Long wait....but hopefully worth it!

I called the Dr. today to set up an appointment but just as I suspected they don't see you until you are 8 weeks! So my appointment is set for May 24th.......So very far away! Please please please be a sticky bean!

I can't even believe it still. I took another test today......it wasn't any darker but still a positive nonetheless. I'm just so thankful to have so many distractions in my life right now, that will certainly help pass the time.

And I've definitely been getting hit with a few symptoms. Talk about knock out tired.......and headaches........and bloating........and 2 trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night........and swollen sore BB's I practically live in my sports bra because all of my under-wire bras hurt! ouch!

Thank you to everyone who has been here to support me I cannot even begin to tell you how much I appreciate it. I just hope and pray that many of you can join me very soon. I will continue to keep my fingers crossed for all of us hopeful mommies to be.

CIty Daily Photo

Those of you that have been following my blog know that I recently moved from Seattle to Cincinnati. Actually I've been living in Cincy for almost a year. But Seattle feels like yesterday! And it's always in my heart and will be forever. I follow this blog called Seattle Daily Photo and I just had to share this stunning image. It’s everything I love about the Pacific Northwest…….oh boy do I miss it! There’s blogs with daily photos from cities all over the world so if you feel like taking a trip around the world right from the comfort of your desk you should check it out.

......And then it Happened

I’ve been patiently waiting for AF to arrive and she has yet to make an appearance and this morning I found out why……..

I’M PREGNANT!

OMG…..I don’t even know what to think in fact I’m still in disbelief!

I woke up this morning and thought I’d just take a test and had no expectations for seeing a BFP but I’m jumping for joy that I did! I have a big stack of those cheapy dollar store tests and figured what the heck I’ll just try one out. It came back a faint positive. I thought there’s no freakin’ way?? So then I waited 3 hours and decided to try my ClearBlue digital I wanted to see it all spelled out and sure enough the words PREGNANT appeared in the window. I’m over the moon with excitement right now!

But of course the worrier in me started thinking about how I haven’t really been taking my vitamins, I have been using allergy medicine, I have been taking Excedrin like every other day for 2 weeks because I was getting headaches, and how I guess I’ve been ignoring all the signs….partly because we’ve been busy with the whole buying a house thing, and secondly because I’ve been let down too many times by analyzing pregnancy symptoms that I decided to not consider every twinge or tenderness has a meaning.

Today I’m guessing I must be exactly 4 weeks, because my last AF was on March 28^th. As I said before my breasts have been sore but other than that I certainly don’t feel anything. I haven’t contacted my doctor yet…….and it’s really far from my mind. My insurance recently changed so now I have to find a new doctor and the anxiety of trying to pick out one has been one that I avoided but I guess I better step up and do it NOW!

I waited until hubby got home so I could spill the beans……..So it’s been just about 30 minutes since he found out and he’s just as thrilled as I am. We hugged and kissed and then he sat with me and flipped through the latest edition of Pregnancy magazine which conveniently arrived today.

Now all I want to do is take it easy…….

It's Getting Better All the Time

Thank you for all the wonderful support and the many fingers that were crossed for us while trying to purchase a home. I THINK IT WORKED! The bank accepted our offer! And the home inspection was PERFECT! We found a real gem of a home……..and it sounds like it’s all ours so long as the loan goes through smoothly. And guess what ??? The closing date is on May 28^th! That’s just a mere 30 days away! Both hubby and I are ecstatic!! We’ve already discussed the changes we want to make to make it our own.

I want to send a great big ((HUG)) and thank you to my dear secret pal for the month of April. She sent me a delightful little stamp set and this adorable necklace in my favorite color nonetheless….turquoise!! THANK YOU THANK YOU! I LOVE IT! That was really very sweet and thoughtful. I sent my Secret pal a little package too….I hope it arrives to her safely soon…….

