March -busy times!!

I have been absent, and I apologize. I will be better going forward. I need to get loads of photos and videos up on the blog and shutterfly site.

We have officially moved Maddyn to her big girl room. She's moved into the front guest room, and out of the nursery. We (knock on wood) had a very smooth transition, and she is in love with her big girl room. Since I was still not 100% mom helped us paint the room- and I was creative again this time. AKA- that means more work for everyone. We still have to do some smaller finishing touches like shelves, knick knacks and letters, but I posted a few teaser photos below!

We will decide what colors to keep in the nursery once we know boy/girl for baby #2. Speaking of, we find out Tuesday morning. So stay tuned!!!

Aside from that Maddyn has had a rough few weeks. She was diagnosed with the startings of pneumonia and has had a tough few weeks with her cough. We're ready for her to be healthy again!

I am doing a little better. They put me on a steroid which seems to be helping better than the other meds were. I'm still on all of the meds though. I'm now 20 weeks and down to about 5 good days a week and 2 terrible ones. It makes it easier to tolerate, since I have 5 days to pick myself up- but I'll be ready to be 100% again. The doctor also has me in prenatal aquatics and yoga to help me get my strength back slowly. I have been so weak, it's been tough.

Work has been insanely busy, and I've been doing lots of 10+ hour days. That's making me terribly exhausted, which isn't really helping. I'm hoping that it will get a little more normal in the next few weeks. It's really taking it's toll.



I was able to head up for a quick trip to see Megan & Em this week. It was great to have the 3 pregnant best friends together- even if only for a short trip. It will be nice to have all of our kids the same age again!!!


Amy got engaged a few weeks ago, so that's also some new news in the family. They are in the beginning stages of planning, but lots of fun wedding planning ahead. Maddyn is excited for Todd to become Uncle Toddy officially!



Other than that, Dave's been super busy at work and we have been trying to maintain some level of normalcy around here. Once we have the gender and things start to get tamer, I'll be loading some videos and pictures on the two sites soon! Maddyn's been full of funnies that i can't wait to post.

Until then, her big girl room:

Snow Day = Lots of Laughs!

We are getting lots of snow today/tonight, and Maddyn was in a great mood after school today. Dave asked her if she wanted to go outside and play in the snow, and she happily said yes!


I got a few short videos and all you hear is her crazy belly laugh. She loves it when Dave or Rylee or even herself falls in the snow. Thought I'd share the videos- they're good for a laugh! Each one is 15-20 seconds. She's definitely her mommy's girl- she loves the snow!!!


It's definitely things like this that can brighten my long hard days of being sick :)

Maddyn is going to be a big sister!

After much time trying, we're blessed to make that announcement. Maddyn has loved this news, and she's already been telling Dave and I that she'd like a baby sister, not a baby brother. LOL- we explained that we can't pick, and she told us NO Baby brothers. So we didn't quite get through. We'll know soon enough, but it is rather comical.

I've been in the hospital numerous times, as I've been diagnosed with hyperemesis. You can learn more about hyperemesis here: http://www.hyperemesis.org/

It's been horrible. Sleeping on the floor at times, b/c it's too hard to get up- and just throwing up anywhere from 2-9 times a day. IVs help a little, but nothing truly helps. They had me on Reglan and Zofran and nothing really seems to help at all. I'm exhausted and have lost a ton of weight. Not fun.

I'm past the 14 week mark, and b/c it has been so bad this time, the doctor thinks it might not last as long as with Maddyn. With Maddyn it was not every day, and it was bearable at times. This time, it's every day and non-stop. So I hope that means it won't last till 26 weeks. Yikes! I've tried every 'remedy' under the sun, including accupuncture- and none have worked.

So, right now, it's just one day at a time, and hoping that it gets better soon. I appreciate all of the cards, care packages, notes, messages and texts people have sent over. I'm sorry i haven't gotten back to everyone. Right now, I'm putting my energy into work (I'm working from home) and Maddyn as much as I can.

My due date is my birthday, but it looks like I'll be a scheduled c-section on July 30th unless we decide not too. We have some time to decide.

I'll try to post more as I'm feeling better- to provide more updates. I am so truant on photos it's not funny. But I will be trying to catch up here when I can.

Some ultrasound photos:

8 week photo:




14 week photo:

Happy New Year!!

I've been so busy, I haven't had much time to do photos. So I've uploaded 4 or 5 albums tonight. Crazy enough, some of them are as old as October. So be sure to check out the Shutterfly site.

I still have to upload Disney, Maddyn's Birthday, and Christmas but I'm getting closer :)

In the meantime, for a good laugh- here is a video of Maddyn playing football with Dave tonight. Her laugh is pretty cute!

Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Birthday Maddyn!!!

Maddyn turned 2 on Friday!!! It's hard to believe she's 2 already!! We had a little gtg with friends on Friday and went do the "bounce house place' she loves so much. Then we had a small family party on Saturday.

