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I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was great (other than the boys being sick). I will give a full update with pictures soon. For the next few days I may be MIA as we are moving into the house. Will post again ASAP once things settle a little.

Update

I am such a bad blog mommy. Sorry for the lack of updates. My mom was here early in the week and then we were just enjoying some Kid-Free time!
The biggest news right now is that we found out on Tuesday that we are expecting ANOTHER little boy! We are thrilled and he looks good and healthy. I will have another scan Jan 10th and will know more then.
We are getting ready to leave for Lubbock for Christmas. The boys went back with my mom on Wednesday. We will be there until early next week and then we will be busy bees moving into our new house. Jason and I exchanged our gifts last night. I will post a picture of what he got me. IT IS FREAKING GORGEOUS!!!!! Such a wonderful hubby!
Merry Christmas to you all and have a WONDERFUL time with your families!

Ring

Merry Christmas to me from my hubby. I said, "Holy Sh@*" when I opened it!!!!

Hush

This was taken from this website....thought it was great!

One night a family with multiple children was noisily chattering away at the dinner table when the youngest, a four-year-old, stood up on his chair and shouted, "Pass the butter!" His parents sat in stunned silence for a moment and then sent the young, ill-mannered child to his room. The father of the family later told his noisy bunch that he had sound recorded the evening meal. On playback a quiet voice was heard asking, "Please pass the butter." A few moments later the voice called out a little louder, "Could someone PLEASE pass the butter." A few moments later there was the thundering shout everyone remembered from the meal, "Pass the butter!" Often it isn't that God didn't tell us something, it is that we weren't listening. Maybe there was too much noise and activity to recognize the still small voice of God speaking to our hearts. The story of the angelic visit to the Bethlehem Shepherds bids us consider why they were chosen to hear the announcement of the Savior's birth. Could it be at least in part that they would listen? The shepherds led a quiet life; being around sheep required peaceful conduct. The shepherd's lives were not cluttered with "a thousand things to do." They were hushed enough to hear the angels and hushed enough to visit a newborn baby. Are you? Can you hear the Lord's voice over the noise of this Christmas? Take some time to hush your heart, turn off the TV and radio, go to a quiet place and listen for the Lord's voice.

Sound of Music

The Sound of Music is on TV right now. I LOVE this movie. Whenever I was younger and my dad would go out of town, my mom and I would watch this and Grease. I loved watching them with her. Off to watch my movie now!

Puppet Show

Don't really have much to say today. I am in a really sh*$@y mood so I will refrain from a proper post until I have gotten my hormones in control. I just wanted to say I took Brodie to the puppet show at the mall today. Collin Creek Mall over near us is doing this on Friday, Saturday and Sundays during the holidays. It was really cute and Brodie loved it. Pardon the "icky"-ness of the pictures, I took them with my phone.

Santa part 2

I just had to post another picture of the boys with Santa. Here they were telling Santa what they want for Christmas while I waited for them to finish up. They were so cute!

Aunt Kree

There is a reason that my family says that my Aunt Kristin (Kree) and I can't be taken anywhere together. We proved that point very well yesterday.

Kree and I usually get together once or twice a week and hang out. We usually go somewhere like the mall and let Brodie run loose and then have lunch together. Yesterday after we had gone to lunch (at Blue Goose...super yummy) we were driving back to the mall to pick up my car. I was telling Kree a very funny story. I wish I could share that story here, but I can't. Not only that, but I doubt it would translate as funny in type as in person. So as I am telling her the story, or trying to anyway, we both start laughing so much that we can't breathe. There are times when Kree laughs so hard she gags. Yes, people I do get my weirdness from somewhere. So Kree starts gagging....so of course, LaShawn and her weak gag reflex start up as well. We make it to the mall parking lot and then Kree has to stop and open the door. Oh yes, up came her taco and enchiladas from lunch. I tried to keep my ears plugged and I keep gagging. I throw up a tiny bit but it never actually makes it all the way out. Yes, isn't this a pretty story? So we calm down and I get in my car, get Brodie in and then we take off. I got stopped by a train and decided to find a mint in my car and as I am putting it in my mouth I can taste the "almost" throw up and have to pull over again. Yup, there went my enchiladas. The thing is....all the time through the throwing up...WE WERE STILL LAUGHING!!!! Oh we are sick twisted people. When I told Jason, he just said, "Oh, Ya'll are just weird". Yes, baby, yes we are!

Kree aren't you glad I shared???

Sleep Issues

Ok, so I have finally gotten over (MOST) of the nausea in this pregnancy. Now I have entered the realm of sleep issues. I can not get comfortable. The upside of this is that the baby seems like to move a lot in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. So it is funny to have no other distractions (other than the occasional snore from Jason) and be able to just giggle and poke the baby. It still would be nice to sleep well. It is about time to invest in some more pillows to get comfortable. *sigh* One week from tomorrow we get to see the munchkin on the sonogram....CAN'T WAIT!

Santa

We went and saw Santa today. The mall was INSANE, but we made it up to Santa without incident. The boys were so excited and both told him exactly what they wanted. This was a bit different than last year. Last year Brodie would not get near Santa...he made Austin get between him and Santa for the picture and would NOT tell him what he wanted. Finally grew out of it!!! Austin was so happy that the REAL Santa was there instead of one of the fake ones. He says it must be the real Santa cause his beard was real.

Cold Day

Austin's school was closed today due to weather, so we have been hold up at home. Brodie is about to go stir crazy, as am I. We will probably brave the cold and head out in a little while to the store. Otherwise it looks as though we will be staying home for most of the day. The wind chill was 2 degrees when I got up this morning and the roads were icy, so I am glad that the schools decided to remain closed. However, it is hard for the boys to stay home all day (Day #2 at home for Brodie) as they get bored quickly inside. They will live, as will I. I have a ton of packing and stuff to do, just don't know where to begin. I will probably be heading back to Lubbock a bit earlier than Jason for Christmas. Big Daddy (my grandfather) is having major surgery on the 22nd and I would like to be there. So right now we are just trying to get everything ready for the move to the house and figure out just how we are going to get it all done. *sigh* Incoherent post I know. It is the cabin fever setting in. My stomach is not behaving today either, so I am off to make some butter noodles and see if that helps. Stay warm everyone!

Christmas List

Austin was busy at work this evening...writing his Christmas list for Santa. He wrote one for Brodie too since Brodie can't write. Such a good brother.

Christmas crazy

This is precisely why I get so frustrated during Christmas.....

Weekend Wrapup

We had a quiet yet great weekend. Saturday morning I got up and cooked breakfast for all of us. Jason and the boys then went to Home Depot to the Kids Workshop and to refrigerator shop. Along with other manly things I am sure. I went to Sam's and did our shopping in the meantime. We then went downtown and took some pictures for our Christmas cards. Then we had dinner at Carraba's. It was very yummy and I had the leftovers for lunch today. We went to church this morning. Our church looks so gorgeous decorated for Christmas. I will have to get a picture of it. It was breathtaking. Then we came home and had a nap. Exciting stuff there I tell ya. As I type this the dryer is going and the boys are outside playing. It is REALLY cold here today, but they needed to get out. Jason is braving the cold with them since I am still fighting off a sinus infection/cold. The munchkin has been moving more today...well I can feel him/her more today anyway. We have our ultrasound on Dec. 20th. I am hoping I can start say HER or HE soon. Hope you all had a great weekend.

