Saturday, December 29, 2012

Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas!   We were so busy with so much going on!  Every party, dinner, and gathering we kept saying how different next year will be..."Wesley might even be walking this time next year!!  or we'll be toting a baby everywhere next year!"  So much to look forward to!  What a Happy New Year we have coming soon!!
Merry Christmas from our family of 2!

Christmas eve with the Gillis family

Christmas breakfast at Aunt Jane's
Christmas eve with the Goins family.  Yes!  That is pink camo for Wesley!
 
 
Shirron/Hines/Herbie Christmas.  Zoe really racked up with the Nana Zoe gifts!  How cute is Miss Madison?!?!
 
Christmas Day at Poppa Wayne's
 
And here are my "Snowmageddon 2012" pictures. We got 6 inches of beautiful snow! Our house place is beautiful, I think! It is going to be so nice to live there eventually;)
Because of the ice in the first picture many trees were snapped and falling on power lines so we lost electricity Christmas afternoon, see picture 2.  We continued our festivities that night at the Shirron's where we got 6 inches of snow!  We spent the first night at home (burrrr) and the next night at Dad's, because he got lucky and had his power restored.  I know there are still many people without.  I feel for you!!!
 
Hopefully my next post will share some great New Year's eve pictures!  See you then!
 
By the way, Riley are Harper must have been good this year because Santa listened and brought them a puppy!  You might find her scattered in some of the pictures.  Her name is Ruby!  And she is cute!























Because of the ice shown in the first picture, we had no electricity shown in the second picture.  We had freezing rain before we got 6 inches of snow on Christmas night.  The snow was beautiful but we spent one night at home without electricity (burrrr) and then spent the next night with Dad.  We were lucky though!  There are many people still without.  I feel for you!!! 

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Pregnancy, so far so good...kinda

Hello again!  This post is not a fun one but it is very unique to say the least!  Transient osteoporosis.  These two words have become bad words around here!  Just kidding!  Actually I was finally happy to hear them!  And it will hopefully be good therapy for me talk about my story.  Please note, I am no professor of medicine but I do work in the field of medicine so I will try to explain without too many inaccuracies.

For many weeks I have struggled with severe one sided hip pain.  It progressively got worse and worse.  I tried physical therapy for two weeks.  When that showed no sign of relief, my doctor suggested a referral to an orthopaedic physician.  Getting this appointment was difficult because many people along the way want to suggest....."she knows she's pregnant right?"  Ugh!!!  However, once I saw the Otho dr, he thought it could possibly be a stress fracture, arthritis, or transient osteoporosis.  Thinking the latter was nearly impossible because it is so rare.  He ordered an MRI to help with the diagnosis.  Now, skipping x-rays and going straight to a more elaborate imaging modality is not the proper course for insurance companies.  BUT when you're pregnant, you definitely don't want to expose the baby to unnecessary radiation.  So we got insurance approval and I had my scan.  At this point, I was using crutches to help me walk but I had no idea why I couldn't walk and I am completely exhausted and frustrated to say the least.   
 
This is a picture of an MRI I found on radpod.org.  I wasn't big on putting my own MRI on the Internet.  Anyway, this looks nearly identical to mine.  But the opposite hip is affected here and the female patient has a small joint effusion of which I thankfully do not have.  Many of you don't want to see this and maybe can't find what's wrong but you don't really need a medically trained eye to see one hip does not look like the other. I'm told this screen capture is part of a fluid sequence, so the bright white is fluid.  This is also known as bone marrow edema.   After a quick review, the radiologist came right out to see me.  He told me what it was and wanted to be sure I was using crutches or a walker and understood how serious it is.  Do what?!?!
 
