A long time coming

Well. I failed. I said I'd post more often. But I haven't posted since around Christmas. With that said, I have a lot to catch you up on so I'll type like the wind...until I start to feel sick.

As you saw, Christmas was very nice and very pleasant. We had a good time and a nice day hanging together as a family. I had off work that day, which is good because I asked off and if they had scheduled me, I would not have gone in.

The next big event in our lives was having my in-laws come out so that Mike and I could go up north. I was so tired, cranky, and not feeling well that I wasn't exactly...wonderful. I didn't realize I was being such a jerk, either, which makes it even worse. But my in-laws were thankfully not subjected to me for too long of a period of time before Mike and I went up north where we spend every New Years that we can with a group of our friends who also leave their kids behind.

Mike and I decided to go up a night early and spend an extra night at the Black Bear casino and Jeri and Wes decided to come up with us. As luck would have it, our rooms were just a couple of doors down from theirs (and when Rick and Lynne arrived, they were next door). We spent the first night consuming quite a volume of our contraband liquor and just hanging out together. We spent a little time in the casino but none of us are particularly large gamblers so we actually just preferred hanging out in our room.

The next night is when Rick and Lynne came up and we were hoping to see Patti and Bob, too. Unfortunately, due to unseen circumstances, they weren't able to come up at all, which was a major bummer. But that night Rick was ready to drink with us and the four of us were very meh. The first night I was able to drink easily but that second night, the thought of alcohol made me queasy. I wasn't sick or hungover but the drinking didn't appeal to me.

Then the next day we headed up to the cabin. There was drama involved there. Rick drives really fast. Mike drives somewhat fast. Wes does not drive fast. So for the three cars to stick together to get to the cabin was optimistic, to say the least. We got separated. And Jeri was, uh, angry. We'll stick with angry. Mike and I kept driving back and forth trying to find them when on the second attempt, we get to the cabin, find Jeri and Wes there but Rick is gone. After that drama, it was fine. We had a great time, although we really did miss having Bob and Patti there. The cabin would have been perfect but for the absence of a washing machine we were allowed to use. There was a nice fireplace and every single night we could see deer walking right outside our window. It was very very cold and I had intended to go for a walk with Mike along the lake but I just don't do cold.

The one thing that I wish is that I had had more energy. I just felt sooo tired and wiped out during the entire trip. I got more than plenty of sleep but I just never felt rested and I had a nagging bit of nausea which I couldn't place. I chalked it up to the drinking I did the first night and just let it go.

When we got home, we were happy to see the kids and the kids were happy to see us. Unfortunately, we were a bit rude and didn't really say much to Mike's parents. We were just so wiped out when we got home. I won't go into it, but things just went downhill. I still feel terribly.

Then about three weeks ago, I told Mike that I was still feeling slightly nauseous and I didn't know what it was about. He joked that I might be pregnant and I just laughed it off. Well, that Friday I bought a couple of pregnancy tests. I knew that they were going to be negative because I have an IUD. Well, apparently I know nothing. I AM pregnant and my IUD is gone. We had an ultrasound already and we saw the baby's heartbeat and everything looks good so far. We're keeping an eye because there is what is essentially a blood clot near the baby on my uterine wall. As long as it stays the same or gets smaller (preferrably), everything is good.

Katie and Jack are both just over the moon right now. Katie feels that it is her right to name this baby. She keeps saying that it's her baby and she gets to name it! Jack is being super ridiculously affectionate and cuddly. Of course, he affection and cuddles involve A LOT of elbows and knees to the most sensitive spots of my body but at least he isn't intentionally hurting me.

And that's about it for now. As of today, I am 9 weeks and 3 days along. More when there's more to report. :)