I have pics to upload later this week, but here are just a few cute ones quick!!!

happy birthday little girl!!!

Disney: Days 2 & 3

Tuesday was one long day!! We started out the day at Hollywood Studios. The rides were limited since we know Maddyn doesn't have the tolerence for the 3D glasses. We did Toy Story which was ok and then Playhouse Disney which she LOVED. Pooh, Mickey and Tigger- she was in heaven :)

Our mishap for the day happened when Maddyn decided to unbuckle her stroller straps and get out while we were still moving and she fell and skinned her knee. She got a Mickey band-aid from 1st aid, but that's all we've been hearing about for 2 days now. Boo Boo on my knee, mommy. I have a Mickey band-aid. Other than that, MGM was lots of fun.

We came back in the afternoon, napped and headed to Mickey's very Merry Christmas Party. It was SO much fun!! We first saw the parade. It was great b/c it was better than the electric lights parade, and all Christmas themed. Maddyn was in awe. We had front-row curb seats and sat with friends. She was all smiles! After the parade, we went back and rode some rides. Most of the audience left after the first parade or went to line up for the 2nd parade, so the rides were EMPTY. We walked right on to everything. Maddyn took a great nap and had a second wind so it was perfect! We also got to meet Minnie. We were a little weary b/c Maddyn doesn't really care for characters. She was scared of Minnie at first. I got out the camera and got a photo, but then as we were walking away, she gave Minnie a High 5!! I was so bummed I missed it, but she was all smiles!!! We might have had a breakthrough :) We caught the fireworks and then left. A very late night- with Maddyn asleep in the stroller the way back to the car.

Today we slept in b/c of our late night last night. Then because it was so warm out (high 80s) we swam in the pool this morning. It was sooo nice. Maddyn is such a fish, she loves that water!!! We napped and then headed back into Magic Kingdom. Today we did a few of the 'lesser known rides' that we usually don't do. Dave got a chance to do Space Mountain, and it was just a very relaxed and low key evening.

Tomorrow the plan is to hit Animal Kingdom in the morning. We were going to skip that one, but doing MK tomorrow and Friday (and pretty much every day this week) gets a little old, so we wanted to mix it up. So the morning AK, swim in the afternoon and then we have a fun dinner tomorrow at Hoop De Doo Revue. It's an interactive dinner that will be lots of fun. We might (if we have time) hit the MGM Lights festival, we'll just see.

That's it for now!! I'll check in tomorrow or Friday :)

Disney Day 1 & 2

We got into Disney yesterday. It was a great flight and we got 1st class upgrades so that was nice (all those trips paid off). We got down here though, to find it much cooler than we expected!! We arrived at the house we are renting and were pleasantly surprised. It is BEAUTIFUL!! Just perfect. Very modern in decoration, huge spaces, gourmet kitchen, big bathrooms, 2 masters, 2 kids rooms, private screened in pool with jacuzzi and they also had a free baby package so we have a high chair, pnp, baby monitors, etc. Each room has a flat panel tv and there is a game room with fooseball, pool, huge flat screen, etc. We are only 3 miles from Disney, so it's about a 15 min drive from the house to parking. Not bad at all!!

Yesterday we went to Magic Kingdom. It was a big mistake. It was a Sunday which meant weekend crowds and it was Mickey's very merry Christmas Party (MVMCP). We didn't stay long, but had a good time just remembering the rides we loved. We did Small World, the Carousel a few times and Winnie the Pooh. It was so pretty seeing the Magic Kingdom all decorated for Christmas!!

Today we went back to MK. We were soooo happy. The crowds were gone and it was the Disney we remembered. For starters, it was 20 degrees warmer and sunny today. Yay! We hit all of the rides, more than a few times. Maddyn still has love for those "horsies" so we did the Carousel about 4 times, but Pooh about 3 times too. There were no lines, so we were lucky. She did the roller coaster in Goofy's land and some other fun rides like Tea Cups, Jungle Cruise, Snow White, Philharmagic, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.

Near the end of the day, we decided to hop over to Epcot. There are only 2 rides that she's age appropriate for, and we did those: Nemo and then Crush. She loves them both! Then we ate dinner in Mexico and called it a day. Epcot is also beautifully decorated for Christmas. The tree is huge and beautiful and there are all kinds of pretty lights everywhere.

Today, I forgot my camera. I was so bummed. You all know my love for taking photos and so it was a tough pill to swallow. But it is what it is, and I'll make up for it the rest of the trip :)

Tomorrow we plan to hit Hollywood Studios in the morning, swim here and nap in the afternoon and then tomorrow night, we head to the MVMCP ourselves!! Looking forward to it, should be lots of fun :) I will bring the camera, for sure!!!

Here's a picture I took of Cinderella's castle last night in the meantime: