I scream, you scream

This baby looooooooves ice cream. I have to be careful with that. :) But it's soooooo yummy!!

10 weeks

Today is the 10 week mark for my pregnancy.  So I thought I would do a little update on how things are going.  :)  There's still 30 weeks to go, which seems like a lot at this moment!

Baby is the size of a: prune (or kumquat, depending on which pregnancy app I look at :))
Baby craves: lemonade and carbs
Mama craves: a nap!
Pregnancy symptoms: gagging, mucus production (I haven't blown my nose so much in my life), peeing at the slightest provocation, complete exhaustion
Baby bump: pre-pregnancy size (being fat to start takes some of the fun out of the bump watch :))
Mama worries: that things aren't progressing the way they should
Daddy: tells baby to behave so Mama can feel better and tells Mama not to worry that things are fine
Baby name ideas: Damon Michael Maradiaga; Kaylynn Maradiaga

My next doctor's appointment is March 3rd.  I'm ready to hear the heartbeat again and know everything is still looking good in there!  March 8th is the end of the first trimester.  I'm ready for that date as well!

In other news, the house had three showings yesterday!  And we already have two scheduled for tomorrow!  Keep your fingers crossed it sells soon and at a decent price!

Paranoia and Trust

I've got trust issues.  In all things.  And now it turns out I have major trust issues when it comes to my body and believing it can do this thing - building a person.  I feel like I need to be more actively involved.  Someone needs to give me a checklist that I can monitor and make sure each step gets completed on time and appropriately.  The days when I feel less sick are the days I worry the most.  I read an article that says that morning sickness is a good sign as it means that things are progressing as they should be and now I worry if I'm not feeling sick that means something is wrong.  And I don't like that I can't check in on the progress whenever I want and make sure things are going the way they are supposed to.  Heart developed four chambers - check.  Fingers and toes beginning to separate - check.  Ears moving towards the right placement - check.  I need to be able to see that these things are happening!  The first two to six weeks after conception I had terrible cramps.  I went to the doctor and she checked everything out and said the cramps were normal, just things stretching and getting ready to start making a person.  As the cramps started tampering off, the morning sickness ramped up.  The last few days I haven't felt all that terrible.  Still some nausea, but not nearly what I was having and almost no gagging during the day (which was so nice to have happen at work, let me tell you).  I still feel off, but it's been nice not to throw up every morning.  Except now I'm stressing myself out that something might not be right because I should still feel sick for at least another two and a half weeks, right?? 

I now fully understand why some women rent fetal doppler monitors so they can listen to the heart beat whenever they want.  It would be nice to hear it, even for just a few seconds, to know that he's in there and things really are moving forward as they should.  I don't trust mother nature.  She brings tornadoes and hurricanes and all sorts of craziness.  I really should be given control over this process.  That's not that much to ask.  :)

I'm not really that worked up about this, so no worries.  :)  It just seems like a very reasonable thing to be more involved in this making a baby business.  I don't like just being an incubator!  I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something really important that needs to get done to make sure this process goes off without a hitch.  Maybe once I really start feeling better and I can eat right and exercise more I'll feel like I'm helping.  Right now I'm just trying to get through each day without having to leave work early.  :)

Special Delivery (aka Big Change)

Surprise!! Because we like to do nothing easily, I ended up coming home from my holiday trip with a little something extra. :) We're very excited, but this obviously changes things again. We're now planning on moving mid-May and we have a trip planned the last week of March to house hunt and for me to interview. My due date is September 20th. 

I have a new appreciation for moms everywhere. I'm a terrible sick person normally, and this hasn't been any easier. :) But I try to remember that we'll have a cute little baby at the end of all of this to help me get through the exhaustion, nausea, vomiting, etc, etc. That mostly works. :)

We are very excited to meet our little one in 7 months. 

