Two Places I've Traveled... {thursday thoughts}

Man, over two years ago I started a list of ten posts I wanted to write over the next ten weeks. Well. It's been like, 104+ weeks since then and I still have two of those posts to finish. This is one of them. Here are the first eight of them:
ten nine eight seven six five four three

I haven't traveled extensively in my life but I have explored some really awesome places in the last 30 years of my life. Two stick out especially in my mind because they're the two trips I left the country.

01. Canada
I lived with my aunt and uncle for a couple years and made so many great memories with them & my cousins. We took a trip that included a stop in Canada and it was the first time I ever left the United States. I was 17 years old at the time which is old enough to soak so much of it in but just young and inexperienced enough to not realize the depth of what a cool and unique experience this was. We saw Niagara Falls - on the 4th of July! - and went to a super amazing amusement park in/near Ontario or Toronto called Canada's Wonderland. That was easily one of the best parts of the trip! I remember standing in line for a ride and there was music videos playing on TVs above us and an Ingram Hill song started playing and I could NOT believe what I was hearing... a local Memphis band playing IN CANADA?! What are the odds?!

We went camping in several different states and Canada and I did and saw so many things I'd never experienced before. I'm the type of person who would happily go to Walt Disney World every single family trip but traveling to Canada and having such a perfect, funny, amazing time really made me think twice. There is something special about traveling to new places and having new experiences.

I remember I helped cook pancakes one morning and my uncle made fun of me because they were just about as thick as hamburger patties! This is also the trip my aunt and uncle talked to me about the importance of just being and living in the moment. They talked about how they bring their cell phones on vacations for safety but they turn them off and choose not to use them so that they can be present exactly where they are. This was before the smart phones and social media we experience today but it the need to observe this on your vacations applies now more than ever.

The best part of the entire trip was spending that time with my family.

02. Mexico
The only other time I've left the good ole USA is when I went to Mexico for another family vacation! This time it was with my husband, cousins, sisters, mom, aunts, uncles, & grandparents on my mother's side of the family to celebrate our grandparents anniversary! We stayed at the Ocean Coral Turquesa Resort & I was 23 years old and about 9-10 weeks pregnant with Presley in the thick of the first trimester. For me, the first trimester (especially when pregnant with my two girls) was full of nausea. So, I think I would have enjoyed the trip a whole lot more if I hadn't felt sick 80% of the time. BUT! There were some awesome memories made on this trip and I'm so incredibly grateful to have had that time with so much of my family!!! Absolute favorite memory was playing beach volleyball with my cousins, sisters, & our significant others. It was hilarious and so much fun! We stayed at a beautiful resort with beautiful pools but when I look back all I remember is feeling so sick the majority of the time. Not to mention I couldn't get drinks with everyone else!!!

My takeaway from the Mexico trip was different. I felt like I didn't want to leave the country anytime in the near future... especially not when there were so many beautiful, amazing places to see within the United States. (I think that had to do with the fact that we couldn't drink the water there and being a little scared of local crime.) But at this point I really wouldn't mind doing something like that again! The sun, the beach, the water.... sounds like a dream!!!

Family fun!

So, our first family vacation has come and gone and good news:  WE SURVIVED.

And we got to be with some awesome family members!
L to R:  Selena (my MIL), Judy (Papaw's wife), Tony (the hubby), Me & Presley, & Papaw Gordon (Tony's grandfather, Selena's dad)

To those of my bloggy friends who are new parents or expecting, let me just bust your bubble and tell you that vacations are vastly different with a little one.  (Just add that to the ever-growing list of things that just aren't the same as before having your babe!)  It's funny, you plan all these family outings and fun adventures (such as going to the zoo) and your baby could CARE LESS!  Not to mention, they have no idea what's really going on.

Presley at the zoo, probably thinking, "I am so bored! It's so hot out here! Where am I? I'm so confused..."

