Potty

Just have to log this wonderful day - my baby went pee pee in the potty for the first time today. It could have been a fluke, she did it with Ben's aunt earlier today but I think it's time to get on buying that potty seat!

The last few weeks...

The last few weeks have been pretty status quo.

I have been travelling for work - I went to Nashville May 20-May 23 for one of my work tradeshows. It was a good time - got the baby 3 pairs of boots :) She looks so cute in them! We also had a performance by Phil Vassar. It was a really good time! Then last week I was in San Antonio - It was nice and warm. I love being warm! But I worked really long days so we didn't have a whole lot of downtime at all. It kind of sucked and I barely got any sleep but there were some fun parties we had so that kind of made up for it. I was so ready to come home though.

Ben is still working in MI - he says only a few more weeks so we will see. I'm so over it. I thought it would get easier to say goodbye to him but nope...not at all.

I'm busy getting ready for Tricia's 2nd birthday party now. It's going to be in about a month. The theme is going to be minnie mouse -so red and black and white. I got the invitations done already I will just have to send them in probably 2 weeks. We are going to do a burrito bar for the food - very easy. I will get the beef and chicken fajita meat from Sams Club and put it in crockpots to keep it warm. Then I'm making my own salsas (probably 2 different kinds - maybe 3 - a red, green, and then a spicy red). I am going to do a cheesy dip too. Then all the  trimmings for the burritos - beans,sour cream, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, etc. I'm excited about it because we can relax and enjoy the party this year because all of it can either be done the day before or just be pulled out. So we are really looking forward to that coming up.

So many people in my life are pregnant right now - my sister and 2 of my friends. They kind of hit me hard but I'm so happy for all of them. I have to start working on planning my sisters baby shower after Tricias birthday. We already know where we are having it but now we just have to work on everything else. I think she has an idea for her invites already so we will start working on those soon. We may be using the burrito bar idea too for her shower which would be nice and easy to set up. I'm excited for her little one to get here now - I don't know how I am going to wait until October! :)

Well I'm glad to be home for a while now but not ready to go back to work tomorrow. It's going to be a long week after not being in the office a full week in almost a month! But first up cooking dinner for some friends tonight!

What a life

So things have been going along since last time I updated. Working, Ben working Michigan still, being a mommy, dealing with an almost 2 year old, trying to eat better, work out, etc.

Ben is still working in Michigan. I was hoping for it to be over by now but it's not. I went on a trip for work last week to FL and his time up there was supposed to be done after that trip but so far he is still up there. The trip to FL was nice but I was so bummed to come home and find out that he was going back up there. He's been there since last Thurs and he may be coming home tonight, if not he will home tomorrow sometime. I try not to get excited when he tells me he will be home early because it usually doesn't end up happening. Still hoping that it ends soon though but he won't give me a date yet.

On the baby front, well it's been rough. I would be lying if I said it wasn't. About 2 weeks ago though Ben told me he was tired of hearing about it and we agreed to not talk about it right now because we end up fighting usually. So I'm trying really hard not to talk about it right now but it's hard to not. I'm very anxious for it to happen and while I know some people say just relax and let it happen, they don't have my uterus. It's not cooperative so there's more to it then just relaxing. But with Ben being in another state, it's hard to even try, even on our own, right now. Which is another big reason I want him home. Today, we found out friends of ours are having twins. That hit me hard. I'm very excited, they tried for about a year to get pregnant and they will be great parents but it still hit me hard. Ben then started talking about trying again and doing treatments. But in order to do something like that he really should be home. We will talk about it more this weekend I'm sure.

Update on my beautiful little girl. Well she can be a demon most days :) But she is wonderful even through her tantrums. I do think she is moving into the terrible twos, you CAN NOT tell her no or take something away from her. Here a quick bullet list of updates:

-Saying: Dad, kitty, dog, duke (the dog), shoe, move, go, no - there's probably more I'm just not thinking of them right now. She is starting with more words though so I bet this list will expand pretty soon. Some of the words are only clear to me but I know what she's saying and that's all that matters :)

-She loves to be outside!! Loves loves loves it! She would never come in if we didn't make her. Most days she throws a fit when you do.

-She loves to watch movies now, I can get her to sit for about 30 mins and then she's up and about but comes back to it a lot to see what's going on

-Still drinking out of a bottle at night and for naps. Fine with me though. She's happy and that's what I care about.