The OB and the Cold

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been battling a cold since we got back from Lubbock. Speaking of Lubbock, check out the pretty sunset that Jason got a picture of while we were at my parents house out in the country. To see pictures of the trip..go here

I had my regular OB appointment yesterday. She immediately noticed that I had a cold and told me to go home and go to bed. Otherwise, the appointment went great. The baby's heartrate is 150 and very strong. Little Munchkin kept trying to move away from the Doppler. My uterus is the size that it should be, so all looks good. I will be having my next ultrasound the week before Christmas it looks like. Don't have an exact date, but we know it will be that week. I just hope that Munchkin is cooperative and let's us sneak a peak to see if we need to buy pink or blue. That would be a nice Christmas present for me. Our lives right now consist of getting ready to move after Christmas. Fun times. We are so excited to get into our house and to bring the dogs and to start painting and making the house our own. Hope everyone had a great holiday and are not battling colds like the boys and I are.

Austin's Four Wheeler

Austin FINALLY got his four-wheeler. I say finally because this four wheeler has been waiting on him since he was 6 months old. I have to say I was so proud of him. I expected him to be more timid on it, but he was blow and going in no time. He was even peeling around corners. It was great. So I am sure when his Uncle Lyndon gets here today there will be much "motorcycle" talk. Anyone who knows my family knows our history with Motocross. It is what we did for so many years that it is in our blood I think. Austin is definitely a Couch kid!!! Brodie thought it was really cool too. He can't wait to be big enough to drive by himself like Austin!

Lubbock Part 1

Hello from Lubbock. We got to Ralls Tuesday afternoon and got to spend some time with my nephew Cason. (As you can tell by my hair and face I was ready to be out of the car) This was the first time we got to see him outside of NICU. It was also the first time I got to hold him. And hold him I did!!! He is precious. The boys were just in awe of him. I think it got them more excited about "their" baby that is coming in May as well. I am posting some pictures of the Cason meeting. Love that baby! Mandy, I hope you guys had a great trip to Arizona!

We had Thanksgiving Day with Jason's family and it was wonderful. I got to meet some family members that I had not previously met. His family is a very warm family and I have never felt like an "outsider". It is unusual I think to have a close relationship with your in-laws shortly after marriage. I was blessed enough to truly get to know Lesa and Terry before the wedding. I will post a ton of pictures when I get back to Dallas.

Today we head out to Mom and Dad's to spend the rest of our time here. Since there are many for us elsewhere for Thanksgiving it will just be Mom, Dad, Lyndon, and us. But it will still be great. I love it out at their house. The boys love all their toys out there too. Their power wheels hummer and their tractor among the favorites. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Our bags are packed...our cats are fed...our car is gassed up. We are off to Lubbock for Thanksgiving. I will have a post of pictures when we return! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Be Safe!

Fishing

Jason took the boys fishing today. It was quite the adventure. Anyone who knows Jason knows that he is very much the guy's guy...Hunting, fishing and such. So it is important to him to teach them all that kind of guy stuff. There wasn't much biting...Well other than a duck. A duck decided to eat Austin's worm and in the process got hooked. I wish I would have gone to have gotten pictures of Jason chasing the duck around, pinning it to the ground and trying to get the hook out. He did eventually free the duck, but that would have been a sight!

craving

Current Craving of the Pregnant Lady:

Rosa's Taco Salad, no tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole. Side of Queso and chips.

OOOOO Look out Rosa's...LaShawn will be in Lubbock next week! Yummers!

ADD and Pregnancy

Everynight I lay in bed to go to sleep and my mind races....I think of a million things to write about and then when I get time during the day to sit down and write....NOTHING. Blank.

This is what happens when you have a pregnant woman with ADD. I am off my medication, obviously because of the pregnancy. This is a problem since when I am pregnant I get somewhat forgetful and airheaded anyway. It is hard to get my mind wrapped around tasks that need to be done. It is funny, it doesn't affect me with the boys. I still want to play with them and take Brodie out to play while Austin is at school. I am still able to do my bible study, which I had my last meeting of yesterday. It is just other things that get to me. My frustration level is through the roof and it is causing me to lash out at the nearest target at times. Which is totally unfair and makes me feel like a royal witch. Things could be worse. I had 24 years of no medication to build some coping skills. So it isn't like I am helpless about it, just frustrated that it is so hard. Maybe now that I am in the second trimester things will ease up brainwise.

