The Dad Life

Seriously, I haven't blogged since the 21st of June? I need to get better at this. BUT I have been reading other people's blogs and found this video and the creased dockers, lawn love, checkbook magic, and that popcorn bowl I was immediately reminded of my man. Except, he's waay cooler than those dads, ya know, just like my kids.



and I wasn't kidding about the popcorn bowl. It's exaclty the one I got from 1-800-Flowers when I had Cole. From the proud Papa. Here's proof....

Mind over Matter

I want to be asleep. I really really do. But it appears that my previous letter to morning sickness has pissed it off. I felt horrible yesterday. Horrible. All day I was trying to keep things down. I wimpered and lay in bed all day. Then, I made a lentil soup like my Aunt Ana used to make me. And I just ended up flushing it down the toilet. So tonight I was sitting in the living room just trying to kill time. So I watched a Lifetime movie. Not just any movie, but one I'd already seen. I hate rewatching movies. But I felt crappy and I wanted to avoid barfing again.

But I finally gave in and got in bed. I kept repeating these 3 words in my head, "Mind over matter". It's all in my head. I could have thrown up many many times but I have kept myself busy. My mind busy. So I tried to think about random stuff. Stuff to get me to doze off. Then I remembered I hadn't prayed in a while. The last time I had prayed I had prayed that morning sickness stayed at bay because I had a project I had to finish up for a client. I also prayed for some more work. I felt fantastic the following day and then ended up getting super duper busy with BIG jobs (as in more than one). I must have gotten caught up in all the excitememnt and feeling awesome that I forgot to pray again.

So I thought of this as I lay there feeling guilty for not having spoken to Him in a few days. And all I could think to pray for was to be thankful. Thankful for morning sickness. For the sign of life within me. New life. For an answer to a prayer we had recited over and over again. And I felt better so I decided to blog. Now that I'm not afraid of the barf, I think I'll join my Baby Daddy in bed. Who by the way had a crappy Father's Day because I was feeling icky. So I might have said to him that his gifts were making me nauseous...Happy Father's Day. My poor Man, he even thanked me!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY WILL!!!!!

An open letter to Morning Sickness

I cannot stop eating. I love food. I have to admit that I have had visions of me putting my whole fist in my mouth just to momentarily kill the hunger. And this usually occurs as I am driving home from having just eaten. I have put on 4 pounds in 4 weeks with this pregnancy. I am already wearing maternity clothes (nevermind that I probably should have gone up a size before pregnancy, I am just happy to be able to blame it on something rather than just my own lack of discipline.) I am sporting the belly of someone who is in her 4th or 5th month of pregnancy. Yeah. I'm in my second. I'm blowing up people! I'm blowing up!!!!

When I was pregnant with Cole, I had horrible morning sickness,..all day. And all night. I think I lost 6 pounds in the first trimester. Water wouldn't even stay down. So I looked svelte during my pregnancy. Except towards the end that my face got swollen. But I didn't even notice it until I had seen a picture I had taken and that made me wonder if maybe I didn't look so hot after all. But you could only tell I was pregnant when I would turn around to face you and my big o' belly would knock you down. I have a feeling that my ass is gonna get pretty wide this time around. I laughed when people said that with the second pregnancy your body knows what to do and it springs into action. That you get bigger. "No,...not me. I'm a teeny little thing." I was always kinda reassured that the nausea would help me lose those extra pounds and would assure me that I again would gain no more than 22 pounds in pregnancy.

Dear Morning Sickness,


I hated you. I hated the thought of motherhood with you around. I couldn't even imagine motherhood with you lurking at every bite and sip. I couldn't see past that toilet I became very close to. Oh, and those brown paper bags. How they saved me a time or two. I remember the ride to the airport to catch a plane to Oregon. I thought you were in my past. And you snuck up on me. There was not a brown paper bag in sight. But I managed to swindle a plastic baggie from brother or sister and then we became very close-baggie and I. I learned a lot about keeping quiet under pressure. Vomit pressure.


You also brought me closer to my OBGYN and all his staff. We were in there every week to check on baby. The contractions my stomach did all day everyday worried him. So we had to go in and get checked all the time. Sick. Nauseous. I hated you as I had my sights on that OB's bathroom. And when someone would go in there, I'd break a sweat. In a panic I would look around for somewhere to quietly relieve myself. Because you were a sneaky little thing. You liked to keep me on my toes.


But I survived your 12 weeks of torture. I did. Yes I did. So this time around, I was ready for you. I had my people lined up to help battle you, and bring me wet towels and headbands. And to watch my other little terror. The 3 year old. Remember him? Now that I think about it, it occurs to me that you two might have been in cahoots. You haven't showed up but sometimes, he talks so much he makes me nauseous with this pregnancy. 

So where are you now tough guy? I'm in my 7th week,...I'm just sayin' 

Thinking of you,


Vannessa

Also, Cole is super duper excited about being a big brother. He has given himself a new honorary title: Brother Bear. Hmm, thinking that's a cute shirt idea......But in the meantime, this picture of Baby Bear (at 6 weeks 6 days) will have to do....

