We're Going Out!

"Every man dies. Not every man really lives." - William Wallace

Well, we've been trying to "live" a little bit more recently. I've been realizing how lazy I've become since becoming pregnant and moving home. I haven't done anything! (Including leaving the house...) I figured I didn't have the energy.

Well, I do! So we've been going out of the house to do things the last little while. Here are a few.

We've...

...been going outside to play! About a month ago, we got Andrew this "leash". I know that sounds awful, but I'd chase Andrew down outside more than I'd be able to sit and watch him, and it was pretty scary sometimes. He's a fast runner and could easily get himself into a dangerous situation if I didn't run fast enough to catch him. Anyway, we've been going on lots of walks with his leash on him. He actually loves it because it's in the shape of a dog and it goes on him like a back pack. We've also been going out to the backyard to play with the different outdoor balls we have and like in this picture, his cars! His cars are pretty much his favorite toys ever, and takes them on drives in the car, to the grocery store, he even sleeps with them at night. It's pretty funny.

We've also...

...gone to the mall! Not to shop, silly, to play in the kiddie play area! There's a childrens' science museum in Columbus that provided all the toys for the kids to play on, and it's so fun! They're all in the shapes of planets, spaceships, and different space stuff. Andrew's favorite part, as you can see, was driving the spaceship! What makes me laugh is that he was the first one to start driving it, and all the other kids suddenly all pile up in that area, like Andrew started a trend. :)

And we've...

...gone to the park! There's a park somewhat close to home called Homestead Park. We went there last night after dinner because the weather was BEAUTIFUL and Andrew was anxious to play outside. We slid down slides, raced through tunnels, and like the picture, drove a car! From Andrew's first glance at this thing, it was love. He ran as fast as he could and climbed right in. It was so cute. He loves playing outside.

As we get out more, I'll try to post more pictures.

Secret: I've had issues sleeping off and on my entire life. I remember at least once or twice when I was growing up not being able to sleep through the night for months on end. Since Jason and I have been married, I've probably had as many sleepless nights as I've had real restful nights. Isn't that sad? So if you see me walking around with a dazed look on my face, it's because I'm trying to figure out how to function on 4 or 5 hours of sleep!

Lyrics, anyone?

"Who, being loved, is poor?" -Oscar Wilde

I have to attest that the above quote is true. While you could be completely without money, if you are loved by someone, and more importantly, love that someone in return, you could be the richest person in the world.

It's been raining here the last few days. The rain has been wonderful because we've had a dry summer and everyone's plants are dying (because no one actually waters anything out here!). The only thing I don't like about it is that it's harder to wake up in the morning because it's still so dark! Yuck! Does anyone else have a hard time waking up on a rainy day?

What I do like to do, especially since the weather is cooler now, is make myself some hot chocolate, wrap myself up in a blanket, and read a good book. The problem here is the book part... We haven't unpacked any of our books, and I don't have a library card yet. Meanwhile, any recommendations for someone who still loves fairy tales and the Teen genre?

Ok, my sister wanted me to do this:

Step 1: Put your iPod or iTunes on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.
Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING.

In my case, I don't know all the songs on my iTunes, so I'm going to stick to ones I know, so this should be easier for you guys! Also, I skipped songs that had the title in the first line or were in different languages. (You can thank me later.) :) Some of these songs are so obvious, I'll probably laugh or cry if you don't get them!

1. Once again, I just can't get it straight, wondering if wondering is my fate.

2. Bird's flying high, you know how I feel. Sun's in the sky, you know how I feel.

3. Crossing the ocean with my window view, thinking of the times I spent with you.

4. Remember all the things we wanted, now all our memories are haunted.

5. You can bet there's nothin' but net when I am in the zone and on a roll.

6. I can read your mind and I know your story, and I see what you're going through (yeah).

7. Well I don't mind waiting 'til you're comfortable with me, but what's it going to take to prove that I'm for real?

8. I will stand up for you no matter what you're going through.

9. I never thought my life would end up quite this way. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what I should say.

10. Take what you need, cuz I can't hold my breath.

11. Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation, darkness stirs and wakes imagination.

12. My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

13. You were once my one companion, you were all that mattered.

14. Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you. (Yes, this one IS in my iTunes...)

15. I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears.

16. You tucked me in, turned out the light, kept me safe and sound at night.

17. Try to see it my way, do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on?

18. I wanna thank you for giving me time to breathe.

19. Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead.

20. I don't need to fall at your feet just 'cause you cut me to the bone.

Have fun!

