Me & Shamu

I've come to fear that by the end of this pregnancy this is what I am going to look like:

  

   That's right, Shamu the whale!  I feel like I could eat  pretty much ALL the time!!!  The satisfying feeling of being full is rare and short lived these days.  If I can go 2 hours without eating something, I feel a huge accomplishment.  I realize weight gain is a part of pregnancy, but I was hoping I would have more self-control and not feel like I'm starving every couple hours.  I don't mind gaining a few lbs., I just don't want to gain 60 or so of them since I don't want to keep them on after childbirth and it's much more difficult to take off than to put them on.  I am also hoping to not have a 10 lb. baby either because that just does not sound pleasant when I am the one birthing the child. (Let's say some prayers that this baby is more like Casey's size in the 7 lb. area rather than myself who was 9 lbs. 2 oz.! I'm so sorry Mom!)

       I'll do what I have to do to make this baby as healthy as possible just trying to do some wishful thinking!  Of course this baby is a child after my own heart and LOVES carbs!  They are so delicious!!!  Now that I'm in my second trimester I seem not quite as extremely particular, which gives me the hope of incorporating more healthier things into my diet.  Some days I do pretty good, other days are an epic fail (like yesterday when I had a cinnamon sugar bagel with cream cheese for breakfast from Einstein Bros. and then for dinner I had a slice of cheese pizza and a cup of spaghetti with sauce from Sbarro)  Today is a new day, and while the smoothie for breakfast was a healthy choice, I'm thinking going to Pappa's BBQ to celebrate a coworker's birthday by getting a brisket sandwich and side of potato salad was not low-cal.  Ah well, I'll try again tomorrow...

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:15-16

Sweet Child of Mine

Baby Hixon at 12 wks. 2 days

O sweet child of mine that has taken residence in my body for the next several months, my mind has me thinking of what you will be like and while I know God has made you exactly the way you need to be, I wonder what combination of your Daddy and I you will be. Maybe something like this:

• Love your Heavenly Father above all else (I know it'll be hard with such a great earthly one, but we want you to love God more than us).  The first gift we bought you as parents is a Bible because it's vital to us as parents that you know God and want to live your life for Him.
• Have your Daddy's patience and laid back-ness (in the year-ish we have been married, your father has really shown me my lack of patience and that I'm a control freak who wants most things to go a particular way with little flexibility)
• Have your Mommy's sense of humor (I make your Daddy and so many others laugh constantly and the world definitely needs more laughter)
• Have your Daddy's skin tone (Please don't hate me for the pastiness I inherited if you get it too.  Overall not the worst thing ever, and thank goodness they have now created spray-on sunblock)
• Have your Mommy's social butterfly-ness and love of gabbing (Your father I must say has come quite a ways from when I first met him, but he doesn't hold candle to my love of talking/socializing)
• Have your Daddy's taste buds.  I will be the first to admit I'm definitely a pickier eater than your father.  He likes more vegetables and types of meat than my palate enjoys, and I would rather not have to battle to get you to eat healthy.
• Have your Mommy's proactiveness.  (Your Daddy is getting better about this and I am working on trying to relax and not freak out if something doesn't get done immediately)
• Have your Daddy's stubbornness.  (Your Daddy can be stubborn don't get me wrong, but it is nothing near compared to your Mommy's.  Your Daddy will be the first to adamantly agree that I am one extremely stubborn female and I fear that with you this will be my karma in that you are going to take my stubbornness to a whole nother level.  Let's be kind to Mommy and she will get you some ice cream!)

I know that however you turn out is going to be perfect in our eyes and you will be just the way God wanted you to be!

"Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." Psalm 100:3

WHOA BABY!!!!

