the mcgowan family chronicles

DESERT LOVIN'

2012-01-27T14:52:00.002-07:00

No, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter! Ever wonder why we like something? I'm not talking about Facebook, I'm talking real life. Today I took Vincent on a trip up to Lake Pleasant to get some pictures and be outside in the beautiful weather. We drove around inside of Lake Pleasant State Park, checked out the visitors center, took some pics of where I almost rolled our truck into the lake last weekend (that's a story for a different time), and walked around on the trails looking for wildlife I was going to head home. When I got back to Castle Hot Springs road I knew I should go left and head home, but instead I went right. While I was doing this Theresa's words were running through my head. When she had called less than an hour before, she said something to the effect of "don't do anything stupid, you have our son with you. You know sometimes you take dirt roads and trails and realize after it wasn't the best idea". She was right, that's how I almost put us into Lake Pleasant upside down in the Montero the previous weekend. So even with her voice in my head telling me not to, I headed north on Castle Hot Springs road off into the desert. Vincent was asleep so I reasoned that if it got really bumpy or sketchy looking I'd turn around, after all I had very little water for myself, no extra bottles for him, and no tire repair kit. As I explored, and took more pictures, I was thinking about the fact I love the desert. I don't know why, but I find it absolutely fascinating and beautiful. It could be because it's the polar opposite of the terrain I grew up around. Back in New England it's all grass and trees, it rains frequently, it snows way too much. Here we get almost no rain, no snow at all, the trees are few and far between, there are cacti everywhere. See, totally different. But I love it. I know it can be deadly, there are venomous snakes and lizards, the summer temperatures always exceed 100 degrees, the winter nights can get down below freezing. So, why do I love it? Is it because we can camp all year round? Is it because it's so different? Is it all the unsettled land we can go out and explore? Is it because desert racing is so friggen cool? Is it because of all the great mexican food? Maybe. Here's some pics, enjoy!

happy little buddha

2012-01-11T19:42:00.005-07:00

Every time our baby smiles, I swear that he is the chunky little reincarnation of a happy little Buddha.

Seriously.

Look at that freakin' smile!

This year, I hope and pray to never take for granted every perfect little thing this kiddo does. There are so many different things we learn and see every day - different sounds, facial expressions, movements. Everything about this kid is so new to us...and awesome.

At any given moment he is happy, sad, ecstatic, frustrated, calm, talkative, cranky, sleepy, funny, smelly, slobbery, slimy, whiny, smiley, sweet, dorky. You name it...this kid has it all!

But most of all, he is precious.

I am one happy and proud mama today!

should auld acquaintance be forgot

2011-12-31T15:33:00.004-07:00

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

As with many old poems and literature, I am sure there are many translations of the Scottish verse that is traditionally used to ring in the New Year. For me, it is a reminder to not only look forward to the promise of hope and happiness that the New Year has to offer, but to also never forget your previous years and the people who have come and gone throughout your life.

Every person, every experience, has helped shape me into the person I am at this very moment. And I would not be the same if there was even one tiny thing that was different. And because of that, I am thankful for every experience that I have had. I am thankful for every person who has held a piece of my heart. Whether you are living or deceased, currently in my life or a friend of the past...you have changed me. And I have to thank you all for that. Every single one of you.

And with the birth of our first child this year, I am finding that the future for us is so bright. It's so amazing to me that an 18 pound little person has me so wrapped around his little tiny fingers. And I honestly never knew these feelings existed. We are all so in love with him! Every smile, every yawn, every new inch grown, every intellectual stride, every ounce of his being...all have me so excited for everything this new year has to offer us. I only hope that it doesn't go by TOO quickly so that I have time to breathe it all in and not miss a second of it.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for being a part of me. And may you look towards the wonderful things 2012 has in store for you with as much happiness and anticipation as we are. It will be a glorious year, and I can't wait for all of the new people and experiences that lie ahead.

To you and yours, I wish you a very...

New Camp Trailer Idea

2011-12-17T22:05:00.013-07:00

Theresa has graciously allowed me to post my random musings here, and this is the first one. We love camping. We like anything that allows us to get out there more, quicker, and easier. We are building a teardrop... S L O W L Y. Having one unfinished project doesn't stop me from daydreaming about a million other ideas involving camping trailers. I saw an article in 4 Wheel Drive Magazine recently about building an off-road trailer on a budget...here's the article.

I love the idea but at first I scoffed at his idea of "budget". Seriously a brand new ARE truck cap for $1800? Professional paint job for $400? Professionally applied Rhino Lining for $375? Why not get a DIY bedliner kit and apply it yourself for around $100? While your at it, why not rattle-can the thing yourself for under $100? Search Craigslist and similar sites and I know you could find a used truck cap a LOT cheaper. That's how I originally thought I would do it if I were in his shoes. Upon further consideration I came up with a new plan of how I would do it:

First, my truck bed trailer would use a utility bed, like this one:

All those cabinets on the outside would be great for storage, and generally the utility beds are tougher than normal pick up truck beds.

Next up...the cap. And for that I'd use a Flip-pac truck topper like this:

With the Flip-pac you can now stand in your truck bed trailer, you could cook in there, and you'd have a lot more storage space inside while getting there. With the "budget" trailer you'd have to stack all your gear on top of you mattress. Ever had a grease trap on a Coleman stove leak out, I have and I definitely wouldn't want it on my sleeping area (think dirt and attracting animals).

After that, you could do any number of other neat little touches like matching the axle under the trailer to your rear axle on your tow vehicle so that you always have a spare axle and parts in case you break way out in the middle of nowhere. Also you'd have two spare tires if needed, just swap out the flat on your tow vehicle with one of the trailer wheels, leave the trailer, drive back to civilization to get the flat tire fixed, and go back for the trailer... beats walking miles back to a repair shop! Also there has to be a way to use the spinning yoke on the trailer axle to do something. Maybe it could be used to generate electricity? I'd also drop the original gas tank and replace it with a water tank, and utilize the gas filler door to fill the water tank. You could have x# of gallons of water for drinking, showering, washing dishes, etc. You could have one of the cabinets on the utility bed flip down into a table for cooking. You could mount electric RV jacks at each of the four corners to level the trailer, you could mount a retractable awning to the flip-pac to provide shade, you could make (or buy) sliding drawers in the bed of the truck to hold even more stuff like this:

...the possibilities are endless.

So there's my latest idea for a camping trailer, feel free to use any or all of it, but if you do please send me some pics and info!

14 things the baby books don't tell you

2011-12-16T16:00:00.005-07:00

You don't realize this until you look back at your pregnancy, but those books you read (you know the ones) just really don't tell you everything they should. For example, here is a list of 14 things the baby books fail to emphasize.

Buckle up.

14. You will not lose all the weight you gained during pregnancy right away.
In fact, if you're like me, you will not even lose it after 4 months! So seriously...don't expect to fit in those skinny jeans again anytime soon. Wait...I don't even have skinny jeans. So no problem! :-) But all in all, don't expect to lose that baby weight overnight. You may lose a little at first, but it might plateau. It might take awhile. Your belly will probably feel like a saggy pillow. So don't be sad. I feel that way, too.

13. You will sweat like a pig on a spit.
If you are one of the lucky ones (like me), you will gain a lot of excess water weight and will bloat so much you will look like the Michelin man. Your feet probably look like hot air balloons. Your face like a basketball. One of the things you don't realize, though, is that after you give birth, that water has to go somewhere...and not just through your pee. You will sweat it out...everywhere. You will sweat while moving, while breastfeeding, while sitting still. You will sweat during the day. And, mostly, you will sweat at night and probably wake up with a wet pillow. Sexy, huh?

12. You really do need to sleep while the baby is sleeping.
This is one thing I seriously wish I did more of - sleeping while the baby is sleeping. You're not going to miss anything. The laundry and dishes are not going anywhere. So just sleep while you can. Because before you know it, the week/weekend/month/month(s)/etc will be over and you will wish you would have taken even just one more nap. So take that nap. TAKE IT NOW!

11. You will learn to eat faster than a ninja.
Once the baby is born, you will learn to eat your meals so quickly that you'll actually wonder if you even ate at all. You will inhale things so quickly just because you know that at any second you will be interrupted and may not be able to finish your dinner. And, actually...it's quite impressive how quickly you learn to scarf down your meals and you don't even get sick!

10. Sitting will hurt for weeks.
This is something that is obvious, when you think about it. But it's something I never even thought about. If you give birth vaginally, it will hurt to sit for weeks. It will be so uncomfortable that it would make you wish you had pregnancy hemorrhoids again. The pain and discomfort obviously goes away, but for some reason I was not prepared for that at all.

9. You will lose all inhibition.
If you are in the hospital for two days, five days (like myself), or longer (hopefully not), you will have SO many doctors and nurses coming in and switching shifts at all times. And because of that, you will have so many different people coming in to check out your nether regions. The first day it will be a little awkward to have different people coming in to check you out. But you will learn quickly to just get ready for it the second you hear the door open. And once that door opens? Yep, you guessed it. Your inhibition sneaks out through the opening. Bye, bye. Gone forever.

8. You will have conversations that you never would have imagined having.
You will talk about your birth story. You will talk about breastfeeding. You will talk about your baby's bowel movements. Your baby's lack of bowel movements. You will talk about other bodily functions. You will talk about everything. All someone needs to do is ask and you will tell them. After all, you have no inhibition anymore. Remember?

7. You will feel like you live in a permanent pig sty.
Cleaning will be at the very bottom of your to-do list once you have a baby. During my maternity leave, I felt constantly out of sorts because our place was always a mess. And it actually still needs a good cleaning and makeover. But when it comes down to it, clean what you need to, but don't make it a top priority. When all is said and done, I can guarantee that you won't look back and say "Man...I wish I would have cleaned more."

6. There will be days when you get home from work and realize you never even brushed your teeth yet.
Because you have what seems like a million things to do, personal hygiene sometimes flies out the window. When I wake up in the morning, I have to not only get myself ready, but I have to get my baby ready to go - get him cleaned, changed, fed, burped, bottles ready, changed again, etc. I have to also get the dog ready for the day - fed, taken out, etc. So by the time it comes to leave, brushing my teeth sometimes doesn't even cross my mind. I hate to admit it, but I probably do this twice a week. Don't worry, though...I always brush them as soon as I can.

5. You will pee whenever you sneeze.
Get used to it.

4. You need to discuss having a budget.
Whether a single parent or a two-parent family, you will need to seriously think about a budget. We didn't, and it's been pretty stressful actually. Because I was out of work for 3 months (2 of which were unpaid), we obviously had a lot less money than usual. And, as most first time parents can probably agree, the last thing you want to do every day is cook a home-cooked meal. So you get takeout. A lot. And you spend more money than you should. And you get behind. It can get messy. 2012 is budget year for us...but it's something that the baby books don't stress enough. Work out a budget ahead of time. Just do it. It's then one less thing to worry about.

3. You will feel inferior.
Let's face it. When you have a baby, all of a sudden it seems like EVERYONE AROUND YOU is having a baby, too. And you think to yourself that it's actually kind of ridiculous that so many people are having babies. But then...once everyone has those babies, you will start to notice that a lot of people tend to brag about their babies like you wouldn't believe. You will hear things like "My baby started rolling over after one week" and "My baby started sleeping through the night after 2 weeks" and "My baby started to crawl after 2 months" and "My baby started to talk after I gave birth." Okay...maybe not that last one. But you get the picture. Be prepared for mothers to start spouting off all the amazing and shocking and wonderful things their children can do. It's not a terrible thing. In fact, it shows how proud they are about their babies. But be prepared. It will make you feel inferior...especially if your baby didn't roll over after week 1 or sleep through the night after the second week or crawl during month 2 or talk after exiting your hoohah.

2. Breastfeeding is weird.
It's amazing. But weird. Especially the part when you realize that your breastmilk not only comes from out of the center of your nipples, but it comes from dozens of other parts of your nipples...and shoots in different directions. Yeah. Freakin' weird.

1. You will fall.
Fall. Not Fail. F-A-L-L. Fall. In love. With your baby. It might not happen right away. But at some point, it will hit you hard. You will be so in love, more than you ever thought possible. Every look, smell, sound. Every smile, every cry, every coo, every whine, every yawn. Baby hugs. Baby farts. Baby breath. You will fall in love with it all. You will not be able to get enough of your baby. You will be so very much in love.

And the baby books just don't tell you all of that.

a worthy cause

2011-12-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

There are so many charities out there. So many causes to support. It's so difficult to even think about choosing only one to support because there are so many that pull at each different heart-string.

But here are a few of the causes that I support the most.

Take a look and these phenomenal organizations!

diaper dilemma

2011-11-30T14:11:00.007-07:00

Okay. So. The word "dilemma" implies that there is a really big issue or concern about something. And in some eyes, this might not seem like a dilemma at all. But in mine it is.

So here goes...

Other than being terrible for the environment and just collecting dust in landfills, I have now learned that all disposable diapers test on animals.

Seriously.

And by "testing on animals", I don't mean that they put the diapers on the animals to make sure they fit. No. Not even close. What I mean by "testing on animals" is that they apparently have to test the toxicity of the gels that the diapers use to soak up the baby's waste.

And that disgusts me...especially since the term "toxicity" refers to the levels at which something is harmful or damaging to a living (or non-living, I guess) being. So, in the fullest sense of the word, they are using animals to test how harmful the chemicals in diapers are.

And that mental picture is so much more gross and disturbing that the dirtiest diaper mess.

I will admit - I really love disposable diapers because they are so quick and easy. And because V goes to a babysitter during the day, it's really the most convenient option to just hand his sitter a bag of diapers so she can change him while I am at work.

But now I am seriously thinking of possibly switching to cloth diapers for all the times that V is NOT at the sitter. I wouldn't be comfortable asking the sitter to use cloth diapers while he is under her care...but for the times before work, after work, and on the weekends...I am seriously considering it.

And like I said before, this might not seem like a dilemma at all. Besides, people use disposable diapers all the time. Our parents used them on us. We use them on V. Millions of other people use them on their children. It's completely normal and accepted.

But something in my gut now cringes knowing that it's so bad not only for the environment but for the lives of animals who don't even know what diapers are.

So now I will leave my questions for you...

What are your thoughts on using cloth diapers? Is it messier? More time consuming to clean? Does it cause more diaper rash?

And...in a family of parents who both work, is it really possible to switch to cloth diapers 100% of the time?

for the beauty of the earth

2011-11-23T20:25:00.012-07:00

This Thanksgiving, I am reflecting on the fact that my eyes have been so opened to what it means to be truly "thankful". I can't possibly spend enough time talking about every single thing I am thankful for because I would be here for an eternity. But, most of all, I am thankful for...

My wonderful, loving husband who...no matter what we go through...is my rock in everything.

My sister-in-law who gave Joe her kidney a few years ago. I am seriously thankful for this every single day.

My beagle. Having never owned a dog before her, she has opened my eyes to unconditional love. I am truly blessed by her.

My family. To my parents and sister - there may only be 4 of us, but we are so strong, so close. And I am so thankful for the love we share. To my aunts, uncles, cousins and others - I don't see you nearly enough, but am thankful for every memory with you.

Joe's family. Even though we are so far away, you always remain so close to our hearts.

Health care.

My job.

My home.

Our earth.

My freedoms.

And last, but DEFINITELY not least...my perfect, healthy, angelic, and amazingly beautiful son.

For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our grateful hymn of praise.

For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our grateful hymn of praise.

For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above, pleasures pure and undefiled,
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our grateful hymn of praise.

excerpt from:
"For the Beauty of the Earth"
by Folliott S. Pierpoint

Happy Thanksgiving!

breast or bottle?

2011-11-15T14:23:00.007-07:00

For the past several days, I have been put on a couple medications that were necessary for my health, but not so great for my baby's. What that means, is that I have had to stop nursing Baby McG since Saturday and won't be able to start again until Thursday when the meds are out of my system.

It has been hard not being able to nurse him for the past few days and this made me realize how much I enjoy nursing him. That may strike some of you as weird. And it actually struck me as weird at first, too, because I honestly didn't think I would like breastfeeding.

In fact, I never really thought much about breastfeeding before. Not until my OB/GYN during my pregnancy and the doctors at the hospital asked "Are you going to do breast or bottle?" Without hesitation, I would always answer "breast" without even thinking about it. I don't know why, really. I could have easily chosen to formula feed. And I never read anything or heard anything that influenced my decision at all. But "breast" was just always my answer. I guess I just felt, deep down, that that is the way it's supposed to be. That that is what is expected. So yeah...that was always my answer, without a second thought.

Now, I am in NO WAY AT ALL passing judgement on those who formula feed their babies because we have formula fed ours, too. But during these few days when I have been forced to "pump and dump" and feed the baby a mixture of formula and milk that I've stored, I realized how much nursing has helped me in bonding with my baby. And it makes me wonder that if I chose to do formula feeding from the beginning if I would not have bonded with him in the same way.

Like I said, I am not passing judgement...I am only speaking what is true for me and am truly curious about what motivates others. So, to those mothers out there, here are my questions for you...

What were your reasons for choosing breast or bottle? And...do you feel that either choice has influenced how you bonded with your child(ren)?

.

randomness. dig it.

2011-11-06T14:33:00.001-07:00

Since our last blog post, I have had a million things I've wanted to blog about. But since I have spent the last 2 weeks getting back in the swing of things at work and still getting used to motherhood (will I ever get used to it?), the last thing I want to do when I get home is blog.

In fact, there actually really is no time to blog about everything I have wanted to - going back to work, balancing baby life with work life and home life, No Shave November, how stores start decorating for Christmas the day after Halloween, how much I love this time of year, my goal to not procrastinate shopping this year, how we might need a new car soon, how we can't afford a new car or christmas presents right now because i haven't been paid for 2 months, etc. etc.

Okay.

Looking back over that list, maybe it's a good thing there was no time to blog about it.

But I DO want to talk about a camping trip we took last weekend. It was our first camping trip since the 4th of July weekend, and our first camping trip with Vincent. I will admit. I was VERY nervous about it since he is just barely 3 months old this week.

Joe's parents were in town from New England and my parents went with us as well. After all, it was both our parents who created the love of camping in each of us. So it was quite the family trip. And Vincent was an angel. He was so quite the entire trip and just loved being outdoors.

For me, it was definitely exhausting. Very nice and peaceful. But exhausting. I remember camping trips where I could just sit and relax and breathe in the smell of nature with no distractions at all. It was still mostly like that, except now there are distractions. Now I'm not saying that having Vincent there was a bad thing. Quite the opposite, actually. I look forward to taking him camping as much as possible so that he can enjoy it with us. But it was just different this time around. And having a small baby meant that I could never really FULLY 100% relax.

You know?

But what I think is the coolest thing about this trip is that Vincent was able to be in the same place at the same time with ALL of his grandparents. When people have children when they are super young, this might not seem like that abnormal of a thing. But my mother had me at about the same age I am now, and I was never able to be with all of my grandparents at the same time. I was unfortunate to never even meet one of them because he had passed away long before my birth. And Joe never met all of his grandparents either. Is this really that abnormal? Or is it just abnormal for me and Joe?

Anyway, I just thought it was the coolest thing, and something that we'll be able to tell Vincent for years to come. That his first camping trip ever was spent with his parents and ALL of his grandparents (and Lucy, too, of course!). And let me tell you this...this kid's grandparents love the crap out of him. He is one really lucky little boy.

Seriously. How cool is this?

Grandma K, Grandma M, Vincent (sleeping), Grandpa M, Grandpa K

can i be one of the 1%?.....pretty please?!?!

2011-10-23T16:13:00.016-07:00

I have a feeling that every new mother, at some point, loathes the idea of going back to work after spending precious time with her newborn. And now that Baby McG is out of the newborn phase and in the really cute I-wanna-smile-all-the-time-and just-stare-at-my-mommy-and-daddy phase, all I want to do is stay at home with him. But, financially speaking, bills are really tight right now and going back to work this week is really a necessity for us.

But it's still heartbreaking.

He has grown so much in the past few weeks...and not just his belly size. :-) He has become so happy, so smiley, so interactive. He's also really inquisitive and loves staring straight at the camera to figure out what it is (since I always put it right in front of his face). He loves staring at his hand and trying to figure out what that is, too. And if you talk to him and ask him a question, he'll respond with a cute little coo. He's just getting so fun to be around!

And I want to be around him all the time.

During the first week and a half I would have never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but now...even his cries are cute! Annoying at times, but cute as hell.

But...back to work I go. If I was one of the lucky One Percent of people in the world who were super wealthy, then I would stay at home with him in a heartbeat. Not a second thought. I would have to be organized like a teacher and really develop him until he starts going to school, but I would love every second of it.

I love the crap out of this kid!

Weird expression, I know...but everything he does makes me so happy.

I know, I know.

You're probably thinking "blah blah blah BLAH blahblah Blah blah blaaaahhh!"

But I am just feeling really bitterwseet about going back to work tomorrow. It will be nice to get back to work, be around adults during the day, and make money again to help with new expenses...but I am also just sad about leaving him with another person.

The sitter we found actually comes highly recommended and is great with children. And I have no doubts that he will get anything less than great care. But, as a mother, I am just worried that he won't get as much loving attention as I know I would give him. Also, I am worried that I will miss important milestones. Like...if I pick him up one day and they tell me he sat up on his own, or said his first word, or took his first step, I think I would feel very sad that I was not there to witness it. Is that stupid?

Anyway.

I'll get over it. And I'll drop him off tomorrow. And I'll go to work and then pick him up afterwards. Just like every other working mother out there. I just wish I had the option of staying with him all day.

I love this little dude with every ounce of my body. I know he doesn't know what love is yet, but I hope that I can show it to him as best I can.

what NOT to ask a pregnant woman

2011-10-19T16:02:00.007-07:00

Looking back on my pregnancy, it's interesting to me how much people LOVE pregnant women. I'm not kidding. When people find out you're pregnant it's seriously the most awesome thing in the world to them. People always have such happy things to say when you're pregnant...and they also have a million questions for you as well.

Questions like "How are you feeling?" and "Do you know if you're having a boy or girl?" and "What are you going to name your baby?" are questions you should really get used to when you're pregnant because you will probably hear each of those questions at least a million times a day.

But there are other things people may say to you or ask you that may catch you by surprise. The following is a list of those questions and my reactions to them:

Question/Statement:
"So...is this pregnancy a good thing?"

How I would have responded if I was mean: No. Absolutely not. It's awful......OF COURSE IT'S A GOOD THING!!!
My actual response: I seriously have been asked this before by one of the ultrasound technicians at the hospital. I didn't really understand what she was asking at first, but then I realized that she actually probably sees a lot of patients who are NOT happy about having a baby. That makes me a little sad.

Question/Statement:
"Maybe you're having twins!?"

How I would have responded if I was mean: Well...maybe you should not call me "fat"? Because that's pretty much what you're saying, right? That I look fat enough to be having twins? Nope. That's not twins. That's just one HUGE little butterball and a lot of extra maternal storage tissue, thankyouverymuch.
My actual response: Nope...just one baby. Not sure if I could handle two.

Question/Statement:
"You look really swollen!"

