Just Say Yes . . .

August 22, 2008 at 1:47 pm (The Abundant Life)

To drugs.  I do.  I had to. 

You might have noticed (I hope you did!) that I have been absent lately.  I’ve been spending my quality time either in agony on the couch or in the bathroom relinquishing any and all food that I have attempted to keep down.  Fun stuff.

Yesterday was my 2nd doctor appointment which also included an ultrasound to determine the due date of this kiddo.  I went in with a plan.  Beg doctor for anti-nausea medication.  If doctor hesitates, become hostile if necessary.  You see friends, my sanity was on the line.  As you may already know, I do not have a high threshold for pain or discomfort, and stomach pain/nausea is the worst.   I really believe that it can and has driven people crazy! 

I felt like I was getting to that point.  I was afraid to eat or drink anything because I didn’t want to suffer the consequences.  Hence, the plan.

I was so excited about my doctor’s appointment that I arrived 30 minutes early.  I told on myself as I checked in.  When the receptionist saw how early I was she said, ” Uh, wow.  Yeah, you are really early!”  I blamed it on the “pregnant brain” knowing full well that wasn’t true at all.  I know that appointment times don’t matter one bit at the doctor’s office, but I thought I might appease them by arriving super early.  I was right!  Since I was so early and the office was empty, they went ahead and did my ultrasound. 

I will post pics of the peanut later.  I am 8.5 weeks along, due March 29th.  I have to tell you, hearing that baby’s heartbeat was golden!  I needed to hear that and to see that teeny, tiny little baby in there.  It really put things into perspective since I have been feeling pretty sorry for myself lately. 

After the ultrasound, I regrouped to execute “the plan”.  Turns out I didn’t need the plan at all.  My doctor is awesome.  After calmly explaining that I felt like crap and couldn’t function, he promptly wrote me a prescription for the good stuff.  Good man!

So here I am this morning feeling like me again.  It’s glorious!  For now, I need to go and catch up on 2 weeks worth of writing and houework.  Yikes!

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The Crystal Z Variety Hour

August 15, 2008 at 4:58 pm (Uncategorized)

Due to all the late night Olympic watching and bouts of sickness, the days have completely run together this week.  I have so much to do and not nearly enough time.  I don’t even have any great stories to share with you all.

However, I do have randomness aplenty. Enjoy.

  • On my quest to conquer the morning sickness sans drugs I took the advice of a good friend who has weathered these same stormy seas twice and bought Sea Bands.  I read a clinical trial where Sea Bands were used with pregnant women and 75% reported that the bands were effective.  75% is pretty good in my opinion.  They are not at all stylish.  In fact they look at little old lady/Napoleon dynamiteish.  The verdict?  Jury’s still out.  They work by acupressure, which I have no experience with, and I need to make sure I have them positioned correctly.  I don’t feel like death at the moment; so that’s a start.
  • Remember my post where I mentioned eating chorizo and feeling good about it?  Ha.  Silly, silly girl.  I was so incredibly sick the entire next day that I barely got off the couch.  Never, ever again.
  • We love the Red Box at McDonald’s.  If you’re disciplined enough to return the movie on time, you can get a new release for only a $1.  However, if you got to the Red Boxwebsite you can get a free rental by registering.  Since registering, I signed up to get a text message every Mon and Wed with a code for a free rental!  How cool is that?  We got Nim’s Island on Wed.  Loved it.  Very cute movie with a great storyline.
  • Maternity clothes.  Love em’.  It’s not that I am showing so much already, although I am a little, it’s just that any pressure on the stomach area just makes the nausea worse.  The maternity clothes have been an absolute lifesaver.  Honestly, I’d wear stretchy pants every day for the rest of my lfie if I could get away with it.  I can’t believe I just admitted that to the whole free world – oh well.
  • The micro-fleece changing pad covers.  I know I said they were a dumb idea (and I still maintain that a pink one isn’t a great idea) but a few friends swear by the things and say they wash extremely well.  Plus they come in colors like brown.  So, if you come over and I have one . . . don’t make fun!

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Want Some Cheese With That Whine?