Baby's 1st picture!

So far so good!

We're measuring a week behind which accounts for the scare we had a week and a half ago when the Dr wasn't liking what he wasn't seeing. That explains a lot! We are now looking at a due date of the 30th of January 2011. We even saw the heartbeat flutter! Pretty neat!

I will still love you Lord!

So has anyone seen the movie, Facing the Giants? Mom brought it home one day as part of her assignment. She needed to write a paper and asked for my help. I hate school stuff. Been there, done that, don't want to go back. Then, to top it off, it's a footbal movie....serious eye rolling action going on now....

But, I had to help her. So I watched it. And I LOVED it! That was some time ago.

It's about a football coach at a local high school whose team has never won a football game. He and his wife are struggling financlially, they are struggling with infertility, and he is struggling to keep his job. The one thing that he does not struggle with, is his faith.

One day he goes out into a field and he reads his Bible and prays. His wife comes out and he asks her: "If the Lord never gives us children, will you still love Him?"

Then, he goes to school and he tells his players:
"I want God to bless this team so much people will talk about what He did. But it means we gotta give Him our best in every area. And if we win, we praise Him. And if we lose, we praise Him. Either way we honor Him with our actions and our attitudes. So I'm askin' you... What are you living for? I resolve to give God everything I've got, then I'll leave the results up to Him. I want to know if you'll join me."

So these young players start beleiving and they start winnning. His wife still does not get pregnant. One day, she calls a friend embarrased that she feels pregnant but is hesitatnt to go into the Drs. because her pregnancy tests are always negative. She finally decides to go in and they test her. The nurse comes in and gives her the negative results. She walks out to her car, and cries and then says "I will still love you Lord."

Meanwhile, back in the Drs. office, the Nurse realizes that a mistake has been made. She runs out to the parking lot and gives the news to his wife (Brooke Taylor).

Now, back to my real life,....I am pregnant again. Almost six weeks. Feeling fantastic. It's supposed to be a secret until we knew everything was going great. Until we saw a sac or heard a heartbeat. Went to Drs. this morning and he didn't like the progress that has been made. He should have seen more. So more blood tests. Another appointment next week and a veeery loong weekend ahead of me. Waiting. and Wondering. Just like last time. Exaclty 2 months ago.

But I have faith right? And my faith is stronger than his ultrasound machine. But still....on the long drive home, I started to think. In my head. And we know that that is never a good thing. And I started thinking about the difference between having faith and being realistic. Which got me down. I was in a funk. I pulled into the garage, shut the door and I felt paralyzed. All I wanted to do was cry. So I did. In my garage. But only briefly because I live in Texas and it's freakin' hot. Then I thought "I will still love you Lord!"

And so were off to the beach tonight with some dear friends and their 4 kids! For 3 days! I am hoping for some major chaos because I need this weekend to help me keep my mind off of tests, and results, and appointments.

And to keep reminding myself to praise Him,...no matter what.

Disclaimer: Hubs gave me strict instructions to keep the news under wraps. And technically, I am. I am not telling anyone. Not directly at least. So if nobody reads my blog (and I don't think anybody does), nobody knows. Right? Right?

Meet Maci!!!!

Oops, found this post in my drafts from a couple of months back. I guess I should have shared it way back when but it's never to late.

Sooo,.....

I finally got a Mac! that was my super awesome Mother's Day gift (though I've had it for a little over a week). I love it. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. it. Like seriously? Why didn't I go Mac before? Long before. You know what they say right, "Once you go Mac, you never go back."


But I am still learning the intricacies of my new and precious family member little toy. For example, forward delete, where are you my friend? I miss you oh so very much. I need to find a shortcut to you.

Also, there is a Caps Lock delay on my Mac. So SOMETIMES MY SENTENCES ENDED UP LOOKING LIKE THIS because it takes the key a while to respond to the command. So I decided to Google what was up with that.  And a few Apple geeks were all like:

"Why in the world would you ever want the Caps key when you could just use shift?"

and

"the caps lock key is useless"

And I was all like, "that's freakin' brilliant!" Seriously. Never thought to use Shift to capitalize things. I use it for everything else. It should just come naturally. It would remove one step from the capitalizing of stuff. So then I wondered if I was among the majority or the minority. How many of you use the caps lock and how many of you use the shift to capitalize words?

Red, White, and Blue of Embarrasment

Ok, so seriously, I shouldn't even be blogging right now. I have soo much to do and I have a hard-core deadline I have to meet BUT I just realized that today we are officially able to start wearing bright colors (ahem white) and linens. You would think that after my White Prohibition and moments like this or this, I would be afraid.

But no. Not I.

I am excited to dust off the white and strut my "puppies".

Now, let me ask you:

Do you wear red under your whites? Is that just crazy and bold? Sissy swears by it but seriously, I think I've had enough wardrobe malfunctions to be the guinea pig. Maybe when I don't have a deadline I can spend some time Googl-ing. If you happen by it beforehand, please leave a comment letting us know.