Secret: It's funny. I'm really particular about doing or keeping some things in place a certain way, like keeping pictures hanging straight on the wall or having the toilet paper coming out on top toward you, or doing things in a specific order when I shower. I really wish that would apply itself to the rest of the house... maybe I would feel motivated to clean it more often!

Let's try this again (attempt #1 at new ideas)

"The next time you're tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable." -Elder Worthlin

Today I am home from church. When I woke up, my eyes had a hard time opening and my throat hurt. Ouch. I got better, but my head felt oddly heavy from allergies, and my body felt strangely disconnected from my head, so I decided to stay home.

I've realized that I'm a lazy complainer. lol. So, here's what I'm going to do (and hopefully I can find the motivation and energy to actually do it): I'm going to stop whining. I'm going to get up off the couch and do something with myself! Or at least do something with Andrew or Jason. And that should probably mean I should get off here.

Except I'm going to write an email to my sister Hermana Carrie Budge first!

Secret: My memory is LOUSY. I have to write everything down, or else I forget it all. That's why I don't make a New Year's resolution, or why I can't find my car keys, or why I always take a long time to write a new entry on here. I forget!

Has anyone here ever heard of...

Xanga?

At least, from what I can recall, it is another blogging website. I used to blog on that thing all the time when I was younger. It started my junior year of high school, all the way until just after Jason and I got married. I had completely forgotten about it until the other day.

So I go back and take a look at those old entries. I didn't do a whole lot with my days, and yet they were still interesting to read. Probably because it's ME reading them. lol. I really think I need to get my act together and figure out this blogging thing again, because I remember a time when it wasn't such a chore - it was therapeutic.

Now the question is, what should I write about in my blogs? I remember a few things I did when I was younger to keep it interesting:

-I would tell a "secret" about myself at the beginning or end of each post, something I thought was kinda strange about myself that I normally wouldn't tell anyone because I thought no one else felt/did/was strange enough to be the same as me. It made me feel like I could connect with other people in some little way, even if it was through our oddness.

-I would have a "quote" for that entry, something that I'd found or heard that particularly touched me that I wanted to share, like the Mother Teresa quote President Monson shared during women's conference yesterday, "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

-I would sometimes tell what song was currently in my head. Some of them were crazy, like the Spectrum Song from the Disney sing-along videos, and some of them were normal, but it was just another thing to share.

-I would have a random "picture of the day" somewhere in the entry. It could be of anything - me, friends, family, or a cool picture I had found and wanted to share.

-I would bold, italicize, underline, change the size, or color words to bring more attention to certain words or phrases, and also to make the entry more fun for me to write!

Outside of that, I would just talk about my day, mostly in a humorous way, and sometimes the entry would have no purpose at all. Sometimes I would vent my frustrations or talk about how happy I was about something.

I'm hoping that this will be the beginning of more fun blog posts to come. I may not have the most interesting or profound things to say, but hopefully this will be something that is more enjoyable for me to do.

Semblance of a Routine

Now that we've been in Ohio for about a month and a half, we've sort of gotten into a groove. My mom goes to work from 6-2. My dad goes to work from 8-4:30ish. Jason's schedule changes daily, so it's hard for us to get into a routine with him. Andrew generally wakes up somewhere between 7 and 9, and we usually watch this show to eat breakfast to:

Andrew also likes these shows, when I don't turn off the tv:

and:

The only thing I don't like about these shows are the songs - they repeat themselves all the time, so I get the songs stuck in my head! Mostly the songs from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse because that's Andrew's favorite. I'm thinking that for Christmas I might get Andrew some Mickey Mouse short videos on DVD. We'll just have to see.

Past that, it really just depends on how much energy I feel like I have. Andrew still takes an afternoon nap, which is wonderful because I try to nap at the same time. I try to take Andrew outside for walks or to play in the backyard if I'm feeling up to it. Once everyone gets home from work in the afternoons/evenings, we like to hang out with them and do whatever they do. It's really great being with family. :)

So there's a taste of the life we're living right now. Really, there's no rhyme or reason to it. Hopefully I'll gather some energy before the baby is born in February so that we can have more than just a semblance of a routine.

Chocolate Pudding and Postponing

First off, Andrew has discovered the joy of chocolate pudding! I mean, he'll eat just about anything that's sweet, but he really loves that chocolate pudding! The evidence:

Quite a good look for him, I say!