August 12, 2008 at 1:25 pm (A Penny for my thoughts)
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I realized this morning that even my facebook status is whiny.  Sigh.  I know that this too shall pass, but when you’re in the middle of a torrent of nauseated suffering, it feels like it will never end.  It doesn’t help that my mother quips, “Well I threw up all 9 months – with all 3 of you.”  Really, mom?  Why put yourself through that 3 times?  I love my mommy, but she is a glutton for punishment, and apparently so am I.  I walked this road with Jonah, except I remember it being worse.  I try to tell myself that so I feel a little encouraged to do more than sleep all day which is impossible since I’m at home with Jonah.  Thank you Lord for a child who can entertain himself!

So back to motherly musings, my mother-in-law says, “Crackers and milk.  Crackers and milk . . . and you should have had twins!”  I love the mamas in my life, but where’s the love?

Yesterday was the worst yet. I was on the couch literally all day.  Today is better. While I cannot seem to rid my mouth of that icky taste, I can at least function somewhat normally. I might even venture outside later on!

Again, kudos to Jason the kind for bringing me egg drop soup, 7 up, and Bubblelicious, for putting up with my whining/groaning/moaning, and for being a semi-single-working parent while I struggle through this yuckiness.

On a brighter note, I got news that one of my best friends is preggo too.  Unfortunately, she is 750 miles away in Tennessee!  I miss her!  Still, this confirms my suspicion that the entire continent is pregnant right now.

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Weekend Wrap-Up

August 11, 2008 at 2:00 am (Uncategorized)
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So it’s the end to another weekend.  It’s been a good one . . . sort of productive.  To wrap up the week(end) here are some random thoughts for your reading enjoyment:

  • I bought a jar of Vlasic baby dills on Friday afternoon.  They’re gone.  That’s right; I ate them all – pretty much by myself.  Hey, they’re a vegetable.  Jonah had a couple, and actually liked them.  When he realized the pickle jar was empty last night his response was, “Mama!  You and the baby ate all the pickles!  That’s not nice!  You can’t eat all the pickles?!”  Wanna bet? :)
  • Watching the Olympic girls gymnastics is very tense for me.  I get so nervous for them.  I love their coach Marta Karoli because she seems so encouraging with all of her kisses and hugs.  Like a gymnastic grandma.
  • I ate chorizo for dinner and my stomach feels fine.  I don’t get how I can get queasy from a green bean but can handle ultra spicy chorizo.  My kid is a hot tamale!
  • Just for fun, we went to some baby stores to look at baby “stuff” this weekend.  The verdict?  I refuse to spend more on a crib than a freaking living room set or a king size bed.  I mean, really?  And micro-fleece plush changing table covers?  You clean off poop there.  Poop.  Do poop and pink micro fleece mix?  Nope, they sure don’t.  Also, $300 for crib bedding which every pediatrician and baby magazine on the planet says is a suffocation hazard?!  I just don’t get it.  Sorry to sound like a negative Nelly, but I felt a little insulted that these stores would charge such ridiculous prices on baby stuff.  No thanks; I’ll stick with Target and Craigslist.
  • My husband rocks.  He’s rubbed my feet, gotten me ice cream, held my purse while I ran to the bathroom for the umpteenth time, and smiled all the while.  He knows how to take care of a preggo all right.  :)

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Ni Hao!

August 9, 2008 at 3:13 am (A Penny for my thoughts)
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It’s 9:53pm, and I’ve been watching the Olympic opening ceremonies since 6:30.  My current pregnant state has sent me running to the restroom during every commercial break; I don’t want to miss a minute of it! 

My favorite part is the presentation of the athletes.  I wish with all my being that I was there, that Jonah was there with me to literally see peoples from all over the world pass before our eyes.  It’s so beautiful to me – an awesome testament to God’s creativity in His creation. 

While there has been a great deal of controversy with China hosting the 2008 games, which I understand, I am still so excited for them.  I became a little obsessed with Chinese culture while in college.  While serving as the missions leader at the BSU I did some research on the famous Baptist missionary, Lottie Moon and became entranced with the Chinese culture and their history.

From that point on I became an immense fan of Amy Tan and was delighted to work in a great little Chinese restaurant in Chickasha – China Moon.  If you ever go through there, you must stop.  It’s fantastic!  Don’t bother with the buffet.  They have a great menu, and very inexpensive too.  The chef, Jimmy, is a white guy but very well trained in Chinese cuisine.  He and his wife were some of the best bosses I had.  Okay, sorry for the sidebar there.  I love good Chinese food.