So here is what I have learned.  Transient osteoporosis is a very rare and painful type of osteoporosis that is usually found in third trimester pregnancy and middle age men.  There is no known cause.  Pain gradually increases over a period of weeks or month and can be so intense that it is disabling.  But guess what?!?!  It resolves itself....with time.  How much time?  We don't know.  There is very little known about the condition. In fact, one of the maternal fetal medicine doctors I have consulted with since diagnosis tells me I am likely the only person in the state with this and that there is very little literature on the condition.  Ugh!  All we can really do for now is protect it from fracturing. 
And so, Wesley is off the hook!  She is not laying on any nerve that we know of.   And it's not that I am not strong enough to support this baby belly.  She is growing just fine.  This is a problem with me and not her.  So, I am busy Christmas shopping online or via wheelchair with Zoe and preparing for her arrival!  I know she is worth this pain I have endured!  Other than this hiccup, pregnancy has been good.  Not easy, but good!  We're just gonna keep on keepin' on!  This was your science lesson for the year.  I hope it wasn't too boring.  By the way, it could be worse.  It could be in both hips!    
 
Stay tuned for some very fun Christmas posts!  We are getting so excited!  We might even get some snow this week!!!  
      





Friday, December 14, 2012

It's a Baby Girl Shower

This past weekend our friend Lezleigh Robinette was so gracious to host a baby shower for me and invite some of my girlfriends.  She had lots of great help too!  A big thanks to her, Kelly, Mandy, Helen, and Hailey!!  I think all the girls had a good time and we received some wonderful goodies to help take care of Wesley Kay!  The food, punch and cake tasted just as good as it all looked!  Allow me to share some pictures of the goodness......


Me with Nim (Scott's grandmother) and Zoe...Wesley's name for Zoe is to be decided.



Sweet Baxley!  She already knows Wesley will have great fashion taste.  She brought her a pretty green smocked dress.
 
 

Here I am with Helen who is due with baby girl Shirron 10 weeks after Wesley!
 
 
 
 

 
 

These girls throw a great party!!!  Thank you so much!!!


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree!



This my friends is our Christmas tree!  For our first two Christmases married anyway.  Yes it reminds me of a Charlie Brown tree but it has way more ornaments and character!  The first time Riley saw it this year she said, "Where did all the leaves go?"  Ha! 




And here I am as big as our tree;)
Next year we will have a big and beautiful tree but for now we love this one just as well! 
I sent Kelly this picture because she sent me this shirt as a "happy gift."  The shirt is perfect!  Of course she said, "You're beautiful, love the shirt!  But the tree on the other hand...."  Character people, it's all about the character!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Fun with Wesley

I saw this picture before I was pregnant and I thought it strange and kind of weird then.  Is it real?  I don't know.  But the more I look at it the more I think it is so cool.  I haven't seen Wesley do anything quite like this but it sure feels like my belly should look like this many times throughout the day.  She kicks and punches a little but mostly the movement I feel, I would describe as stretching.  We have gotten so tickled at her.  Especially in the evening and at night.  Scott will say, "Oh yeah, that's definitely a foot!"  If anything like this ever came up, we would never be quick enough to catch a picture.   
 
I love her kicks and even her hiccups!  Keep 'em coming!  They are very reassuring. 

Friday, December 7, 2012

Christmas gifts

Anybody looking for good Christmas gift ideas???  I always am...for me and everyone we love to give a gift.  I don't really have that one thing I am so excited about.  So this year my list will probably include anything to do with baby.  We need it all!  But last year, I asked for and received a gift that I still l-o-v-e.
It is called the Clarisonic skin brush.  I got the Mia 2.  Look at all the fun colors!  You can use it with any type of facial soap.  It takes off makeup and leaves my skin feeling so fresh and so clean.  It is probably not on Oprah's favorite things but it should be!!!  Sure wish Clarisonic would read this post.  Maybe then I could get hooked up with one in every color.  Then I could hook you up!
 
My favorite niece wrote a letter to Santa and is asking him for a puppy.  Of course she asked him to "try and get the cutest and most well behaved one."  She says she will guard it with her life and even train it...she further asked him to bring her brother a fire truck, helicopter, and any kind of truck.  Isn't she thoughtful???
 
I want someone to get this and then let me know if it's worth it.
I have so many pictures on my phone and I'm one of the worlds worst about taking pictures and never sharing them or even printing them.  This makes it look so easy!
 
I found this little item on pinterest and thought it was pretty and unique.  Perfect idea for someone who loves monogramming.
 