It's just stuff

I've been thinking about this post now for months, but I just can't seem to get the words to come out right.  So I'll just summarize - while I know things are just things and they aren't the most important part of life, I'm still sad about giving them away as so much of what I have was once given to me by someone else and is a sign of how much that person cares about me.  And I just wanted to say thank you again, to everyone who has ever given me something, for the physical thing that you gave me, but also for the thought and feeling that went into the gift.  Unfortunately, I am not able to keep most of my things with this move, so it's likely that what you gave me in the past is going to be donated and someone else will be using it soon.  But as I go through my things and create piles of what to keep and what to give away, I want you to know that I am trying to remember where things came from and who gave me what and to think on those memories one last time before the item is gone from my life forever.  I'm not perfect at it - I know there are probably lots of things that I don't remember their origins (because, I have to admit, I have A LOT of stuff!) - but I am trying.  And I am very blessed to be in a position where so many of my things were gifts from others, not only because of the material things but also because that shows how many people I have in my life who care about me.  And as I get ready to embark on this move to a foreign country, it is so nice to know that even though you all won't be physically close to me, I have all of you behind me, supporting Davie and I throughout this process.  Thank you.

Change #1

I probably could have titled this "Change #582", but I figured I would just start the numbering over again and go from the latest plan versus the very first plan Davie and I had back in the beginning of all this. :)

So, anyway, what I'm leading up to here is that we've already made a change from the plan I posted to the blog on Monday. Surprise! :) I am sure there are many more changes to come, but hopefully no others along this line. 

We moved the timing back four months. There were a lot of reasons that ultimately led to the decision to take more time to make the move happen. And while we are both so ready to be together again, I think we also both feel better with this plan and giving ourselves time to breath during the move process. :) 

Work is being awesome (they were actually the ones who asked me to consider pushing the move back to July) and I talked with the CFO for a long time today about everything. Turns out that he's not only a proponent of "open borders" (his phrase, not mine), he also knows the Chief of Staff for the OK Congressman and he said he would email the guy and see if the Congressman would be at all interested in hearing our story. Nice to have an insider working for us!! And, his dad knows the Senators, so if the Congressman isn't interested, maybe his dad can get the Senators on board! I'm glad I don't have to cold-call them now. Having someone to introduce us is way better!! 

I also spoke with the Treasurer today and she said she might be interested in buying the house for her son....with furniture!! 

Needless to say, it was a very good day. :)

I haven't quite figured out exact dates yet in July. I just know it'll be after July 23rd. But once I know, I'll let you know!!

Thanks for keeping up with us on this wild ride!!

75 days

I'm sorry I haven't posted at all about my recent holidays in Nicaragua.  I have written posts in my head and then never gotten around to actually typing them out and posting them.  :)  It's all been just so surreal and time seems to be flying.  But in a good way, I promise!  :)

Nicaragua was great.  In some ways it was the best trip yet, and it others it was awful.  :)  But that seems to be the way it goes.  The awful parts were really mostly just because I was sick a fair amount of the time.  I went with the beginnings of a head cold and then ended up with the stomach flu, which was not fun at all.  Let me just say, the stomach flu, with an outhouse, and in-laws who watch every move you make, is so not a comfortable way to spend Christmas Eve!  :)  But it was great having Davie with me while I was sick.  Had I been at home in Tulsa, I would have been on my own, and I'm a terrible sick person!  Davie was great about taking care of me and getting me anything he could to make me feel better.  After last December / January when I was there and came home dehydrated, I was very careful to be sure to get as many fluids as I could.  And while there aren't as many options in Nicaragua as there are here, Eduardo always came back with something that would help.  (Eduardo was sent to the house down the road with a little store to get me anything I asked for - Sprite (which ended up being Fresca), Gatorade, water, club soda (which I had hoped would be ginger ale, but wasn't - I don't actually know if club soda helps a sick stomach or not, but Davie seemed to think it would!) - poor Eduardo, I don't think he really liked going on errands all the time, but he did with little complaint.)  And Davie went to town twice to get me medicine.  Which I'm sure was just because he wanted me to feel better and not at all because he looks for any excuse he can find to go to town since otherwise there's nothing to do but sit around the house all day!  ;)

Most of what I felt the whole trip, though, was content.  It was surprising, given the circumstances and the lack of comforts of home, but I was really able to appreciate the beauty of the area and relax and just not think about anything stressful as much as possible.  (Even with the ice damage at the house that took out the electricity - not being in the country meant there really wasn't much I could do to help things and my house sitter ended up being great and, with Mom and Mandy's help, got the power back on in no time.)  I realized before I left that I was actually really excited about this trip, for the first time over the past year.  And that all was because I knew that this time when I left Davie, I would be seeing him again soon and for good that time.  The move is scary and overwhelming, but we're also so looking forward to being together again that all of the stressful parts don't seem as bad.  Of course, that's easy to say now, when I'm still 75 days out.  I imagine I'll be a little more stressed out as the deadline approaches.  :)