The summer before I married Jason I went on a 10 week mission trip to Alberta, Canada where I spent the summer hanging out with international students from China, Korea, and Sudan.  But mostly Chinese.  I taught Sunday school to 3rd graders in a Chinese church and did a Sunday night program at a Sudanese church.  These two people groups became deeply engraved on my heart.

With the Chinese, I had never met people with such an incredible sense of honor, respect, and hospitality.  Many of the families we visited lived in tiny apartment with little to no furniture.  Yet if they had one chair, you as their guest would be sitting in it.  I came home more in love with China than ever. 

So it looks like the last of the athletes are coming into the stadium which is good because I’m getting a little sleepy.  I am looking forward to finally having something to watch on TV for the next couple of weeks.  The Olympics really are about the only sports I enjoy watching.  Happy cheering!

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Bad Monkey Geroge

August 7, 2008 at 1:49 pm (Uncategorized)
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I was drowsily watching Curious George on PBS this morning with Jonah when I realized that I was starting to feel . . . annoyed.  You see, sweet little George was experiencing a dilemma that we know all too well in our household.  With the prolonged daylight of summer, Jonah has a difficult time going to sleep at his regular bed time.  George was having an equally difficult time.

One friend suggested that I move his bed time, but I really don’t think that would solve anything.  Jonah is an early riser who wakes up at 6am no matter what time he goes to bed.  A later bed time only means a tired, grouchy Jonah the next day for which I have less patience for lately. 

Well George decided he would turn the clocks back, unknown to the man with the yellow hat, making them late for everything.  So I’m watching this little drama unfold and I find my self thinking, “That George needs a good spanking!” I was genuinely annoyed.

It must be the hormones!

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Read All About It!

August 5, 2008 at 5:54 pm (A Penny for my thoughts)
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I took this idea from Mandy’s blog who borrowed it from someone else . . . I basically reaffirmed that I already knew to be true – I am a nerd.  I’m cool with that. :)

“I am not exactly sure what this list is, but it has something to do with the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read program, though I couldn’t find this list on their website to verify that claim. I stole it from CJ. Apparently the NEA estimates that the average adult has only read six of these books. At least, that is the statistic that is bandied about the internet. So, basically, this is a random unverified list with a random unverified statistic attached to it. But let’s see how I do anyway, shall we? (Hint: more than six.)”

Here’s how it works:

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Mark in red the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your blog

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte.
Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The Bible (working on it!)
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare (I read most of it in my Shakespeare course in college – not finished though)
Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch – George Eliot
Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
Bleak House – Charles Dickens
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy  ( I tried to read this in high school – twice.  Never could do it)
The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
Emma – Jane Austen
Persuasion – Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
Animal Farm – George Orwell
The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
  Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Atonement – Ian McEwan
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Dune – Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
On The Road – Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick – Herman Melville: I believe I was forced to read this for school.  It was not fun, so I can’t remember any of it.
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
Dracula – Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
Germinal – Emile Zola
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession – AS Byatt
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert ( I always hated the name of this book – made me think of ovaries)
A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte’s Web – EB White
The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan                                                                                 The Faraway Tree Collection
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
Watership Down – Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers
Hamlet – William Shakespeare

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
Les Miserables – Victor Hugo **** FAVORITE**** 

One Hundred Years of Solitude

 A Prayer for Owen Meany                                                                                                                          Woman in White – Wilkie Collins

And as if this list isn’t long enough, here are some I really think should have been included:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, East of Eden, Chocolat, Where the Red Fern Grows, Summer of the Monkeys, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

4 Comments

Morning Sickness Musings

August 4, 2008 at 2:01 pm (Uncategorized)

Ugh.  I feel gross.  The nausea is unrelenting this morning.  I need something besides cleaning to take my mind off of the roller derby going on inside, so I am attempting to blog.  We’ll see how this goes . . .

So speaking of cleaning, we did some deep cleaning yesterday after church and a much deserved nap.  We scrubbed, vacuumed places that haven’t seen a vacuum in a long time, mopped, and dusted.  I started to wonder again as to what clues I must have missed that might have given me a clue that I was expecting.  Yes!  The cleaning!  About 2 weeks ago, I felt a sudden urge to organize.  If you know me very well at all, this just doesn’t come about naturally at home.  While I don’t love clutter – I can live with it.  I know where everything is.  Yet I felt a deep desire to take all of our clothes out of the drawers and toss out stuff we don’t wear, match socks, and refold t-shirts.  Yeah, that should have been a clue.  If I’m this freaky about cleaning now, what’s going to happen right before Z #2 comes along?  Scary.

My friend Liz gave us free tickets to see the Redhawks last Friday night. Jonah has been dying to go to a “weal baseball game” as he calls it, and since this awful heat has all but turned us into hermits, we knew we needed to go.  So as 6pm rolled around and the temp dropped from an ungodly 106 to a balmy 98, we set out for the game.  Thankfully, our seats were in a shaded area, so the heat wasn’t too bad.  Then I made the mistake of looking up only to notice a pigeon precariously perched right above us with it’s hind quarters strategically aimed right over our heads.  Not cool!  I tried to ignore the bird, to pray it away – it just sat there, and I swear he looked ready to drop a bomb.  So we moved to seats that weren’t ours and hoped no one would come kick us out.  I am happy to report that we enjoyed poop-free seats and a good game. (Redhawks kicked some Las Vegas booty!) 

Now, I am one of these moms who loves a good life lesson for my kid.  There’s just nothing like it.  No amount of nagging, metaphors, or stories can teach a child like a real life lesson can.  Case in point:  Jonah is at this age where he thinks he is BIG stuff.  He is constantly attempting to escape my grasp and run off to do as he pleases.  I have lectured, read books, sent him to time-out – all of it, but nothing seemed to be sinking in.  As we were leaving the ballpark on Friday night, Jason and I noticed a boy who looked to be about 7 or 8 years old standing near one of the gates in near hysteria.  When we asked him what was wrong, he choked out that he was lost and had no idea where mom and dad were.  Poor thing – I remember that feeling when I was a kid of sheer terror.  Some kids would think this was a grand opportunity to be free, but this kid was like me I guess – not so brave when out of the parental radar.  We took him to one of the gate guards who radioed the on-duty officer and thankfully, the kid remembered his dad’s cell phone number.  So Jason called dad and the office took the kid to a focal point to reunite with his parents, but all the while Jonah sat and watched this bigger boy cry. 

After we walked away, Jonah said, “Mommy, that boy was scared!”  I replied, “Yup, he was.  Do you know why?”  Jonah looked like he knew the answer but wasn’t about to admit it.  I said, “He ran away from his mommy and daddy.  He was lost.  He was really scared!  That is why I tell you to stay with me.”

Let’s just say he held my hand pretty tightly on the way to the car.

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The Accidental Family

August 1, 2008 at 8:00 pm (The Abundant Life)
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Well I’m here still trying to let this all sink in.  I did a phone interview with a bank manager in Tennessee who is 2 weeks away from delivering her second child.  There’s just something fun about talking to another pregnant woman.  We went from talking business to babies in about 10 seconds flat.  She said something I found to be really funny – and true! 

Many plan their children.  Not the Zaragozas.  We have an accidental family, although my dad says, “Honey, there are no accidents.”  Yeah, yeah.  My banking friend says, “You know it’s funny that even though we planned for this” or in my case, did not but we know what causes it ;) “when I saw that positive test – even for the second kid, I had this overwhelming feeling of, ‘Oh NO! What have we done?!’” 

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.  I know I will get past the stage of wondering what might have been as I had just begun to see a light at the end of the stay-at-home-mom tunnel.  I know I will begin to once again dream of tiny clothes and itty bitty hands and feet.  Then I am reminded that there will be diapers again.  Sheesh. 

For your reading enjoyement, here are a few funny quips over the past three days since becoming a family of almost 4.

“Mommy, I think I’ll make pancakes for the baby.  Babies like pancakes.”  – Jonah

“So are you going to get a mommy and me exercise tape this afternoon?” – Jason, to which my reply was an evil stare.

“I think it’s a girl baby, mama.  I want a stister.”  – Jonah

“Mama, how does the baby come out?,”  Jonah asks.  “Nope, we’re not going to talk about that Jonah.  I go to the hospital, and the doctor takes it out,” I reply.  “Oh, does it hurt?” he asks.  “Yes,”  I say.  “It hurts a lot.”

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