With all of this I've said, I hope we all remember the true reason for the season.  And first and foremost celebrate His birthday and pray for health and happiness for our friends and family.  It is still so much fun to have a wish list of our own.  Even if our Dad's don't approve of a puppy! That was for you Bryan.
 
 
 
 

Sunday, December 2, 2012

What's Going on in Our World Part II

Me and Scott are so proud to introduce
Wesley Kay Hines
.......isn't she beautiful?!?  Of course she's come a long way from this picture.  This first ultrasound debut was at 10 weeks.
And then here she is at about 25 weeks
 
 
 Look at those cheeks!  That's a lot of what I've been doing lately and Scott has been working so hard at building our house and hunting deer.  Sorry that my pictures of pictures are blurry but we can't wait to share more that will be better quality soon.  Wesley's tentative birthday is Jan 27.  That's 8 weeks away folks!!  So many fun and exciting things between now and then, I think time will fly!
Meanwhile, I'm busy building a baby registry, picking out baby furniture and creating a temporary nursery while her permanent nursery is being finished.
 So far she has a beautiful crib (pictures soon), dresser/changing table and the rocker Mom and Dad used with me and Bryan.  Oh, and a few of my old dresses Mom kept for me to use for her one day:).
It's all very exciting!!!!




Sunday, November 25, 2012

What's going on in our world. Part 1

Look at what we've been doing the past few months! Scott has been working so hard on our new house. He's my most favorite contractor ever! I am so proud of how it's coming along!

The land clearing began in May although Dad helped us begin cleaning up the land last January.


Moving on to July.  Look close.  I am standing where our front door will eventually be. 
Here we are with studs in August.
This is a week or so ago.  It's a slow progression for us but I'm told we cannot rush perfection;)  They have actually started laying brick and will begin sheet rock inside next week.  Woo hoo! I can't wait to post a final picture some day.  We will have a lot more important things to post about between now and then if you know what I mean!  Stay tuned for "What's going on in our world, Part II."
 
And because I can't get enough of these two...here they are again.  Loving on each other as they usually do. 
Have a good week!!



Friday, November 23, 2012

Razorback Football.....

So maybe this season has been a little upsetting to say the least!  It's almost over.  But I'm still a hog fan and have decided to post some of my favorite game day pictures.



This is mine and Gams favorite part of Razorback football games.  We will never forget to cheer along with the band and cheerleaders at this 4th quarter tradition...even if they are clear across the field from us and everyone looks at us funny!
 
If you're not napping from black Friday shopping and you're still a hog fan, tune in today with kick off @1:30 on CBS.
WPS!!!!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is such a good day! I'm sitting here watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I am reminded how much I have to be thankful for everyday. I have wonderful family and friends, who I hope will enjoy my blog;) I would love to share recent pictures of some of the people I thank God for today if you don't mind!



First, this guy makes me smile everyday!  He has seen me through some tough days and nights lately.  Do you like his beard?  I do...sometimes:)
 

And this guy is the #1 Dad and Poppa!  I can't wait for him to become a Poppa again!

 
I grew up with this girl. To say we go way back is an understatement!  She is so good to me and I'm pretty sure we can read each others thoughts!
 
 
This group of people are all really special.  We have such great times together and I wouldn't trade any of them for anything!  Right in the center, is the best mother in law anyone could ever dream of having!  There are not enough words to express how grateful I am to have and have had such wonderful examples of motherly love!
 
So the last picture is as recent as I can find of my brother, Bryan, and sis in law, Kelly.  It was taken this summer on vacation at Myrtle Beach.  We all had a great time! These two people support me in more ways than they maybe realize.  Couldn't make it a day without them!
 
 
 
 
Thank you for reading this Thanksgiving Day post!  I love talking about the people I am most thankful to have in my life.  And how great is it that there are so many more?...and you each have such an impact in my life.  I love you all!!!
 
 
P.S.  You didn't think I'd finish this post without mentioning these two did you?    Just look at them.  How could you not thank God for them every day?  You brought so much joy to Mom's life and I can't say anything different for myself!