-She has been waking up during the night a lot recently. Don't know whats going on but I give her a small bottle and she usually goes back to bed. Night terrors or scared maybe?

-She plays pretty well with other kids, she loves to go to the daycare at the gym while I work out (as long as I"m not the one dropping her off - see next bullet)

-Separation anxiety has definitely hit, mostly with me. Sometimes with hubby and a lot of times with my mom too

Overall she is just a great baby and I couldn't be happier with her. Minus the fact she doesn't like to give me kisses or hugs really right now but I'm sure she will grow out of that :)

Fail

Again, my IUI didn't work. I don't know where we go from here. I'm traveling over the next month or so, so we won't be able to do anything until June at the earliest if we do at all. Ben doesn't want to do anymore cycles but we will see. I'm devastated. I really thought it had worked this time....

Easter 2012

So we had a wonderful Easter! Hope everyone else enjoyed theirs!

Me and the baby met my parents at church this morning. I didn't get to sit through much of service because Tricia wouldn't stay in the nursery without me, she was scream whenever I walked out. So I stayed in there with her a while. Then we went back to service and then back to the nursery. We then went over to our Fellowship Hall for our Easter Egg Hunt. They had a small breakfast then a story and then it was Egg Hunt time! They let the little ones out first for about 2 mins and then the bigger kids came out. It was nice becuase she gotg a chuance to get some eggs before they came out. She got about 10 eggs. After that we headed to my parents house to see my sis and bro in law. I don't think Tricia was feeling well (maybe teething?) becuase she was pretty cranky. We put her down for a nap at noon then my parents and me and Ben headed to get some lunch at Cracker Barrell. After lunch we came back to the house and waited for Tricia to wake up. She didn't get up til 2:45! So we went to Grandpa Boyds for a bit to visit with him, Aunt Cathie and Aunt Carm. Next it was off to Ben's mom's for Dinner. It was pretty good and she got another basket! Such a spoiled baby - she got a total of 4 baskets and then the stuff my sister got her.

Overall a very good Easter but very tiring! I'm ready for a nap!!

IUI 2.0

Well IUI 2.0 was completed Sat morning. I went in on Thurs and my biggest one was 16 so she had me wait and give myself the hcg shot on Fri (well my boss gave it to me!). So Sat morning I went in at 8 am by myself (hubby was home with the baby) and everything went well. So we will see what happens now. Since my lutuel phase is usually 10-12 days we will know mid next week if it worked or not. Fingers crossed it did because I would rather not do it again. It's very hard to even talk to anyone about this so I would be happy to be done with it. Plus we would have to go on a 2 month break until June before we do one again due to schedules so here's to hoping!

In other news, I took my photography class after my IUI. It was down in Canton and so worth it!! I learned so much so that way I don't keep my camera on Auto  mode. I did get to put it to use at my friend's son's bday yesterday so I'm excited to upload the pics and see how they turned out. I will be doing that today :)

Not much else going on besides my hubby being gone again. So glad this is only for like 3 or 4 more weeks. I miss him so much during the week. This week he isn't coming home until Sat and so he will only be here Sat night and Sun during the day. The only reason he is coming home is because it's Easter. If it wasn't he wouldn't be coming home this weekend. Still don't know what we are going to be doing for Easter. I know we will go to Church but not sure where we are going for dinner. I know my MIL is cooking so we will probably end up over there.

I'm also pretty excited for my trip to Florida at the end of this month! My sister is coming with me which will make it even better. It's for work but I should have plenty of time to spend with her  too! Only 28 days until we leave!

It wasn't that bad

So I had a mini breakdown the day I found out I wasn't pregnant but I quickly realized that it wasn't going to do me any good to be that upset. It wasn't going to change anything. So I had some time to myself and moved on. We have decided to try another cycle this month. In fact probably Thurs. We will see. I had a ultrasound yesterday and she said my eggs aren't growing as quick this time around but she does see a few more than last time. So she debated whether Weds or Thurs I should come in and settled on Thurs. So I have an appt at 11:15 on Thurs to see how they are doing. She said something about it being free if I ovulated already? Don't know if she means that if I ovulate we will still do it to give me a chance but it will be free? Who knows. So we will see what Thurs brings.

