Pregnant - For Reals

Yes, we are pregnant again! Apparently we got pregnant directly after miscarrying the false pregnancy. We have had a sonogram and there is a little peanut in there with a heartbeat! I am 8 1/2 weeks along now and feeling quite horrible - the real reason for not posting much. I started getting sick at week 5 this time. I think that's earlier than usual, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I am of course quite thankful for the awful hormones that let me know everything is as it should be. So far I feel just like being pregnant with Seth and Blake - not throwing up, just wishing I would so that it would be overwith and I would feel better. I usually start feeling better about week 17. Praise the Lord for phenergan! I get my cerclage Dec. 5, this time they'll do a spinal. I'm used to just general anesthesia, so I'm a bit nervous, but I reckon I'll get over it. My due date is June 26!

The Haircut

So, for the first time since I moved down here I switched hairstylists and used someone here. Seriously. Since January I have been driving back to Ennis for a cut and highlights. Was it successful? Not really. Back to square one. Getting the message across about what you want is so hard sometimes. Especially if you don't have a pic, which I didn't. But really, I think the most amazing thing is how we women view ourselves versus how we really look in the mirror. Here's what I mean. I don't love my haircut but I admit is well within acceptable range. Not a big deal.

This is what I asked for (I thought):

This is what I imagined my hair looked like, this is what it felt like after she cut and styled it. She kept using the word "feather" which scared me, and it felt very top heavy.

This is what it really looks like after I styled it. Not really Farrah Fawcett hair. I felt like it looked so much worse until I took the picture. Then I realized - it's just a haircut. She did thin out the bottom too much. You can't really tell because I'm pulling it all forward, but half of it is gone. Anyway, I don't really know why I am posting all this. But there you have it, you are welcome to see the neurotic thoughts about my hair.

Halloween and other happenings

Okay, sorry for the blogging drought. We have just had too many things going on. Plus my inherent laziness. Anyway, without further ado, may I present halloween pics:

Batman and the fat little dragon.

Princess Claire (seriously, isn't she just a beautiful girl?) and Batman.

Side view of the dumpy dragon. Amazingly, he did not complain about his hot costume. He looked so cute toddling around I could hardle stand it.

Mom and I went to a B&B in Fredericksburg and had a great time. We shopped, ate too much chocolate and ate at really nice restaurants. The next day we hiked to the top of Enchanted rock. It was a lot of fun, but work! It is 38 stories tall. I didn't feel so bad about the chocolate after that... We hadn't been on a girl's trip since I had kids, so it was really great to get away.

Dancing montage

We frequently turn up the ipod and jam out as a family. Very stress relieving. Very fun. While Kyle and I are not stupid enough to be caught on film, this is the latest of the boys dancing. Well, Scoot tries, anyway.

The Boy Who Cried Poop

We went camping this weekend in Winnsboro with Kyle's family and had a great time. Perfect camping weather. The trip home took a little more than 2 hours longer than it should have, making it a grand total of 8 hours. A part of that reason is Friggs. We're headed south on 35 out of Dallas and Seth says "I have to poop!" in a very urgent voice. So we quickly get off and find a gas station and Kyle takes him in. Nothing. We get back in the car and head down the road. "I have to poop!" yells Friggs and we go through the same thing again. After much trying, he has results. Yay, we're done. Wrong. Ten minutes later: "Dad, dad, I have to poop again!" So Kyle, irritated by now, slows down and gets over and starts to exit. "Never mind, it went away!" Ten minutes later, "Dad, I have to poop, now!" By now Kyle is so frustrated, he says "How bad? Bad enough to poop on the side of the road, buddy? Because I am NOT getting off this highway again. Friggs agrees. I am thinking this is not a good idea because we are not out in the middle of the country, but hey, no one has asked me. Kyle pulls over next to an on ramp, so there is maybe a five foot scrap of grass with cars zooming by on both sides of us, pulls down Seth's pants and tells him to poop. Amazingly, Friggs could not poop under such conditions, I mean , could you? Good Grief. Ten minutes later, back on the road Friggs announces "I feel sick. My tummy hurts." I ask him if he needs to throw up. He says yes. Kyle feels that he is exaggerating and I have now planted the idea of throwing up in his head and he just needs to get over it. Kyle, not believing him at all, says, and I quote, "If you need to throw up, throw up in your hands." I gasp and say "Kyle Stringer, don't you say that! That is so mean." I suggest pulling over, a notion that is laughed at, so I find a walmart bag and hand it to Seth, thinking he was probably fine, but just in case. We told him to close his eyes and go to sleep. Not two minutes later Kyle and I are talking about something, and Friggs says, "here, Mom." I turn around and he hands me the bag half full of vomit! We never heard him or anything. I said, "Poor baby, I'm sooooo sorry. Kyle, how could you? We are now officially the worst parents in the world." Kyle, still frustrated, says, "oh yeah? Well, you know what happens to the little boy who cries poop? He vomits in a bag, that's what!" I think hearing himself say that broke the tension and we all started laughing about the whole thing. Friggs felt fine after that. Kyle has since repented of choosing the highway over his child's bodily functions.

Trip to Mom's

I took the kids to Mom's for a few days last week to meet my friend Sarah, and her two kids, Logan and Ellyse. Logan is Seth's dearest friend and they had such a good time. Here's a pic of them fishing with Papa:

Seth cast his own line and hooked and reeled him in all on his own. So proud.

Also, meet Jane Ross. Lesser known sister of Betsy, perhaps? I don't know, my kid names things so weirdly. It's a ribbon garter snake that we found at Mom's and I caught for Seth. We also caught a brown skink, and they now live together in the bug house quite peaceably.

The weekend

Last weekend our friend Kara came into town to see us from ACU. She was Seth's favorite babysitter in Kaufman and I got really close to her when we worked with the youth group. Now she is a junior in college (good grief, I feel old). So, she came and we spent the day hiking Panther Canyon at Landa Park in New Braunfels, wading in the Comal Springs, feeding ducks and fish, and enjoying being outside. That night we did the touristy thing and went to the Riverwalk, which I always enjoy. We looked at the Menger hotel, the Alamo, bought too much candy for Seth at the candy store, ate ice cream, and had a great time just wandering around. Here are the pics: