The Mighty Mississippi

I'm just popping in real quick to share a few pictures that I took along the Mississippi River Walk in Dubuque. We recently spent the weekend there for my cousin's wedding, and while I didn't get my camera out too much, I thought I would at least share the few photos that I did take.

I'm so glad I was able to go and visit family that I don't get to see very often (though I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera with me to the wedding events and getting more photos of everyone.) I wish I could say that I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, but I was still in the thick of my sickness here so it was a bit of a struggle for me at times. I'm still very glad I went and Sydney definitely had a great time visiting the Mississippi River Museum, the awesome indoor water park at the hotel, dancing at the wedding, and spending time with family! Definitely worth it!

I have a few more random photos to share, so bear with me while I catch up on posting all these old pics!

Finally, an update!

Hello...?

Anyone still reading this...?

It's been a looong time since I've done a blog post, and for that I am sorry. I've really missed the blogosphere. Not only have I missed updating my own blog, but I follow a ton of awesome blogs and I haven't been able to keep up on reading those either.

So here's the deal...most of you know from my last post that I was diagnosed with mono back in August. What you may not have known is that at the time I was also several weeks pregnant...double whammy. What's worse, is that once again (just like when I was pregnant with Sydney) I have been dealing with horrible all day nausea and morning sickness, so I have barely had the energy or desire to get off the couch, let alone blog, take pictures, etc.

The good news is that I'm out of the first trimester and I think things are starting to look up! I'm still dealing with off and on nausea, but I have more good days and hours than bad now, and I think I'm finally ready to dust off my camera and laptop and rejoin the land of the living. So, if anyone is still reading this, thanks for hanging in there and being patient with me!

Jon and I are so excited that we are soon going to be a family of four! I'm not sure that Sydney is going to be as thrilled with this development at first, but I'm sure she will come around...and who knows, maybe she'll love being a big sister!

I'm a little over 12 weeks along now, and as I've already mentioned the first trimester has been a little rough on me. I seem to get hungry every few hours, but I can't say that I've had any particularly regular food cravings or aversions. Smells have been hitting me really hard though because of my almost constant state of nauseousness. The slightest off smell can really do a number on me. Let me tell you...diapers have been a joy.

Hmmm....what else...I'm definately gaining weight and starting to show (which is happening much sooner this time around). See for yourself...

I'm still sleeping good, except that I already have to get up to use the bathroom at least once every night. We had a sono the other day and the baby was moving around like crazy! Flipping, rolling, shrugging, kicking, you name it. Of course I can't quite feel any of it yet. We plan to find out the sex of the baby at our appointment in November. Jon's seems to think it's a boy this time, but I have absolutely no idea.

So that's my quick little update on our news and where I've been. I'm really optimistic that I'm starting to finally feel better and I am excited to start enjoying this fall (which is one of my favorite seasons) and our remaining time as a family of three!

Mono

You know. Mono.

The "kissing disease" one.

That you get from kissing a bunch of 15 year olds.

That one.

I've got it.

And I haven't  been kissing any 15 year olds.

Though I do love me some Taylor Lautner. But he's like what....18 years old now? So that crush is totes legit.

Teenage werewolf crushes aside, I seriously do have mono.

The funny thing is, I probably never would have known either. I mean, i've definitely been sick for the past few weeks, and VERY tired, but I have lots of reasons to be tired, and I've been blaming the sickness on everything from the flu, to a cold, to allergies.

What did me in?

Hives.

Holy. Hives. Batman.

I have been fighting head-to-toe hives for the past three days. The hives drove me into the doctor's office and on my second visit the Dr. decided to run some blood work. I had to hold back a snort when she said one of the things she would be testing for was mono. Ha! What, does she think, I'm in junior high or something? Mono. Pfft!


Fast forward a day, and here I am with the news; positive for Mononucleosis. Huh. Ain't that a kick in the head.

Well that explains a lot. (except where I got it.)

The worst part of this whole ordeal, by far, has been the hives.

They are hell.

Itchy, burning, torturous, hell.

Pure and simple.

When I'm having a bad outbreak, I don't even know how do describe it to you. It's completely overwhelming, like your whole body is on FIRE with itch.

The good news in all of this, is that it's once again driven home the fact that I seriously have the BEST husband. Hands down.

Jon has been amazing these past few days. He has been taking care of absolutely everything; making breakfast, lunch, and dinner, doing the dishes, cleaning the house, taking care of Sydney, playing with her....everything; all while I lay useless on the couch in an antihistamine induced coma. AND he's been doing all of this without me once having to ask for it and without once complaining. He's amazing.

Thank you babe.

I love you.

And I promise I haven't been kissing Taylor Lautner.


This post has been brought to you by the makers of Benadryl and my living-room sofa.

Well, hello blog!

So I haven’t blogged in what seems like a really long time. I think it’s partly because I’ve been out and about so much and partly because I just haven’t gotten my camera out a lot lately. I do have some pictures to share from our camping trip, but that's about it. So, pictures or not, here is a bit of a random update on our happenings as of late.

Summer is sadly nearing an end and that means so are my Monday’s off.  I’ve really enjoyed my time off with Sydney and we’ve been steadily checking things off our summer to do list. This past weekend Sydney went on her first real camping trip and she did great!

Gimme dat snack!

She had a little bit of trouble going to sleep the first night, but the second night was no problem at all. I think she was just so exhausted from a whole day of playing and swimming.  This campground near my sister’s hometown was fabulous, it was right on the water so fishing was mere steps away, and there was even a man-made swimming lake equipped with a mushroom water fountain, shallow beach areas, and deeper sections with diving boards. Sydney loved it!

I was so happy with this puddle jumper life jacket that I got her. It worked like a charm! Sydney was fearless in the water, comfortable, safe, and practically swimming on her own! (Well, not really swimming, but she got the hang of floating and kicking her legs pretty quick!) I wish I had brought my camera, but I was too busy enjoying the water myself. Let me assure you though, Sydney looked stinkin' adorable in her floaties!

Alert the presses! We've had a Bigfoot sighting!

Nap-time al fresco. Courtesy of the 900 degree midday tent.

The worst part of the trip was all of the locusts. Yuck! We were constantly getting dive-bombed by the nasty buggers at night when we were trying to play games. Good thing I have lighting fast jump-and-run reflexes.

Excuse the no makeup, dirty hair, I've been camping for two days, look.

Bubbies!!!

...............................................

I finally got out and pulled weeds in my vegetable garden which was WAY overdue. Seriously, you should see the massive pile left behind as proof of my naptime labors. Ridiculous. I hate weeds. Tomatoes, poblanos, and jalapeños are starting to make a steady appearance.  Now that my lettuce, broccoli, and root veggies are out I’ve got lots of extra space so I’m thinking it might be time to plant a second crop, or fall garden, or whatever it is that the pros call it. 

Sydney’s birthday is just a few short months away, so I’m slowly starting to do some planning. I think we will just do another party at home this year, since she’s still too little to do a real “birthday event” type party; besides there will be plenty of those down the road! I’m thinking of doing a “Look whoo’s turning two” Owl theme, and possibly doing chili as the main course. Is chili a weird thing to serve at a party? I love chili in the fall! No doubt there will also be smoked meat, because we all know Jon can’t have a party without firing up the smoker! :)

Other than that things have been pretty ordinary around here.  Just enjoying every bit of summer’s last hurrah. The weather has finally cooled, with highs in the upper 70’s. It’s the perfect weather for flinging open some windows.  Now if we could just get some rain…