On a lighter and incredibly happy note....I felt the munchkin move. I was laying on the bed when *pop*. I love that feeling. It happened during a very down moment for me. So it was even better. Like munchkin knew I needed a little hello. While I am showing it is still not truly noticeable. Since I lost quite a bit of weight before the pregnancy I can even still wear my normal jeans, though it is infinitely more comfortable to wear maternity clothes.

That is all for now. I really want to write about the Beth Moore study that I just finished. Right now I am needed to play pizza delivery guy with Brodie. He loves playing that suddenly.

Choir

Austin had a choir performance at church last night. He is part of the Bootcamp program at church. That is the same program in which I am in charge of the 1st graders. The show was really cute, with the older kids doing little skits and stuff. Austin had a good time, though he looked confused the whole time. I finally figured out it was because he was trying to squint through the lights to see us all. We of course got the show on video for everyone to see at Thanksgiving. Brodie during a very quiet time said, "HI AUSTIN! He sees us Mom." So funny. The people behind us thought it was funny too. Kristin and Christian came to the show as well. Austin was excited that people actually came to see him. He is very used to rehearsal where there is no audience. We were very proud of him.

We did skip church yesterday. I hate skipping church...I really do. Brodie woke up badly and threw up a few times and I have been battling some massive headaches, so Jason just suggested we all stay home. It was a good call as my headache only got worse as the day went on. The good news is that my nausea seems to have gone away. I won't say for sure yet, but I have not taken any Zofran in a few days. So that is good news. I have also stopped losing weight it looks like. Which normally would not be a good thing, but during pregnancy it is a VERY good thing. Not sure that I am gaining any yet, but I have until the 30th before my next OB appointment. Jason is being wonderful about the pregnancy CRAZINESS that has taken over this house. I am definitely moody, so he is a champ about it.

Hope everyone has a great week!!!

New Place

I took a few photos of the house we are going to be moving into around Christmas time. They are just of the outside. It is a really great house...the neighborhood is awesome. So here they are. Along with some pictures of Jason and the boys.

Glasses

This picture is for Mom so she can see my new glasses. I always forget about taking a picture until I look like poop...so poop it is.

On another note we have found a house....details later. Just know it is a good thing and we love it!

Hope you all have had a good week. Post more later to catch up!

Well, we had our last soccer game on Saturday. It went really well. The boys all had a fun season. Then Saturday afternoon the boys had a birthday party to go to. They had a blast and I have to admit it was nice to have some contact with other moms. It is hard when you are 25 and the mother of two boys...and another child on the way. Most women my age have no kids and are still extremely immature. Which at 25 is still expected. Then the people who do have kids the same age as mine are quite a bit older than me. So it is a catch 22. I am getting more comfortable with the age difference and am able to open up a bit more.

I have been feeling better with the Zofran. No more throwing up. Was pretty good the whole weekend, but am having a harder day today with the nausea. It is still better than it had been, so I am not complaining (much).

We looked at a house right down the street from Austin's school. We should know more maybe this week on if we are going to get in it or not. Be praying as we are getting to crunch time to get out of our apartment. (THANK GOD!)

This has been a totally random and very badly thought out post...sorry maybe my brain will be working better tomorrow.

Soccer Party

Last night was Austin's Pizza Party for his soccer team. They play their last game on Saturday. The party took place at Planet Pizza and all had a good time. Austin was very proud of his trophy.

