place, the white sands in New Mexico.


This covered bridge photo came from what I call "my happy place" which is Vermont.


This next photo was taken on a whale watching tour out on the Atlantic which left out of Massachusetts.


This was taken at a drive in theater near L.A. in California. We watched Pirates of the Caribean 2.


These are some mountains somewhere is Colorado, sorry I don't have any more details after a while they are start to look the same.



This photo was taken on our 5th anniversary and it was sunrise in Fort Worth Texas.


I know it doesn't matter where this one was taken, but funny enough it was Flagstaff Arizona.