9 Months & Good News

9 months and still counting....

Well I finally got brave enough to do some maternity pictures. I was nervous about doing them because I am not the most adorable prego lady with a little belly, I am all belly and look like an umpa lumpa. I only packed for a week because I did not think it was going to take as long as it has to get in our home so I did not have all my cute maternity clothes, flat iron, jewelry...you know all the stuff you want to have when you are taking pictures. In spite of all that I think they turned out pretty good, thanks Erica for doing them and making me feel like a glamorous pregnant lady. To tell you the truth when I got them back I was totally shocked because I knew I was big but not that think I was that HUGE! Seriously I can not believe how massive I really am, now I understand all the looks and comments I get from complete strangers....

"Were you due yesterday?"

"How can a tiny thing like you carry all that baby?"

"I am so sorry you must be so miserable!"

"Are you sure there is not 2 in there?"

Lately I have gotten some sweet comments though......

"You are just glowing!"

"You are the most beautiful prego lady I have every seen."

"You are carrying you baby so well, only in the front."

"For a huge pregnant lady you move really good."

I take what I can get and some of the comments just make me laugh. My hubby still thinks I am all that with a little something EXTRA so I guess that's all that matters, he calls me his "speed bump." It's just in my genes, I just get BIG no matter what I do, the baby has no wear to go but straight out. I was enormous with Trey too but I did not have as much fluid, the fluid is what is making me even bigger. The size of my belly really just boggles my mind and reminds of how the human body is so amazing. I feel great during the day but at night my tummy will stay hard for hours and its just so uncomfortable! I sure do have the hobble wobble strut and the lovely hobbit feet...gotta love the joys of pregnancy!

Now for the GOOD NEWS...

First, We are FINALLY closing on our house tomorrow around 4 and the owner is going to start letting us move in early in the morning!!!

YIPPEE, HOORAY, HALLELUJAH, can you tell I am excited? I am ready to rock and roll even though I know I do not want to over do it and make this baby come before he needs to.

Second, our insurance is going to cover the damage to the penske dolly we just have to pay the deductible.

Third, they decided to total our car which is a good thing because the damages were more than it was worth. We still had to pay a deductible and we are currently renting a car but it all worked out for the better. We are now car shopping and our other car will not be here until the second week in November.

Fourth, Chris starts school on Monday, we are both excited despite of all the stress in our lives. He is going to be an awesome student and is thrilled to be playing Rugby soon.

Our lives our crazy I know and I have a feeling it's just going to get crazier!

Stay Tuned!

Oh Baby!

I had my 38 week appointment today. I am going to "The Group" and seeing the 4 mid-wives they have here. I love them and all of them are such sweet ladies. They wanted to do an ultrasound to see how big he really was and to measure my fluid level. He is measuring about 7 1/2 pounds which could totally be off but my fluid level is extremely high which explains how huge and uncomfortable I am. The good thing is that it's just fluid and not weight which made me feel better since I have not been eating the greatest...haha! I had a little protein in my urine and also some edema in my feet and wrist but not my face, my blood pressure looked awesome and I had no weight gain this time. I am dilated to a 1 and 70 % effaced. With all of that they said that they wanted to induce me at 39 weeks in case toxemia came about. I explained to them our situation with our house and told them that we were not ready and as long as the baby was safe I would like to just wait for him to come. She got a second opinion from another doctor and they told me that it was fine and just to watch my body really close. If I have any blurred vision, a headache lasting more than an hour, or an extreme pain under my arm pit then I needed to be admitted right away. I seriously would love to be induced because I am seriously miserable but we are just so not ready for him to come. I need him to stay in there as long as possible. They did a 3-D ultrasound and we got the cutest photos. We could see all the cute details of his face and everything, it was awesome! He is so adorable already and we already love him so much. Trey loved seeing his baby brother and Chris was blown away too. We could see all his cute little movements and him sucking on everything...it was so cool!

Usually by now mothers would be nesting and excited for their new arrival but we do not have a place to call home yet so I am just trying to prepare myself the best I can. How you may ask?...I do not really know...I have been relying on the Lord a lot for strength. I still have to be a mother everyday to toddler, I am still a wife to a great husband, and I am carrying a newborn inside of me and I feel I have to be strong and an example for not only myself but for them too. Some days I want to have a nervous break down and just give up...instead I look to the Lord and he helps me keep going. I also just think of how blessed I am to have a wonderful family...one of our good friends father just passed away suddenly and I also just read on a blog on how a women just married over 2 years and 6 months along in her first pregnancy of how the baby and her were killed in a car accident. Yes our burdens right now are frustrating and hard but our lives are not so bad, things could be worse. I have been on my knees this month more than ever and I know that things will all come into place and years down the road we will know why we had to go through all of these trials. We all have trials and have to endure them so we can become better people and stronger individuals. I LOVE the Gospel and my family. Wish us luck this week and Ill try to keep you posted!

Nope, still no good news....