How I would have responded if I was mean: Really? Are you sure I'm really swollen? I mean, I didn't notice any swelling when I put on my shoes this morning and could barely squeeze my entire foot into the shoe. And I don't notice any swelling when I stretch my legs and feet and can feel the tightness and strain due to all the bloating. And I certainly don't notice any swelling whenever I cross my legs and see a huge gash from where my leg was resting. And I definitely don't notice any swelling when I look in the mirror. I mean...are you sure I'm really swollen?
My actual response: Yeah...it totally sucks. My ankles are non-existent now.

Question/Statement:
"You're pregnant? WHAT!? I couldn't even tell!"

How I would have responded if I was mean: This is pretty much the same as calling me fat. Why? I'll tell you. Firstly, I definitely look pregnant. I mean, I don't normally carry around a belly the size of a watermelon. So, secondly, by saying you can't tell that I'm pregnant, while very nice as a gesture, is pretty much just the same as saying "You look really pregnant, but I'm going to be nice and say that you don't look pregnant at all."
My actual response: Yep! It's really exciting! Weird...and different. But really exciting!!

Question/Statement:
"Are you really going to eat that whole sandwich/pizza/ice cream?"

How I would have responded if I was mean: This is pretty much the same as calling me fat, too...and my answer will probably always be "Yes I'm going to eat the whole thing. Do you have a PROBLEM with that?"
My actual response: Yes I'm going to eat the whole thing. Do you have a PROBLEM with that?

Question/Statement:
"You better enjoy your sleep while you can!"

How I would have responded if I was mean: Really? And you think I'm enjoying sleep now? With a ginormous belly that prevents me from sleeping in pretty much every position and a bladder that screams to be emptied every hour on the hour? Yeah. Not so much. But thanks for pointing out that I have to look forward to MORE sleeplessness.
My actual response: Yeah. I'm not sure how that will be, but I'm sure I will not be getting much sleep for awhile.

Question/Statement:
"Enjoy your freedom while you can. You know...you can't do _____ with a baby."

How I would have responded if I was mean: Like heck we can't! We are taking this baby anywhere we want to and doing anything we want to. We will be forming this young little child to our lives, not the other way around. But, once again, thanks for trying to point out something negative about having a child. I really like that. A lot.
My actual response: Like heck we can't! We are taking this baby anywhere we want to and doing anything we want to. We will be forming this young little child to our lives, not the other way around.

Question/Statement:
"Can I touch/rub/kiss your belly?"

How I would have responded on a bad day: Can I touch/rub/kiss yours? Unless I know you really well and you and me are "tight" like that...don't ask. And speaking of the belly, try not to look at it too much either. I know it's huge. I know it's sticking out there. But when the first thing people do is look straight at my belly fat BEFORE they look at me or say "hi", it's just kind of not cool. I know it's exciting there's a little dude chilling out in my uterus, but my face is up here.
My actual response: Umm...I would prefer if you didn't. Baby's sleeping right now. :-)

Question/Statement:
"How are you feeling?"**

How I would have responded on a bad day: I'm feeling fine. Well, actually...no I'm not, now that I'm thinking about it. Remember when you told me before how fat I was (when you asked if I was having twins/knew I was so swollen/eating the entire refrigerator/etc.)? Well, yeah...I'm feeling fat. HUGE, actually. And it hurts. I know it's "for a good cause" and I'm "not fat [I'm] pregnant". But it really does hurt. Mostly my knees, actually. So much so that my knees spasm in pain every time I get up or down from a chair/car/bed/floor. And it also hurts because my feet can barely fit into my shoes. Which means: "Yes...I am VERY swollen." And speaking of swelling, did you know that in order to keep swelling down I actually have drink MORE water than normal? This seems kind of ironic since swelling is water retention. But yeah, I'm supposed to drink craploads of water to help keep the swelling from getting worse. Which...yep! You guessed it! Makes me have to pee every hour! It's super fun. Especially when I want to get a good night's sleep but I know that I can't because of how I'm so large, swollen, and filled with pee waiting to explode if I don't get up a million times each night. But the constant peeing is actually not that big of a deal compared to all the gas, acid reflux, hemorrhoids, and stretch marks. I mean, did you know that drinking WATER can give a pregnant lady gas? Yeah...water. And salad can, too. And actually anything that a pregnant lady digests gets turned into gas. An.Y.Thing. And because of all the pressure in the abdomen, bowel movements become less regular and there is so much less space for things, so acid reflux and hemmorhoids are born. And you don't even want me to go into more detail than that. Trust me. So, speaking of gas and hemmorhoids and acid reflux...do you still want to rub my belly and tell me to enjoy sleep and doing things while I can? Yeah. Didn't think so.
My actual response: I'm feeling fine.

** "How are you feeling?" is actually totally a decent question to ask. I am just being a beotch.

you are my sunshine

2011-10-17T13:55:00.003-07:00

you are my sunshine, my only sunshine

you make me happy when skies are grey

you'll never know, dear, how much i love you

please don't take my sunshine away

The McGowan Family Disclaimer

2011-10-16T15:16:00.002-07:00

Disclaimer

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by Theresa or Joseph McGowan and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of The McGowan family as a whole, specifically Vincent McGowan or Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Fur. The McGowan Family make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use.

The McGowan Family blog reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner it sees fit blog entries or comments that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, or is otherwise unacceptable.

let's talk pickles

2011-10-16T13:00:00.001-07:00

Joe: I'm gonna have a pickle. Do you want one?

Me: Not really.

[I watch Joe start eating a pickle and start to salivate. I guess I really do want a pickle. But should I admit it?]

Me: Ummm...okay, sure.

[I eat the pickle and immediately regret it.]

Me: Blech! This pickle is nasty!

Joe: Well, it's a zesty pickle. Why did you buy zesty dill pickles?

Me: Well, you're the one who asked for dill pickles. And when I got to the pickle aisle, there were literally a BOJILLION pickle choices. A bojillion brands. A bojillion flavors. And I knew you only like DILL pickles, so finally after WAY too many minutes spent in the pickle aisle, I picked the first jar I saw that said "DILL" on it. So I guess THAT'S why you got zesty dill pickles!

So yeah.

I'm not a communist. I'm not necessarily anti-capitalism either. But COME ON, PEOPLE!! Grocery stores are way too big to begin with and it would make shopping so much more fun and so much easier if there weren't a bojillion choices for everything.

I mean, seriously.

Let's talk pickles.

First, there is the type of pickle. You've got dill pickles, kosher dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, sweet pickles, sour pickles, half sour pickles, candied pickles, gherkins, and (apparently) there are also zesty dill pickles.

There are more types of pickles than what's in that short list, but now let's talk about cuts. There are whole pickles, half pickles, pickle spears, sandwich stackers, pickle slices.

Now, really, it's okay that there are different types of pickles and different cuts of pickles. But, now, to ADD to your pickle choices, there is also the pickle brand to consider. Some of the main brands throughout the United States are Vlasic, Claussen, Heinz, and Cain's. And that's not even 10% of the brands in the USA. Each state has their own list of pickle brands and there are also smaller pickle companies trying to cash in on the pickle market.

Is there really the need for this, though?

I mean, a pickle's a pickle. Maybe there are taste and quality variations from brand to brand, but do there really need to be hundreds of pickle types/cut/brands to choose from?

Really?

Think about it.

our beagle, the druggie

2011-10-13T06:00:00.003-07:00

Take a look at this picture.

Seriously.

Take a good, long, hard, thoughtful look at this picture and then I'll tell you what you're looking at.

Go ahead.

Take a look.

Okay...done?

Now I'll tell you what this is a picture of.

This, my friends, is a picture of the world's most expensive beagle dog. Literally. Indubitably. Absolutely. 100%. THE. MOST. EXPENSIVE. BEAGLE.

After a long night of stomach issues (diarrhea, vomiting, lack of appetite, lethargy, etc.), coupled with the recent resurgence of hip issues, we felt that something with Lucy was just really not right and didn't want to wait for our follow up appointment at the end of the week. Therefore, we decided to take her to the vet today for the new symptoms.

So Joe took Lucy to the vet while I watched our little munchkin and they did some more bloodwork, took a stool sample, gave her subcutaneous solution to prevent dehydration and gave her medication for nausea. As a result...the bloodwork came back normal. No parvo, no giardia. No apparent infections or issues there. We are still waiting for the valley fever test results, so will know even MORE (or less) once those results are in. But all in all, we know nothing. The vet knows nothing.

So the plan, for now, is to give her:

Sucralfate
anti-ulcer medication to prevent ulcers from all the vomiting

Amoxicillin and Metronidazole
antibiotics to get rid of any intestinal bacteria or disease she may have

Panacur
dewormer medication in case she has worms

And also some probiotic supplements for her food and pain medication (as needed) for her hips.

If you ask me, I think our dog definitely has a drug problem. Why else would she go to these great lengths to get so many medications? What other reason could there be for her incessant need to see the doggie doctor?

Hmmmm...our beagle, the druggie. I think it's time for an intervention.

;-)

While I don't have time (or energy) to discuss the notion of animals having substance abuse issues, I just wanted to illustrate that our beagle is flippin' expensive. Granted...if we didn't give a crap about her, we wouldn't spend anything on her. But when you know something's wrong, you want to make sure you can make it all better, right?

Well, she's obviously got some stomach and pain issues...so hopefully this brief medication period will help.

And if not, then I'm sure I'll write another blog about it.

So stay tuned!

And don't buy dogs from backyard breeders who are only in business for money and to breed dogs for good looks, not for good health.

mission: diagnosis

2011-10-12T14:04:00.004-07:00

To: Veterinarians Worldwide

From: Concerned Beagle Parent

CC: All friends, family, doctors, veterinarians, and blog onlookers who happen upon this post by accident

Date: October 12, 2011

Subject: Beagle Illness

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with a CORRECT diagnosis for our beagle based upon the following information:

Past Health Issues:

December 2009

Symptoms - vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, fever, lethargy, enlarged spleen
Test Results - high liver enzymes, low platelet and t-cell counts, bile acid tests normal, valley fever results normal
Diagnosis - Tick Fever
Treatment - Doxycycline until January 2011
Comments - Tick fever treatment stopped with latest results showing 1:160 exposure to tick fever

November 2010

Symptoms - yelping when hind legs are touched, inability to jump, hesitancy to exert any pressure on hind legs,
Test Results - X-Rays taken indicated hip dysplasia
Diagnosis - Hip Dysplasia
Treatment - Rimadyl and Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplements.
Comments - Rimadyl treatment was stopped, but we have continued the Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplements to promote joint health. No flare ups have occurred since this initial treatment of hip dysplasia.

Until...

Current Health Issues:

October 2011

Symptoms - yelping when hind legs are touched, inability to jump, hesitancy to exert any pressure on hind legs, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, lethargy
Test Results - X-Rays taken indicated NO hip dysplasia, still waiting for valley fever test results, going back to the vet today for additional screening because of onset of vomiting and diarrhea
Diagnosis - None yet, our vet office is thinking Beagle Pain Syndrome if valley fever results are negative
Treatment - None yet
Comments - Deep in my gut I don't think it's Beagle Pain Syndrome especially since our dog had tick fever in the past and responded to treatment and had hip dysplasia in the past and responded to treatment. I am guessing that if the valley fever results are positive, then they will start treatment of that. But if negative, then I'm hoping they recheck for tick fever based on the similar symptoms. But if both tests are negative, I'm not really sure what is going on.

Any thoughts and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Concerned Beagle Parent

beagle pain syndrome? what the...?!?!

2011-10-11T05:00:00.001-07:00

Baby McG
Baby V is doing well. He has nearly doubled in weight over the past month and a half and is getting so chunky. I LOVE his little rolls. :-) Also, he is sleeping slightly longer in the night. I still have to get up to feed him in the middle of the night, but he has been really good lately and has been going straight back to sleep right after. And I know that will keep getting better. I just have to stick with it and be patient...and strong.

Papa McG
Joe is doing well (as far as I can see, at least). :-) He is a great father. I know, like me, he has countless lessons to learn...but he is great with V and he smiles every time Joe is near him. That little boy loves his daddy so much already.

Mama McG
Read the last post. Oh yeah...and also...I HATE that I have to go back to work. HATE IT!! Like I've said before, I actually do like my job. But nothing would make me happier than to be able to stay at home with V every day and help him grow.

Lucy McG
Lucy just turned 4 this past week...already!! And she is a great big sister to V and I can tell that they will be the GREATEST of friends. But she has had another health hiccup this week. :-(

Remember last winter when Lucy was diagnosed with hip dysplasia?

(Click HERE for a refresher)

Well, she ended up responding well to the initial treatment of it and has been asymptomatic since then. Until now. Just over this past weekend she has started to whimper when moving and shrieks in pain if her hips are touched. So while I stayed at home with the baby on Sunday, Joe took her to the vet to see what they could do for the flare up of her hip dysplasia.

Only...

They took more x-rays and the radiologist on Sunday said there was no hip dysplasia.

WHAT the @#$%?????

Yeah.

That was my reaction verbatim.

So they did some blood work to see if it's possibly valley fever (hope NOT!), and if that comes back negative then they think she might have something called Beagle Pain Syndrome.

Not kidding.

Apparently Beagle Pain Syndrome is a type of meningitis that causes pain with movement, anorexia, depression, hunched posture, and guarding of the neck and genital area. It can, apparently, affect dogs other than beagles, too. It's treatable with steroids.

But here's my "thing":

If they originally diagnosed hip dysplasia and that initial treatment worked and got rid of all symptoms for almost a year, why are they now saying that it's something completely different? What I want to know is why in the WORLD one x-ray would show hip dysplasia and then one year later another shows that it's magically gone. Sorry, people...but hip dysplasia doesn't work that way. It actually gets WORSE over time.

Right now, they are hoping to rule out valley fever and we are just waiting for the results. If it's negative, then they are thinking it's the Beagle Pain Syndrome. But what if they are wrong about this, too? Or maybe they weren't wrong and she really DOES have hip dysplasia.

See? Confusing!!

Now I'm just skeptical about everything.

We have a follow up appointment later this week, so stay tuned for some news. Until then, though, just keep her little painful beagle butt in your thoughts and prayers.

the cutest thing

2011-10-10T15:45:00.004-07:00

Motherhood is hard work. And I've only been doing it for 2 1/2 months. So I know I have countless (and even more difficult) experiences ahead of me, but seriously. This is the hardest thing I've ever done.

Not only did I push him out with every ounce of energy in every last atom in my body (sorry for the visual), but I have had to adapt to numerous changes since then - physical pain and recovery, never-ending fatigue, hormonal changes, postpartum sweating (look it up, it's awesome), and breastfeeding (to name a few). It's all so emotionally draining. And I consider myself a very patient person, but being a mother has really put my patience to the test. And I'm certain that the whole "testing my patience" thing will probably never end from here on out.

And I am sure that I am the same as every new mother when I say this, but I seriously have the most respect for mothers everywhere. Especially my own.

It has been quite an adjustment to work through the newborn phase and I know it will keep getting better week to week, month to month, year to year. And while there are still difficulties and SO MUCH learning that I have to do, I can already tell that this is one of the best experiences of my life. Nothing makes me happier than seeing more and more of this every day:

I could look at that smile all day long.

if you didn't know before, you do now! (part 2)

2011-10-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

The wait is over!

Here are the rest...

11) I am a sucker for shows on The CW. I'll watch pretty much any of them, actually. Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, America's Next Top Model. Even the new ones - The Secret Circle and Hart of Dixie - have me intrigued.

12) I have made 2 quilts in the past - both of them I gave away as gifts. A lot of work goes into those things...and they are SO NEAT when finished. But...the next quilt I make I am KEEPING!

13) I bite my nails. It's gross. I am not proud of it. But I do it. The longest I have stopped biting my nails is about 10 months. I will quit for good. I will!

14) I recorded a CD about 6 years ago. I wrote maybe half of the songs and picked some covers that I loved. And I just recorded them all solo - nothing but me and my guitar. Quite raw sounding, actually...but really REALLY an awesomely fun experience.

15) My favorite artists (in no particular order) are: Edwin McCain, Boston, Patty Griffin, Huey Lewis and the News, Weezer, Better Than Ezra, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Kay Hanley, Chet Baker, Martin Sexton, and Ingrid Michaelson.

16) The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho is my all time favorite book. Read it. Just do it.

17) I want to write a book. I have a basic premise for it and have thought a little about the characters I want to use...but it's just so difficult to start. One day, though, I would really like to write it for good!

18) I love the company I work for, but I don't want to go back to work! I would love it if there was a way for me to make an income from home so that I could stay home and also take care of our baby. The thought of taking him to a babysitter or daycare place has me terrified. I know people do it all the time and that babysitters and daycare places are trustworthy...but I also know that no one will take care of our child like we do. And it's hard to trust someone with his little life.

19) I don't have trust issues...I just want to stay home with my baby. :-)

20) If there is one thing that I will never discuss in our blog, it is politics and politicians. The main reason being that I can't stand politics or politicians. Also, nothing I say will change your mind about what you think...and believe me, nothing you say in return will change my mind about what I think.

21) I love, Love, LOVE Young Adult novels and I am PROUD OF IT! The Twilight novels, the House of Night books, the Harry Potter series, the Hunger Games trilogy. I'm not sure why I like them all so much. Am I in some way trying to hang on to my youth? Not sure...but one thing is certain and that is I can't get enough of 'em!

22) My favorite vehicles are Toyotas, Volvos, Subarus, and Land Rovers. I have already owned a Toyota in my life, so I would like to, at some point, have the others, too. These things are superficial and material, I know. But this is MY list!

23) I always wanted to have two boys. Because I just squeezed one out and he is currently sucking away every last drop of my energy, I am not sure if or when we will have another one. :-) BUT...if/when that day comes to have another child, I secretly want both children to be boys. I guess it's not so secret now, huh? :-)

24) Whenever my baby cries, I want someone else to watch him until he's done crying. Is that evil?

25) I need at least one weekend spent in the outdoors every month. I love nature and love little vacations away from the city. But because of being wicked pregnant and now on maternity leave, we haven't been able to go for awhile. We do, however, have our first camping trip with baby booked and it's only a few weeks away. I can't wait! Our baby WILL like camping. He WILL!

if you didn't know before, you do now! (part 1)

2011-10-05T14:25:00.002-07:00

The internet and social media has made it increasingly easy for people to share any and every thought and opinion that crosses one's mind - on Facebook, Google Plus, MySpace, and all the blogging websites out there. Some blogs are super interesting and really fun to follow (ie. The Bloggess) while others are just a single person (or persons) trying to put thoughts out there for no real reason whatsoever. Not to say those aren't interesting, but the point I'm trying to make is...

Why do we do this?

Why do we update our status on Facebook so people know what we're doing and thinking? Why do we blog so people can know what's going on in our lives?

I have absolutely no idea.

I mean...it's not like someone asked me, "Hey T! Please go online and document all of your thoughts so that everyone can read them!" ha ha. If someone actually asked me that I would probably think they were crazy for wanting to read my every thought.

Yet here I am.

And...whether you want to know or not...here are 25 random thoughts and things about me that you may possibly have never known.

Enjoy!

1) I hate eggs. Hardboiled eggs, especially. I will not eat eggs by themselves no matter how they are prepared. I will, however, eat scrambled eggs in a burrito ONLY if there are other things like potatoes, cheese, onions, peppers, tomatoes (etc) in the burrito as well. But if it's only eggs, then count me out.

2) When I was 24, on a whim, I decided to move from Phoenix to Boston. I didn't have a job lined up or anything. It probably freaked my parents out...a LOT! But I moved there, found a job within a few weeks working downtown (at possibly the best place I've ever worked!) and lived there for almost 4 years. Hands down, doing that was quite possibly the neatest experience of my life.

3) I worked at Cheers in Boston. You know the place "where everybody knows your name"? Well, I worked for the owner of Cheers, actually. It was seriously the coolest job. And after I moved back to Phoenix, I was even asked to redesign their website. So the Cheers website that's out there is my creation. Check it out here. I'm kind of a big deal, huh? (<--KIDDING!)

4) When I lived in Boston, I went to see Huey Lewis in concert at the FleetBoston (now BofA) Pavilion. The fact that I saw Huey Lewis is not the interesting part...what is interesting is that I went by myself.

5) If you couldn't tell from the previous item, I love Huey Lewis.

6) Tim Robbins is my all-time favorite actor. Tied for a close second are Robert Downey, Jr., Jay Baruchel, Colin Firth, and Clint Eastwood. Don't try to tell me any negative things about any of them because I won't listen to you.

7) And to be fair to the female entertainers, I'll go ahead and share my favorite actresses, too - Kristen Bell, Kate Hudson, Drew Barrymore, and Kristen Wiig. Same here. If you want to knock on any of them, I won't hear it.

8) My all time most favorite song is Boston's "More Than A Feeling."

9) I went to NAU's Summer Music Camp for a few summers when I was a kid. I played the piano, flute, and oboe in grade school, but went to music camp for voice. It was fun.

10) The first time I ever danced with a boy was at music camp. Awwwwwww!

Riveting, I know.

Stay tuned for the rest...

clean and happy baby

2011-10-04T18:24:00.010-07:00

Don't you just LOVE a clean and happy baby?

what i CAN get enough of

2011-09-27T20:07:00.002-07:00

You know how yesterday I mentioned that I just can't get enough of little Baby McG?

Well, here is one thing that I CAN get enough of:

Crying

Okay, okay. I know he's a brand new baby and babies cry. It's natural. It's what babies do. And I definitely haven't even heard the most of it yet.

But today, I have been annoyed to the max by it.

I mean, come on. Just stop already. I feed him a million times a day, I keep him dry and warm, I keep him clean, give him kisses and hugs and love on him, read to him, sing to him, et cetera...and yet he still cries. I don't mean to sound insensitive and, like I said, I know crying is what babies do until they learn other ways to communicate. But coupled with my lack of sleep and energy, the crying pretty much ticked me off today.

Does saying this make me a terrible mother?

Thinking it makes me feel like one.

I think I just need a nap.

Like a 10 hour nap.

just can't get enough

2011-09-26T12:25:00.008-07:00

Have you ever heard of baby brain?

As in, when pregnant women start to have issues with their memory?

Yeah. So. I've already delivered the little dude and my baby brain is actually still in session. I still have some memory issues (like perpetually wondering where in the sweet Lord's name I left my car keys) and I also have issues with my attention span. I go from thought to thought like a hummingbird flits from one flower to the next.

To illustrate, I'll share some of the thoughts that I have had over the past 60 seconds:

I all of a sudden have an urge to watch BBC movie versions of Jane Austen novels. My favorite so far are the Pride and Prejudice version with Colin Firth that I saw when it first came out...and the Emma version from a couple years ago. Are there any other good ones out there?
I think it's awesome that, for the first time since I've been home with the baby I have had an actual burst of energy. Yes. ENERGY! So much so, that I started cleaning off the tables, the floor, and have done some laundry...and I still want to get even MORE done! Is it possible that the "nesting" sensation can come weeks after delivery instead of right before?
Speaking of staying at home, watching the baby, and cleaning...I have decided that it would be AMAZING if I never had to go back to work. I love my job...but I would love to be a stay at home mother. Would LOVE it! Let's win the lottery.
I think it's hilarious that I have so many nicknames for Baby V when he hasn't really done anything to "get" a nickname yet. But here are a few (of the appropriate ones only): Dookie, Munchkin, Milk Breath, Zombie, Honey Bun, Chunky Butt, Sweet Cheeks, Handsome, and My Precious.
You know how I had that burst of energy before? Yeah. It's gone now. But it was good while it lasted.