Which leads me to an update on "the plan".  (Keep in mind, all of these plans are subject to change and very likely will be substantially different from what we end up doing, but this is what we're thinking as of right now.)  Our current thought is that Davie will head to Costa Rica around March 2nd to start looking for a house for us.  He has a cousin that lives there who has said he can stay with him while he is house hunting, so that will be nice.  We talked about housing options when we were in Costa Rica and spent some time while we were in Managua the 31st - 2nd looking at houses on line, so Davie has an idea of what we (or should I say I? :)) want.  I definitely trust him to find us a good place to live, but I do think we both would love to be able to house hunt together.  I love looking at houses, and it would be great to make this decision together, but it just really doesn't work timing-wise.  Since I'll be bringing the pets with me, it makes the most sense for us to have a home to go to when we land, not be in some temporary situation for weeks before we move to a more permanent place.  So, it will work best for Davie to find us a place.  At least for the first year, and then once we know more about the area, we can always move after a year.  (All the lease options we saw were for a year and the realtor we spoke with when we were there over Thanksgiving said the typical lease term is a year, so I think that's what we'll end up having to do.)  I'm tentatively considering having us buy something after the first year, but we'll just have to see how that goes. 

Moving on.  AAON will file their 10-K around March 14th, so my thought is to stay on another few days to wrap things up, with my last day then being around March 18th or so.  Then take a day or two to do any last minute things in Tulsa before heading out on a road trip with the animals to Houston.  (This is where I will ask my family for lots and lots and lots of favors.  :))  Since the pets are going with, I tried to think of the best way to get them to Costa Rica with as little time spent on a plane / in an airport as possible.  Since Houston has the most direct flight, with no layovers and United flies out of there direct (I could only find direct flights on American out of Dallas and a friend of mine who just moved her two cats to Rome said her research showed that United was the best with moving pets overseas), driving to Houston seemed like the best plan.  And, that means I can spend a night or two or so in Dallas and College Station, visiting family before I head out (seeing where the favors come in? :)).  Then I'll fly with the fur kids to Costa Rica on March 23rd.  75 days from now.  Which in some ways sounds like a lot of days and in others sounds like none at all!

I did tell my boss on Friday about the move.  Being my close friend who has been with me throughout this whole last year, she wasn't surprised and was supportive, which was nice.  We didn't talk last days, but I told her I would stay through the K filing.  The lawyer does have on last ditch effort he wants to try, but I don't think anything with come from it.  But we're going to try it anyway, just because we should try everything.  I also am going to make an appointment to talk with a congressman / senator to tell them our story.  The lawyer said that Davie and my story wasn't "compelling" enough for a congressman / senator to take interest, but it's worth a shot!  Mostly though, I'm just going to start working on getting things ready for the move.  Because I do think that's where we're going to end up.  And I've accepted that.  More than that, I'm looking forward to it.  Living in Costa Rica won't be like what I pictured Davie and my life, but I think that will be a good thing, not a bad thing.  We'll be able to do all sorts of things together there that will be different from what we would do here.  It'll be fun and an adventure.  But best of all, we'll be together.  Which is all we both want right now. 

I've been applying for jobs.  There are lots of options, but most of what I've found are looking to pay less than what I need / want / am qualified for.  It's possible we might have to make the move before I find a good job, but we'll just have to play that by ear.  I'm trying to save as much as I can before the move, and we'll find ways to make it work if we have to move before I have a job.  I'm sure I should probably be worried about that, but I'm really not.  :)  We'll figure it out and I know I'll find something before too long (and Davie too, of course). 

I've got someone interested in the car, who is fine with waiting until March to actually take possession of the car.  Now I need to finish getting the house ready so it can officially go on the market!  There's a lot to go through and I'm at the beginning of busy season for work.  If nothing else, the next 75 days promise to be busy!