So for me I am writing this on March 24th, but you (my blog readers) will be reading this a couple months later.  I wanted to document the timeline of things, so I didn't forget.  CASEY AND I ARE HAVING A BABY!  It seems unreal to me too!!  5 positive pregnancy tests and the absence of a monthly visitor have brought us to the conclusion that I am pregnant!  I honestly am still in shock and can hardly believe it either.  I'm NEVER LATE! (Well late in terms when using the word that, as far as arriving places on time, most of the time we are usually tardy, which I know Casey dislikes).  I kept expecting Aunt Flo to arrive because per the calendar she was supposed to show up on my birthday.  Talk about paranoid/curious every time I went to the bathroom!!!
    I still didn't believe I could be pregnant.  I didn't feel nauseous, moodier/more sensitive than usual, just a lot of cramping.  Thankfully, my cramps normally aren't that bad (I feel for those gals out there that suffer each month with more severe symptoms).  Just because I've never been late doesn't mean that there is not a first time for it?  Then I thought, do I tell Casey now or wait till after I've taken a pregnancy test?  I didn't want to tell him until I was certain we were pregnant.  Honestly the waiting/unknown game was excruciating!!!  Lots of prayers said for me to be happy/faithful regardless of what happened.  Trying to work and not get distracted was interesting, but luckily it was busy to keep my mind off of it.
     When I got home that evening, I decided to tell Casey.  I figure it was fair to the boy to share what I was going through and since it was part his child if I was pregnant, I felt he deserved to know.  Oh my goodness, he was SO EXCITED!! His reaction was priceless!!  He said he was proud of me (gee thanks, I did so much to make it happen) and gave me the biggest grin I think I've seen since our wedding.  I tried to reinforce that it wasn't definite, it was just a possibility so not to get our hopes up.  By this point I was only a day late, so we decided to wait a few more days till we took any pregnancy tests.  I did some reading online at work in the few minutes I could carve out on Tuesday, and one site I found said the best time to take a test was in the morining to make sure the restults would be the most accurate and not diluted by anything.
     On my way home from work, I decided to stop by and get some pregnancy tests.  Regardless of when they were going to be taken, they needed to be purchased.  I got 3 different kinds because I wanted to be sure and not have a false positive.  Time just seemed to be creeping by and 2 more days of waiting seemed like FOREVER!!!!  I got home and decided I had to try the tests to see what they would say.  Off to the bathroom I went (without saying anything to Casey).  That 3 minutes your waiting seemed like eternity, but the whole time I just prayed.  Prayed that Casey and I would not be discouraged if the results were negative, that we still be faithful and strive to walk closer each day to God even when things did not go the way we hoped.  If we were pregnant, I prayed for a healthy pregnancy/baby and for Casey and I to be strong, godly parents who would teach this little one about God and His Son.  I couldn't believe the first test I saw had 2 lines on it, meaning we were pregnant!!
    Holy moly, this was real!!!  The other 2 tests I took were the ones where it shows a plus sign if you're pregnant, and I discovered I'm not as big of a fan of those.  They are much harder to read in my opinion.  This is not a good time to not be able to read clearly!!!  Both of those looked to be positive too, so that made me a little more certain it was true.  Casey by this time is wondering what in the world happened to me, so when he came to find me I was holding the tests.  He thought we were going to wait, and I just couldn't hold out any longer.  Once I told him they were positive, he got over that I cheated (I know I violated Marriage 101: Communication, communication, communication).  I always pictured I would think of this creative, fun way to tell him I was pregnant, but reality for me set in and I didn't have time to do that.
     That's it for now.  Here's Baby Hixon making it's pictoral debut on our blog at about 9 weeks (though now I am almost 13 wks).  More posts to come!!!  Have a great week!!!



"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  James 1:17

Sinus Infections Invade the Hixon House





     What have we been up to lately? 2 Words. Sinus Infection. Blah!!!  Beginning on my birthday weekend three weeks ago, Casey came down with his sinus infection.  The pollen is in full swing, so I figured (and selfishly hoped) it was just allergies.  Turns out when the boy went to that doctor that next week, he had a sinus infection.  The doctor hooked him some up with some good drugs, and he got better within a few days, but the poor boy missed 3 days of work.  Thank goodness he's fine now, a sick husband is no fun!  (I know Casey will say the same about me!)
     I had hoped I would avoid the same fate, and had begun to think I had until last week.  Of course, I didn't really start to feel bad until Thursday afternoon and realized the over the counter meds weren't cutting it.  I think my final cue was when my boss told me to go home because I looked like I wasn't feeling well.  Our doctor's office is closed on Fridays (oh to have a job with every Friday off!), so that meant waiting a few more days until I would get something to start feeling better.  Friday  I stayed home from work and I didn't seem to feel that bad, so I had a positive ray of hope that this was just allergies and I was on the mend, just needed some rest. I just laid around and watched TV all day, something I wish I had time to do nothing, just wish it wasn't when I felt bad and didn't want to do anything else.
     Saturday proved to be slightly worse, but still able to function some.  I laid around again, just watching more TV and trying to behave because it was the birthday of one of the best things God created, Melissa Rankin!!  I had to be there to celebrate her special day, though I know she would have understood if I had to bail out.  I took some Claritin, which helped provide some temporary relief and allowed me to go to her party.  Sunday, for sure was no picnic.  I missed church (both morning and evening services) and serving lunch at Impact (an inner city church our church help supports).  This would mark Day 3 of being lazy and doing nothing.  While I'm not opposed to being at home this much, it killed me to see it in a mess and not able to clean or cook).
     Monday meant another day of missed work, but praise Jesus I was able to get into the doctor, who you guessed it diagnosed me with a sinus infection.  Apparently, I have a rather nasty one at that!  Fantastic!! Not!  Good news is he gave me 4 different prescriptions and I can tell after taking them for 24 hours that there is some improvement.  I even persuaded Casey to take me to Fazoli's (in my opinion a rather tasty fast-food Italian place that has amazing breadsticks).  Since I didn't get the medicine in me until 6:00ish I decided it would be wise not to go to work since I hadn't been on my antibiotic for 24 hours.
    Today was Day 3 of no work, which I hated to do since it's getting to be the busy time of the month, but I knew I was in no shape to go.  Thankfully, I can log-in to work from home, but I really don't think I was able to help with much.  Hoping tomorrow will be even more improvement!!  Going to give work a try too!  We'll see how it goes!  Praying you all stay well and can avoid the unpleasantness of the sinus infection!