I think Presley had the most fun when we were at the hotel just relaxing in the room... aka, something we could just do at home!!!  :) Included in the things I thought Presley would be psyched about was swimming.  Here is part of her first experience swimming in our hotel's pool:

Presley's first swim experience!

She didn't love it but after the first few dips she didn't totally hate it, either!  It was a little tough at first to get Presley readjusted to our new surroundings, but after the first day she did really well, which even included sleeping through the night!  This was MUCH needed because for 4-5 days preceding our trip, Presley was waking up every 2-4 hours to eat.  It was tough going back to getting no sleep and being half awake while feeding her, but thankfully it was just a growth spurt after all.  And now we have her sleeping in her crib in her own room which is another big change.  She's getting through it and so are we but it's a little bit of a struggle but nothing out of the ordinary and some nights are better than others.  Lately she's been getting up at 2:30am every morning. 
And then again at about 3:30am.
And then again at about 4:30am.
And then, finally at about 5:30am she gets up and I feed her.

But really, it could be worse!  And it WAS just worse a few weeks ago so I guess I just need to suck it up and learn to love the sleep I get. 

And now something I worry about is whether or not we're putting her to bed at a decent time or not since she's not really showing clear signs of her being ready to go to bed.  I'm pretty sure that I'm never going to sleep soundly for a very long time or maybe ever again.  I feel like no matter what stage Presley is at there is always going to be something for me to stress out about and even more things that I don't quite understand about her.  But thankfully I'm not alone in it all!  Very glad to have my hubby to balance me out and to lean back on.

Look at that great daddy :)

So, we're back to everyday life and it's a mix of great moments and not so great moments.  I am somewhere between loving where we are at and wishing for better days with an older child.  Again, I know myself and I know I will miss the stage that Presley is at but I just feel like I still have no idea what I'm doing with all these "firsts."  I think that's why parents decide to have another child and willingly put themselves through all this stuff all over again -- because hindsight is 20/20 and they want to see how well they can do it the second time around!  I can definitely understand that and sometimes catch myself thinking the same thing... but then after those bad days I look at Tony and tell him I'm never going through this again!!!  But when you look at this sweet, silly baby face... it really melts away EVERY stress....

1446.

So... I have an awesome, patient, hardworking, happy-go-lucky, silly, caring, sweet, strong, thoughtful, dedicated husband!!!!  I really do.  This guy gets up before the sun and comes home after it has set nearly every day from work right now being on overtime and I rarely ever even hear a peep out of him about it.  I wouldn't mind if he complained everyday about it either, I'm not marveling at the fact that he doesn't complain about it, I am just so taken aback at his dedication and endless discipline.  He works hard for himself, for me, for our future, and for our growing family at work and then comes home and continues to work most days on various projects around here.  And at the end of his 10 hour workday, he comes home and finds time to put up with me... to be silly with me and to listen to me talk about my day like it's the most interesting thing he's heard all day.  I don't mean to sound like he is a superhero or does more than most husbands out there, but he IS honestly a superhero to me and he is more to me than any other man could be in my eyes.  Tonight, he put together our baby's crib and it just really cemented all these realizations for me.  I mean, it's one thing for him to come home and work hard on dishes or doing heavy lifting around here (things that I am so lucky to have support and help with) but it's an entirely different thing to see him do something so sweet like putting together a crib.  Everyday it becomes more and more of a reality to me the words that his Granny told me... I will never find a better man (or better friend) than him.  Our life is already so different than it was seven months ago, and I didn't see our lives taking this turn so soon, but he has sure coped with it so well and brings me just as much happiness as ever.  And the truth is, I can try and share with you the feelings between the two of us, but the best parts are those moments that no one but me gets to experience.