I was supposed to go see the doctor today for the first time since the beginning of July. Nope. Not happening. This particular doctor's office doesn't want you coming in unless your insurance is taken care of completely and already in place. If you've ever worked with Medicaid, you know it takes a while. Well, we haven't quite turned in our paperwork for it yet. If you mail it in or just drop it off, it takes sometimes up to two weeks for them to even notice your paperwork! Not what I want. So I have to go in to the office when they open on Wednesday (my first chance to go), wait for a while to turn it in and receive a receipt, and then they have 10 days to approve or not approve me. Lovely, no? Well, I postponed my doctor's appointment for two more weeks, hoping that Medicaid will have approved me by then. Wish me luck!

PS. My birthday was... interesting. Jason made me breakfast and bed and gave me the movie Letters to Juliet. I also went to a jewelery party and didn't get anything. Those were the fun things. The bad: there was a huge storm that for about an hour I was worried was going to produce a tornado. It was quite scary!

Things I should've figured out a long time ago!

I've worked some things out, both in my mind and with other people:

1. I got my first appointment set up for the 20th. They didn't tell me what all was going to be part of the appointment, so I really hope they do the ultrasound so I can find out if this little person inside me is a boy or a girl!

2. We have just about everything for Medicaid figured out, except that Jason has yet to receive his first pay stub. I really hope he gets it soon so that we can turn all the information in and get health coverage for me and Andrew!

Those were the things I worked out with other people. Here's what I worked out in my mind:

1. When I get myself physically ready in the morning (ie getting dressed, doing hair and makeup, etc), I feel so much better the rest of the day. Unfortunately, I've gotten into the habit of doing nothing because I didn't have energy or time to "fix" myself, but when I don't take care of myself, I have a hard time caring about anything else! I'm trying to get better at taking care of myself so I can take care of Andrew, Jason, and the house better! Has anyone else found themselves getting in that rut?

And here's a picture of my little funny guy. He's wearing my fluffy purple socks! They look like leg warmers on him!

Alright, I'm off to get Andrew dressed so we can go for a walk in this beautiful Ohio (almost fall!) weather!

PS. My birthday is tomorrow! I'm pretty excited, although I've already gotten my birthday present - I got to go see the play Wicked with my mom last month! So much fun!

A few things

Ok. I don't want to give a huge update right now, so here's a sorta quick one.

First off, remember when I posted this picture of Andrew, where he found his old coat and wanted to wear it?

Well, I found the picture of Andrew I was looking for to compare the last one to. This one was during the first few weeks of his life. Think he's grown at all?

Second of all, Jason started working. He's a Spanish interpreter and does most of his work at doctors offices and hospitals. He's really liking it, which makes me happy.

Also, I haven't seen a doctor about baby #2 yet. I looked into insurance, and it looks like they won't accept me because they consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition. Yeah. That sucks. So we're trying to figure out how to go the Medicaid route again and hopefully we'll qualify. Wish us luck!

I am starting to show. I noticed myself showing a long time ago, but now that I'm nearly 17 weeks, it's becoming more noticeable. I still haven't gained a whole lot of weight, which I'm not super-concerned about, but we'll see how that goes. If I ever take belly pictures with this baby, I'll post them.

Oh. I felt the baby move for the first time on Sunday during church. It was pretty exciting. What excited me more is that I was able to recognize it as the baby and not gas. LOL! I had a hard time last time until Andrew was undeniably kicking me last time at 20 weeks.

Two big upcoming dates: Wednesday is our 3rd wedding anniversary. Hurray! We've survived three years, five moves, 1 (and a half!) baby/ies, three marriages within our families, two sisters serving missions, etc. I'm looking forward to spending more years together. :)

Then the 16th is my birthday! I'll be turning 24 this year. Wow! I remember when I was young, looking at people who are my age now and thinking, "Man. They've really got things pulled together." Hahahaha! If only I knew then what I knew now! Every day is a challenge! Anyway, I'm hoping that our Medicaid stuff will be taken care of by then and that maybe I'll even have my appointment scheduled by then so that I can find out the gender of our baby! That would be a pretty sweet birthday present.

PS. Andrew's doing great. He loves playing with my parents and going on walks and climbing and screaming and hitting and throwing and playing with balls and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and all the things that little toddler boys love to do. He's also too heavy for me to heave around. But seriously, when has that never been the case? Today I held another lady's 7-month-old baby, and he weighed probably the same as Andrew did at 4 months. It was lovely. I can't wait to have this next baby so it will feel like I can hold it forever!

Ok. This turned into quite a novel for being a "short post"...