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred and you together are that temple."  1 Corinthians 3:16,17

Birthday Palooza!!!

Those that know me know that I LOVE my birthday!!!  Always have, and even though the years keep climbing up (perhaps I will just say I'm 16 like my grandmother did), I still love to celebrate! This marked the #29 Birthday.  I am not 30 like my father originally thought and proceeded to do the math on his church bulletin and figure out that he was a year off.  This year for me was all about food!!! I didn't really desire any particular gifts, just wanted some $ to go shopping with, which was easy for everyone.  Usually, I go out with some of my close friends to do something, and I didn't even decide to go play putt-putt until after I had picked out all the food I wanted to eat!  My thought was if calories don't count (which for one's birthday they shouldn't), then I was going to live it up!!
     Rather than just do all the celebrating on just one day, I like to extend it as long as I can.  I attempted a month long party this year, but probably actually got about 5 days this year.  Not too shabby!!!  Thursday started it off with lunch at Romano's on West Gray with my lovely coworkers.  Their lasagna is seriously to die for!  Friday went to the Rodeo with some spectacular friends and indulged in some cookie dough ice cream!  Saturday morning, Casey took me to Shipley's to get their donut holes (I love these things, but I try to be behave and not partake in them too often).

Lunch at Goode Co. BBQ to see a sweet friend in town from California for the weekend, and then dinner at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse.  At BJ's, I had their wonderful pizza and of course a pazookie (warm cookie with vanilla ice cream on top, absolutely delicious). Burned off all those calories playing putt-putt at Mountasia (I'd like to think I did, so let's just go with that rationale for now).  Sunday, Sunday, Sunday was the actual birthday and also St.Patty's Day!! Yay!!!  Better have worn some green people!

     Went to church followed by lunch at Cheddar's with my fam and one of my besties Melissa (who we call family whether she likes it or not!)  After all that eating and partying I was able to squeeze a short nap into the day before going to a baby shower at church.  Church again and then Casey took me to the Cheesecake Factory (wahoo!!!) where I proceeded to consume my personal favorite (and immensely unhealthy) orange chicken with some dulce de leche cheesecake for dessert.  As if your mouth wasn't foaming enough by this point, I'm still not done!  Monday we celebrated with Casey's family and my mother in-law made her delicious lasagna,salad, fruit, garlic bread, and the beloved Great American Cookie Cake!!!  After all that eating, I was too scared to step on the scale to see what I weighed and still have yet to do it.  I'm sure after celebrating my sister's birthday Saturday with cake and ice cream too, that I will definitely have lost some weight!

     Totally forgot to mention that my entire birthday celebration weekend, I had a sick husband:( Boo!!!  Poor guy felt pretty puny and felt bad that the timing of his sickness was horrible, but he was trooper and tried to do almost all of my birthday festivities with me!  I thought it was just allergies since the pollen count is ridiculous now, but turns out the boy had a sinus infection and missed 3 days of work!  Monday he gets to go get allergy tested!! What fun!!
    All in all the birthday was an extreme success filled with lots of food, family, friends, and fellowship! Couldn't think of a better way to spend it!!

"For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."  Proverbs 2:1

Valentine's Day 2013 as Mr. & Mrs.