On the TTC front I’m at a standstill…..I thought for sure AF would have visited me over the weekend but she never did show. Tomorrow makes it CD31……which is not totally wacky…..BUT last month’s cycle was 28 days and the one before that was 30 days.  So……Go figure that when DH and I are getting ready to hop back on the TTC wagon my AF decides to play games! The thing is my breasts have been sore and I was sure that meant AF but I’ll wait a little longer and see what happens. Like I said she is a trickster! Oh and this sometimes happens but this is the first time it’s really bothered me. My nipples are dry and chapped! Ouch they hurt so bad! I think this has something to do with allergy season because I always seem to get chapped nipples at least once a year. I’ve been trying to apply moisturizer to them but it only relieves it for a little while. If any of you can relate please share your remedy??

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their week. 

Happy ICLW

Welcome to everyone new and old! I love ICLW because each month I find new blogs to follow and new people within our blogging community. Feel free to read my old posts and learn more about me, but I’ll briefly tell you my story. My hubby and I have been TTC  our first since October 2009 and we conceived on the first try…..But it didn’t have a happy ending and sadly it ended in December. Since then we have been trying to recapture a glimmer of hope and each month still find ourselves waiting. But I’m not bitter at least not at this moment. WHY? Because I realize that all things happen for a reason. Because of our loss it has made us stronger, it’s made me reach out to this beautiful community of women that I admire, it has given me a greater appreciation for the loved ones I have around me, it has pushed me to try harder and that makes me value the process all the more. And I know that all this waiting and heartbreak will make me love my future babies all the more.

Currently my life is hectic…..We are in the process of purchasing a home and made an offer on a bank owned foreclosure. Surprisingly they responded to our offer within a few days and gave us a verbal acceptance. We were thrilled! But now almost 2 weeks later we have heard nothing more and have yet to receive a written contract. This has us going crazy because the bank had requested that we have a home inspection completed within 2 weeks of the verbal acceptance. That day is tomorrow! I have an inspector ready to go but if we don’t get a written contract I will need to call and cancel, because without a written contract there is NO WAY we are paying for a home inspection. So what’s the hold up? Well it’s not the BANK!!! It’s their listing agent! He let our paperwork sit on his desk for days and after some strong wording from our buyers agent he finally sent the paperwork to the bank on Monday. Now today is supposed to be the day that we hear some news, but I must say I’m not too hopeful, too much waiting and dealing with incompetent people has made me lose my positive attitude. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep your fingers crossed for us, we could really use a win right now!

My Latest Project

My neighbor threw out this cute table and I stole it! It was missing a knob, was covered in crayon drawings and some sticky gunk. I sanded it down, painted it, added a new knob and gave it a new home. YES, I'm the neighbor who rummages through your trash, and I’m not afraid to admit it. I’m saving our landfills one furniture piece at a time. LOL

What's Going On

So I have a confession………I haven’t had a haircut in almost 2 years! I know …….that’s crazy; BUT, over the weekend I decided to just do it. I chopped off 15 inches! It feels incredible! My hair was getting so long the ends were very damaged and it was hard to maintain. Plus it’s getting hot and humid already and nothing is worse than having hair stick to your face and neck. It’s so nice because the haircut is so low maintenance that it doesn’t ever really get tangled and I don’t even have to style it and it looks good. I’m pretty happy!