I had a flooded bathroom last night and the back of the toliet hit my head so I'm not feeling all that great today. I can't wait til my hubby is home for good. On another note, we kicked his cousin out end of last week because he was not home like he should have been with me and the baby while my husband isn't home. He would rather run around with his girlfriend even though we gave him a free place to stay. This is the second time he has lived with us and we thought maybe he had grown up some but apparently not. he's more worried about being with his girlfriend then being home with me to help with little things while my hubby is gone. Oh well. I like the quiet and not having to worry about being dressed all the time haha!

Not much else going on right now. We did get a new kitchen table this weekend which is awesome. We have a small dining area in our kitchen and no standalone dining room. We had a regular sized table in there and it was just impossible to keep it because we had no room if you had the chairs around it. So we got a pub style table with 4 stools that actually go under the table when not in use. I LOVE it. We also spent some money and got 3 side tables, 6 chairs and a firepit for our back porch. I can't wait to use that firepit!

Didn't work

So after my last post we did end up going through with an IUI on March 4th. But I started my period last night so it didn't work. I'm super upset right now and Ben is in Vegas so I'm home alone to deal with this. It sucks. I really thought it was going to work...

TTC Update

So Ben is still currently working out of town. I think it is getting harder as the weeks go on not easier. Tricia was especially cranky yesterday morning and it was just not a good day at all.

On the TTC front though I saw my doc last Thurs and she was able to start me on Clomid. I haven't had much of a bad reaction to it, slight headaches but that's about it. I took that for 5 days. I go in for an ultrasound on Saturday. If everything looks ok they give me a shot of hcg and we do the IUI on Sunday. This is best case scenario since my husband would be leaving for MI Sunday night but if I'm not ready to get the shot on Sat then he will just have to stay home a day or two this week to do this. I'm kind of stressed about it because no one I know that I have told has given me much support right now with this (besides my online group of girls love them!). I told my mom, and a few friends. Haven't had the chance to tell my sister but I was going to. When I told my mom and all she said is I hope it works. Thanks me too, or else I wouldn't be doing it. So we will see.

Ramblings

So things have changed a bit since I last updated. My husband has decided to buy rights into the business he has been working for and that requires him to be in Michigan for the next 3 months. I will only get to see him on the weekends. He will leave on Sunday night and then come home on Friday night. It stinks but I have to keep reassuring myself it's short term. But that's hard to do with a little 18 month old running around being crazy and running to into exhaustion. But we will make it through. It's just a bit rough and going to be hard to get used to not having that helping hand during the week.

It also kind of makes it a bit hard to TTC but we are going to continue trying as long as timing works out. We tried this weekend so fingers crossed that it works this month. If not, we will be revisiting the RE when he is back in town after the 3 months is up. I had a slight breakdown about this tonight because I'm so frustrated with this not working. After my periods returned from normal I was hoping things would be rather easy but I guess I shouldn't have been so naive.

In other great news though Tricia is getting a cousin! Yes, I found out this morning my sister is pregnant. May have had something to do with my breakdown this evening about our fertility status. But I'm so so excited for her. Slightly jealous though because they live with my parents and pretty much have a live in babysitter and helper whenever they want. And I didn't have that kind of help when Tricia was little so it seems pretty unfair. But it is what it is.

I'm hoping that we get to move soon. With Ben's increase in income from this business we should be able to pay off our debt before the year is up (at least a good majority of it). Which should help us be able to afford a new house within a year or two which is the goal. Sooner rather than later though depending on how things go with our house and if we find something that we want in that time. I've seen a few houses I love but don't have any land. And all the ones with land don't have that great of houses. So we need to find the perfect combo.

Work is still kind of crappy because of the whole raise situation and all that.

I did  get a new laptop this weekend. It's pretty nice. My laptop was 7 years old and I was in desperate need of a new one.

Hoping to keep my sanity this week without the husband around...lord help me.

Tricia 18 mo update

So Tricia had her 18 month appt on Monday. The doc said she looks great!