Mr. & Mrs. Hixon Valentine's Day 2013

I know it's March (already?!), so my post on Valentine's is a couple weeks behind.   By this point, no one else is doing posts about it so this will be fresh reading!  If you're tired of V Day posts, then perhaps skip this one even though I think it's worth your reading pleasure.  In an attempt to become lower maintenance and make it easier for Casey, I told him he really didn't have to do much (yes, even though it was our first Valentine's as married folk).  It was on a Thursday and it was really busy at work still, so I wasn't going to want to do too much.  Even though I LOVE flowers,I told him he could skip that or just get them for me the following week when they would go back to being their usual price instead of double.   I'm smart floral industry, I won't let you have double my money!
     We agreed not to get each other anything big because we would go in together to buy a nice camera.  So gift is taken care of, gave him a pass on the flowers, my only request was that he get me a card and that he would read more than one.  He (along with my father) claim they have this "gift" where they can pick out the perfect card on the first try.  I personally think that is a lie, and they just despise reading more than one that they just buy the first one they pick up without really putting too much effort into it at all.  I'm ALL about thoughtfulness and effort when trying to show my love/appreciation/gratitude to someone, and I just would like the same done for me sometimes.  I tell Casey it doesn't have to be expensive, I just like to see you put thought and effort into it, and that is a huge part of the gift to me.
     Thought I forgot about food right?  Never!  All I wanted for dinner was not to cook, so either Casey could do something at home or we'd go out.  Casey got us a reservation at our favorite hibachi place by our house.  For Casey, I got him a card and made him his favorite dessert: yellow cake with chocolate icing!  I had bought a shamrock/four leaf clover shaped cake pan last year, so I made it in that and wrote on it "SO LUCKY TO BE YOUR WIFE".  He loved it! 

Yummy food!!!!

Look at that ginormous mountain of butter!  Thankfully our chef did not use nearly all of that, but I'm sure I got way more than I needed!

My handsome date!

    If you remember, V-Day was kind of chilly this year (at least in my opinion, but I'm very cold natured).  Casey and I left work at the same time, which is not unusual, but when I opened the door to his truck (that I drive Mondays, Tuesdays, & Thursdays to save gas $$$) this is the lovely (and THOUGHTFUL!) surprise my husband gave me:

The boy did SO GOOD!!!  What a sweet husband!  And yes, the balloon is HUGE!!  It is still full of helium and floating strong in our house after almost 3 weeks.  Here is what it looked like all arranged:

The card he got for me was perfect!!  The boy said he read 18 cards!  I wasn't thinking he'd go to that extreme, I was just hoping he's read like 3 or 4.  His startling revelation after doing this was that they each say something different!  Who would have thought:)  I know everyone enjoyed our very candid shot at the top of this post, so I will leave you with the outtakes that are equally humorous and I promise I am not trying to slap his head!

 

Despite a busy work day, this Valentine's was a definite success and so blessed to have such a great husband!  Have a very blessed week my blog readers and remember to join in on the month long celebration of my birthday!! Countdown is 13 days!!!

 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:4

I Am BLOG-BARRASSED!

I can't believe how LONG it has been since my last post, I am so blog-barrassed!! I figure most people may have forgotten I even have a blog.  So what have we been up to in the past month?  Well for me, it has been work, work, work, and then more work.  What?! That's the same word!  In the middle of December, my company bought part of another company, which is good for my company that we are doing well and growing, but the work load that has resulted from this acquisition has been insane!  We've added 2 people because of it.  Pretty much since then Casey has cooked every meal during the week (minus Wednesday's when we eat out before church), done laundry and dishes, and not complained when his wife comes home tired.  Such a great husband!  In the midst of the work craziness, my department moved on the other side of the floor, so packing/unpacking was super fun.  I got a small promotion that went into effect the beginning of January, so when we moved I said goodbye to the cubicle life and hello to an office!!  I'm kinda sad to leave the cubicle next to my friend Leslie because it was so easy to pop up to talk to one another or just talk to one another while we worked, but it's nice to have a window and the whole floor doesn't have to hear every phone call you make.  Haven't had time to get things unpacked and decide where they need to go, but here are a few pictures:

View From The Door

View From My Desk

Chairs for People Who Visit to Sit

The crazy work load and the longer hours will get better with time (this is what my boss keeps telling me to make us both feel better).  The weekends have been spent relaxing and getting things done around the house!  The fixing of the sag is complete, so the search for carpet has begun.  I think we are close to finalizing that and saying see ya later to the old/stained carpet.  A couple Fridays ago Casey and I got out the fire pit my brother in-law Joel had given me for Christmas and we made S'mores!  (I love S'mores so much that this was the reason I asked for one for Christmas)  The night was kind of chilly, so that made it the perfect weather!

My Sweet Husband

Fire!!!

JUMBO marshmallows

Add caption

Myself enjoying a S'more

The s'mores were delicious (even with the JUMBO marshmallows) and the company was delightful!  I definitely look forward to more fire pit nights in our backyard together!

"This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord formed it and established it-the Lord is his name: 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know' " Jeremiah 33:2,3