See how scatterbrained I am?

Don't judge.

Anyway, I just can't get enough of my little milk zombie, so that means YOU can't get enough of him either. :-) Here are some more pictures of him in all his adorable chunkiness.

Enjoy!

I love how he looks like a little man here.

This is his "I-know-I'm-getting-chunky-but-give-me-more-milk-NOW" look.

He's found his thumb.

You talkin' to ME?

V hanging out with his daddy and sister Lucy
(She jumped on the back of the couch just to be near them!)

Just can't get enough of him...

thirty days of vincent

2011-09-25T17:10:00.001-07:00

I am a mother.

So weird!

I know our baby is almost 7 weeks old already, but the fact that I am a mother is still kind of shocking.

Sometimes I am so completely exhausted that I seriously don't think that I will last 10 more minutes without passing out. But, on the other hand, sometimes I think of how (amazingly) I can still function day to day on 4 hours of a sleep a day. So at any given moment, at the flip of a switch, I could either fall into a deep sleep for probably 10 hours straight or I could get up and spend another 10 hours awake (maybe with a couple 30 minute naps thrown in there somewhere).

Sleep (or lack thereof) is definitely the most obvious things you think about during newborn-hood. For example, let's say you (yes YOU!) get an average of 8 hours of sleep a day. That's 56 hours of sleep each week and 240 hours of sleep in 30 days (which is 720 hours). That means, in one month (a 30 day month) you will have spent 33% of your time sleeping.

Next, let's pretend I'm a pretty average new mom who gets 4 hours of sleep a day. That's 28 hours of sleep a week, and 120 hours in 30 days. That means, in one month I will have spent only 16% of my time sleeping.

Now, I am not a "math" person, so don't make fun of the way I described those numbers...I just meant to illustrate how crazy sleep is for a new parent. Other than sleep, though, everything else is really awesome!

Every day we get to see tons of new things from Baby V - new facial expressions, new noises, new experiences, physical changes and development, new reactions, and (of COURSE!) thighs and cheeks that get chunkier by the day. One other thing that we have been noticing more lately is that V has been starting to smile a lot more as a reaction to us!

Now, I'm not talking about the smiling that babies do during their "light sleep" phase, right when they are falling asleep and making different facial expressions. I'm talking about real, 100% genuine smiles. They melt my heart! And I could just look at them all day long!

Here is a collage of the first 30 days of Baby Vincent. One picture from each of the first 30 days. I may have only gotten 120 hours of sleep during those 30 days, but looking back on these pictures of 30 different perfect moments, it's all SO worth it!

life with baby mcg

2011-08-24T19:24:00.005-07:00

Week:
40. We had Vincent 3 weeks ago, but his official due date was this past Sunday...so TECHNICALLY he would only be about 3 days old now if he was born on his due date. But we had to squeeze him out a little earlier than expected. But it's been going really well.

Size of Baby:
Vincent was born at 6 pounds 14 ounces, but was 6 pounds 7 ounces after leaving the hospital. Then...because we had to go back to the hospital for a few days (see here), he ended up losing more weight...so he was well underweight from what he should be. Our pediatrician has had us come back for a couple weight checks over the past week to keep tabs on his weight. And, finally, as of this past Monday, V is up to 6 pounds 15 ounces. And by now he SHOULD be above 7 pounds. Finally! We want nothing more than for him to be a healthy baby.

Size of Mom:
I am finally shrinking! I am not going to tell you how much weight I gained during pregnancy because it will make you want to vomit. Seriously. But I have already lost about half of what I gained and it's only been 3 weeks! It's definitely slowed down a little and I know it will probably take a long time before I'm back to what I was before getting pregnant...but I'm happy with the progress so far. My knees are quite happy about me being a little lighter, too!

Fetal Movement:
I actually call our son "McSquirmy"...so that should tell you a little bit about how much he moves now that he can kick and stretch his legs. Now that he's not cramped up in my uterus anymore. His legs are getting so strong and he is also lifting his head a lot more now...and he's only 3 weeks old. I think he's going to be really strong like his dad in no time!

Sleep:
I sleep probably about 5 hours a day (6 if I'm lucky)...and it's always split up at random times. One hour here, 30 minutes there, et cetera. But...the other night an amazing thing happened. V slept for 4 hours straight! It was amazing! The pediatrician previously told us that if he sleeps for 4 or 5 hours at night, that's okay and to not always worry about feeding him exactly every 2 hours. So I decided to set my alarm the other night for 5 hours from the time I started feeding him...and he woke up 4 hours later. I was very happy with that. He hasn't done that again yet, but I'm sure that as soon as he keeps gaining more weight, the longer he will sleep. And that will make me happy. I never knew how important sleep was until now. The less you get, the weaker and more cranky you become. So I can't wait until I can get a full 5 or 6 hours in a row. Can't WAIT!

I Now:
Can hold our little baby and shower him with hugs and kisses. Feel more normal again. Am on my way being a normal, healthy weight again. Can see my feet again and can see my ankles again (SO EXCITING!!). Can get up on my own without help. Can shave my legs comfortably again.

I Am Looking Forward To:
Sleeping through the night. Seeing my boobs look their normal size (bras are flippin' EXPENSIVE and breast feeding makes my boobs crazy shapes throughout the day). Being a normal, healthy weight again. Getting a good schedule and figuring out what in the heck I am doing.

Extra Thoughts:
I was very overwhelmed during the first week and a half after giving birth. Call it the Baby Blues, call ts exhaustion, call it whatever you want. I was definitely overwhelmed.

First of all, I was not prepared to have a baby that week, but the blood pressure issues made delivering Vincent a necessity. So I knew I had to have the baby right away.

Second, the delivery was kind of difficult for me. Since V wasn't quite ready to see the world yet, my cervix was still locked shut...so the first 2 days in the hospital were spent trying to open my cervix. It literally took 2 days. The 3rd day in the hospital was when Vincent was delivered. I had to have an epidural because every contraction was making my blood pressure even higher. I think it's very amazing that women deliver naturally, with nothing at all...but I was very happy to have that epidural. So the contractions ended up not being TOO bad. But that last stage of delivery...the wonderful pushing stage...made me feel like passing out. Such hard work! Words can not describe it. I could barely feel my body afterwards.

Third, getting sleep in hospitals is like finding water in a desert. So I had to come home with a brand new baby on literally no sleep. And then we had to go back to the hospital for V after not even being home for a week, so it was just a very stressful time.

I'm not trying to complain...so I'm sorry if it sounds that way...but it was just very overwhelming at first. That first week and a half was rough. And I know that there will still definitely be ups and downs as we are getting used to parenthood. But now, however...

I am (sadly!) getting used to living off of limited sleep.
I am loving every second spent with our baby.
He is beautiful.
He is sweet.
He makes the cutest noises.
He is strong.
He reminds me of Joe already.
He has the smoothest skin.
He makes a million different facial expressions every day.
His eyes are adorable.
He is getting a little better at focusing on certain things like faces and has even started to follow my face when I move my head from side to side.
His smile makes me so happy.
Seeing Joe cuddle with him is the sweetest thing in the world.
This is weird, but I love that I have already been able to recognize his poo face (you know...the expression he has when he poops?).
Speaking of...even when he poops he's the cutest little thing in the world.
I love his face.
I love how content and peaceful he is after he eats.
I love his little nose.
I love the way he smells.
I love how innocent and precious he is.
I love how his blonde hair sometimes looks brownish and sometimes looks reddish.
I love every inch of him!

After all, what person could NOT love this little guy?

2 hospitals in 2 weeks

2011-08-13T10:45:00.001-07:00

At my 37 week check up, the doctor noticed that I had high blood pressure. Normally, my blood pressure was always really good, so it was kind of weird. But she said that a lot of times pregnant women experience slightly elevated blood pressure toward the end of pregnancy...so she said we would just monitor it at the following weekly visits.

Now, because of Joe's kidney and blood pressure issues in the past, we actually have a blood pressure monitor at home, so on a Saturday night, I decided to check my blood pressure to see how it was doing. It was wicked high, so I decided to rest and go to bed. Checked it again in the morning after a night's sleep. Still wicked high. Called the on call doctor since it was a Sunday, and here is a quick rundown of the next 5 days:

Sunday: On call doc said to go to the hospital right away. Hospital admitted me for high blood pressure. Said I probably wouldn't be leaving because doc wanted to induce labor. Put me on a medication to ripen my cervix (since baby wasn't ready to come yet).
Monday: By next morning, wasn't working. Rock hard cervix. Started a cook's balloon cervical ripening thingie (look it up!) to help with dilation. Started a little Pitocin. 12 hours later, still no dilation.
Tuesday: 24 hours later, cervix was only opened to 3cm. Doc called my cervix Fort Knox (not kidding). Took it out. Kicked up the Pitocin. Broke my water. Contractions started coming. Contractions caused more spikes in my blood pressure. Started an epidural to take away the pain...which would eliminate the high blood pressure from the contractions. It worked. Had Baby McG that night!
Wednesday: Still in hospital for high blood pressure. Put on meds. Boring. Wanted to go home.
Thursday: Still in hospital for high blood pressure. Slight decrease in high blood pressure. Released with prescription for blood pressure. So glad to go home. Really missed my beagle.

After 5 days in the hospital, I was so glad to be going home...especially so that I could hug our beagle and start playing with our little one. I was ready for the horror story of how people (and movies) portray being a new parent - screaming children, no sleep, endless fatigue. I will definitely say that it has been an adjustment on my body and schedule, and I have definitely felt fatigued...but our baby is so quiet and I literally need to wake him up in order to feed him. So he's been pretty low maintenance and it's been fairly easy to rest while he's resting.

Until this past Wednesday night.

Vincent. at some point on Wednesday, got so completed agitated that he cried almost nonstop (not kidding) from about 12:30 am to about 5:30 am. There were brief periods of calm, but it never lasted very long. And nothing was working. I know he was only 9 days old, but it was so completely polar opposite to what he had normally been like, so we called the pediatrician's office. The on call nurse suggested to go to the ER as he would really need to be evaluated to see what was going on.

I have been here with Vincent at Phoenix Children's Hospital ever since.

When we brought him in, they did a million tests to look for infections, abnormalities, etc. They tested for meningitis...which was negative. So that was a relief. They saw a slight bronchiolitic situation in an xray of his lungs, so decided they might put him on antibiotics for that (and to make sure any other infection is stopped). They also noticed that he was getting low oxygen...which could possibly be a result of pauses in breathing. He was admitted to the ICU.

His tests keep coming back normal...but they are still wanting to keep him on antibiotics a little longer and want to keep monitoring him for apnea. He didn't have any apnic episodes at all last night or the night before. So that's good! But they are sending us home with a monitor that will alarm whenever there is a cessation of breathing or a cessation of heartbeat.

How freakin' scary is that?!?!

I am seriously sick of hospitals. I am seriously sick of our son being hooked up to machines and IVs. I am seriously stressed about having to hook him up even MORE when we get home to monitor for apnea. I am just sick of it. I just want to be home and cuddling with Joe, my Lucy, and my little man. I just want to be a new mother in the peace and quiet of my own home. I am so sorry if this sounds like complaining, but I think that this is just not fair.

He's an angel. An adorable, smiling, blonde-haired, angelic little 11 day old boy. And 11 day old little angels do not deserve this.

new kid on the blog

2011-08-10T19:38:00.004-07:00

Say hello to the New Kid on the BLOG...Vincent!

Just wanted to introduce you all to the little man...stay tuned for more updates and photos coming soon!!

sweet and freaky dreams

2011-07-29T11:27:00.002-07:00

I was at my parent's house, just sitting around and relaxing, enjoying the peace and quiet. Out of nowhere, I jumped up and realized that I had no idea where my baby was.

So I decided to head over to my aunt and uncle's house in Phoenix and knocked on the door when I arrived there. A young girl answered my call, a girl who I had never seen before. And she looked confused when I asked her where my baby was. Out in the hallway, another little girl came out carrying Lucy. So I asked her where my baby was. They both stared at me with blank faces and I got so frustrated that I could scream.

So I went back to my parent's house and decided to wait for my sister to come home. In the meantime, I searched the house high and low thinking that possibly I was just a terrible mother and left my baby in the bedrooms or something. But I was relieved when I heard my sister walk into the house. She was carrying our car seat and I immediately felt relieved.

But as I looked into the car seat, all I saw was our dog, Lucy, again.

Crazy dream, huh?

It's not as crazy as the dream I had where our baby ripped itself out of my stomach and was already dressed in clothes. And on one hand, this dream freaked me out because I literally couldn't find our child anywhere. But on the other hand, it made me realize that we actually already have a baby.

A little beagle baby.

Yes, I know she's a dog. She's an animal. A creature bred for hunting small game. A being that is pretty much content just eating, sleeping, peeing, and pooping.

But she's still our special little girl.

how to: freak out a pregnant woman REALLY bad

2011-07-26T14:02:00.002-07:00

Place a fetal doppler monitor on her pregnant belly and proceed...for 5 minutes...to NOT find the baby's heartbeat.

Yeah. That will REALLY freak her out.

I'll explain...

As mentioned yesterday, the baby ended up moving just fine in the end and had a good, strong heartbeat as usual. So they ended up letting me go and just making sure I called back/came in again if I noticed anything crazy like bleeding, contractions, loss of fetal movement, sharp pains, water breaking, etc. etc. I haven't experienced any of that stuff, so it turns out our little guy is quite the trooper.

Phew!

Crisis averted.

This morning I had a checkup with my normal obstetrician's office (since my appointments are weekly now). Usually these appointments are super quick and consist of checking up on usually only 5 things:

My weight

My urine

My blood pressure

The baby's estimated growth via measuring the fundal height, and

The baby's heartbeat.

So at my appointment this morning:

My weight - My weight was down by 4 pounds. Not sure how I did that in 1 week. Maybe it's from trying to eat better and sweating a lot? Or maybe it's because my appointment was in the morning and not in the afternoon after I've already drinken over a gallon of water? Who knows?

My urine - My urine was plentiful. Actually, I never really get the results of the urine tests and usually attribute this to things being okay in the pee department.

My blood pressure - For the first time in this pregnancy, my blood pressure was actually high. I told them that my appointments are usually always in the afternoon after a day of working at a computer and that this morning I had been running around getting ready for the day and heading over to the appointment and not really having time to just chill out. The doctor said that blood pressure normally rises a little toward the end of pregnancy, but to be safe, they drew some blood to do some labwork and to see if there is any possibility that the blood pressure is related to preeclampsia. I am really hoping this is NOT the case...so keep your fingers and toes crossed.

The baby's estimated growth - The fundal height check was so uneventful that I don't even remember that part of the appointment because...

The baby's heartbeat - The doctor put the heartbeat doppler monitor over my belly and literally for about 5 minutes they could NOT find the baby's heartbeat. Can you imagine how scary that is? I was thinking in my head the whole time "Oh My Dear LORD what is going on now?" and "Why can't we hear the heartbeat?" and "Come on little baby, where are you?" So stressful not being able to hear it. Then little heartbeat ended up being found hiding and kind of quiet and the heartbeat counts were just fine. But, MAN! Talk about a stressful 5 minutes!!

I'm thinking, in hindsight, that little Baby McG was hiding from the monitor as a way of getting me back for falling the other day. Kind of like him saying "You want to fall on ME, mommy? Oh YEAH? Well I'll just hide my heartbeat from you to freak you out. How do you like them apples?"

Very funny, baby. Very funny.

Not laughing, though. We've grown kind of attached to you now so you better be okay in there!

Stay tuned...

how to: freak out your family REALLY bad

2011-07-25T18:37:00.005-07:00

Just become 37 weeks pregnant and fall down some stairs.

Yeah.

That'll do it.

I'm actually being sarcastic and kidding. Don't do it. It is really scary.

Okay. Here's the explanation...

For the past (I don't even know how many) weeks, Joe has been refinishing our little baby's crib with the help of my parents and their garage. And since it was pretty much finished this past weekend, I was itching (BADLY!) to get the finished product back to our own home so that we could get it all set up and pretty.

Because I was so antsy about getting it all ready to go, Joe started to help me get the back of our truck ready for all the fun crib pieces. He went inside and grabbed the first (heaviest) piece of the crib and started to carry it outside to the truck. I was a little slower than him and was heading downstairs to where the crib pieces were lined up and ready to go and seriously just completely lost my balance, skipped over the last two steps on accident, and fell onto the tile at the bottom of the stairs.

The brunt of my weight actually fell on my knees when my knees hit the tile first...but with all of the momentum from my gargantuan body, I kept going forward and landed on my hands and belly.

I immediately took the weight off my hands and belly and just rolled over to my side. My mom came right away from the kitchen. Joe flew back in from where he was outside with the crib piece he was carrying. And my dad came in from grilling out back. They were on me so fast and I was actually kind of just in shock and started to sweat a lot and just kind of laid there.

I didn't really know what to do because the force really did primarily fall on my knees. So I figured we should just eat dinner and then keep an eye on the baby's movement. After dinner, though...to be safe...I called my OB's office and, since it was a Sunday, they said the doctor on-call would call me back. He called about 15 minutes later and basically said what I already knew: to keep an eye on the fetal movement and to call/come in if it significantly decreases or completely stops. He gave me the goal of 5 moves/kicks per hour and I ended up feeling 5 kicks within the first 45 minutes, so I figured everything was okay.

It was still wicked scary, though.

And as I said before, I was actually kind of kidding before about saying to "just become 37 weeks pregnant and fall down some stairs" to freak out your family really bad. Don't do it. It was really scary. Kind of embarrassing. But scary.

I have been really paying attention to any and all movements in my abdomen ever since then. I mean, even though babies are SOOOOO well protected in the womb, I have still been hypervigilant since last night. So much so, that this morning (after feeling only about 3 kicks in 2 hours) I decided to call the doctor's office again. I even had a good breakfast, lots of cold water, and even some apple juice...so I thought that only 3 kicks in 2 hours was way too low of activity.

They recommended that I go to the hospital where I was delivering just to get monitored and checked out.

They got me in RIGHT away and immediately hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor. And then the most beautiful sound in the world started being broadcast in the room - the little heartbeat. From then on I knew it was definitely going to be okay and after I had some ice water he actually moved probably about 10 times in 1 hour.

So annoying that he couldn't have done that this morning BEFORE I called.

Anyway...they kept me there for a few hours just to make sure it all stayed the same and then they let me go because there was no other trauma, bleeding, contractions, etc. It was almost a waste of a day, but I'm glad that it's all okay and hearing that heartbeat and feeling more regular movements again made me feel so much better.

To Joe, Mom, and Dad:
I am so sorry for freaking you guys out yesterday. But I'm really glad that you all were there and cared so much to help me. :-) I love you. And just know that Baby McG is a-okay and that I will try to remember to walk sideways from now on since I can't see my feet when I walk straight.

To all you pregnant ladies:
Please be careful on stairs. Actually...be careful everywhere. Your ligaments are loose and stretched out and you are predisposed to balance issues just because the state of being pregnant. So be careful where you step. Especially if you can't see your feet. Always look where you're going and go slowly. Who cares if it takes you an hour to walk 10 feet? Do what you gotta do.

To everyone else:
Be like Joe, my mom, and my dad and just be there for your pregnant wives/friends/family members. It's so nice knowing that, even when we are weak and spazzy and uncoordinated, you are there to help and support us.

:-)

perspective

2011-07-24T10:48:00.004-07:00

My mom: Not pictured. Taking the photograph.

Joe: Staring straight at the camera. He thinks this picture is just of him.

Me: Staring away from the camera. Yes, this action was deliberate. My un-pregnant face is just fine, but I don't like my pregnant face. Way too chunky. So that is why I am staring away from the camera. Immature? Sure, whatever.

My dad: Thinking to himself. "Why is she being so immature and looking away from the camera?"

Perspective: When this picture was taken, I didn't really know what it was going to look like and actually forgot about it until I downloaded the photos. But looking at this picture really put things in perspective for me. Those of you who know me know that I have big knockers. REALLY big knockers. And I'm not just saying that. In my opinion, they are actually ridiculously big. But the part of this photograph that really put things in perspective for me is the belly. You can't see the whole thing...but the part of the belly that you CAN see makes my knockers look small. So you know that means? This belly is freakin' HUGE! I mean, anything that makes my knockers look small is pretty ginormous.

That is all.

38 days to go. Wait............WHAT?!?!?

2011-07-13T17:23:00.018-07:00

Week:
35 5/7. More than halfway through week 35 already, actually. Just a couple more days and the 35th week will be over. So weird that there are less than 6 weeks left. So. Weird.

Size of Baby:
According to the interweb, books, blogs, you name it…the baby should be around 5 ½ pounds now. BabyCenter, in particular, states that at 35 weeks the baby should weigh about as much as a honeydew melon (which is around 5 ¼ pounds). Well, let’s just pretend you read our blog from last week. That means that you know that our ultrasound from last week showed that our baby was already at approximately 5 ¼ pounds. I know those things are just “estimates”, but I have a feeling that he’s going to be a little porker.

Size of Mom:
So rude. Why would you even ask that? Bank this in your list of things NOT to ask of a pregnant lady. :-) Let’s just say that I’ve gained way more than I should have and already voided out all of the weight I lost last year. Yeah…let’s just leave it at that. Kinda making me sick just thinking about it (but yet I still want dinner).

Fetal Movement:
I have heard and read that around this time the baby starts to move less and less. But I have noticed that, while he’s not quite rolling and somersaulting anymore, he’s definitely still moving. He’s most active after meals (see…a little porker!) and will usually always squirm if I drink some cold ice water. But he’s definitely still moving in there. Sometimes I will even feel a hand punch towards the bottom of my belly and a foot kick up top all at the same time. He’s probably ready to have more room so that he can more easily move his ginormous head. :-) But he’s definitely still kickin’ that’s for sure. I remember that at one of my appointments they said that you should always be able to feel 10 movements within a 2 hour time frame. With that in mind (and believe me, I’ve counted), our little one makes at least 10 movements within a 1 hour time frame. So freakin’ cute, eh?

Sleep:
I’m starting to realize that I don’t know what that word even means. I mean, I actually fall asleep really easily (which probably annoys Joe a little), but because of the canteloupe in my abdomen, it gets pretty uncomfortable pretty easily. Plus, I have to get up at least 4 to 5 times every night to get rid of the fluid in my ever-shrinking bladder. So all in all I probably only get about 4 hours of actual sleep. And I know it’s only going to get worse, especially when the baby arrives and I can probably only sleep for 2 minutes. But then eventually it will get better again. So I’ll just shut my yapper. :-)

Cravings:
None. Seriously. Not at all. I love eating salads and could probably eat salad for every meal, but I loved salads before becoming pregnant…so I wouldn’t really call salad a “craving”. A few weeks ago, though, I discovered that Haagen Dazs (stereotypical, I know) makes a chocolate ice cream with chunks/swirls of peanut butter. I don’t “crave” it, per se, but that’s the closest I’ve come to craving anything during this entire pregnancy. I like to think that means I’m getting a little bit of everything I should be.

