Well...

Yes I know, it has been such a long time. Life has been nothing short of crazy and I truly thought that it could not get any busier. To be honest, this has been the first time that I have even had a chance to be online since we moved to Kyle. Thankfully, I haven't gotten any threats from JMob or my husband, I guess they are compassionate and understanding of how life has been lately.

At the first of September, with the help of my brother in law and some church members, we finally moved into our new home. One of my favorite moments was after coming back to the new house with a second load, as we rounded the corner, we noticed our financial secretary and her husband and teenage daughters mowing our lawn. Definitely brought tears to my eyes. God blessed us with a house that was affordable, spacious, and in a great neighborhood. One of the huge pluses of living in this house is that it was in our price range and it has a beautiful backyard with a HOT TUB!! Party at our house (or year round baptisms...however you may look at it.) The week before we moved, I started classes at Texas State, and I am thoroughly enjoying them. My professors are great and I love my photography class. Nic is adjusting well to work at The Connection Church. He absolutely loves getting to go the office everyday and working with such great people. What an opportunity to be involved in what God is doing here in Kyle, TX.

Maybe if you follow my twitters, you may have noticed a hospital stay or two as well as a beautiful picture of my IV. You may be wondering what is up. Am I dying? No, not really (well aren't we all, we're closer to death today than we were yesterday.) Do I have an illness? No, not exactly. A permanent condition? No, nothing permanent. Well, I guess the biggest news of all the last few months happenings is that I am pregnant. To be honest, we weren't gonna spill the beans for another month. But when you're not keeping meals down, every smell makes you want to puke, you're in and out of the hospital, and you carry around an IV, people tend to notice and worry and want to know what is going on. So this is what is going on, I am carrying a little bean who is about eleven weeks and one day gestation. Of course, Nic and I are both thrilled and can not wait to convert the extra room into a nursery. We also know how fragile life is, and of course there is the fear of loss all the way up until labor, but we are trusting God knows what He is doing and that this tiny life is His, even after he/she enters our life.

Now, to tell you how this sweet little being has affected our lives so far. Towards the end of August, morning sickness attacked. At first I was just mostly sick in the evenings, and it was bad. The doc gave me some anti nausea medicine, which really didn't work. I was in his office nearly every week so they could check my vitals. Mostly, they weren't worried, hopefully it would pass. I began to get nauseous all day, but could keep down soup and crackers most of the time. Then, I lost 10 lbs in one week, still no worries...this was because I wasn't really eating. Then, some of our best friends, Clay, Meg, and JMob came for a visit and we fellowshipped at one of our favorite eateries, Chuy's. Miracle of miracles, every ounce of chips, queso, tacos, and jalapeno ranch stayed down. Those guys must have been my good luck charm. After that though, it was down hill. By Tuesday, nothing was staying down, everything came back up. So, I went straight to my doctor's office the next morning. Turns out, I was severely dehydrated and had ketoacidosis. They admitted me into the hospital. I had a three day, practically uneventful stay (other than I learned how much I hate needles and the nurses ended up blowing a few of my veins leaving me with painful bruises.) Our pastor's wife and two girls came for a visit, I enjoyed the company of my parents and Shep one evening, my sisters came another and Zak and Amber and Couper came to bring Nic supper one night. I did not, however, learn to keep liquids down before he sent me home. By Sunday I was back to square one. Amber, Zak's beloved wife and my sweet friend, loaded up Couper and took me to the doctor first thing Monday morning; I had lost 5 more lbs, the ketoacidosis was back, so they admitted me into the hospital again. She stayed with me until I was settled and then Nic got there to take over. Pastor Cole came for a visit and so did Randy, which totally blessed my socks off. This time I was on the Labor and Delivery floor and the nurses were much kinder and took excellent care of me. On Tuesday, my doc kept pushing me to drink fluids, so I tried that evening. I knew it wasn't going to be good. I drank 3 oz of water over an hour and a half period, only to begin throwing it up over the next two hours. Liquids were not my friend. The next morning, he was blown away, ordered a dietitian and a gastrointerologist(sp) to come check me out. I asked him about home health but he told me it was a hassle. By the next morning he changed his mind. He ordered a PICC line and home health to hook me up to a portable IV. This was an all day process but we finally got home at about 8:30 pm that evening. Home health came on Friday and they showed us how to set up and change my IV. Now I am a little bit more mobile. I've gotten my hair cut, went to church, and we've eaten out a few times. And, I have been able to keep down Coke and sweet tea. This whole ordeal has been slightly insane. 2% of pregnant women suffer from this crazy, out of control vomiting and nausea. It is a condition called hyperemesis. Nic likes to call it morning sickness on crack. It can last all pregnancy and it also comes back with every subsequent pregnancy. But I am already feeling better and my appetite is definitely back. I do get tired and worn out fairly quickly. Nic has been a wonderful nurse, taking care of my every need. And my mother-in-law has come in to help with the housework and meals. We haven't had a chance to unpack really anything, so she has been a great help.

So this has been our life for the past month. It's definitely been exciting. Hopefully things will slow down enough for me to keep up with updating, but I can't make any promises.