I really am still alive!

I haven't blogged in quite a while. I have been trying to keep up with the blogs I follow, but even that has been slacking as well. It's been a very busy last couple of weeks. I will try to catch you up to speed on the highlights and also try to avoid making this the longest blog entry ever in the process.

July 11th was my first baby shower. My very dear friends Anna and Toni hosted it for me. It was held in a really nice room at the community center near Anna's house. The food was fantastic and my friend Sarah made the cake. It was beautiful... and so delicious! We were given some amazing gifts for the little munchkin!

Here's me.... sporting my HUGE preggo belly!


My friend Anna, who did most of the planning, was not able to attend. Her son BBZ was in the hospital and had to undergo emergency surgery the day before. It was so scary, but thank goodness he was doing better and was in recovery at the time of my shower. Her wonderful mother was in town and she helped out with the shower while Anna was at the hospital. To hear BBZ's story, you can read all about it here. It was really sad to not have her there, but I was so happy that everything was turning out okay for little BBZ!

So then Tuesday (the 14th) I woke up feeling like I had a bladder infection. Uh oh. I went to my OB and sure enough there was some blood in my urine. She put me on some more antibiotics. That night I started having horrible pain in my lower back. Right away I knew. Another f-ing kidney stone! Yep. Joe took me to the emergency room. They gave me some pain killers (have I mentioned how much I hate taking any meds while I am pregnant?). But then they sent me home. The Dr. said he wasn't sure if it really was a stone. I knew better. He sent me home with a Rx for percocet. As soon as I got home, I went to the bathroom and sure enough, out came a stone. That's 2 in a month! And this one was almost twice as big as my last one! Jeez.

July 17th we went to our friend's daughter's 10th birthday party. We had unusually nice weather, so it was actually nice to sit outside and hang out. It was a luau theme in their backyard. Ofcourse, after a couple of hours I started to get really tired. It's just alot to work from 7am in the morning and then go out on a friday night these days!


Saturday, July 18th was our family reunion. This is my dad's mother's side of the family. We had relatives coming in from all over, some that I hadn't seen in years. It was held at a local state park and the temperature was around 72 degrees! I was happy! Seriously, as soon as it gets above 80 outside (which 90+ is the average right now), then I start swelling up like a puffy marshmallow woman. I had been telling everyone that if it was anywhere 90 I wouldn't be attending. The middle of July, in the midwest, with temperatures at 90+ in a park, far from air conditioning, is no place for a 8+ mos pregnant woman. So I was really excited as the day grew closer and the weather was looking so nice.

My grandmother was one of 5 kids. This group of folks is her and my grandpas kids, along with their kids and then their kids. So man several generations. Oh and a dog.


Not sure what is going on here, but this is me and my two sisters.


The reunion was a great time. Next year it will be even more fun with even more little ones running around.

I have been working really hard to get everything done that needs to be done before the munchkin arrives. So that has been keeping me really busy. On monday, we had a consultation with a pediatrician. He came highly recommended from my good bud Gina. We loved him and will most likely go with him. He answered all my questions with flying colors and his office passed almost everything on my wish list. We have one more consultation next week before we make our final decision.

Last night I finally got to use the gift certificate that my mom's friend gave me as a thank you for designing everything for her daughter's wedding (invitations, programs, thank you's, etc.). It was a spa package that included a prenatal massage, facial and pedicure. I think my favorite part was being able to lay on my stomach during the massage. They had this awesome pillow that had a spot in the middle to put your belly and chest. It was heavenly to be able to lay in that position. I never wanted to get up.

My throat started to feel sore last night and this morning I woke up to it feeling even worse. I hardly got any sleep last night, as I had a hard time being able to breathe. I have a doc appt today at 11:30 so hopefully he will be able to fix me up.

Tonight we are having dinner over at Joe's mom's house. Tomorrow is my 2nd and final baby shower. This one is for my family and some of my friends that couldn't make it to my previous shower. I am so excited! Sunday we are having my maternity photo shoot, so that should be alot of fun as well.

Hopefully Monday I will be able to post some pictures from this weekend and start to get back into the groove of things as far as my blog goes. There's just been so much going on... but I feel bad for not keeping things up to date.

Have a great weekend everyone!