Symptoms:
***BRIEF COMPLAINING ALERT***
Skip to the next section if you are sensitive to complaints and references to bodily functions.

Bloating – retaining an unbelievable amount of water.
Edema – The swelling (aka. “cankles”) associated with water retention.
Aches – Back aches and knee aches (from all the weight my poor legs now support).
Urination Issues – Extremely excessive urination, also had a UTI that I had to take meds for so as not to go into preterm labor (apparently infections can do that).
Carpal tunnel syndrome – This freakin’ HURTS! I used to think it was a joke and that people who had “carpal tunnel syndrome” were just whiners. But it’s the real deal. And it’s stupid.
Gas – The most uncomfortable gas I have ever experienced in my life. Sorry if that is crude, but it’s just plain TRUE. Nobody has gas like a pregnant lady. Nobody.
Memory Issues – What was I just talking about? Yeah. Really bad. On that note...I feel like I'm forgetting some symptoms. Joe? Am I missing any?

What The Doctor Says:
Nothing. You may think that this means I have a terrible doctor. I like to think it’s because my pregnancy has been pretty low key. Which is a GOOD thing. As of next week, however, I will be going for weekly appointments until the big day arrives, so will definitely keep you posted of any news from the doctor front.

I Am Missing:
Feeling normal. Being a normal, healthy weight. Seeing my feet. Seeing my feet look their normal size. Seeing my boobs look their normal size (bras are flippin' EXPENSIVE!). Being able to get up on my own without help. Sleeping through the night. Being able to shave my legs comfortably.

I Am Looking Forward To:
Holding our little baby and meeting him for the first time. Seeing Joe as a dad (he's going to be a GREAT one!). Being able to announce our baby and his name (since I seriously get the "what is your baby's name" question every single day). Seeing Lucy meet her little baby brother. Being a normal, healthy weight again. Seeing my feet again. Being able to get up on my own without help again. Not having heartburn or gas anymore. Sleeping through the night again.

Uhh......eventually, right?

lucy fur the swimming beagle dog

2011-07-06T20:11:00.004-07:00

As Joe mentioned in his last post, we had a very memorable weekend. And, part of that weekend was spent letting Lucy swim at Watson Lake near Prescott. We had to keep her leashed, but she still had a blast.

Take a look!

:-)

a very memorable weekend

2011-07-05T21:35:00.007-07:00

We had quite the interesting trip this past weekend.

My work gave me Monday & Tuesday off so Theresa took Tuesday off giving us a 4 day weekend. We decided that due to the ridiculously hot weather we’d go somewhere as high as possible (for every 1000 feet you go up in elevation the temperature drops 3.5 degrees). We also decided to borrow her parent’s Coleman pop-up since tent camping really isn’t an option with a 8 1/2 month pregnant woman.

Our adventure began on Friday because I went into work for overtime, which messed up our packing and shopping because I usually have it done before T gets home. I even had prescriptions I had to go pick up, and neither Theresa nor I was feeling the greatest. By the time we ate dinner, went to pick up prescriptions, and got all our gear together it was 9:30pm. We headed down to Tempe to pick up the pop-up and spent the night at Theresa’s parents house in the guest room.

The following morning we got up, went food shopping, and hooked up the trailer. By this time it was about 9:30am and much later than I wanted to be leaving. The temperature was already over 100 degrees and climbing.

We got on the highway and got about 10 miles north of Phoenix when we saw a sigh warning us of a crash 27 miles ahead… less than 2 miles later we were at a dead stop. Because of the extreme heat, plus towing a trailer, plus the stop and go traffic, I had the terrifying experience of watching the engine’s temperature gague creeping up. When it got to ¾ we had to shut off the A/C.

Now we were sitting in 110 plus degree temp.’s, in stop and go traffic, with no A/C…not a good situation for anyone, but doubly bad for a pregnant woman and small animal. We immediately broke out the GPS and found an alternate route to Prescott and around the accident, but we had to creep 2 miles forward to the next exit to take advantage of it. When we finally got there we were ecstatic to whip a U-turn and start heading south on I-17 at 65mph. Once the air was moving over the radiator again Monty’s (Monty = the Montero) temp gague went back to its normal position at 1/3 of the way up. With the A/C back on, we were happily on our way, again.

First major crisis averted.

If you know anything about Arizona, you know that taking the Carefree Highway (SR74) all the way through Wickenburg to SR89, then following 89 to Prescott is the L O N G way. We were just happy to be moving with cold air blowing over us. Also, if you’ve never taken this route I highly recommend it, the ride is much more scenic and interesting.

After climbing one set of mountain passes we went through the cool little town of Yarnell. Never would have known it was there at all!

Eventually we made our way to Prescott and made our way towards Mount Mingus where we hoped to camp. We turned off 89 onto the badly maintained road that leads to the top of Mingus and were praying that there would be an open site. One mile from the CG my heart sank when I saw a “campground full” sign.

Being optimistic, we decided to go check it out anyway reasoning that maybe somebody had left and nobody took down the sign. We’d been in the truck for roughly 5 hours. Arriving at the campground on top of the mountain it was indeed full.

Bummer!

We discussed our options while heading back towards the highway. There was a free dispersed camping area about a mile away from Mingus campground, there was Potato patch campground about 2 miles away, and there were hotels in Prescott (that allowed dogs, with vacancy?).

After checking out the dispersed camping area we (Theresa) decided that it was a little too primitive for our current situation. There were no bathrooms at all, no water, very little level smooth ground and a lot of forest between sites.

So we headed over to check out Potato Patch Campground since we’ve never camped there. The first loop was for RV’s and it was basically a parking lot, but there were sites open. The second loop was paved, but much more our style with spacious sites, trees, grass, pit toilets and water… and there were sites open!

Crisis #2 averted.

We picked a nice spot far away from other sites and backed the trailer in only to realized that the door was on the wrong side, i.e. I was 180 degrees from the picnic table and fire ring. Because I haven’t backed up a trailer in quite some time I did not want to switch sites so we did what any self respecting Pollocks would do… we unhooked the trailer and turned it around in the site by hand.

Set up was quick and easy and other than forgetting to put the awning on before popping the camper up, went off without a hitch. Shortly thereafter an afternoon shower cooled things off nicely. Finally some good luck and Saturday ended on a good note.

Sunday morning we were awoken before dawn by coyotes that sounded really close. It was one of the coolest and weirdest sounds we had ever heard before. Kind of like a mix of dog and hyena.

Later that morning after breakfast we decided to head back towards Prescott and check out a lake we had seen on the ride in the day before. Watson Lake was beautiful, but temporarily closed to swimmers due to water quality. Being the rebels we are we let Lucy swim anyway, and stood in the water to cool off.

When we had cooled off a little and were getting hungry we decided to head back to the center of Prescott to see if the event we saw yesterday was still underway. It was and we walked around the “fine arts and crafts show” for a while then sat down on the common in a shady spot to listen to a Military Band play and eat shaved ice.

Refreshed, we started back to camp and saw ominous dark clouds in the vicinity of where we were camping. Normally not an issue as we love rain in the desert, but I sort of freaked when I remembered I left all the windows partially open in our borrowed camper.

Not good.

I drove as fast as I safely could worrying that we would get back and find a large puddle inside the trailer. Arriving right as the rain started we shut all the windows and celebrated our good fortune with naked dancing in the rain.

Not really, I just wanted to see if you were still reading this long blog entry.

Crisis #3 averted.

It poured rain most of the night and we slept soundly, dry and comfortable in the trailer. Well actually T slept soundly, I couldn’t sleep and layed awake listening to the really close coyotes making more noise than the previous night. It was actually really cool because I think I could distinguish adult and baby coyotes yipping, barking, and howling, and even though they sounded like they were right across the street I wasn’t worried and gradually drifted off to sleep.

Monday morning started off uneventful and we made breakfast and broke camp in a timely fashion. Once underway we had a 30 mile drive to the highway, and we made it about 25 miles before small vibration started and soon became a big vibration. I looked into my side-view mirror and saw chunks of rubber flying off the driver side trailer tire.

We had blown a tire on the trailer.

We pulled over quickly, and got as far off the road as possible. Luckily we had everything needed to change the tire, and I started while Theresa watched traffic for me since about half of the vehicles going by didn’t even move over. A few minutes later a DPS officer showed up and blocked traffic for me so I could concentrate on fixing the tire and worry about being hit.
Eventually, I got the tire on, lowered the jack, and tightened the lug nuts. Then I thought that I should check the pressure to avoid another blowout. I could not find the valve stem. Then it dawned on me… I put the spare tire on backwards.

DOH!

At this point, the officer let Theresa sit in the back of his cop SUV with the A/C going while I changed the tire and chatted with the cop. He wouldn’t let me take pictures of her in there, though. Anyway, I jacked the trailer back up, took the wheel off and put it on correctly. Checked the pressure and it was a little low but safe enough to get us to the gas station right before the highway.

When we got to the gas station I pulled up to the air pump and grabbed a tire gague from the car. When I got back to the trailer I realized that my tire pressure gague was worthless because it only went up to 40 PSI, and the tire needed 55 PSI minimum.

Did I mention I was sweating like a pig by now because it was 100-ish degrees?

Umm yeah.

Hot and sweaty.

Luckily the gas station had a heavy duty gague I was able to borrow and I got the tire up to the proper pressure.

Crisis #4 averted.

I worried a little about what would happen if we blew another tire on the way home, but my worrying was uneccessary, and we made it home safely and without incident, swam in the pool, ate food, and enjoyed the rest of the 4th of July.

PS - The rest of the pictures will be on Facebook soon!

"That boy's head is like Sputnik!"

2011-07-05T16:31:00.012-07:00

Last week I started to feel a little "off." Other than my knees and back hurting from the seemingly neverending weight gain, nothing hurt out of the ordinary. But I still felt a little "off" and I really don't know any other way to put it. I was talking to Joe on one of my lunch breaks last Thursday and he said I should probably just give the doctor's office a call to make sure that if something WAS wrong that we get it taken care of and NOT risk the chance of having preterm labor.

Yeah. Definitely not ready for that yet!

So I called and was seen that afternoon.

At the appointment, it was confirmed that I have an infection (not going into details) and should take some antibiotics for a week. Turns out we had some good intuition because infections can cause uterine contractions which can lead to preterm labor. And, as I mentioned above...totally not ready for that yet.

At the appointment, it was also confirmed that our "baby seems to be measuring large." I must have been giving the doctor a completely stupefied, blank, and/or confused stared, because she immediately said "Which is definitely okay...but since your last ultrasound was back at 18 weeks, we should have another one done within the week just to make sure everything is okay." Even though she said it is still okay, I immediately started to think that maybe something was wrong with our baby. Joe ended up telling me that he was rather large and in charge being born at 9 1/2 pounds...but the doctor's statement still made us worry a little bit.

According to pregnancy websites and books that I've been thumbing through, at 33 weeks pregnant our Little Baby McG should be about the size of a pineapple and weigh anywhere between 4 and 5 1/2 pounds.

We went for the ultrasound today since both Joe and I had the day off and we watched as the ultrasound tech took some measurements of the head, stomach, heartbeat, arms, legs, and umbilical blood flow. The heartbeat and umbilical blood flow looked good. The arms, stomach, and legs measured between 33 and 34 weeks. Perfect! They also showed that estimated weight of Baby McG right now is about 5 lbs 4 oz...which is a little high on the 4 to 5 1/2 lb scale, but still within range for 33 weeks. The head, on the other hand, measured at about 35 weeks and a few days.

"Look at the size of that boy's heed!"

Apparently, our baby is already on track for being SUPER smart because he has a really big head already. I can live with that. But what I might not like too much is if it keeps growing faster than everything else...because that might hurt.

WICKED hurt.

All in all, the ultrasound tech and doctor said that our baby is currently measuring a little larger than average, but still within a good range. So it shouldn't change the due date at all. Which means that right now we are 6 weeks 4 days away...and counting. Well, as all you mothers know, that could turn out to be 4 weeks, or 8 weeks, or anywhere in between. But right now we're "on track" for our due date.

So it's all good in the heed...I mean, "hood."

:-)

"Look at the size of that boy's heed...I'm not kidding, that boy's head is like Sputnik; spherical but quite pointy at parts! Now that was offside, wasn't it? He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight, on his huge pillow."

Stuart MacKenzie (Mike Myers)

So I Married An Axe Murderer (1993)

why drinking water is super duper important

2011-06-29T19:17:00.005-07:00

Feeling faint or dizzy?..........Check.

Nausea?..........Check.

Rapid heartbeat?..........Check.

Cool, moist, pale skin?..........Check.

Weakness?..........Check.

Fatigue?..........Check.

Heat exhaustion?..........Check?

Unfortunately, I had the opportunity to experience these symptoms while buying groceries for dinner after work today. Joe had to stay a little late at work to make up time from this morning because the Civic wouldn't start for me and he had to leave work for about 3o minutes to come to my rescue.

Awwwwwwwww! :-)

Anyway, since he was planning on making up his time at work, I suggested that I'd grab a few groceries on the way home so that I could make dinner when I got home. All was fine and dandy and the grocery store was very comfortable.

Until I got to the meat section.

I had just picked up some beef for Lucy (yes, we freakin' spoil the crap out of our dog) and was about to get some chicken for our dinner when I started to feel really faint, dizzy, nauseated, weak, and REALLY sweaty and clammy. I leaned over on the shopping cart for a minute and started to feel a little better, so I grabbed the chicken, grabbed some broccoli and headed for the checkout lines.

Everything was good again, but when I was standing in the line after unloading the groceries, I started to feel really faint, dizzy, nauseated, weak, sweaty, and clammy all over again. So I grabbed a bar of chocolate and a small bottle of OJ from the cooler near the checkout line thinking maybe I just needed a little sugar in my blood or something.

After I got through checkout and unloaded the groceries, I got in the car and blasted the AC and started to feel really short of breath and had a semi-rapid heartbeat. So I took deep, calm breaths, drank my OJ, had a few pieces of the chocolate bar I bought and just sat in the cool AC for a couple minutes.

Luckily we only live like 1 mile from the grocery store, so I got home just fine and Joe grabbed the groceries and from then on I’ve just relaxed and felt extremely fatigued, weak, and exhausted.

I decided to look up my symptoms and…while maybe you could call me a hypochondriac…my symptoms fit the list for heat exhaustion almost 100% to a “T”.

Scary stuff.

Here’s the kicker, though…

I drink at least 80 ounces of water a day in addition to any other fluids I take in. And that’s a LOT!! Probably more than most people, actually. But apparently today it was not enough. It’s very likely that being pregnant leaves me more susceptible to different things. And because a pregnant lady’s body temperature is usually higher anyway, perhaps heat exhaustion is easier to come by.

But the moral of the story is that drinking water…especially in the summer…especially in an Arizonan summer…is super DUPER important. I seriously hydrate myself all day every day. But today it was no match for the heat.

So be warned, my friends.

DRINK WATER.

It may not be the most tasty of beverages…but it’s a life saver.

dear holy Lord, whose legs are these?

2011-06-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

After camping this past weekend, I was BEAT!

As in seriously, utterly, completely, and indubitably exhausted.

It was crazy.

And not only was I the most tired I've been in awhile, I was also the most dirty I've been in awhile. Which means that as soon as we were done unpacking from the trip, I was in the shower and cleaning up.

There's nothing like a good long shower after a weekend of camping!

But what totally surprised me was when I started shaving my legs and realized that the legs in front of me were not mine. They...in no way...resembled anything CLOSE to what my legs look like. I mean, it was like I was staring at tree trunks really. And there is NO WAY that those were my legs. I mean...really? Tree trunks? Seriously?

I know that looks are superficial and that pregnancy swelling is temporary, but I've felt about as glamorous as a piece of trash for the past 8 months so far and my feet and ankles seriously swell more and more by the day.

I mean, the shower was really nice and it felt great to clean up and relax.

And there's no way in h-e-double hockey stick that I'm going to go without showering or shaving.

But I'm thinking next time I'll just keep my eyes closed and hope for the best.

adventure parents

2011-06-14T13:56:00.010-07:00

Joe and I (and Princess Lucy Pants, of course) went camping this past weekend with my family.

Every year (for the past decade and a half at least), a group of people from my parent's work have been getting together every summer for a Summer Solstice Campout at Reynold's Creek, which is in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness east of Lake Roosevelt. Joe and I went in 2008 and 2009, and we missed it last year but decided to go again this year. And it was really awesome!

My folks recently picked up a cute little vintage canned ham trailer for themselves and this was their first camping trip with it.

It's so cute!!

And since Joe recently installed our hitch/tow assembly on the Montero (our birthday gift to each other), we ended up pulling their pop-up trailer and stayed in that for the weekend. It was really nice. I seriously LOVE camping!!! The stars, the fresh air, the cooking, the people, the lack of traffic and noise, the happy beagle...all of it! And it's always a little sad having to come back to the city, but it's nice knowing that it won't be long before we head out to the great outdoors again.

And, yes...we are planning on camping with our little one. Oh yes...and he will like it! He will be conforming to our life and what we like to do, so camping is just a given! And of course we're not expecting it to be perfect by any means of the word, but some things like this are important to us, so little Baby McG will be forced along for the ride.

After all, the Adventure Parents said it best when they said, "Just Because Kids Will Ruin Your Carpet Doesn't Mean They'll Ruin Your Outdoor Adventures."

Right? :-)

have to post this. just HAVE to.

2011-06-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

growing your baby

2011-06-06T17:29:00.002-07:00

Joe and I went for our first prenatal education course this past weekend. It was a course called "Growing Your Baby" and was given at the hospital where we will be delivering little Baby McG. My impression, from the course title, was that it was going to be information about fetal development and the stages of growth from conception to delivery. Joe thought it was going to be about how the baby grows once he/she is already born and already a "baby."

Neither of us were right.

It was primarily about what to do during pregnancy, what not to do during pregnancy, and how to recognize and avoid preterm labor. Most of the course involved getting a million handouts that we had to read on our own and everything discussed we pretty much already knew. But the instructor was fun and we did learn a little about how to recognize and avoid preterm delivery...something we really hadn't even thought about.

One more thing, though...

Why is the act of having a baby called "delivery"?

I mean, it's not like anything is being delivered. It should be more aptly called Uterine Marathon or Fetal Extraction or something else that implies strenuous action and intense effort. You know what I mean?

Because calling it "delivery" just seems so passive...like all of a sudden the little baby will just appear and be "delivered."

Yeah...only in my best of dreams, I'm sure!

anger

2011-06-03T19:56:00.002-07:00

Called in a prescription for an inhaler this afternoon.

Went to the pharmacy to pick it up.

It wasn't ready yet because the pharmacist said I had no refills left.

I told her that my doctor probably won't respond until Monday because it's now Friday.

Her suggestion: "Go to Urgent Care to get a prescription."

Called my doctor's office to talk with an on-call nurse. Asked if I could get a refill for my asthma medication. Before I could even finish my sentence, the snotty unhelpful obviously-not-customer-service-inclined on-call nurse butted in and said "there are absolutely no prescription refills given after hours or on the weekends."

My response: "Well, what am I supposed to do about my asthma medication that I need?"

Her response: "There are absolutely no prescription refills given after hours or on the weekends."

Wow. Really? You couldn't flipping say something ELSE?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MISS LIPPY!!!!

And seriously. I have asthma, okay? I have had asthma for almost 30 years now. And, I'm going out on a limb here by saying this, but...my guess is that I probably will STILL have asthma for years to come, if not indefinitely. So why in the HOLY LORD ALMIGHTY'S NAME can I NOT get a prescription unless I pay $100 dollars by going to Urgent Care?

SERIOUSLY?

So it's the weekend! Whoop-dee-freakin'-DOO! Doesn't mean my asthma mysteriously disappears from Friday through Sunday! And I mean it's not like I am trying to get more percocets or vicodin or something. It's freakin' ASTHMA!! It's a freakin' INHALER!!

So I guess my option is to go to Urgent Care, spend $100 on that visit PLUS the cost of the prescription. Or not go and have an asthma attack.

Awesome.

Love health care.

LOVE IT!!!!

if you're reading this...

2011-05-30T19:39:00.006-07:00

...then now you know that I was NOT rapture-ized either.

Which is a good thing, because I want to be around a little longer to make sure our little baby is okay.

On a boring note, I got an "A" in my Statistics and Measurements class which was no small feat because it was not the most exhilarating course thus far. But (as I'm sure Joe can agree) I worked my ever-expanding BUTT off on that class and I am really proud of myself. I honestly didn't think I could pull it off.

Other than that, not much has been going on that is truly newsworthy other than I have already pretty much gained ALL the weight I lost last year. I know it'll eventually come off again...but the pictures kind of make me upchuck a little. The belly part's cute, so I thought I'd share a picture for you all, but just ignore all the rest of the chunkiness.

Little Baby McG is doing just fine so far. I'm feeling him a lot more lately, too. And that is a good thing because every once in awhile he'll be really lazy and it's always comforting to feel him move again. Makes me realize he's doing okay.

Our monthly checkups have been going really really well so far, too. They have actually been pretty boring, if I must say so. All I do is go, weigh in (my FAVORITE!), get my blood pressure checked, and have my uterus measured. I usually have to wait in the waiting room for about 20-30 minutes, but once I'm in, I'm out again in like 5 minutes. So there haven't been many issues at all.

And that is a ~~good~~ GREAT thing!

This week, though, I have my glucose screening test...which I am actually a little nervous about. Joe has already warned me about this test (he's had to do it a few times over the years), so I'm already prepared for it to taste ridiculously sweet and strong. But that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about the results of the test, which will show if I have any level of blood sugar abnormalities. I'm over 25, obviously, and I am REALLY overweight. And those are two of the risk factors for gestational diabetes. But there are other risk factors, too, so I'll be hoping for the best. I just really want everything to be okay, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

On a happier note...

Jim and Bobbie, you should be so proud of your son! Joe has really been amazing throughout the whole experience so far. He is helpful, supportive, giving, calming, and just all around the best father-to-be ever. And I know he's been anticipating a big freak out and/or breakdown from me at some point (don't you just LOVE how movies portray females in pregnancy?) - and, I guess there's always the chance that it could still happen - but I really haven't had many mood swings at all so far. Just a couple that I can think of. But, more importantly, he's been so supportive at all times and ends up just doing something awesome like rubbing my shoulders or holding my hand. Sorry if this is embarrassing you, Joe...just want people to know that you freakin' rock!

:-)

And one more thing...

We are still not announcing our little one's name yet. Sorry. :-( But just don't ask. Joe and I want to keep it a special secret between the two of us for a little while longer.

Don't worry, though. You'll all know soon enough...I promise.

are you ready for the rapturepocalypse?