It's Friday once again and still we are not homeowners. We have been doing this for 2 months now and its just getting old, not to mention that I am due in two weeks, Chris starts school in one week, and poor Treyson is having such a hard time adjusting to all this! We do not know what the hold up is, the under writers are just taking their sweet pretty time I guess. AAhhh what do you do? They keep saying it will be sometime this week and a week goes by and nothing! I do not have that many weeks left. I seriously never thought I would say this but I hope I am a week OVER-DUE...haha. Chris has been the best husband and is keeping me sane through this whole thing, I love him so much.

They have decided to total our car which is fine and so we are just waiting for word on the next step with that.

No word from Penske....no news is good news right?

I am feeling better and just have a little cough now.

Like I said before things could be a lot worse, we have each other and the Lord. We are thankful everyday for the little things that we do have and enjoy. We are counting our blessing, re-counting if necessary to help keep our attitudes positive. Until next time, have a great weekend!

"NEXT PLEASE"

NEXT-- We were supposed to close on our house yesterday morning...didn't happen! They told us that the 16th would be the worst case scenario so I guess we got the "terrible worst case scenario." It just came out from the underwriter so they said it should just be a couple of days after that...who knows though because that is what they have said in the past. 3rd time is a charm right? This will be the third time they have given us a date although this time they would not give us an exact date, they just told us sometime next week. We are still smiling and laughing at the whole situation even though deep down we are frustrated. We have cried lots of tears together but trust in the Lord that everything will work out.

NEXT-- We are staying with a different family from our ward, the Poulos's. They are such nice family, they have 3 cute little boys and live in a half house and half duplex. They told us we could stay as long as we want and we felt it would be better just in case this wee one in my belly decides to come early (hope not). We are in the Davenport 1st ward and they have been seriously so good to us. We are complete strangers but all of them have reached out to help us in some way. We love it here and how friendly everyone is. We feel so grateful to be acquainted with so many wonderful people. We could say thank you 100 times and it would not be enough for how caring everyone has been. Thank you!

NEXT-- Trey has been a trooper through this whole thing, so much change and different schedules... but he has been pretty good for the most part. He is what keeps us going, we love our little boy so much and even with the bad situation we are in he still makes us smile everyday.

NEXT-- We got to move all of our stuff in the garage of our new house so we could make sure the truck was turned in on time since they charge you 100 bucks for every extra day. We still don't know how much the damages on the dolly are going to be, penske had not sent over the report yet buy the time we turned it in. They told us they would get back to us when they received all the paperwork.

NEXT-- Still no word on our car. They are deciding whether or not they are going to fix it or just total it. No matter what we still have to pay the 500 dollar deductible. We just wish we had our other car out here.

NEXT-- I have not been feeling well. I felt a little something coming on but we do not have most of our Nikken stuff un-packed, so therefore I am sick. Sore throat, stuffy nose, my ear left ear aches and I am hoping not to get an ear infection. Did I mention that I am nine months pregnant? There is nothing really I can take or do. I also am getting to the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy...yes, yes, I am HUGE! I have been trying to get lots of rest and take it easy. Chris is the best husband and has been taking care of me taking more of the role with Treyson. I am hoping to get better in the next couple of days so I can be ready to un-pack, clean, organize ect.

Things are as good as they can be. We are happy and just taking it one day at a time. Things could be worse and we are seriously so grateful for all the blessings the Lord has showered upon on. Yes we have had many set back but all is well! Maybe the NEXT time I write to you it will be GOOD NEWS!

What Next?

Chris packed up the moving truck Saturday afternoon then he headed to GR to pack up the rest of our stuff up at the Cutler's. He spent the night, went to Church, then had a nice dinner before the long 16 hour drive. We decided to leave Jax behind with Chris Mom because she is coming out the second week in November to see the new baby and to bring our Element out. We could only tow one car so we decided to tow the Acura because we still needed to register it... ect ect. With everything that is going on we thought it would be better not to have to worry about Jax for a little while....thanks Mama Beth! Anyways as for the "what next" report.....Chris was in an accident last night with the moving truck. He had just crossed the state line into Nebraska and it became really foggy, he slowed way down and he was looking for somewhere to stop and sleep because he did not want to drive in it anymore. Suddenly he hit black ice and the whole truck went side ways on the interstate...he said he has no control and that he knew it was about to roll a couple of times. Out of no where comes another car and slams into him putting him back in control of the truck. We are grateful he was hit because if not who knows if he would have been OK and all of our stuff would have been all over the interstate. The car dolly was destroyed and so was half of our car and I think the truck got a little dented too. Chris had to have our car and the dolly towed and it cost of over 500 bucks...like we have that kind of money, let alone all the damages we are going to have to pay for on the truck and the deductible on the car!! So what next? What else could go wrong in our crazy lives? I am truly grateful that my husband is fine and that he is still here with us but I am seriously about to have a nervous break down! Still no house, baby in 4 weeks, and now this. WHAT NEXT? Chris and I just cried together on the phone and we just kept saying..."I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" What can you do but just pray that things will work out, I know they will but my emotions are just crazy right now. Pray for us we are going to need it to make it through the next couple of weeks.