Weight - 24 lbs 14 oz (but I think this was overestimated because she was fully dressed. I'm thinking she is really  around 23  to 23 1/2 lbs) - 70 percentile
Height - 32 in - 51 percentile

Here is some updates
-Eating pretty much everything we are
-Loves peanut butter sandwiches, broccoli, fries, pasta, bananas, clementines
-Uses some words - mostly Daddy, Mom, dog, kitty. But this week she has started saying some other words - shoe, sit down, Jim (ben's uncle), ok
-Favorite toy is her blocks
-Loves to watch Chuggington
-Still does bottles for nap and at night and still using her binky but usually only for naps and night time also
-Loves giving kisses but not to us, mostly other people and babies haha!
-She has been having some issues going to sleep at night, usually throws a big tantrum to get down which sucks because we NEVER used to have an issue getting her to sleep at night

All in all she is doing great and we love her so much!

Bens bday and other updates

Well my appt last week went well. Though the midwife didn't say much when I told her about what has been happening which was slightly disappointing. Plus I waited there FOREVER. I had an early appt too so I don't know how they were so behind already.

Ben's birthday was on Friday. I ended up being off of work because of my 4-10's schedule. I should have taken Tuesday but decided to take Friday instead since it was his bday. He didn't end up getting home until after 5 though. My mom came over though and watched the baby so we could go out. We ended up going to dinner with some people we haven't seen in over a year and a half. It was nice to see them. Then last night we went to dinner with the other couple that we haven't seen. It seemed like the one girl didn't really want to talk to me though...which was strange. We used to be so close. Oh well I guess it takes time.

I just made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and they were soooo good. Now I'm gonna take a shower and go out and run errands. My friend is having a thirty one open house at 2 so I will go to that and then we are supposed to go to my MILs for dinner. I don't know if I want to go though. I really just want to stay home and relax!

Tomorrow is the baby's 18 month check up! Can't wait to see how big she has gotten! Then we are going to go to look at a house. Not that we are anywhere near ready to move. We have some things to do to our house in order to get it ready to sell and then put it on the market. We need to start thinking abotu it soon though.

Nervous

Tomorrow I go back to the OBGYN for my regular check up. A lot has happened since then and I will have to rehash most of it since I doubt they have the paperwork. And they always want to hear it from you anyways. Not looking forward to it at all. We are still trying to figure out what we are going to do if we don't get pregnant in the next few months on our own. I want to pursue IUI but I don't know if I can handle the emotional aspect that comes with it. Plus the cost. I know the cost isn't horrible but still. We will see what happens I guess. Still a few months to decide and hope and pray that we don't have to.

I'm glad my work is closed tomorrow but I would be off anyways. Ben's birthday is on Friday so I'm going to take it off instead of getting Tuesday off for my make up day off work. I have no idea what he wants for his birthday dinner so I'm sure it will be last minute. I think instead of getting him a gift, I am going to book us a trip to Amish Country  in May to get away for the weekend. I'm sure he will enjoy that.

The baby is cute as ever! I'm planning on doing a full update after her 18 month well baby visit next week. She still isn't saying many words (which worries me) but we have taken the step of taking her binky away during the day. She still has it for her naps or if we are in public and she is super whiny. She is doing ok as long as she doesn't see it. Full update to come next week!

Christmas and New Years Review

So for Christmas Eve, we headed up to Ben's Aunt's house and give her and Ben's uncle their gift (a new computer!). They loved it :) Then spent a bit of time helpin them get their old one out and the new one set up. Then we rushed home and got ready for church quickly and got there just as service was starting. Baby got restless after about 40 mins so Ben went out in the hall with her for a bit - there was only about 10 more mins. So we finished and then headed home for a nap! That evening we headed to Ben's grandpa's house for about an hour and then went to the other grandpas for the rest of the night. Lots of gifts and fun!

Christmas Day we woke up and opened presents with the baby and us. Then my parents, sister and brother in law came over and we had breakfast then opened gifts. That baby got even more spoiled of course! We laid around for a while after that and then headed to PA around 3 to see my mom's family. We only stayed about 2 hours because the baby was kind of cranky. It was a good time though seeing the family and good food!

For New Years we headed to Ben's grandpa's for the night. We just sat around and ate and watched TV most of the night. Tried to get the baby to sleep but she wasn't having it! So she stayed up and rang in the new year with mom and dad :) She didn't go to sleep until we got home. Good way to ring in the new year...except the next day we did end up in the ER because she was sick and throwing up.. Turns out it was a virus and she is finally doing better and back to eating. We did have fun on new years day and go play bingo with my mom and sister while my brother in law watch Tricia! Ben even won $100 on an instant ticket!