2011-05-20T20:34:00.003-07:00

Right now, it is about 2 hours away from the scheduled start of The Rapture, which is supposed to be starting in New Zealand at 6:00pm on Saturday, May 21, 2011.

So if you are reading this, Judgment Day is upon us.

According to Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio, hidden clues in the Bible have pinpointed Judgment Day to start at 6:00pm on Saturday, May 21, 2011. It will begin as a series of earthquakes that will wash around the globe like a wave, traveling from time zone to time zone so that at 6:00pm on May 21, 2011, no matter where you live, you will either experience The Rapture and be saved for all eternity, or will be left behind to squander in the rubble until the final End of Days on October 21, 2011.

And, apparently, out of the billions upon billions of people who live across the entire planet, only 200 million of us can expect to be saved tomorrow at 6:00pm.

I, for one, am scared. First of all, I kind of wanted to have our baby in peace and be able to raise him in a semi-normal environment. But now...(and let's face it, my odds of being 1 of the 200 million are not good)...I will be stuck on the devastated and crumbling Earth until October when I and our little child will be wiped out with the rest of the sinners. And since my due date is August 21, that means the little one will only have 2 months to live. Totally not fair, if you ask me. I mean, a 2-month old baby hasn't even had enough time to learn how to sin yet.

Okay.

So.

I kind of don't really believe that this will actually happen, but Mr. Camping is all for it and is 110% confident that "It. Will. Happen."

Check out this Q & A with the Doomsday Calculator Man Himself

So...if the Rapture definitely IS tomorrow, and the End of the World really IS in October, then I just want to be sure to say the following while there's time:

Joe - I love you and you are my favorite person in the whole world, always and forever.
Little Baby McG - I love you so much and haven't even met you yet! And I am sorry that the world will end so quickly after your birth, but will do whatever I can to make sure those 2 months are the best EVER!
Mom and Dad - thank you for having me and Alanna and for loving us and caring for us (and to Dad for forcing hugs on us at every chance you get)
Alanna - Thank you for being such a great sister. I wish I would have been a better sister to you, but want you to know that I love you so much.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds Fur - You are a little angel on 4 legs and have brought me such happiness. But I guess we shouldn't have named you Lucy Fur, huh?
Friends - My life would not have been even remotely as fun and wonderful and special if it wasn't for your presence in my life. My endless loves and thanks to you.
Dr. Jordan - Please just give me an "A" in my Measurements and Statistics class. I really really REALLY want to die in the End of the World with a 4.0 GPA.
God - Thank you for giving us the Earth as our home for the past umpteen bojillion years. I'm sorry you must end it all, but I've very much appreciated living here.
And Joe...one more for you - I'm not mad at you anymore for tipping our waiter at the Cheesecake Factory 50%. You probably made his night!

and the angioplasty goes to...

2011-05-14T11:46:00.004-07:00

...JOEHAMMED!!!

Okee dokee.

So.

After the procedure, Joe's doctor came out to speak with me and, for some reason, my heart started pounding out through my chest. Not sure why, but I all of a sudden freaked out. It was unnecessary, though, as the doctor proceeded to tell me that everything went fine.

He said it ended up being more complicated than they originally thought. Meaning, they went up through the femoral artery in the left leg (which is what they normally do) and they found that one of the kidney arteries (there are more than one!) showed significant constriction. It was a little more than 75% closed!

So they definitely decided to go ahead with the angioplasty.

The doctor said that the reason it was complicated, though, is because of the way that the kidney was transplanted. He said it was transplanted beautifully, but that the location made it difficult to keep the catheter coming in from the left side. So they realized that it was more advantageous to do the angioplasty from the right side. Which means that they ended up taking the tube out of the left side and putting one in through the right side.

OUCH!!!

But the angioplasty went really well. Hooray!!

They took the balloon and opened the artery and then removed the balloon. They saw that the artery did not stay 100% opened, but the doctor said it stayed at 90% opened, which is significant....and a heck of a lot better than the 25% opened it was before!

Also, the doctor said he was very hesitant to put in a stent to keep it open because he said that sometimes a stent can become consumed by scar tissue and cause additional closure of the artery...plus a stent can never be removed. And he was hesitant to do that because this is Joe's only working kidney, which made him more conservative in this procedure (<-- good thing!). So...he decided to leave the artery at 90% opened and then Joe will go back in about 6 months for an ultrasound to see if there is any closure or if it looks okay.

I am hoping that it will look okay, so keep your fingers crossed!!

all you need to know about renal angiograms

2011-05-13T13:14:00.005-07:00

Dear Reader -

This is what you need to know about renal angiography and angioplasty in a transplanted kidney**.

A renal angiogram involves the insertion of a long, thin tube into the femoral artery (in the groin). The tube is then guided up through the femoral artery where it will reach the area where the transplanted kidney is connected to the artery.

A radioactive (X-Ray) dye is then inserted from the tube into the artery so that the X-Ray equipment can detect the movement of the blood/fluid throughout the blood vessels. If it is noted that there is significant loss or constriction of blood flow to the kidney, an angioplasty can then be performed.

A renal angioplasty involves inserting a small balloon-like object through the tube into the constricted blood vessel/artery. The balloon is then equipped to expand and thus open said blood vessel/artery so that adequate blood flow to the kidney can then be resumed. If necessary, a stent (which is a metal or plastic tube-like balloon) can be place into the blood vessel/artery permanently to prevent it from becoming constricted again.

**PS - I am not a doctor. I repeat...I am not a doctor! So please do not quote me. Please.

This is what Joe is getting done today.

A couple months ago when Joe had his yearly post-transplant ultrasound and biopsy, the ultrasound showed possible narrowing of the artery/blood vessels supplying blood to his new kidney. So he is getting the angiogram done today and, if there is significant enough narrowing, they will do the angioplasty and possible stent placement to maintain unconstricted blood flow to the kidney.

I must say that I just plain hate hospitals. I know they help sustain life and, come August, will help deliver a new little life into our arms. But I just hate hospitals. And even though Joe has spent enough time in hospitals, it still doesn't make it easier when we have to come back. I know he prefers to stay away from hospitals as much as he can and would probably rather watch paint dry than have to go through a procedure, but he's a champ. He's a real trooper. And I am proud of him!

His doctor for the procedure is super nice and this seems like a really good hospital. So I know he's in good hands. But I just can't wait for this day to be over...

the name game

2011-05-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

"The Perfect Baby Name: A Proven Plan for Choosing a Name You'll Love" by Jeanine Cox is just one out of a multitude of books that surround the topic of selecting a name for your baby. Joe chose this book several months ago and it's actually a really neat book. It, of course, gives a list of girl names and boy names, but also adds the name meanings and potential nicknames. It's pretty neat to see the different nicknames associated with each name!

The book also recommends really thinking a lot about the name selection process and has different exercises for both mom and dad to complete to help combine the efforts of the name game. Different things are important to different people, and they have exercises for just about everyone.

Exercise 1 - Visualize your baby, what you think they will look like, what you think they will be like. Then visualize them growing into a child, a teenager, and adult and think of names for this person.
Exercise 2 - Choose names that you like that provide alliteration with your last name. For example, if your last name starts with an "S", selecting first names that also start with an "S" or a similar sound (like a soft "C").
Exercise 3 - Another exercise is to think of acronyms (initials) that you like and selecting the first and middle name so that the name spells the acronym you like.
Exercise 4 - Think of adjectives that describe characteristics that are most important to you (such as love and honesty), then look up these words in a thesaurus or in the baby name book to find names with those meanings.
Exercise 5 - Create a list of family names based on the relative(s) you have found the most inspiring or the relatives that have passed away, but who you want to be remembered.
Exercise 6 - Find out if a place that is important to you would be a good name for your child by answering some questions including (but not limited to) "Where did you meet your partner?", "Where were you when you conceived your child?", and "What do you think is the most beautiful place on earth?"
Exercise 7 - Select a list of names for your child that connects them with his or her heritage (such as Irish names, German names, etc.).
Exercise 8 - Choose the name types that you think may be most significant to you and select your favorite name from the corresponding list. The lists included were Biblical names, Nature names, New Age names, Shakespearean names, Musical names, Place names, and Surnames as First Names.
Exercise 9 - By following all of the exercises above, both mom and dad should have a list of their favorite names from each exercise. Now, combine both mom and dad's favorites into a new list of possible names.
Exercise 10 - Make the final cut from mom's list and dad's list and deliberate about what you want the final name to be, based on the selections from each list.

This book is actually very, very cool...and really promotes collaboration on the name selection process. Which is good. After all, both mom and dad created the child, right? :-) All in all, however, we didn't end up doing any of the exercises (what bad direction followers we are!), but we did look at the extensive list of girls and boys names, which provided MUCH entertainment for us. I was planning on listing a few of our "favorites" (meaning we wouldn't be caught dead naming our child by those names), but I don't want to unintentionally offend anyone. So I will refrain. But let's just say that there are some VERY interesting names in this book. Some of them you read three times and still say "What? Someone would actually call their child by this name?" The answer is "Yes, yes they would."

Most importantly, however, we have OFFICIALLY narrowed down our top name choice(s). And what's funny about it is that we didn't even use the book to come up with our choice(s)...they are names that we both just really like. Right now, we are not planning on announcing our baby's name quite yet, though.

"Why not?", is the question probably going through your head right now.

Well, you see...

We haven't actually "met" our baby yet, and his name is very personal to us. It's kind of like asking me what size bra I wear or what color my underwear are. Yes, everyone is super excited to know the answer, but it's very personal and because of our personalities being the way they are we don't quite feel comfortable announcing the answer to the world just yet. Plus, we want to be 100% sure that the name "fits" when we finally see his face. You know?

So you'll just have to sit tight for a few more months and, until then, we shall keep calling our little one "Baby McG". Don't worry, though. The wait will not be long and he will be here soon enough. :-)

dental schmental

2011-05-05T18:34:00.002-07:00

Throughout all of my life so far, I have not had to get a single cavity filled. Not a single one. I have always been very proud of myself for this fact.

But perhaps I was a little too cocky because I went for years without seeing a dentist. Gross, I know...but oh well. Can't do anything about it now. But...now my life of having un-cavity-filled teeth must come to an end because I have to get a root canal in one of my molars. This frightens me. A lot. It was caused by a wisdom tooth which grew in sideways pressing against the molar, causing a cavity. And now, years after the wisdom teeth were removed, the cavity has grown and the tooth now needs a root canal.

Awesome, huh?

I was hoping to live forever with no fillings or crowns or anything of the like.

I am officially a failure.

chunky dunkiness

2011-05-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

Baby McG is the size of a corn on the cob this week, and that corn on the cob has given me my first official stretch marks. I was hoping to avoid them altogether due to the fact that I'm pretty large and in charge to begin with. But no, they are there. And they aren't low, either. They are right in the middle in plain sight for my eyes to see every time I see my belly.

If I was a good blogger, I would post a picture of my chunky pregnant belly. Actually...if I was a good blogger, I would pose for those cute pictures of the mom standing sideways for a belly profile photo and put a new one up for every new week or month. But let me give you a mental image instead. Imagine a huge chunky dunky woman who is just getting huger and lumpier by the day. Add stretch marks. And add leg hair that literally grows so quickly that it needs to be shaved again after it was already just shaved.

See. There you have it.

Now do you REALLY want to see a photo of that?

Yeah...didn't think so.

Stay tuned. Up next...the name game!

time's a-flyin'

2011-04-30T10:31:00.009-07:00

It's amazing how quickly time has passed since we discovered that we are having a baby. The fact that we are having one is a miracle in itself, but it really is surprising how quickly time flies. I'm at the 24 week mark now which, since they estimate a 40 week (or approximately 10 month) gestation period, means that I am more than halfway through already. About 5 1/2 months to be exact. Time really flies.

Some of the things that have been the most SHOCKING to me so far include:

Gaining back all the pounds that I shed throughout 2010
Breathing troubles due to my asthma and decreasing room for my lungs to expand
The amount of gas, bloating and heartburn that can happen all in one day
The pitting edema that has occurred in my feet and ankles
How easy it is to get sick with a suppressed immune system
Feeling like there is a little alien now controlling my body

Some of the things I have WORRIED about the most so far include:

Wondering whether or not we will be good parents
Wondering whether or not we will be able to provide for our child
Wondering whether or not our child will be healthy and strong
Wondering how Lucy will get along with our child
Wondering how WE will get along with our child

Some of the things I have ENJOYED the most so far include (but are definitely NOT limited to):

Knowing that we are capable of creating life. We seriously thought it wasn't possible at all. Seriously. But life pleasantly surprised us!!
Knowing that this person is half me and half Joe. Isn't that just so cool?
The excitement of having someone to care for and unconditionally love. I unconditionally love Joe and Lucy (obviously), but knowing how peaceful that feeling is...it's just really exciting that I will have even MORE of that!
Anticipating what his little personality will be like and what he will look like.
People being so excited for us and happy for us.
Not having a period is pretty awesome, too. I seriously LOVE not buying tampons every month!

There have been (and there will be more) countless other worries and excitements going through our heads during this pregnancy, but at the end of the day, I'm just excited to be going through this experience with my family, friends and the amazing Joe. I'm positive that he's freaked out about some things, too, but having him on this road with me is just plain awesome!

it's time for a break

2011-04-21T06:07:00.007-07:00

I have been really bad about keeping up with the blog over the past couple weeks, so I apologize for that. Things have just been a little overwhelming lately…

Work is going just fine for both of us as there is never a lack of work to do. Every day is different and not all days are perfect, but we both really like where we are at (for now!) and it’s just really great to have jobs that we like. The economy over the past few years has been a little scary, so we definitely count ourselves as blessed!

The baby is alive and well and I've felt him kicking a time or two over the past week. One of the times I realized it was a real baby kick and not just gas was last Saturday. We were all sitting around on the patio listening to my dad play his guitar and I think our little Baby McG was dancing along with him. It was weird…but really really cute. :-) So that's exciting!

And our beagle, Lucy, is seemingly healthy - which, if you know ANYTHING about our dog, being healthy is a miracle!! And Joe and I were just looking at old Lucy pictures last night and we fell in love with her all over again. Here is one of our favorites. :-)

So it actually seems like things are going really well and I shouldn’t be overwhelmed. But I am.

I started my statistics and measurements course which is definitely interesting, but it’s hard for me. So much is involved in answering each question, mostly because I don’t know what is going on and have to spend hours just learning about one concept. And it’s just really difficult. I’m doing okay in the class (so far), but it’s still a little stressful. (Maybe I should stop blogging and get back to it?)

Also, we recently found out that a really good friend of ours from back East was in a very serious car accident last week. He was hospitalized immediately and has been there ever since where he has been in critical condition. He had no scratches anywhere except for his head and they immediately had to treat him for brain swelling and placed him in a medically-induced coma to help treat it. They have been waking him every two hours to check on his progress and/or complications and because of the brain swelling, they had to remove part of his skull to allow room for the brain to swell. His left arm and leg have not been responding much at all. Every time they would wake him to check his responses he has reacted severely to the tubes they placed in his throat for food and breathing. This week so far, we have found out that they did a tracheotomy for his breathing and placed a tube in his stomach for feeding. This way, the the tubes are no longer in his throat. The hemicraniectomy, tracheotomy and gastral tube procedures have been very successful so far, so now they are just waiting for his recovery and to see how things progress from here. And over the past couple days he has actually made some really good strides in responsiveness. We are very hopeful for him because he is an extremely strong young man and it seems like things are definitely getting better, slowly but surely. But it’s just very hard being so far away and not knowing what to expect. So him and his family have not strayed far from my mind over the past week. I think about them constantly, actually.

Also…and I hope he doesn’t kill me for putting this out there…but Joe had his yearly biopsy and ultrasounds a few weeks ago. One of the things they noticed in the ultrasound was that his renal artery (which connects the kidney to the major artery blood supply) was looking constricted and causing the kidney to possibly not get as much blood as it should be getting. So they want him to have a renal angioplasty to fix it. Anytime he has to go to the hospital I…well…I just don’t like it one bit! But I want him to stay healthy for as long as humanly possible…so that’s been on my mind a lot, too.

Now...I don’t complain to anyone at ALL (unless you are Joe or my family), so please don’t take this as complaining. There’s just a lot going on in my little world. So, if you have a second, just send some positive thoughts out into the universe. Lord knows, I’ll be doing the same…

faq's

2011-04-13T12:45:00.004-07:00

Here are some answers to common and frequently asked questions:

Q: Do you know what you're having?
A: As far as the ultrasound technician is concerned, we're having a boy! You can take a look at this post to read about the details and see the "cute" little picture. On one hand, I guess there is never 100% certainty until the little bundle of joy makes it out into the daylight. But on the other hand we're definitely planning for a boy. :-)

Side note - Have you ever thought that certain people strike you as a "Girl" mom or a "Boy" mom? What I mean is, sometimes when I think of people I know who are parents, it sometimes seems that they really fit as the mother of girls or they really seem like a mother of boys. Does that even make sense? Does anyone else ever think that? If yes, then do you think of me as a "Girl" mom or a "Boy" mom?

Q: When are you due?
A: August. The absolute most GORGEOUS time of the year in Arizona, might I add. August 21st to be exact. But, as you all know, this is generally an estimate and little Baby McG will rear his little head whenever he sees fit.

Q: Have you thought of any names yet?
A: Yes. Yes we have. We are pretty certain of the names we like best, but will probably keep it under wraps until we are both comfortable letting the world know.

Q: Have you felt the baby kicking yet?
A: Kind of, but not really. There have been a few very light tiny flutters so far, but for the most part, he's been a little on the lazy side...kind of like his sister Lucy. I will definitely make it known when I feel him going crazy for the first "real" time, though. Until then, it's still hard to believe there's a little dude in my belly!

Q: How are you feeling?
A: Aside from my ever-fattening cankles (if you need to know what cankles are, click here), I am feeling fine! Although...I am kind of dreading how I might feel in the last trimester when I'm 5,000 pounds heavier and dripping sweat from the Arizona summer heat.

Q: Aren't you just the luckiest person to be married to Joe?
A: Why yes. Yes, I am. Thank you for asking! ;-)

life is amazing

2011-03-31T20:15:00.005-07:00

baby fingers

baby leg (side view)

baby feet (bottom view)

baby spine (in fetal position)

well, i'll be a monkey's uncle!

2011-03-26T07:36:00.005-07:00

I decided to look into some of those “old wives tales” to see if they could predict our baby’s boyness or girlness. There are TONS of old wives tales out there, so I just picked a handful. Some of these are really silly, but it’s kind of fun to see what the results are. Here ya go!

Morning sickness:
It’s a boy if you experienced little to no morning sickness. It’s a girl if you had morning sickness. According to this, it would be a boy. I had morning sickness, but it wasn’t really that bad. Never actually vomited…just felt queasy a lot.

Points: Girl = 0, Boy = 1

Fetal Heart Rate:
It’s a boy if the heart rate is below 140 beats per minute. It’s a girl if the heart rate is 140 beats per minute or higher. According to this, it would be a girl. The heart rate has consistently been over 150 beats per minute.

Points: Girl = 1, Boy = 1

Food Cravings:
It’s a boy if you crave sour and/or salty foods, and protein. It’s a girl if you crave sweet foods and fruit. I haven’t really craved much of anything. But according to this, it could be either because some things that I reach for are sweet, but some are definitely salty and protein. Points for both.

Points: Girl = 2, Boy = 2

Hair and Nail Growth
It’s a boy if your hair and nail growth has become faster during pregnancy. It’s a girl if your hair and nail growth has not changed or slowed during pregnancy. According to this, it would be a boy. I think my hair grows as I’m shaving it!

Points: Girl = 2, Boy = 3

Urine Color:
It’s a boy if your urine is bright yellow. It’s a girl if your urine is dull yellow. According to this, it would be a boy because I always see a toilet bowl full of pee that looks like bright lemon-lime Gatorade. And yes…I’m drinking at least 80 oz of water a day!

Points: Girl = 2, Boy = 4

Age Test:
It’s a boy if you add your age and the number for the month you conceived and the total is an even number. It’s a girl if you add your age and the number for the month you conceived and the total is an odd number. According to this test, my number was odd…which would make it a girl.

Points: Girl = 3, Boy = 4

Needle and Thread Test:
It’s a boy if you dangle a needle and thread above your palm and/or belly and it moves from side to side (in lines). It’s a girl if you dangle a needle and thread above your palm and/or belly and it moves in circles. According to this, it’s a boy because the needle moved in lines, from side to side. However,..some of the websites that I found said that it's the opposite - it’s a boy if it moves in circles and a girl if it moves from side to side. So according to these others then, it would be a girl. Points for both.

Points: Girl = 4, Boy = 5

Chinese Gender Calendar:
I looked up a couple different Chinese gender prediction calendars online. They asked about maternal age, due date, conception date, etc. By entering the same exact information each time, a couple of the calculators predicted boy…but a couple of them predicted girl. So…points on both sides.

Points: Girl = 5, Boy = 6

Statistically (in the U.S.), there are more females than males. But according to these old wives tales, there's a better chance that we're having a boy.

Take a look HERE to see if they were right!

love this beast

2011-03-22T17:23:00.005-07:00

she's perfectly beautiful

she's the sweetest little thing you'll ever meet

she has our hearts

dear baby

2011-03-21T20:31:00.002-07:00

Dear Baby -

My name is Theresa and I am your mother. Your father's name is Joseph. Both me and your father love you very much and are trying to get prepared for when we finally meet you! You have a sister named Lucy. She's not going to be like you at all because she is a beagle dog, she walks on four legs, and eats from a bowl on the ground. But she's your sister, nonetheless, and is very excited to meet you! You also have grandparents and aunties and uncles and cousins who are anxiously waiting for your arrival and are happy whenever we have new updates about you. So I just wanted to let you know that you are already so loved and that everyone is so excited to meet you!

You have been living in my uterus for about 18 weeks now. And uterus is a weird word, actually, so from now on I will use the word "belly". So, let's start over...

You have been living in my belly for about 18 weeks now, and I really hope that you are comfortable in there. I have been trying to eat as well as I can every day (except when we have a pizza lunch at work, like today!) and have been taking vitamins to help you grow into a strong and healthy baby. I even go for long walks with your daddy and Lucy to help keep you (and myself) as healthy as possible. And I actually need to do way more of this because I want nothing more than for you to be healthy.

I've been reading a lot of books, and websites and blogs (you'll learn all about those things in due time) about what to expect during pregnancy...and most of it is very helpful. But I am learning a lot on my own, too. For example, I have learned that if I go without eating longer than 2 hours, you will send my body into a headache-filled uproar until I eat something...even if it's just a glass of juice. I have learned that I never really knew what true heartburn was until now. I have learned that the second I start to roll over onto my belly (which is my all-time FAVORITE sleeping position), I get instant discomfort and have to lean back on my side. I have learned how quickly my body can change within a really short amount of time. I have learned that you, actually, have primary control of my body altogether!

I have also learned that I know nothing about being a mother.