Airport Disaster

Bare with me here.....
We started off the morning really early, Trey had to be woken up and was not happy about it. My first flight was was long and Trey did ok, I was supposed to have a two in a half hour lay over in Chicago then just have a 40 min flight into the quad city areas, but plans changed. Note: Trey was already cranky and did not have a nap, not to mention that I am 9 months pregnant!

My flight was scheduled to leave at 5pm and I had checked the monitor to make sure I was at the right gate. The gate I was flying out of was extremely busy but I made sure I was there and around 4;30 ish I went and talked to the ticket counter.

Conversation.................................

Me: "Is this flight gate leaving to Moline the quad city areas?"

Gate Clerk: " Yes it boards in 20 minuets."

Me: "Ok great, I need a gate ticket for my stroller!"

Gate Clerk: "Here you go."

I proceed to sit and wait for my flight to be called and 20 minuets later I did not hear an announcement. I went up to the ticket counter and the gate clerk told me that my flight gate had moved and that I had missed the flight!

Me: "You just told me that it boards in 20 min and gave me a ticket for my stroller!"

Gate Clerk: "Sorry mam but its your job to watch the board, and you need to go re-schedule and get on the next stand by flight!"

Me: "This is ridiculous!" (Tears start to flow, and Trey has not been happy for the whole layover.)

I went to the ticket counter and they told me that the next flight does not leave until 8:45 and I would only be on stand by and they could not guarantee a spot for me. I started to cry hysterically and I told them the conversation I had with the gate clerk and she still said it was my fault. I told them that I was nine months pregnant and that I had a very tired and cranky toddler so I needed a fixed spot on the next flight. She told me she could do nothing for me! I called Chris and cried and cried and he was scared because he thought there was an accident or something happened to Trey because he could barley understand me. I calmed down a little bit because I had the whole airport staring at me and told him what had happened. He was sad because he could not be there with me.

Meanwhile while waiting I met this old nice man named Bob and he told me that Chicago airport is notorious for doing stuff like that to people. He was a frequent flyer and helped me get a guaranteed spot on the next flight. I was so grateful and happy yet I still had a very tired tired toddler. Trey got a short hour nap while waiting for the next flight but it was not enough and he woke up extremely grumpy. Other people started joining our group because of all the delayed flights. There were terrible storms all through the mid-west so many people kept getting put back. 30 minuets before we were supposed to board the 8:45 pm flight they change our gate to the B concord and pushed us back another 2 hours, now we were not scheduled to fly out until 10:15 pm at night! I was trying to stay calm and not pull another episode like I did before. I tried to entertain Trey as much as I could, he was a trooper even though he was exhausted. We waiting and waited and 10:15 pm came around and we still did not have a plane! Finally after more waiting and waiting we got on the plane around 11:00 pm and took off around 11:20 ish. I was very fatigued and swollen but very happy to just be on the plane and leaving. The storm was really bad and I was getting a little scared to fly. The flight was bumpy and there was high turbulence and I was getting really frightened but I just kept telling myself..."its only 40 min, you can do it." Trey was getting a little freaked out too and I just wanted it to be over. 35 minuets into the flight the pilot comes on over the intercom and says he has VERY BAD NEWS...by this point I started to be scared for my life! The pilot said that the winds were too strong to land the plane and that we were going to have to turn around and go back to Chicago because it was just too risky! I was thankful yet very frustrated because why did they communicate this before we left? Don't get me wrong I am so glad they were looking out for our safety but seriously! We landed back in Chicago and now the time was about 12:30 am, I was very overwhelmed and trying to keep clam because I had no idea what I was going to do. Stay the night at the airport? Get a hotel? How would I get there? ect? ect?

I kept the Castillons updated on everything and they felt really bad...to tell you the truth I started feeling sorry for myself especially my little boy. The group of us that had been waiting all day decided to rent a car, Bob gets to rent cars for free and we were all going to the same place. Customer Service would not guarantee us anything for the next day. I decide it would be best to drive because it was only a 2 1/2 hours away and then Trey could sleep. We got a car with a car seat and all of us were tired but just happy that we were finally getting somewhere. Bob drove us all...what a nice guy, we seriously need more people like Bob in the world. We ended up leaving around 2 am in the morning and Trey instantly fell asleep in the car. I tried to get some rest but I kept having braxton hicks the whole way and I think it was because I was overwhelmed with everything that had happened the whole day. We got to Iowa around 5 am and they dropped me off at the Castillon house. Trey decided to have a complete melt-down, he was screaming and crying and nothing would console him. I felt bad because I did not want to wake the whole Castillon house up. He would not let go of me and kept his arms around my neck as tight as he could, poor guy it was such a crazy long day for him. He calmed down and we got to bed around 6 am. We did not get much sleep because we had to be up the next morning for all my errands and appointments I had. Talk about the WORST NIGHT EVER!

I am here and everything is good, I am trying to catch up on my sleep and just waiting to get the word on when our house will finally close because we only have the moving truck for 1 week. I am just thankful to be here and I never want to experience anything like again!

Heavenly Father throws these kind of things at us all the time to humble us and we just have to deal with the situation the best we can. These situations only make us stronger!

Have a great week everyone!