My allergies are still killing me and everyday is a battle with the sneezes and seasonal headaches. I hate it! We are also still working on buying a home which has been so horribly frustrating so far. Our offer was accepted by Fannie Mae and they sent over the terms and conditions that we had to agree to. We signed them and our agent faxed them over to the listing agent who represents the home for Fannie and he has been impossible to deal with. First issue is that he added the closing costs and loan amounts wrong and has marked them lower than what they should be. When we pointed this out he said that he doesn’t suggest fudging the numbers with white out because Fannie will think the document has been tampered with. He assured us that they will either fix it or it will go unnoticed which would be a benefit to us. I hope that this doesn’t delay the process and come back to bite us in the ass all because he can’t add and was too lazy to write up a new agreement. Our agent then faxed the documents to him for him to pass along to Fannie Mae. Once Fannie receives these documents they can sign the contract stating that they are selling us the home. We waited……….two days later he says the fax transfer was poor quality and we need to send it again. Our agent offered to hand deliver it to him but he said that wasn’t necessary. So she scanned the documents and emailed them to him as well as faxed. Another two days passes…….He then calls this morning and says the copy is still not acceptable. Our agent begged to meet with him and give him the documents in person but he said he wasn’t sure he was available. I then called our agent and told her that we are getting very frustrated because we have been doing everything that Fannie has asked of us and this guy is delaying the process. On top of all this when Fannie sent over the acceptance letter they stated that we need to have the home inspection completed within 10 days. That makes the deadline this THURSDAY! I set up the home inspection but the fact is that we are responsible for paying for it and it is unacceptable to expect us to pay for an inspection on a home that we don’t have a written contract on yet. We need something in writing rather than the verbal agreement. I told are agent to pass this along to him and then he called back and magically he said, “ I fixed the documents and the quality is fine”. What the heck! Is this guy a complete idiot or what? Today we told the guy that if he can’t show us in writing that the home is ours within 48hrs then we are cancelling the inspection and walking away. We wasted 2 weeks on this home and the deadline to buy a home and qualify for the tax credit is only 11 days away.  UGH!!! So frustrating!! I really hope we hear some good news by Wednesday.

In other news……I have been a horrible TTC’er! I don’t always remember to take my vitamins and I have been drinking caffeine, and my headaches have been so bad that I’ve been taking Excedrin like every day! I know we weren’t really trying this month but man did I fall off the band wagon. I just hope that I can get things back on track next cycle. I will be a fully dedicated TTC’er and I think I might even start taking my temp again every morning. As for now my AF should arrive probably this coming up weekend. Then it’s time to get serious!

My Reappearing Act.......TA-DA!

I disappeared for awhile and I apologize for that. I’ve been so busy……….

Hubby and I decided to jump into home ownership and we have been house hunting for the past week. It has been exciting and overwhelming, but we did find a home we love and put an offer on it on Friday afternoon. It’s bank owned; Fannie Mae to be exact so we have no idea how long we will have to wait to hear back about our offer. Our agent feels it will be this week and we are really hoping she’s right about that.  But of course that’s not the only thing we are worried about……… The listing agent that represents the home had said there was another offer but from the sound of it it’s much lower than asking price. So we went in just right above asking hoping that we could entice the bank to sell to us. The home is priced well below value and out of all the bank owned properties we saw it’s literally in move-in condition. Plus it’s in a desirable area with shopping and a great school district so getting it for that price would be instant equity.  Over the weekend it was National Open House Day so there’s no doubt that there were people looking at the property and if we liked it then there’s bound to be others that like it. This could mean even more competition. So now we just have to sit and wait………and we all know how terrible waiting is! It’s really out of our hands we just hope that the home had no offers greater than ours, but if they do then we hope the bank sends out a request for all interested buyers to submit their best and final offers. That way we would be given a second chance to offer exactly what we are willing to pay, and if we lose we can feel better knowing that we offered as much as we would pay. We are trying to be optimistic but it’s really hard. We have discussed that losing this home would not be the end of the world because we also saw 2 other homes we are interested in. Homes seem to be getting snatched up faster than you can see them. So sitting here waiting when there’s other homes out there is REALLY hard, especially if our offer is rejected because we will have wasted valuable searching time. So keep your fingers crossed for us that we hear something soon.

Some wonderful news is that I got in touch with a dear friend of mine from High School that I haven’t spoke with her for like 6 months. After catching up for about an hour I realized that she truly is my “kindred spirit”. I went on to tell her everything that has been going on with me; TTC, my loss, life, family, and all that kind of stuff. She is so supportive and I discovered that she too has been going through these same motions. She also shared with me her experiences with being surrounded by preggo women , one of which is her sister and how difficult it can be physically and emotionally to be supportive when you know how badly you wish to conceive. I think we both feel the anticipation and joy of TTC is ruined as each month passes by. There is comfort in knowing you’re not alone……..