Your daddy and I are learning a lot about each other and have spent a lot of time (and more to come!) talking about how we are going to be parents. It's scary for us! The thing that scares us the most is that we really don't want to mess up and be terrible parents. I guess that's probably a normal parent fear...but we really truly want to be the best parents. So we will continue talking about how we want to raise you, where we want to raise you, how we are going to show you love every day, how we are going to provide for you, how we are going to care for you. And...though, I know we don't quite know what we're doing...if we keep talking about you and loving you, then I have a feeling everything will be perfect.

I hope you are doing okay and can't wait to feel your first little kick!

XOXO...

know the signs

2011-03-16T17:43:00.004-07:00

During one of Joe's chemo sessions a few years ago, he snagged a free magnet from the hospital that lists the warning signs of stroke. At the time, I think he possibly just thought, "cool...a free magnet!" But having this on our fridge over the past few years recently paid off while we were in the company of a loved one. If we hadn't known any of the warning signs, we might not have known that they were possibly experiencing stroke.

This stuff is serious. There is really no other way to put it. So I just wanted to share the following with you. Get yourself familiar with these warning signs and, because stroke is so serious and can cause irreparable damage, be sure to contact 911 right away...EVEN if symptoms go away!!

This is serious!!

The following warning signs are taken directly from the American Stroke Association website (http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/).

Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body confusion
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Additional stroke resources:
American Stroke Association
National Stroke Association
Mayo Clinic
National Library of Medicine | National Institute of Health

baffled

2011-03-09T19:06:00.002-07:00

As if you didn't already know...I'm pregnant.

I know I'm pregnant. I do. It was confirmed with the home pregnancy test, the doctor's pregnancy test, and the ultrasound pictures. And it is confirmed yet again every time I have a checkup and the doctor listens for the heartbeat.

So yeah...definitely, absolutely, 100% pregnant.

But as I just sit and THINK about this, it's just so weird to me. It's definitely amazing and just ONE of life's miraculous events. But it's SO WEIRD!! I mean...I can't feel the baby yet and I definitely can't hear it yet or hold it yet. So the fact that there is this little tiny being (that I can't see, hear or feel) floating around in my chunkiness right now is SO WEIRD to me!

Amazing.

But weird.

mmmmmmm....prednisone!

2011-03-06T10:20:00.004-07:00

Joe and I think that having our beagle, Lucy, has slowly prepared us for having a child. For example, we have learned the importance of handling/touch, positive reinforcement, training, and patience (to name just a small few). And...we have learned the importance of keeping things up high so that they can't be swallowed/eaten.

The reason we have learned this is because Lucy decided, last Monday night, that instead of chewing on a chew toy it would MORE fun to chew on one of her daddy's bottles of medication. Prednisone, to be exact.

All of a sudden Joe looked over and saw a chewed up bottle in her mouth with pills spread around on the ground in front of her. We had literally JUST filled the prescription so we knew there should have been 30 pills in there. So we counted the pills on the floor.

There were 25.

Now, Joe is a tall adult man (for those who did not know) and he only takes 1 of prednisone a day. But Lucy...little 34 pound Lucy...had managed to swallow 5 pills somewhere during her chewfest.

Awesomeness!

Joe called the vet and they said that dogs of Lucy's size have actually been given large quantities of prednisone before (probably for things like Valley Fever), but to be safe they mentioned that we could induce vomiting by having Lucy ingest 8 mL of hydrogen peroxide. Nasty, huh? They said if it didn't work the first time, after 15 minutes or so we could try 8 mL more...but no more than those two doses.

So, Joe ran down to the store and got some hydrogen peroxide and we had her take 8 mL and kept her in the kitchen where the floor is easily cleanable. 20 minutes or so later she was just as hyper and normal as ever. So we grudgingly gave her a second dose. About 10 minutes or so after that second dose, she still hadn't vomited and we really began to think that our beagle had a stomach of freakin' titanium or something. But then she got a little queasy and the rest is history. Mission accomplished.

We hated having to do that to her, but we thought it was better than having a beagle so hyped up on steroids throughout the night and possibly getting ulcers because of the steroids. That would have sucked WORSE than a little vomit!!

MORAL OF THE STORY: Leave your prednisone where little dogs and little people cannot reach them. Actually...scratch that. Just leave EVERYTHING out of reach! :-)

what are the odds?

2011-02-12T14:28:00.008-07:00

Lucy McG
A couple weeks ago, we noticed som crazy gross discharge from Lucy's eyes. Totally an eye infection of some sort. We've had her on eye ointment for almost two weeks now and it's definitely gotten a lot better. Also...and on an awesome note, Lucy has been off of doxycycline for about 3 weeks now because her titer results were so low. YAY!! And she just went in for some additional bloodwork yesterday. So sometime this week we should find out if we can keep her off the doxycycline, or if taking her off of it cause the tick fever to grow again. Keeping fingers crossed for the latter!

Material Things
The Civic decided to start smoking on my way home from work on Thursday night. Awesome...NOT! Joe came and met me where I parked alongside the 51 Northbound and took a look and saw that the upper radiator hose had completely burst. Yikes! Called AAA and had it towed to our regular auto mechanics. They are REALLY GOOD...but they are also really expensive. Because the hoses hadn't been replaced in goodness knows how long (definitely before I got the car in 07), they recommended replacing all hoses and the thermostat. So, coupled with Lucy's tests from Friday and the car repairs...pretty much half of the paychecks that just went into our accounts this week is already gone.

This got me thinking.

The Civic is definitely very reliable (despite the hose bursting) and gets GREAT mileage. But once I start becoming even more grossly heavy than I am now, there is no way I will want to get in and out of a car whose seats only sit about 6 inches off the ground. So I think we might be getting a new car some time this year. Maybe not BRAND new because I am not quite sure we could afford something like that, especially since we're also hoping to look for a home in the next couple years. But new for us. I'm not going to hold my breath for these specific cars, but I'm thinking a Volvo V70 (or V50 or XC70) or a Subaru Forester. I've really liked all those styles for some time now.

Anyway...what do you think? :-)

Baby McG
I had another appointment last week and actually met the doctor who will be delivering Baby McG. She's really nice!! She's very small, about 300 pounds lighter than me (ok, that's actually not possible...but you get the point). But she seems really good, made sure all my questions were answered and that I felt comfortable, and she has some really awesome experience (I googled her!). So I think mom and baby are in good hands. :-)

My official results from the ultrasound and bloodwork came back. The initial ratio they gave us has changed. They originally said that, based on my age and initial glance at the ultrasounds, we have a 1 out of about 630 chance of a chromosomal abnormality. Not bad odds, right? Well, after looking at my age, the ultrasound images and the bloodwork, that ratio has changed to about 1 and 10,000. Amazing!!! After explaining all of that, she put this really small handheld thingie across my abdomen and played the baby's heartbeat for me. So precious! It rang about about 160...so all is good in the hood. There were no new ultrasounds this week, so no new pictures or news about the baby's sex (you'll all just have to be patient). But I will say that I do have a feeling about what I think the baby might be. However, there's really no logical reason for thinking it and, really, there's approximately a 50% chance that I'm right or wrong, right? So for now, I'll just say that it's a boy...

...or a girl.

Stay tuned! :-)

all things nuchal

2011-02-05T09:25:00.008-07:00

At my first OB appointment a few weeks ago, they advised me to contact The Fetal & Women's Center of Arizona to set up an appointment for once I was between weeks 11 and 12. They said that this organization has the best ultrasound technology available. So I ended up scheduling the appointment for yesterday because right now I am somewhere at the end of week 11, beginning of week 12.

Originally, I thought the appointment was just to check growth and get some cute little ultrasound pictures. But we discovered yesterday that the scanning was actually to test the baby's nuchal translucency. Nuchal translucency screening tests for all types of chromosomal abnormalities (mainly Down Syndrome) and congenital heart defects. Nuchal translucency refers to the fluid-filled space at the back of the baby's neck. The reason they look at this space in particular is because they have found that fetuses that have a high amount of fluid in this space at the back of the neck have more likelihood of having a chromosomal abnormality, such as Down Syndrome. The primary things that are taken into consideration when testing for these birth defects are (1) the mother's age, (2) the amount of nuchal translucency in the fetus, and (3) bloodwork.

The ultrasound scan lasted for almost 50 minutes...yeah, 50 minutes...because little Baby McG was being a little turd and would pretty much show nothing but his/her backside. The tech was getting a little frustrated, too, especially after about 30 minutes of not even being able to take a measurement. So she had me try to cough to get the little butthead to move a little. Yeah...no luck. Either the baby was being stubborn or was being extremely lazy and just didn't want to move. Yeah...this kid is TOTALLY related to Joe, huh? :-)

Anyway, she went from a scan on the belly, to an internal scan, to another scan on the belly. Finally, she was able to get some measurements before leaving to show the results to the doctor. The doctor came back to tell us about what they were looking for and what they found in the initial look at the scan. All I have to say is that next time, Baby McG better be a little more cooperative. Otherwise, I have a feeling we'll have to lay down the law pretty good with this kid.

As far as the results go, based on my age alone the chance of any chromosomal abnormality is about 1:630 (or 0.15%). After the complete results of the scan and bloodwork are in (sometime next week), they will update that number showing either a higher risk or a lower risk of birth defects. Based on their initial measurements during the scan, however, they said that everything looked completely normal.

Phew! :-)

Here are some updated photos of the little one. A lot of them confuse me as to what I'm actually looking at, so I tried to pick some of the most distinguishable photos. Enjoy!

Baby McG's backside:

Baby McG's left side:

Baby McG's right side profile:

kickin' ehrlichiosis to the curb

2011-01-20T19:38:00.003-07:00

I noticed that we haven’t posted an update about Lucy in a while. This is pretty much because there hasn’t really been any news to report other than the latest hip dysplasia debacle. But do you remember December of ’09 when she almost died? A flip through our blogs over the past year (there aren't too many) will jog your memory.

In a nutshell…she’s had tick fever (ehrlichiosis) since Dec 2009...or possibly longer, depending on when she was first infected. And the vet's tick fever titer results were never good enough for them to want to get rid of the medication completely, so she has basically been on doxycycline for over a year straight now. Poor little beagle liver!

Here is what I know about tick titers (which isn’t a lot):

Bloodwork helps measure the system/antibody response to tick fever
Based on the response to the tick fever, the titer is given a ratio (such as 1:20, or 1:115)
A result of 1:20 or less means that the system/antibodies have extremely little to no exposure to the tick fever
A result of between 1:50 and 1:150 means that the system/antibodies have low exposure to the tick fever
A result of 1:1250, for example, would mean that the system/antibodies have an extremely high exposure to the tick fever

When Lucy was first tested for tick fever, her titer results were 1:1250. Medication treatment commenced. The next time she was tested, her titer results were 1:1280 (even higher than before). Medication treatment was adjusted and continued. The next time she was tested, her titer results were still at 1:1280. Medication treatment continued. Now...

Six months after the last testing...

Her titer results are at 1:160. Yeah. Totally not kidding. Her system's/antibodies' response to the ehrlichiosis has dropped so drastically that they have suggested that we stop the doxycycline altogether! We'll have a retest in a few weeks and if the results go up, that will mean the ehrlichiosis is active again, so KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED that it stays the same or gets even lower. I know she likes the yummy pill pockets that the pills go in, but her liver needs a break.

:-)

our baby is going to be french canadian

2011-01-18T16:29:00.005-07:00

Hey everyone!

Great news last week, huh? Yep. We are having a baby! So cool.

We are due in August (the freakin HOTTEST month of the year, might I add) and I am approximately nine weeks along. It's kind of confusing because one book/website will say I'm 8 weeks, another will say I'm 9, and yet another has said I'm 10 weeks now but really 9 weeks and 2 days. Yeah. Confusing. So I'll just guesstimate and say that I'm 9 weeks.

Once everything with the pregnancy was confirmed, I was going to try to wait for the entire first trimester to be complete before spreading the official news, just in case something terrible happens. But I don't really want to live in fear and plus...I just couldn't wait any longer. And I don't think Joe could either because he was itching to post the ultrasound pictures on Facebook.
:-)

The human body is spectacular. And, for the most part, I don't feel any physical differences. Well...other than peeing every hour (even during the middle of the night), feeling queasy pretty much all day, and feeling completely wiped out by 6pm every night. But other than that, it's been just normal. Every once in a while, though, I catch myself really thinking that I have a little human growing inside of me. It's kind of weird, and I feel like everything is still kind of surreal...but it's also exciting and amazing at the same time.

Also, here is another ultrasound picture. It is slightly different than the one form the previous post, but I thought I'd post it as well since there won't be any new pictures until the end of February.

One thing that is kind of funny is that Joe and Lucy have both had so many more ultrasounds than me. And I'm willing to bet that when the pregnancy is over, both of them combined will still have had more. But...I think it's just so amazing that they can do ultrasounds. I know they weren't around when my mom was pregnant with me...so it's really neat that they can check things out periodically to monitor growth and overall development. I think on one hand it makes us all more obesessive and hyper-vigilant about everything...but on the other hand it is really important in case there are potential issues that need to be addressed.

Anyway, they said everything looked great - that the embryo was the right size for where I am in the pregnancy, and that the heartbeat was a strong 179 beats per minute. Sounds like a really fast heartbeat to me...but if they say it's good and strong, then I believe it's good and strong.

On a side note: For those who are following our progress on our teardrop, part of our delay has been trying to decide how to add room for a third little tiny person. Normally teardrop trailers are for two people, but we'll be able to add a little baby perch somewhere inside. We've drawn a couple sketches, though, and are hoping to get started with that project again soon (and finished before August!). Then once we've used the trailer for awhile and the kid gets too big, then we'll just make him/her sleep in a tent while Joe and I get the trailer.

KIDDING, people.

Totally kidding.

It would be Joe sleeping in the tent.

:-)

the eggo is preggo

2011-01-14T17:06:00.005-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

The start of the New Year always brings new hope for a year filled with much happiness, excitement and...of course...fulfilling all of your New Year's Resolutions! This year, among my most important resolutions are:

Be healthy and exercise 5 days a week,
Take more classes towards my master's degree program,
Be more assertive at work,
Save more money and do less unnecessary spending, and
Stop biting my nails (Yes, this is embarrassing, but last year I lasted from January until August. So I can do it!!)

Also, from the end of 2009 through the end of 2010, I lost a net total of 35 pounds and am so grateful for that! One of my TOP resolutions for 2011 was actually going to be - lose 35 more pounds!! However, that may not be a realistic goal for this year, and here's why:

Joe and I are having a baby!!

Yep. You read that right. I'm pregnant! So...not only will I NOT be losing 35 more pounds, I will probably be gaining most of it back. But I wanted you to know the REAL reason for the weight gain so you don't think I'm just chowing down on Oreo's all the time. :-)

I love you all and will keep in touch with updates and pictures as much as I can. And keep your fingers and toes crossed for us! We feel so blessed by this and are hoping that everything continues to go well.

XOXO,
Theresa (and Joe and Lucy)

PS - Our scanner is ill or something, so I apologize for the not-so-nicely-scanned scanned image.

tidings of comfort and joy

2010-12-24T10:49:00.004-07:00

It's been awhile since our last post. Sorry 'bout that. When we first started our blog we posted pretty regularly with updates about Lucy, Joe's health, life, etc. Everything was interesting. But I've been totally out of the blogging circuit over the past year or so and just can't seem to post regularly. Perhaps it's because I feel that nothing I have to say is very interesting. Perhaps it's because nothing IS interesting. But I'll be making a point to blog more in the coming year. 2011 hasn't begun yet, but I can already tell it's full of excitement! As this year is coming to a close, here is our holiday wish for you:

From the wonderful Southwest, we write this letter
in hopes that you are having a happy holiday season
so far. We know that we don't see you all quite as
often as we would like to (or quite as often as we
should) but you are in our thoughts and prayers this
holiday season and always.

And, as 2010 is coming to a close (isn't it scary
how quickly time flies?), we are reminded of all of
the blessings we have that we sometimes take for
granted.

We are blessed with health, jobs, and a roof over our
heads. We are blessed with freedoms many people
long for. We are blessed with the hope for a better
tomorrow. We are blessed with seriously the most
perfect beagle in the universe! :-) We are blessed
with amazing family and friends like you. We are
blessed with love and happiness. We are blessed
with each other.

There are so many things to be thankful for and we
hope all hopes that your holidays and coming year
are filled with countless more blessings of peace,
happiness, hope, joy, and neverending love...

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Blessings,
Theresa, Joe, and Lucy

teardoppings

2010-11-14T21:05:00.006-07:00

Check out our teardroppings HERE!!

lucy's a hipster

2010-11-10T18:30:00.007-07:00

And by "hipster", I mean she is semi-bohemian, rejects mainstream culture, and prides herself on being independent and "cool". And she wears sunglasses.

Nah...just kidding. I means she has hip dysplasia.

And, even though she's already endured ringworms, a torn dewclaw, getting attacked by a bigger dog and needing stiches, an enlarged spleen and elevated liver enzymes, and tick fever...we can now add hip dysplasia to the list.

And she's only 3!

And what's more interesting is that half of these things have happened right before big events or vacations. She got attacked by a dog the night before we took a trip to New England last year. She has some sort of scary episode (which turned out to be a result of tick fever) on Christmas Day last year, right before we were supposed to take a trip to California. And she now has hip dysplasia, right before we are supposed to go to New England again. Is this a sign? Is she trying to tell us she doesn't want us going anywhere?

Hip dysplasia, in a nutshell, occurs in the hip joint when the femoral head (the ball) and the acetabulum (the socket) do not fit together or function perfectly. In essence the top of the femur and the socket create a lot of friction and damage due to being shaped differently and not having enough tissue, muscle, or ligaments to support the joint. And because tissue, muscle, and ligaments do not properly support the joint, the femur and socket continue to separate from each other which causes addition friction and damage which results in further changes in the size and shape of the joint. It can develop at any age. It's common in large and giant breed dogs (or dogs who are overweight). It is not necessarily common in beagles, but it is common in pure breeds when there is a genetic predisposition for the condition.

We noticed over the weekend that she took a million years to climb stairs and completely stopped jumping altogether. There was one point where I hugged her and she shrieked like it was the most painful thing she ever felt. Made my blood curdle. So we set up an appointment on Monday afternoon and a few tests, xrays, and hundreds of dollars later, we were presented with the hip dysplasia diagnosis. So sad. I just want to hug her all the time because I feel like she is so defenseless. She's the sweetest thing in the world! She's very independent and not always cuddly or affectionate, but she loves everyone so much and gives the best hugs!!

The only thing I have left to say is that I really hope Lucy can get through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years without any new ailments. I don't think that's too much to ask, is it?

life

2010-10-26T21:06:00.001-07:00

The mother of a friend passed away suddenly last week. Without warning, she was just gone. Young, beautiful and healthy, she was a wife, sister, friend, mother, grandmother. Gone.

I seriously can not imagine.

At all!

Joe and I went to her memorial service tonight and we were blown away by how beautiful it was. I’ve known my friend since grade school and did lose touch for awhile, so there are countless memories of her and her mother that I am completely unaware of. But I can tell you now that one of my memories of her is that she was so incredibly loved. You should have seen all the people there to celebrate her life! It was amazing. And another memory is that she created one of the most awesome families on the planet. Listening to the words of her loved ones tonight, I am saddened that I don't have more memories of her than I do.

And my heart breaks for those she left behind, for the memories that will take place without her, for the grandchildren she will never see grow up into beautiful adults. But it is clear how rich and full her life has been and it is evident that her presence still shines in all of them...and always will.

God's plan (or whomever your "higher power" may be) is always a mystery. Always. And a sudden event like this reminds me how important...how FRAGILE, but also how IMPORTANT life is. And it reminds me that we should always make known to our friends, family, and loved ones how much we care for them and love them. Cherish every single moment and every single memory that you have...for you never know when that next hug or that next smile or that next shared laugh will be your last.

I send my continued thoughts, love and prayers to my friend and her family during this time. And I send my love and peace to you all...

the elephants have come and gone

2010-10-14T17:09:00.009-07:00

The fact that our last blog entry was 4 months ago is abominable. My entry about The Cove yesterday doesn't count because it was my attempt at a PSA. So I count the last true McGresa blog entry as June 23rd. Really? It's October people!! What in the name of all that is holy have we been doing since then?

Well...

I remember talking about the elephants walking down the street in downtown Phoenix. That means our circus adventure has come and gone and obviously those elephants are long gone as well. But they were so cute. The circus was actually super entertaining altogether and I'm really glad that we all went. I really like the elephants, but the tigers were actually pretty amazing, too, because there was a big circular cage with one man and nine tigers. Yep...you saw that right. NINE tigers. ONE man. That guy has some major cojones, I'll tell you that much! I think my favorite part of the circus, though, was the motorcycle cage ball thingiedoo. There was one point when the cage had 7 bikes riding around and around. Utterly amazing. So, just as a quick summary - the circus was AWESOME!

Also...remember me talking about those pounds I lost? Yeah. Definitely gained some of them back. Not all of them. Not even half of them. But definitely a few. So my goal of losing 50 pounds in one year was not reached. Oh well...the fight goes on, right?

I also remember talking about my jury duty experience a little bit, too. Well, I was NOT picked as I mentioned before and the trial was the State of Arizona against a young man accused of child abuse and the first degree murder of a 13-month old child. Apparently, from what I gather of the story, he and his girlfriend had a child together. Then they split up at some point and the girl got pregnant again by another man. Then the young man got back together with this girl and now they were taking care of both his child and the other man's child. Confused? Yeah. Well, anyway. He was accused of allegedly killing the child that was NOT his biological child but the 6-week-or-so-long trial ended up being declared a mistrial because the jury could not come to a unanimous verdict. In this case, preparations for a second trial were discussed but the young man ended up pleading guilty to manslaughter and will be sentenced at the end of this month. But manslaughter? That's it? Ugh.

In case you are curious about some of the case details, you can find more information here and here. In case you are not curious in the slightest, please press onward...

In addition to that, to name a few things that have happened since June:

we saw the Twilight Saga's Eclipse and Joe loved it
we went camping on Mingus Mountain
we went camping on Mount Lemmon
we babysat Lucy's boyfriend, Yuma
Joe took his FIRST trip to California!
we went camping on Mingus Mountain a second time and literally within 20 minutes of starting to set up camp Lucy had already dug up a squeaky ball she buried when we camped there 2 months earlier
Theresa sang in the wedding of a lifelong friend and biffed up one of the songs that had a Spanish verse (which really isn't the WORST thing in the world except for the fact that 90% of the people at the wedding spoke Spanish!)
Theresa celebrated her 2 year anniversary with University of Phoenix
Joe celebrated his 3 year anniversary with Powill Mfg & Eng
Joe ALSO celebrated his 2 year anniversary of having a new kidney (WOO HOO!!!)
Lucy celebrated her 3rd birthday (crazy!!)
we started preparing and planning to build a teardrop trailer...and we can't WAIT until we are able to camp in it!!

More things have happened since June, but that's all that comes to mind right now because we have to get going and take Lucy to the park for a play date with her boyfriend. Hope you enjoyed the quick recap of our crazy past 4 months. Hope you all are well.