And the wonderful thing is I know I am not the only one to have such a rockstar for a spouse.  I'm not writing this to make anyone feel like their relationship is any less special or important or to make anyone feel like I have a perfect life, but I am writing this to let Tony and everyone else know that I am blessed with a totally wonderful AND imperfect marriage.  I think it is SO important to sit back and reflect on our blessings rather than the things that frustrate us on a daily basis and it is especially important to let the people in our lives who put up with our crap know how much they mean to us by our actions.  So, for the rest of the holiday season, my ultimate gift to Tony is going to be showing him how much he is loved and appreciated because while I'm sure he is grateful for my kind words, my actions speak much greater than anything I could type on my blog.  That is exactly what he deserves and I hope that once the holidays are over that I am able to continue to show him how much I love him on a regular basis.


After all that, here is the finished product:

It is just beautiful!!!

In other news, I might not be doing much blogging for some time (but of course I'll try to make time for it because it is so therapeutic!) as my sister is coming in town TOMORROW and we'll be busy bee's from now until after the new year!  In the next two and a half weeks we'll be in Chicago, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Memphis, and not to mention all the stops in between!  This is going to be such a fun time for us to be around family and friends that we miss so much -- I hope we can find a way to make these moments stay with us as long as possible.  I hope everyone else is able to do the same this holiday!  Dwell on the things and people that are important to you and let them know it.

Filled to the BRIM with love and gratitude....

First Appointment... kinda!

So yesterday was my first taste of the pregnancy appointments!  I met with my Dr.'s nurse and we talked all about the family history junk.  She gave me a folder of their practice information as well as a new month by month pregnancy book put out by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists... as if I didn't already have enough pregnancy books!

Yes, sadly, I am that person who over-prepares, or really in this case, the person who overly anticipated.  For the past couple years I've found a couple of nice used book stores I like to raid and over time I accumulated many books on marriage, weddings, pregnancy, and motherhood.  My pregnancy book list includes: What to Expect When You're Expecting (duh), What to Eat when You're Expecting, The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy, Your Prengnancy Week by Week (written by an OBGYN), & Your Pregnancy Questions & Answers.  Pretty excessive, right?  Back in those days I also bought Tony the Expectant Father book.

So, back to the appointment, I answered a bunch of questions and then the nurse tried to find the heartbeat.  Unfortunately, she couldn't detect it so that we could listen to it.  I am only 10 weeks along, so she said this wasn't out of the ordinary or anything to worry over.  But I was definitely so bummed... I just kept thinking in my head, "Okay little one, please stop being so shy and let us hear you!"  But, no luck.  So after that swing and a miss I went upstairs to do some lab work for them and that was essentially it.  I have my yearly pap at the same office with my doctor next week and my nurse said they'd try again then to hear the heartbeat!  I actually have appointments there for three weeks in a row - first the family history appointment, next the pap, and finally I get to meet with my OBGYN for pregnancy stuff!  I'll be 12 weeks by the third appointment, so this baby better make it's vocal debut, especially since Tony will be there too!

On other pregnancy news, I am definitely starting to show.  It's nothing much and is pretty easily masked with clothes, but it's hard to deny if you saw me without clothes.

Here's a picture of Tony & I from our family trip to Mexico about a week and a half ago.  I just look (and felt) bloated.  I just can't believe there are such big changes so soon.  And what really sucks is I have completely stopped working out or going to the gym at all because I usually feel too hot or too sick to do anything.  It definitely doesn't help that the A/C in my car doesn't work.  I hope I am not one of those pregnant ladies who feels sick the entire time because so far, that's what it feels like.  I'm really SO lucky that Tony is such a supportive and caring guy because he truly puts up with a lot from me... already!


Here's another picture of us in Mexico with my sisters & their significant others.  We definitely spent most of our time with them because it seemed like we all wanted to do the same stuff or at least went along with what the majority of us wanted to do.  It was a great time but it definitely made me feel so appreciative of living in the United States.  I never would have guessed I'd feel like that afterwards but I honestly think being pregnant & feeling uncomfortable while traveling really impacted me.  There are so many beautiful places in our country I'd like to visit before leaving again.

Well, I think that's about it for this post.  I can't wait until we share the news with everyone!!!  Just a few more weeks. 

Happy Tuesday!