As for TTC we really haven’t been thinking about it……..I actually forgot what cycle day I was on and because I stopped using Fertility Friend over a month ago I couldn’t even go on there to check. But thanks to my blog I was able to look back and see when I mentioned AF. So I guess I’m on CD15, which means I may have ovulated already but seeing as how I’m not doing any OPKs I really have no clue. Hubby and I have been so busy that BDing has been far from our minds so I’m sure we missed the window. But as you all know we weren’t really trying all too hard this cycle. However next cycle kicks off the big change…….I will be back in and going in full force. Hopefully May or June will be our month. I need to order some more OPKs and gear up so we will be good and ready.

Until then I’ll be doing what I’m always doing………. WAITING! 

Happy Easter!!

Yuck! Allergies have hit me hard! Sniffling, sneezing, throat itching, nose twitching, eyes watering, and nose bleeding…….. when will it end???

On top of that it has been 80 degrees and while I love the warm weather it has been so hot in our home we started to wonder if we need to run the a/c already. Sleeping at night has been brutal! It’s too hot and sticky to be under the blankets and even with the window wide open it doesn’t seem to bring in any breeze. Looks like it’s going to be a long hot summer and we haven’t made it through spring!

Speaking of Spring…..I wish everyone a Happy Easter! We don’t have any plans really. We bought stuff to cook a nice dinner and discussed how fun it would be to decorate some eggs and put together Easter Baskets……..some day that will be in our forecast. But for now it’s just another lonely Holiday far away from our family and friends. Being in a new city far from everyone you know and love is always hardest at times like these. It can feel so isolated……..

My AF is nearly gone. I think tomorrow she will be officially outta here! So hooray for that! My BB's have been killing me. They are so sore! I have no idea why....they are usually only sore right before AF starts and maybe the first day of AF but not towards the end.......but who knows my body is so wacky these days. Now on to another month of low key not really trying to hard business but hoping somehow we magically conceive kind of month. I’ll let you know how that works out……..

Memories

I love Jack Johnson!

I can pretty much never get tired of listening to him. But let me set the scene for you on October 21^st 2007. It was a drizzling day in Seattle and the fall leaves were in full color. Bright oranges, yellows, and reds. It was around 7 am and I was finishing up my hair and makeup getting ready to slip on my beautiful white dress. YES ! It’s my wedding day………

 Our Wedding day was a long day in the making because Zack and I first met in the 7^th grade……….We shared so many childhood memories together and experienced some of our most memorable moments in life together. Hanging out in our classes, same teachers, same friends, after-school clubs, sporting events, parties, Prom, graduation and college. So it was only fitting that after sharing 12 years together that we finally tied the knot.

Zack and I planned to meet each other at 9 am on the campus of the University of Washington with the photographer and our families for formal photos. I was so excited and nervous because I was hoping the rain would not begin to pick up while we were outside and exposed.

We spent an hour getting our photos taken and wouldn’t you know during the last few shots the rain began to pour. It was almost cinematic how our timing could not have been planned better. And now it was time to walk down the aisle with my one true love…….

Our wedding venue was called The Lakeside and located on Lake Union and directly across the lake was a view of the city and all its beautiful buildings. If you’ve ever seen Sleepless in Seattle then you would recognize all the little floating homes perched nearby. Our ceremony was to take place out on the boat dock under a white tent to shelter us from the rain that made a soft muffled pitter patter sound as it fell down on it.

As our guests arrived they were greeted with Seattle coffee……..of course and little pastries too, and as they seated themselves they heard the sweet sounds of Jack Johnson. Songs like;

Better Together

Banana Pancakes

Do You Remember

Bubble Toes

I walked down the aisle beside my Dad…………

And when the ceremony finished Zack and I celebrated and walked down the aisle together to the tune of this song……….

We went on to have a beautiful wedding and I'll always remember how Jack Johnson was a part of our day.

6 months later we went to Hawaii and we got to see the neighborhood he grew up in and the school he attended and wouldn’t you know it that same weekend we were there he was performing in Hawaii. We wanted so desperately to go but unfortunately we were in Hawaii for a wedding and couldn’t break away.

I have spent nearly 3 years waiting for the opportunity to arrive to see him and it’s finally here. He is performing 3 hours north of here this July and tickets go on sale in 2 weeks!!!!!