XOXO,
T and Joe and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Fur

the cove

2010-10-13T20:57:00.002-07:00

Last night, I made the mistake of watching "The Cove", the 2009 Oscar winning documentary. I take that back, though. I definitely wouldn't call it a "mistake" that I watched this because, while hard to process at times, it actually told a story with a rather important message, a message about taking a stand for the preservation of the beauty and sanctity of life.

Synopsis (taken from The Cove website):
"Academy Award® Winner for Best Documentary of 2009, THE COVE follows an elite team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers as they embark on a covert mission to penetrate a remote and hidden cove in Taiji, Japan, shining a light on a dark and deadly secret. Utilizing state-of-the-art techniques, including hidden microphones and cameras in fake rocks, the team uncovers how this small seaside village serves as a horrifying microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery, adding up to an unforgettable story that has inspired audiences worldwide to action. THE COVE is directed by Louie Psihoyos and produced by Paula DuPré Pesmen and Fisher Stevens. The film is written by Mark Monroe. The executive producer is Jim Clark and the co-producer is Olivia Ahnemann."

Dolphins and porpoises, though? Yeah...I honestly never even thought of them much before. But watching this, and seeing footage and reading about the slaughter of these animals, my stomach turns just thinking about it. But look how far away from Japan I am! What can I do? Donate? Protest? Spread the word? Sign the petition? And...does it really matter?

I really think it does.

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." — Henry Beston

unloading the elephants

2010-06-23T13:17:00.003-07:00

And by "elephants", I don't mean me. I'm looking less like an elephant every day, as a matter of fact. I started a diet regime last November and actually lost about 27 pounds by January. In February I started the regime a second time and lost 10 more pounds. I ended up being TERRIBLE at keeping the weight off and gained back the 10 pounds I lost in the "second round" and then some. However...as of today, right here and now, I'm down 36 pounds total as of last November. If I didn't gain back those 10+ pounds, I would have been down at least 46 pounds already, but 36 isn't bad. Not bad at all. And my goal is to lose an even 50. Think I can do it by November?

Anyway...back to the real elephants.

I was in downtown Phoenix yesterday for jury duty (more on that later) and at one point I had to ride the juror shuttle from the courthouse back to the parking garage. As we turned one of the corners downtown, we saw the Ringling Bros. circus train unloading the elephants right near the US Airways Arena (which is where the circus will be performing this weekend). How cool is that? I seriously thought that I was seeing things and had to do a "double take". But sure enough, right there in front of the shuttle, the elephants were being unloaded from the train and onto the street. It was so freakin' neat to see that! And it really got me excited to see the circus. We're going this Sunday and Joe said that he went to the circus once before when he was a kid, but it will be a first ever experience for the rest of us. I can't wait!

Now...back to jury duty.

Last Thursday, I had to report for jury duty. I had been summoned before and never had to report, but this time I actually did. So I was prepared for a really boring day. The morning definitely dragged a little, but by 10:30 that morning, they called a group of about 60-70 people to go up to a courtroom. We were all given juror numbers and shuffled into the courtroom where the judge, the defense and the state/prosecution were already assembled. The judge briefed us on the general charges against the defendant and stated that the trial was scheduled to last for at least six weeks. Craziness.

Thursday ended up flying by. After they did the initial screening/releasing anyone who was physically not able to commit to six weeks, then they had us complete a questionnaire answering questions about our life experiences. Some of the questions included giving information about our own employment and personal experiences, the employment/personal experiences of family and friends, and listed all members involved in the case to determine whether or not we knew anyone involved in the trial. Some of the questions were not as personal and asked about our hobbies, what we read, if we understand what we're getting into, etc. The questionnaire was long. It took about an hour to complete the whole thing. After we were finished we were instructed to not discuss any of the details of the case to anyone and to report back the following Tuesday. And I actually did REALLY GOOD at keeping my mouth shut.

Okay. Fast forward to yesterday. Yesterday (Tuesday), I had to report again for the voir dire. Voir dire, as far as I know, is the step in the trial process where the lawyers have a chance to actually speak with the remaining jurors to clarify any questions they had about the completed questionnaires. This voir dire is used to further help the laywers in their selection process and it's a way for them to clarify whether any jurors might have potential biases and, therefore, be unfit as an "impartial" juror. I wasn't called upon because apparently my answers to the questions were clear enough, but they interrogated some of the other jurors in order to clarify those concerns.

For example, there was one woman who had witnessed a crime before, so they had her clarify how long ago it was, what happened, if she can remove that from her mind to be impartial in this case, etc. She said it happened about 15 years ago and that everything was fine and she would definitely be impartial in this case. In addition, there was a man who had a nasty divorce and directly discussed the animosity he felt towards his lawyer as well as his ex-wife's lawyer. Everything about this man screamed "wacko". He kept going on about how the lawyers handled things poorly and he ended up firing his, etc. But then, of course, he ended by saying that he would definitely be impartial in this case. Every juror, no matter what their life experience was, always said that they would definitely "be impartial". Of course people are going to say that! Because they want to be picked! But I don't care how much that guy sugar-coated things...he obviously hates lawyers, so what lawyer would want him on the case?

This process actually frustrated me a bit because no matter how many people say that they'll be 100% impartial, it's not always 100% true. Especially in the case of Crazy I-Hate-Laywers Man. And the questions the lawyers asked were mainly leading questions which required really only one-word answers. How much can you really learn about a person if you're asking the wrong questions and leading them to the answer anyway? If it was up to me, I'd hire a court-appointed psychologist to the jury selection because this process has shown me that the lawyers might not always be picking people who will be "impartial"...even though that's what they are supposed to be doing.

Anyway, I didn't get picked, so now I can talk about the case if I want, so here's the info:

Type: Criminal.
Length: 6 weeks (at least).
Defendant: A young man from Gilbert, AZ (he seriously looked like he was 14 years old...but I think he's 22 or 23).
Prosecution: State of Arizona.
Charge: Child abuse and first degree murder of a 13-month old child.

Ummm...yeah. The evidence/pictures alone would probably have made my stomach turn. Even though it felt like a blow that I wasn't picked, I guess you could say that I'm actually glad they didn't pick me. Crazy, huh? At least now I won't get summoned for at least another 18 months!!

travel ambitions

2010-06-07T17:46:00.006-07:00

Remember my post last year about places that I want to go in my lifetime?

Didn't think so. :-)

You can view that post here but, more importantly, I have realized that I want to update the list. I realize that some of these places are expensive considering we can't even afford the cost for a trip to New England! So I guess you could consider these somewhat lofty dreams...but daydreams are so nice, aren't they?

Salzburg, Austria

New Zealand

Rome and Vatican City

Alaska (via cruise)

Cannon Beach, OR

Santorini (and any of the Cyclades)

Ireland

Alaska
(okay, I know we already put Alaska, but the Northern Lights are just so awesome!)

Great Britain

Paris, France

Delft, Netherlands

eugene

2010-06-01T16:29:00.003-07:00

bye, bye twenties

2010-05-18T16:08:00.005-07:00

George Carlin on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!"

You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key. You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. . . YEAS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED, we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.

Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 . . . and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime.

And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I was JUST 92." Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

Retrieved from: http://www.wanderings.net/notebook/Main/GeorgeCarlinOnAging

This makes me laugh. Ahhh, aging. With this in mind, I just have to say "Bye bye, twenties...You've really been good to me!" I graduated college, lived in Nantucket, traveled, moved to Boston, worked at Cheers, recorded a CD, met my wonderful Joe, taught myself graphic design and web design, saw a real live moose, traveled some more, ended up back in AZ, got my first dog who is the greatest dog in the world, landed a pretty awesome job, got married, started my graduate degree. Hmmm. Not bad, I guess. :o) I hope the next thirty years are even better...

city island

2010-05-16T19:35:00.007-07:00

I forgot to post about this a couple weeks ago when I saw this movie, but I have to post it now.

City Island.

This movie is about a family who lives on City Island, which is an island right near the Bronx (slightly Northeast of Manhattan).

This family seriously has issues. Everyone seems to be hiding a secret from everyone else. The premise is actually a little disheartening because it's sad how many lies and secrets are told. The plotline, however, was extremely entertaining and the film was full of ridiculously hilarious moments that had me in stitches as well as moments that were truly endearing. I had never seen a preview for this film and had no idea what it was about other than being about a family on City Island. So I was pleasantly surprised at how awesome this movie is.

I highly recommend it...so go see it. Don't ask, just go. It's amazing.

can't resist, sorry...

2010-05-14T16:23:00.002-07:00

alive and kickin'

2010-05-08T13:26:00.010-07:00

Hey everyone!

I know it's been quite a while since we last blogged it up on our site, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to procrastinate my homework a little longer and type up a blog because it's really depressing to me that our last one was three months ago. That's just ridiculous. So...

Everything has been going well. Joe, Lucy and I are all good. That is all.

Bye, and thanks for reading!!

he he he

Kidding. Here goes...

Camping - Joe and I went camping in Tucson for our Anniversary in February and ended up getting snowed out. We were camped at a place towards the bottom of Mt. Lemmon, but decided to drive up towards the top of the Mountain to sight see and walk around only to be greeted by an impending snow storm. It was crazy. A heck of a lot of fun. But crazy. When we drove back down to our campsite, it was raining heavily with a little bit of snow/slush mixed in, so instead of sticking it out and getting hypothermia, we packed up and went to a hotel for the night. We were able to go camping again in April, though. Mom and dad, Joe, Lucy and I went up near Prescott and camped up there. It was WONDERFUL! I love camping so much. It's a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of Phoenix, spend time with nature and each other, and relax. And making campfires is fun, too.
Snow - Joe and Lucy Fur and Alanna and I were fortunate enough to get up north before the winter season was over and played around in the snow. And Flagstaff is so much fun! We spent some time sledding up at the Wing Mountain Play Area just outside of Flag and drove up to Snow Bowl, too. I can't wait until winter again! (and yes...I know it's just barely May).
Camera - My camera was stolen at the annual Ostrich Festival in Chandler. Joe, Alanna and I had finished watching a freak show (yeah...interesting) and were walking towards the ostrich races when I realized I had left my camera on the seat. We were gone for only a couple minutes and it was already gone. No one turned it in either. I'm just thankful there were only a few pictures on it. There was one of Joe eating an ostrich burger, so I apologize for those whi were looking forward to seeing that. :-) On a side note, though, I am so disgutsed by the fact that this camera, which was a gift from Joe for Christmas just FIVE MONTHS AGO, is nowhere to be found. Why in God's name do there need to be so many camera models made all the time. I love this camera and apparently will never have another one because it has literally vanished from all existence and is NOWHERE to be found. Why do they have to discontinue cameras so quickly just to make new models that will be discontinued in 6 months anyway?
School - I finally started my master's program and am just finishing up my second course. I've been doing really well, so far (whenever I don't procrastinate) and am actually enjoying learning again. The course I am in right now is called Life-Span Development and it has mainly brushed up on some things I already knew from my undergrad studies, but it's just really interesting to speak with a facilitator who is actually in the field and to learn from what she has to say. The topics are interesting as well. Most recently I have examined my own family tree on both my father's and mother's sides and analyzed different traits of each person to help in determining which characteristics are hereditary and which are a result of environmental factors. I'm probably boring you, so I'll just end by saying that I'm actually liking it a little more than I thought I would.
Family visit - Joe's mom, sister Jen and nephew Jason just came out to Arizona for a visit a couple weeks ago. Jason is looking into attending a school out here in the Phoenix area so they came for a tour and to see Joe and Theresa and Lucy...the most amazing Phoenicians who ever lived. :-) We hung out, walked around Papago Park, played with Lucy Fur, and just had a good time. It is so nice having visitors so please come back! And anyone who wants to come visit, just give us a heads up and we'll get the guest room set up for ya!!
Lucy -Lucy is doing well. She apparently needs long-term medication for her tick fever because it's still in her little body. But she isn't just a lump of fur anymore. She eats normally, is very playful at times, and is fairly healthy overall. But she has to take daily meds for six months. She'll go in for another check up later this year, at which point they will determine if they can lower the dosage or create another treatment plan. But overall, she's good. She's still pretty calm, but does have so normal beagle energy, so that's good. Poor beagle. Stupid little tick. What did she ever do to you?
People and the never-ending quest to understand them - I am amazed by people and technology. What it is even more amazing is how people use technology. For example, technology is used for things such as relaying big news to family/friends in a quick and easy manner. It is used to keep in touch with long lost friends and rebuild friendships from years past. It is also used...apparently...to "break up" with friends. Sending hateful emails to friends and family, deleting people as friends from Facebook, ostracizing family/friends by blocking them from each other. Technology, while I love it and understand how it is helpful (for doing things like blogging!), has sometimes become an avenue where people lead such passive-aggressive lives. It's kind of ridiculous.
Work - On a lighter note, work has been going well for both Joe and I. I actually really like my job. One thing that happened recently that was a little sad, however, is that the team I have worked with over the past year and a half (or so) was taken away from me. :-( Sad. The entire division was reorganized. It takes me time to build friendships and working relationships with people...especially on a team where there were already "issues" when I first came on board. But relationships are not just an automatic thing for me. I don't meet someone and instantly become in sync with them. And it definitely took awhile for everyone on our team to work well together. Finally, a year and a half later, when we are on a roll, working super well together as as high performing team...surprise! See ya later guys. They switched us around and now we're no longer together. While I know I will still see my old teammates regularly and while I know my new teammates will be good to work with as well, it's still just sad because of the amount of effort I put in to that team. We were like a little family of sorts. I liked them so much! All I have to say is that my new teammates have some pretty big shoes to fill. As for Joe...I know Joe likes his job, too (for the most part! he he), and is also thinking of possibly going back to school within the next couple years as well. So work is good. We have jobs and can pay bills. So that's good enough for me!
Books - I decided to start a book review blog. I only have one review so far, but seriously. Check it out. This book is awesome. And I know this was written MONTHS ago when I didn't have too much going on and there will definitely be more to come, but don't judge. Just read.
Joe - Joe told me to make sure that I add in here a quick note for him because he wants everyone knows how much he loves me. How sweet! :-)

Phew! How was that for procrastinating? :-) Have a great weekend everyone! Hope all is well...

XOXO
T

blogging it up!

2010-02-09T18:22:00.013-07:00

Here are some updates on the Arizona McGowan clan.

Lucy:
For a reminder of Lucy Fur's latest health debacle, glance through our previous post. Christmas and the two weeks that followed were a pretty tense time on the Lucy front, actually. But after almost two thousand dollars' worth of testing (and a stressful holiday), they concluded that she had tick fever. The valley fever results came back negative, thank GOODness. They put her on a special bland diet, liver booster pills, probiotics, and antibiotics (why the probiotics and antibiotics don't cancel each other out, is beyond me) and then, after follow up testing, decided to keep her on the bland diet along with doxycycline for the tick fever. We will be having her 6 week follow up this week, at which time we will see if the liver enzymes have reduced (meaning less treatment) or not (meaning long term treatment plan is needed). Will keep you posted.

Car:
In addition to paying for vet visits and beagle meds, we also needed to buy a new car. When I say "new car" I mean new for us....not brand new as in "never been owned before". Over the holidays, Joe's truck finally went kaput. For good this time. And after researching different options, he decided that it wasn't worth the money that it would take to fix it. Sad. I actually really liked that little truck! And also, it's a royal pain in the REAR to have to get a new vehicle. But we ended up looking around to see what was out there in the used department. My dad actually found an SUV that was for sale and parked in the parking lot of where my Granny (mom's mom) moved to. 2002 Mitsubishi Montero, ES Sport, low miles, one owner, maintained really well, minor blemishes, decent asking price. After we test drove it, it was a done deal! Here's a pic. We call him Monty.

And I really hope we don't have to get another car for a LONG time!!

Camping:
Our year has gotten off to a rotten start as far as camping is concerned. We didn't go AT ALL in the month of January!! To our defense, we had outrageous vet bills plus a new car to buy. BUT...we are FINALLY going camping in a couple weeks to celebrate our first anniversary. SO WEIRD!!! It literally feels like yesterday you were all here to help celebrate the start of our marriage. And as cliche as this sounds, time really does fly by when you're having fun. It's definitely been a stressful year at times, but the fact that we don't hate each other yet is good news, right? :-)

Et Cetera:

We went to the most AWESOME Polish Restaurant last weekend with the family. I don't think I've had authentic polish food since my grandma Bubba (dad's mom) was alive. She used to make the most yummy Golabki. And pierogies have ALWAYS been a favorite. This place was amazing. It's called A Touch of Europeon Cafe. Check it out!!!
I don't even want to tell you all how much weight I've gained over the past 4 years. It's quite disgusting, actually. But I started a diet in November and I've lost about 27 pounds since then. I've been off the diet for about a month now, but I'll be starting again in a few weeks. I'm not quite at my goal weight yet and I know it'll be a neverending struggle, but I'm happy that I've been able to stick with it. Can't wait to lose about a million more!!
Last, but certainly not least, I am finally Finally FINALLY starting my masters program in a couple weeks. Crazy, huh? It's been almost 10 years since I finished my bachelor's degree and I've struggled with finding the motivation to continue for quite some time, actually. But, since I'm an academic counselor and I speak with students every day, trying to remind them of the importance of continuing their education, I find it quite hypocritical that I don't "practice what I preach." You know what I mean. All in all, I'm scared that I might fail and I'm nervous about how much time I'll have to spend. But I'm also excited about learning more about what I'm interested in and I'm looking forward to having another degree to fall back on. It's going to be hard and I might tell you all (at some point) that I want to quit. But, please....don't let me!!

I hope you are doing well.....we love and miss you all.....and to those we haven't seen in a while, we hope to see you soon!!

to spleen? or not to spleen? that is the question...

2009-12-30T19:05:00.007-07:00

The past week has been such a mixture of joy and holiday cheer mixed with anxiety and sadness.

Christmas was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful! We spent time relaxing, spending time with family, giving gifts to one another and enjoying a holiday feast. And Santa was very very generous to us all (we must have been NICE this past year!).

But all during Christmas, Lucy was so bummed and lethargic and just not acting her normal self. As mentioned in our previous post, we were planning on driving out to California the day after Christmas, but ended up staying behind with Lucy Pants because she was kind of freaking us out. And we have been to the vet ALMOST every day since then:

Saturday 12/26 - Saturday's tests determined that Lucy's liver enzymes count was super high awhile her t-cell and platelet counts were super low, causing the doctor to think that her cells and antibodies were off in the liver somewhere fighting an infection. Antibiotics, liver boosters and probiotics were prescribed and an appointment for a bile acids test was set for the next day. The doctor recommended, also, an anti nausea medication, but it was very pricey, so we decided to hold off since she wasn't constantly vomiting.
Sunday 12/27 - The bile acids test was performed. During this test, they analyze the bile acids before a meal and two hours after a meal to determine how the liver is functioning. Results would be ready in a couple days' time.
Monday 12/28 - Lucy didn't eat much more than 1/2 a cup of food this day and was still very lethargic. She ended up vomiting again so we decided to suck it up and get her the anti-nausea medication. 90 bucks. For 8 doses. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? But it seems to work because she hasn't puked since then.
Tuesday 12/29 - Lucy didn't eat at ALL this day and towards the evening started becoming increasingly lethargic and just lying around unmoving. She began shaking uncontrollably and was acting very feverish and out of it. Scary stuff. But, seriously, how are you supposed to know what to do when it's a dog and they can't say "dude, I'm okay, just leave me alone" or "dude, I'm dying so take me somewhere right now." You know what I mean? We were so scared for her because she was so unresponsive and just lying in our arms, unmoving. We called an emergency line and basically she wasn't have seizures or anything and she was still drinking water and was easily roused, so we just kept her warm and decided to take her to the vet in the morning.
Wednesday 12/30 - I was supposed to go to work today, but we took Lucy to the vet this morning. We didn't have an appointment, so it took awhile to be seen, but the doctor was very good today. She said that the bile acids test came back normal, meaning her liver is functioning just fine (yay!). But she recommended more bloodwork to rule out other diseases as well as some xrays. Once Lucy was ready to be picked up, the doctor informed us that her platelet counts are up since Saturday (which is awesome) and she also told us that the blood work showed that Lucy doesn't have parvo, giardia, pancreatitis, or any other detectable disease (more awesome!). But...her liver enzymes are still high, which means that there is still some sort of infection somewhere. AND...the xrays showed an enlarged spleen (which would definitely be a cause of Lucy's discomfort, lack of appetite, lethargy and irregular bowel movements). So the doctor advised the following plan of action: getting an ultrasound done tomorrow which will show us if the spleen is enlarged due to (1) a hematoma or (2) a tumor. If it's a hematoma, then the spleen might need to be removed entirely because of the risk of massive internal bleeding. If it's a tumor, then the tumor might possibly need to be removed and/or the spleen removed entirely. That's the plan, as of today. Lord only knows how these things can change day to day. And a side note - can you imagine the bills we've accrued this week alone?
Thursday 12/31 (tomorrow) - Back to work and dropping Lucy off for her ultrasound. Only time will tell what the results will be...

say a little prayer for lucy

2009-12-27T15:41:00.016-07:00

For Christmas this year, Joe and I got to spend some really nice time with my family, got some really wonderful and thoughtful gifts from loved ones and secret Santas, and........we got a sick beagle.

Our dog, Lucy, is a million dollar dog. Seriously. A million dollars. That's how much we've spent on her so far. For those who don't know me well, I am sarcastic sometimes. So be aware that we haven't literally spent a million dollars because don't even have a fraction of that, but you probably get the picture.

Anyway, we were planning on driving out to California with my parents and sister the day after Christmas (yesterday) to help prepare my grandmother for her move to Phoenix. We were going to help pack, visit with family and drive my grandma's car back to Phoenix. Well...that was the plan, anyway...

For the past week or so, Lucy has been acting much unlike herself and over the past couple days completely lost her appetite altogether. She started vomiting on Christmas Day and had a really bad fever that night. She woke up in fairly good spirits the next morning, when we were planning on heading out to Cali, but then she got sick again and we made the call to stay behind.

We took her to the vet first thing and they did some bloodwork. The tests they did came back showing that Lucy's liver enzymes were really high and her t-cell and platelet counts were really low. They think this means that all her antibodies are trying to fight something in her liver. The this morning they wanted us to bring her back for a bile acid test to test her liver function. IN this type of test, they take a blood sample to see the baseline level or bile acids, then they feed her, and two hours later take another blood sample to see the level of bile acids. Basically, what they are looking for is any change in levels of bile acids. For example, if the sample from before the meal shows a low level and the sample after the meal shows a high level, then that means her liver isn't working the way it should. Oh goodness...I'm really hoping it doesn't turn out that way.

We were so ready to drive to California yesterday and I'm really sad to not see family, but I am actually pretty glad we were able to get Lucy some help. They hydrated her, gave us a bunch of meds for her and now we're just waiting for the test results, which should be ready in a couple days!! It's kind of been a bank breaking weekend, but I just really really REALLY hope they figure out what's wrong so that we can fix it. It's so sad seeing her so lifeless. And it's so sad because she can't just tell us what's wrong, you know?