Great News

Yesterday we got great news. We had our doctor's appointment. As soon as she put the doppler on my belly we heard the sweet heartbeat of our baby. My first thought was, "Thank you Jesus." I finally felt like I was able to breathe. I have still been struggling with morning sickness and fatigue. Wednesday I finally broke down about it. Luckily I have my wonderful Aunt Kree nearby. She came over and took over the house. She did all the dishes, cleaned out the fridge, did laundry, cleaned bathrooms and cleaned the boys rooms. Love her incredibly. It helped me so much. When they weighed me yesterday I dropped another 3 lbs. since last Tuesday. So that was not good...that means I have lost over 6 lbs since this all started. Finally, I am losing and it is not a good thing...drat! They gave me some meds finally to combat the sickness. YAY! Hopefully things will start to get better now. My stress level is down now BIG TIME, so it can only get better. I am showing pretty good now too...I can see people looking at my belly and you can tell they want to ask when I am due, but they are scared that I might not be preggers. I will be happy when it is REALLY obvious that I have a baby in there and not look like I might have just been hitting the beers a little too much.

Halloween

Well the boys had a wonderful Halloween. Due to cold, windy weather we decided to go out to the Grapvine Mills Mall and do our trick or treating there. It was awesome as we got to meet up with Brad, Shana and Bishop. It is the first time since I have moved here that we have met up, which is just totally unacceptable. Jason had to work late, so Aunt Kree accompanied the boys and I. Jason was sad he missed it. Especially since he realized when he got home that he didn't have his keys (he walks to work, as it is across the street). I was all the way inGrapvine, which is like 45 mins from where we live. So, he climbed up to our balcony, on the second floor, and got in. Silly! After we did the trick or treating we all went to the Rainforest Cafe in the mall and had dinner. Kids in costumes ate free, so that was a bonus. It was so good to see you Shana! We really must not let 3 more months go by before we get together again.

My nephew is home and doing well....go to my sister-in-law's site to read about their day home!
Cookie For Me?

Moving back

Well, I always said that my move over to AOL Journals would be temporary. AOL is really easy to post with, but you can not do much as far as how your site looks. You can basically change your colors that is about it. So, after doodling around for a while, I designed this new site. To be fair, I didn't code the whole thing myself...I just modified it to fit me more. So I am back at Blogger. I was with Blogger for over two years, so it is nice to be back. Hopefully it will prove to be a good move.

As far as what all has been going on around here:


Wednesday night we went to Fall Festival at our church. It was a blast and the boys were VERY tired by the end of the night. You can see the pictures at Our Pictures site (link on the right.) Thursday we had soccer practice and the team got their pictures taken (also on the pictures site). We are very anxiously waiting on our doctor's appointment on Thursday. As some of you know we went to the doctor on October 25 and the doctor was unable to find a heartbeat. While we were assured that this was normal for being barely under 12 weeks, it freaked me out. October 22nd was the 7 year anniversary of when I had my D&C and lost my first pregnancy. I still mourn that baby and it hit a little close to home. When I lost that baby I was 12 weeks along and no heartbeat was ever found. I know in my head and rationally that everything is fine. If it weren't I would not still be getting morning sickness and my stomach would not have started truly popping out this week. And boy am I popping out now. HA! So, we will go Thursday and try again for the heartbeat. All will be well, but prayers are always helpful.

We could also use some prayers in our decision making on housing. We are most definitely going to be moving, but we have yet to make the decision on if we will buy or rent. Renting was originally our plan for now, but now we are leaning towards buying. If we buy, we will buy in the Wylie area, as that is where we would eventually like to end up. We love the area we live in now, but can not afford the kind of house we want over here due to the Country Club nearby. Where in Wylie, we can afford a gorgeous house and they have fantastic schools. I will only move Austin out of Alderidge if we buy. Otherwise we are going to rent within the Aldridge zone. There is a problem there to as the zone for Aldridge is tiny and hard to stay in. So we just need some prayers on what is best for our family.

The best news of today is that my nephew, Cason Lane, after 6 weeks in NICU, gets to go home with his Mommy and Daddy today. To them, I love you guys insanely!!!