The poor beagle breaks my heart.

do you know what that sound is, highness?....

2009-12-02T18:32:00.012-07:00

...those are the shrieking eels!

This post, actually, has nothing to do with the Princess Bride (which is where that quote comes from, for those of us who are uncultured), but it just popped into my head for some reason.

Anyway...

HI EVERYONE!!! I know it's seemed like a bojillion years since we last blogged, so I thought I'd drop you all a line. It really hasn't been a bojillion years, but tons of things have definitely been going on, so we've been a little preoccupied:

SEPTEMBER

LUCY - We are not millionaires because Lucy did not win the cutest dog competition. :o( For those of you who actually did vote and continue to show your endless support of our gorgeous beagle dog, THANK YOU! Maybe we'll have better luck next year. Or maybe we'll start a dog talent competition, or something. Lucy's pretty amazing at sitting, laying down, rolling over, speaking, and playing hide and seek! Anyway, to see information on the winner of the competition, click here.

OCTOBER

SWINE - I'm pretty sure I had the swine flu in October. Joe and Alanna and I had planned a camping trip for the first weekend of October and, even though I started feeling like death with a fever of 103, NOTHING was going to get in the way of camping. I had a fever for a couple days and we were scheduled to go on a Friday night and I really didn't want to pull the plug on the trip. So we headed out of Phoenix and during the ride I think something pretty crazy happened because I don't remember much from that night. My fever seemed to skyrocket and I was freezing and burning up all at the same time. I'm pretty sure I was delirious (Joe and Alanna can probably give more details) and it seriously felt like I was actually dead. Not fun. We stayed one night and packed up first thing in the morning. :o( Sad!! It probably wasn't really the swine flu (I tend to exaggerate), but it was pretty brutal. On the positive side, I've hit my sick quotient for the year, so hopefully I won't be sick again for a long time.
LUCY - Lucy turned TWO!! YAHOOOO!!!! Okay, so maybe this is only exciting to us.
KIDNEY - Joe celebrated his first anniversary with his new kidney on October 7th!! It's definitely been a roller coaster as far as that goes - being more apt to get diseases and virus due to the suppressed immune system. They are constantly meeting with him, always doing new lab work, adjusting medications due to differences in blood levels and new viruses that pop up, keeping him healthy, etc. The Mayo Clinic and all of Joe's doctors in this city are really top notch. And so is Jen for being the awesome donor!! :o)

NOVEMBER

MOVING - We moved into a new place!! Moving is always super stressful (especially when you realize about 1/3 of the stuff you own could probably just be thrown away), so we are glad to have that over and done with. And, as of yesterday, we have now been in the new place about a month and are pretty much all unpacked and settled in. It's a nice place, too. It's just about 3 miles away from our previous place, so it's in the same general area, but it's about $200 cheaper per month, so we're REALLY excited about saving some extra money. Which is something that isn't easy to do this day and age.
WILDLIFE - We take Lucy for nightly walks around the new neighborhood and have had the opportunity of seeing and hearing different wildlife such as rabbits, owls, coyotes and even javelinas!! HOW COOL IS THAT??
WORK - The coming of this month signaled my first anniversary at my current job. It's really crazy how time flies when you're having....fun? Yeah. Amazing. There are DEFINITELY days when things drag and situations get stressful at work (poor Joe never seems to hear the end of it, either) but, for the most part, I have actually grown to really enjoy my new position. This month has been really stressful at work because it's the end of my first year, so I had to work some overtime and work as hard as possible to make sure that I ended it with a bang (want to get some good points on my review!!). It's hard to do with unexpected issues that come up, fires that need to be put out, lives to save, etc. But on the other hand, there is a lot of teamwork involved, so there is a lot of time to continually improve upon communicating effectively with each other. There are great benefits and a lot of opportunity for growth. There are people who really make each day worthwhile. And among all the good and the bad (which you seem to find no matter WHERE you work), it's really been a pretty good experience so far.
NEW MOON - I have nothing to say about it that won't make you all roll your eyes. So will spare you my thoughts.
THANKSGIVING - It's scary how quickly Thanksgiving has come and gone, you know? My family traveled on a tour of Ireland for the holiday last week (the price was right) but Joe and decided to save our bucks (will visit Ireland someday...) and stuck around Phoenix. We had an awesome dinner celebration at my aunt and uncle's house and hung out and played games afterwards. We went camping amongst coyotes for a few days at Apache Lake, where we went last Thanksgiving. And had a really nice, stress-free weekend. I love Thanksgiving. And I am still so very thankful for everything listed here...and more!!

DECEMBER

Dude. Back off. It JUST STARTED!!! he he.

Really, though. December. Ahhh.

Weather changes (finally).
Holiday decorations.
The season of giving.
Making new year resolutions.
Spending time with family.
Enjoying life.

Hmmmm. I utterly love this time of year. :o)

Ciao for now!

alive and kickin'

2009-11-15T17:28:00.002-07:00

we are alive. lucy did not win $1 million dollars. will write more soon!

cutest dog competition

2009-08-25T18:35:00.005-07:00

Being the proud parents that we are, Joe and I have decided to enter Lucy in the Cutest Dog Competition, which is presented by All American Pet Brands and dog.com, because she (of course!) is the cutest dog in the world!!!

The only way for us to win is from a daily vote from YOU!!! You can vote once per day, per dog, so remember to cast your vote for Lucy EVERY DAY!!! The contest started at the beginning of August and we just entered, so we've got a lot of time to make up.

So, without further ado, be sure to click on the link below NOW to CAST YOUR VOTE for Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds Fur!!!!

Thanks!!

faces in places + just places

2009-08-23T15:08:00.005-07:00

Faces in Places
Do you ever find the shape of a face in things like the clouds, or a textured wall, or any other completely random place? Every once in awhile, I notice faces in different things and, believe it or not, there is a blog that points out this exact thing. I'm not quite sure how I originally came upon this blog, but I think it's one of the dorkiest, yet possibly one of the coolest things ever. It's called "Faces in Places". Check it out!!

Just Places
The following is a list of places that I want to go in my life. Some of them are places that I'm not sure we'll be able to afford the trip for a LOOOOOONG time. Others are trips that could possibly be very attainable and may sound a little weird and definitely un-exotic. Nonetheless, these are the places (in no particular order) that I would most like to go at some point in my life.

Australia - all of it
New Zealand
Hawaii - I know I've already been...but want to go back so bad!!
British Columbia - Vancouver, Whistler
Alberta - Banff
Nova Scotia
Maine - again!!
Vatican City
pretty much any other part of Italy
Paris
anywhere in Alaska - an Alaskan cruise would be awesome!
Washington - Seattle, Mt. Rainier NP, Olympic NP, North Cascades NP
New York City - again!!
Oregon - Portland, Eugene, Astoria
Niagara Falls - again!!
Santorini
pretty much any part of Greece and the Cyclades
the entire UK
New England - going next month! YAHOOOOO!!!!
Jerusalem
Madrid and Barcelona

reflections

2009-08-10T20:23:00.003-07:00

The past week and a half have been kind of a blur for me. A lot has happened, both good and bad, but most of all...growth. A lot of growth in myself, growth with family and friends and, especially, growth with Joe. One thing I've learned in the past week and a half is that life throws you curve balls without even a moment's notice, you just have to learn how to catch them.

Today I am thankful for:

Family - Especially Mom, Dad and Alanna. You are my most favorite people in the whole entire world.
Alanna - I am so thankful that your trip in the South Pacific was safe and that you are finally home!
Friends - You know who you are. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have you in my life as my lucky stars and rocks of support. I learn more from each of you every day.
Lucy - My little ball of beagle fur. I am thankful for your hugs, your yawns, your kisses, your stretching, your cockroaches, your zoomies, your growls, your cuddles, the way you smell, the way you run up to us when we get home like we are the most important people in your universe. I love everything about you!
Work - In these tough economic times, I am so thankful to be working for a solid company that has much interest and support of their employees. Without this job I would not be able to camp, travel, pay rent, pay bills, buy groceries, etc. I am so thankful to have this job.
Health - I am thankful to be alive. This summer has been pretty rough (especially with regards to heat), but my health is something I definitely need to stop taking for granted and try to preserve. I'm starting to get into the swing of the gym again and, once the weather cools off, we'll be able to go for rides and hikes again.
Jen - I am so thankful that you gave one of your kidneys to Joe. It is the most amazing gift a person could ever receive. Sadly, words really can't even express gratitude for a gift like that.
Recreation - I am thankful to have the opportunity to do things like camp, sight see, swim, relax, read, spend time with family, etc. The joy I get from these simplest of things makes the weekends so precious to me.
(last, but not least) Joe - No matter how flawed you are at times and no matter how perfect you are at times, what amazes me most is how much more I grow to love you each and every day.

familiy reniunion

2009-08-01T03:55:00.003-07:00

I think that the Kolbergs and McGowans are some of the funnest people I've ever met ! So T and I thought we should do an annual "reunion!. It can basically just be a big party, in a different area of the country each year ! Really we just want an excuse to see you more ! Here's how we think it should work: All Kolbergs, all McGowan, Welches, Gallianos. Ercolininis (am I forgettimg anyone ?) plus friends would gather once year at a adifferent fun outdoorsy venues ?! we could BBQ olay games, reminisce... who's in ?

life, work and alanna wanna fanna

2009-07-21T20:26:00.010-07:00

Life is good.

It's getting really, Really, REALLY hot now. And, with the monsoon season actually picking up a little, the past few days have been wicked humid...so it's been kind of like a sticky furnace outside. But life is good. We've been spending a lot of time hanging out with family, swimming, camping, playing with Lucy, relaxing, etc....just doing all of the things that you SHOULD do during summertime.

Work is.....uhhh.....work. But it is good, too. :o)

Some days are better than others (as is true with any occupation), but I am really starting to feel like I'm actually doing okay there. When I first started, I was totally overwhelmed. It's almost too difficult to explain in words, so I will just say that I knew I would get used to it, but it was a little stressful at first. Especially since we are judged quantitatively in several different categories - something that I have never experienced before. It's different, and started off a little rocky. Recently, though, over the past few months, I've been doing a little better and better with every week. And it has even gotten to the point where I was given an award (a fancy piece of paper) at an awards ceremony in front of 900+ of my peers in the Northeast Division. I'm not 100% sure of what the award was for, but it has something to do with not sucking. So getting that recognition for my efforts made yesterday a really nice day. Now I just have to start doing BETTER so that I get another award at the 4th Quarter awards ceremony (won't hold my breath, but it doesn't hurt to try).

And, finally...Alanna is AWESOME!!!

Alanna has spent the past 2+ weeks on her expedition with Project MARC in the island nation of Vanuatu, and is now in tourist mode in Australia. The expedition was supposed to last all month, but due to some certain circumstances (which I'm not fully clear about yet), the volunteers have completed everything they could and have finished the mission. Since the mission has ended ahead of schedule and my folks aren't flying out to meet her until the very END of the month, Loni has decided to take an inclusive guided tour around some of Australia's islands and up to the Great Barrier Reef. Her first stop, today, was at Fraser Island (pictured above) and I am seriously jealous of all the different places she has been seeing. What a neat experience to have!! It's a little scary because she's all by herself, but she's a big girl and I'm sure she's doing just fine. Plus, I kind of have this sneaking suspicion that she's having the time of her life.

4th of July Camping Trip

2009-07-06T15:50:00.008-07:00

We had quite an interesting weekend ! Here's a quick(?) recap.

Early Friday morning we left PHX and headed up to the Sierra Ancha Mountains. Our ride was uneventful as far as I can remember. Theresa drove first, then we switched just after Punkin Center, AZ. We got to FR487, off AZ288 around noon. Heading up towards the campground we wanted to stay at Workman Creek Falls. The first interesting thing we saw was a deer in the road (then another on the side of the road). Continuing up we saw an interesting sign warning us of abandoned uranium mines in the area. Finally we reached the campground, and although it wasn't full, people had parked on a few of the remaining flat spots we would have camped on. Since there were no spots left because of the people parking on empty spots, we decided to try to go further up the road towards Aztec Peak. This is where Theresa's panic attack started ! Apparently looking over the side of a significant drop off on her side of the road, the road going from bad to worse, plus my driving near the edge of the road worried her. We made it to Workman Creek falls 1 mile up the road and then almost got stuck trying to cross an old wooden bridge. Theresa got out and directed me so I wouldn't accidentally drive her car off a cliff, and I made a 20 point turn. We headed back down to AZ288 and found one open spot at the Rose Creek Campground. This was actually a blessing, because it was a much more private, quiet campground.

Saturday morning we got up early and decided to drive to Young, AZ before going hiking. There's not much to say about Young, The population was 561 at the 2000 census, there are two restaurants, one gas station, one convenience store, one church (Mormon), an auto parts store, a motel, a small medical center, a thrift shop, a library, and a refuse service. Young also has A resident deputy (one!) and a volunteer fire department. We got ice and water and got the hell out of there quickly. Heading back to Workman Creek campground, we parked there and attempted to hike to the summit. 3 miles. What we didn't think about was the fact we started our hike at 5200 feet elevation (roughly a mile high), and we heading to the top which is 7748 ft (roughly a mile and a half). Starting our hike we realized quickly how difficult it is to breathe when you aren't used to the elevation. Even Lucy was struggling. Even though it was close to 90 degrees, we made it about halfway, seeing some cool stuff (I got close enough to pet a horny toad, and did!), the 200ft drop of the "falls" (not really a lot of water in the summer, best to go in early spring or after monsoon storms) then had to turn around because we knew that we were not gonna make it back if we kept going to the top. I was pretty upset about not making it, there's a fire tower at the top the Edward Abbey (my new favorite author) worked at for 2 years, writing some of his books there and, supposedly, a stone living room I really wanted to find. Back at camp we were to tired to do anything except read. The skies started to darken, and we could hear thunder far off, but didn't think much of it (the same thing happened the day before and we never got the storm). The winds picked up, then it started to rain a little, followed by marble sized HAIL, and torrential downpours. We tried to wait out he storm under our EZ UP, but the combination of wind and rain were soaking everything. After a filming a video of the hail we dashed to the car and waited out the storm. Roughly half an hour later it wound down enough that we ventured out to the picnic table and dried off the seats. After a quick game of UNO (I destroyed Theresa) we made tacos and went to bed early.

Sunday morning we were packed up and out of there by 7:30 to head back and dry our stuff out. All in all it was a wonderful weekend. Here's some pics, enjoy !

the meaning of "humanitarian"

2009-06-24T17:23:00.010-07:00

Main Entry: humanitarian
Pronunciation: \hyu-ma-nuh-'ter-ee-uhn\
Function: noun
Date: 1844

: a person promoting human welfare and social reform : philanthropist

— humanitarian adjective

— hu·man·i·tar·i·an·ism \-ē-ə-ˌni-zəm\ noun

Right now my sister, Alanna, is flying to the South Pacific. Let me explain...

A buddy of mine, Seamus O, who I've known from a fairly young age - we went to the same church growing up, the same high school and even college - has been quite the world traveler since finishing up his college days. He's been extremely active in theater circles and has been a crewman for a sailboat, doing a considerable amount of volunteer work overseas. In all reality, the phrase "doing a considerable amount of volunteer work" doesn't even do justice the works that he has undertaken over the past several years.

Seamus O is an advocate and volunteer for Project MARC in the island nation of Vanuatu (located to the East of Australia and to the West of Fiji). The most basic way to summarize what this organization does, is to say that it provides volunteer medical services to Vanuatu's most remote island communities.

Part of being a Project MARC volunteer involves sailing vessels, building small clinics, and training village health workers. One of the big projects for this year was going to be the construction of a clinic on the West Coast of Santo (an island in the nation of Vanuatu). Because the ships are not available to help them transport supplies, etc., they are not able to get this project underway at this time.

Instead of building this clinic, they will be undertaking an expedition instead, spending the next month or so traveling on foot from village to village, surveying and evaluating each location for what their needs may be (clinics, supplies, training, medical help, etc.) so that these villages may get the medical attention they need.

I now return to my first statement.

Right now my sister, Alanna, is flying to the South Pacific. She is traveling there to do embark on this expedition with Project MARC. Her path crossed Seamus O's over the holidays and she decided that it was just something she wanted to do.

As her big sister, I am a little nervous for her - especially because there will be no contact with her until she sets foot back on American soil - but I am extremely excited that she is taking advantage of this opportunity. I know it will be a challenge for her (mainly because she HATES camping and bugs and will be sleeping in a tent for a month), but I think she will learn so much about herself, and others, in the process. I already can't wait for her to get back, but I am so proud of her and wish her the best of luck on her voyage.

According to Merriam-Webster, a "humanitarian" is a person who promotes human welfare and social reform. The expedition that these individuals are on is, by no means, a simple undertaking. The gifts they give freely - their time, their own money, strength, blood, sweat and tears - emphasize the fact that these individuals fully embody the meaning of this word. Each of these people deserve our prayers, good wishes and utmost respect for changing the lives of the inhabitants of this island nation.

SIDE NOTES

You can access the Project MARC website here.
You can access Seamus O's blog here (or on the sidebar of our blog).
For your information, there are 3 videos that showcase, with considerable detail, the works of this organization (which is a non-governmental organization) by clicking here. The link will take you to the first of three pages (courtesy of Seamus' parents) - each page with a streaming video, 2-5 minutes in length. The links for additional pages/videos are at the top of the first page (1. project MARC, 2. 2008 Donor Thank You, and 3. 2009 Water Project Appeal).

Camping 6/12-14 at Reynolds Creek

2009-06-20T10:31:00.008-07:00

We went camping last weekend with the Kolbergs at Reynolds Creek. This is the second year in a row we've gone, and 10+ years for them. They started a journal when they bought their pop-up and the 1st entry was the same weekend, at the same campground, exactly 10 years ago! The area is beautiful, it's about a mile high in elevation, in a pine forest, in the Sierra Ancha Mountains. I highly recommend checking out this area there is a lot to see and do. We might go back next weekend to explore some more, we missed a 200ft waterfall, Indian Ruins, abandoned uranium mines, and a hike to Aztec Peak. Plus a firetower on the peak, where author Edward Abbey worked and wrote some of his books. Also there is rumor of a large stone living room complete with thrones (with cupholders) and a large fireplace in the area. Here's someone elses description of the area:

"Aztec Peak is the highpoint of the Sierra Ancha Mountains. This relatively unknown mountain range is located in the Tonto National Forest. Aztec Peak is also located in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness Area. The Sierra Ancha Mountains have some precipitous box canyons, towering vertical cliffs, and pine-covered mesas. Elevations range from 4,000' near Cherry Creek to 7,748' atop Aztec Peak."

Back to my ramblings the weather was great, 80's during the day and high 40's at night. Lucy had a ball, she chased squirrels up trees, swam in Reynolds Creek, and caught a Horny Toad. I can't accurately gage his horniness, but he was not a toad. He was a medium sized lizard, flat, sandy colored, and covered in spikes. When Lucy caught it I was afraid she'd killed it because when I pried her jaws open it was bloody and not moving. When it ran off I thought that the blood must be Lucy's. Neither animal had any obvious wounds and when I told Theresa what had happened she explained that they shoot blood from their eyes to discourage predators ! I looked it up when I got home, check this out:

"Horned lizards (Phrynosoma) are a genus of the Phrynosomatidae family of lizards. The horned lizard is popularly called a "horned toad," "horny toad", or "horned frog," but it is neither a toad nor a frog. The popular names come from the lizard's rounded body and blunt snout, which make it resemble a toad or frog. (Phrynosoma literally means "toad-bodied.") The spines on its back and sides are made from modified scales, whereas the horns on the heads are true horns (i.e. they have a horny core). There are 14 species of horned lizards in North America, 8 of which are native to the United States. The largest-bodied and most widely distributed of the U.S. species is the Texas horned lizard (P. cornutum)."

"Horned lizards use a wide variety of means to avoid predation. Their coloration generally serves as camouflage. When threatened, their first defense is to remain still and hope to avoid detection. If approached too closely, they generally run in short bursts and stop abruptly to confuse the predator's visual acuity. If this fails, they puff up their body to cause it to look more horny, making it appear larger and more difficult to swallow. At least four species are also able to squirt an aimed stream of blood from the corners of the eyes for a distance of up to 5 feet. They do this by restricting the blood flow leaving the head, thereby increasing blood pressure and rupturing tiny vessels around the eyelids. This not only confuses predators, but also the blood tastes foul to canine and feline predators. It appears to have no effect against predatory birds. To avoid being picked up by the head or neck, horned lizards duck or elevate their head and orient their cranial horns straight up, or back. If a predator tries to take it by the body, the lizard drives that side of its body down into the ground so that the predator cannot easily get its lower jaw underneath this lizard."

This is the coolest animal ever !!! Around the campfire one night there was a little girl who was very interested in Lucy. She harrased her for close to an hour, petting her, putting her pom-poms on her, hugging her, and Lucy never growled or nipped at her...she barely even woke up. Here are some pictures, we would have taken more but my battery died very early on. Enjoy !

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

2009-06-07T14:07:00.003-07:00

Joe and I were reminiscing about New England this weekend and part of our thoughts drifted towards Robert Frost, the great American poet.

While I lived in New England, we would pass by Robert Frost's home on several occasions as it is in Derry, Hew Hampshire...just a few minutes down the road from where Joe's parents live. All I remember is that it was a cute little home, painted in white, on a big lot right off of Route 28. There is nothing remarkable about the house, really. It is cute and very country-ish. But what I think is more remarkable is the work of the man who lived there.

His words have often been favorites of mine while studying poetry in my English courses during school years and were, without a doubt, quite often inspired by the terrain around him - some of his poems light and inspirational, some dark and foreboding. Whatever sentiments were intended, his works are nothing short of amazing. Some of his most famous poems include The Road Not Taken, Acquainted With the Night, and Birches. Below is one my absolute favorites.

Enjoy!!

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

star trek, new moon, et al...

2009-06-01T18:23:00.004-07:00

Joe and I went to see Star Trek a couple weekends ago and, I must say, that I actually loved it! I was never a Trekkie growing up and really didn't watch more than 3 or 4 episodes of the show. Ever. So going into the movie, I didn't really know what to expect other than people kept telling us good things about it (my sister, Joe's parents, etc.). I was a little skeptical, but kept an open mind. And I loved it! Seriously loved it. And I would actually like to see it again. I'm not 100% sure why I liked it so much - could be the plotline, could be the cast, could even possibly be the fact that Spock's haircut reminded us of Jim Carrey's hairdo in Dumb and Dumber - but it was just plain good. So go see it!!

Check it out here:

Also, apparently the trailer for New Moon (not released in theaters until this November) was premiered at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards last night. The awards show (which is generally pretty amusing to watch) didn't start until 9pm last night, so I only watched about 20 minutes of it. [why they put these shows on late on Sunday nights is beyond me]

Anyway, I decided to look online to see if they posted the video of the New Moon trailer and....since all of you are DYING to know....they HAVE!!! Part of me is telling myself that I shouldn't be excited by trivial things such as this. But the other part of me is so excited for November!!!

Enjoy...

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog