You Are Driving Me to the Crazy

Missed Friday's post...oh well. I spent most of the day at my parent's house swimming. Then Brian went to work a Casino Night (his co-teacher's side business), so I stayed and had dinner with my parents.

Saturday we headed out to Guadalupe State Park. We have been there at least once a year since before Lydia was born. The girls loved the water - it wasn't too cold and only had a slight current. It rained Saturday morning (it POURED), but then the weather was perfect the rest of the day. We brought our large canopy to sit under, tons of food and drinks, and stayed for 7 hours! It was super crowded, but the crowds left as it got later and later.

Sunday, our church had no running water (it's building a new sanctuary), so nursery classes were cancelled. Which meant I didn't have to work my last day in the nursery - sweet. My mom, Lydia, Gideon and I tried out the Baptist church around the corner (the same church I have my piano recitals in and know two families). Lydia did really well in her class and Gideon got to go to the nursery. It was a nice service - completely different than Oak Hills. Very welcoming and small.

Yesterday I cleaned out Lydia's drawers and organized her dresses. Then we picked out five outfits for the week (undies and undershorts included). We are practicing for when school starts. I don't want to fight the clothes battle every single morning. I also don't want to fight the hair battle. I forgot to have her pick out a hairstyle last night, so we had a mini fit this morning, but she got over it. I got up when Brian did (around 6:45). Gideon was up by 6:50 and Lydia was up by 7:00. We went on a walk with Leah, Adah and Jaron around 7:45 and then headed off to HEB by 9:30. We were back by 10:30, headed off to The Rim to pick up bows I ordered for Lydia (with her monogram) at 11:30 and then to Chick-fil-A for lunch with Leah. Busy morning.

Now I'm getting frustrated putting Gideon down for a nap. He's super tired, and will fall asleep right when I start nursing him. But as soon as I lay him down, he wakes up! Ahh! Lydia just headed over to my parent's house to swim, saying she's "giving me a break". I left Gideon in his crib to fall asleep on his own...we will see if it works. I will probably break down soon and bounce him in his bouncer.

Meal Planning Monday

1. Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
I promise I will actually make these this week! They are Brian's favorite, so I am going to make them tonight for his back-to-work dinner. They just are a lot of prep - you have to marinate the chicken...and I have to remember to do that!

2. Lasagna 
Another recipe I didn't make last week. I went to make it last night and I realized I had forgotten the ricotta cheese! Oops. Got the ricotta cheese today at HEB, so this will be an easy meal later this week.

3. Grilled Chicken

Brian has some chicken quarters he wants to grill at some point this week. Yummy!

4. 20 Minute Healthy Chicken Burritos

This is a new recipe I'm going to try - it looks yummy! I always love a good burrito. We will have wild rice and chips and salsa with this meal.

5. Cream Broccoli Chicken Shells and Cheese

Another new recipe we will try this week. I always love macaroni and cheese, but it's never Brian's favorite (he has to have meat). So maybe this will work. I will use Velveeta instead of the shredded cheese - I think it works better and tastes better.

Music Monday

A Thousand Years by Christina Perri (performed by The Piano Guys)

I had to put the Piano Guys video of this song, because I saw them in concert and they played this song. And I bought their piano book and I love to play this song (and am impressed with myself that I can actually play it - a little slower than they do, though).

This is another song that I listened to a lot during my struggle to get pregnant. It really spoke to me, especially after I found out I was finally pregnant. I was always, always hopeful that God would give me another baby. I didn't know why He was letting me struggle (and I still don't fully understand the reason). But, this song, and many others, helped me through my struggle.

"How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?

....One step closer"

I eventually stopped being hopeful. Why continue to have hope when my hopes were dashed every single month for 24 months? That's a long time to be hopeful. Plus, I was afraid to have fertility treatment. What if it didn't work? What if we spent all that money and did all those tests and tried everything we could...and it didn't work? But, if we didn't try, we would never know.

"I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you

For a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more."

When I found out I was finally, finally, pregnant...this is how I felt. Like I had waited a thousand years for that positive test. But, I had loved this baby even before I was pregnant. And I will love this baby forever.

"All along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me"

Even when I was afraid to hope and started having doubts, I couldn't help but know that one day I would have another child. God granted my wish and I have my beautiful Baby Gideon.

Excellent. Can I Come Into the Out Now?

Throwback Thursday

This throwback isn't very long ago. It's to Tuesday, May 19, 2015. Gideon's birthday! Here's his birth story. 

Gideon's birth story is nothing compared to Lydia's....but they way he was conceived (via IUI) is way more interesting than they way Lydia was conceived. So, basically, my kiddos like to come into this world with a little bit of drama. 

I ate a ton of pineapple the weekend before Gideon's birth. Maybe that helped a little? I also went on several (slow) walks. Monday, the day before he was born, I was in the pool floating around and having the tiniest bit of contractions. I was really hoping and praying he'd come soon - it's hard work being 40 weeks pregnant! That evening I was up pretty late watching TV shows and keeping track of my contractions with a contraction app on my phone. They weren't really strong contractions, but they were really consistent. After awhile, the contractions were continuing but they weren't getting any stronger and stayed about the same distance apart. I gave up and decided to go to bed.

At 1:00 in the morning I woke up to a (what I thought) painful contraction. I started timing them again and they were very consistent. By 2:30, they were really strong and I had woken Brian up and had even started tearing up during contractions. By 3:00, we called my mom to have her come over and stay with Lydia and we started quickly packing my hospital bag (yeah, I hadn't packed it yet...oops...but Gideon's diaper bag was all packed). We left for the hospital around 3:30. My contractions were still really consistent and strong. Remember, I didn't know what contractions felt like as I had never experienced them before (I was induced with Lydia).

We got all signed in at the hospital and I was changed into a gown and laying in a bed in triage. My contractions were at the point where I couldn't talk during them, but I wasn't crying just yet. The doctor on duty came in and checked my dilation - I was just at 3 cm. Yeah! Leah had told me that they admit you at 3 cm. But...this doctor didn't want to do that just yet. Leah says it's because I wasn't in enough pain....ugh. Well, give me about 30 minutes and I was writhing in pain. Contractions hurt like crazy!

Finally my doctor arrived, checked me, and told me he was getting a room ready for me and the epidural was coming! Yeah! It took awhile to get to a room (that was torture) and once we were finally in there, it took awhile for the anesthesiologist to arrive. Also, the nurse who did my IV (I had tested positive for Group B Strep and needed meds) messed up the first IV in my left arm and had to redo it in my right - I hate needles! The epidural doctor finally arrived! Yeah! Man it was hard to sit still during contractions and not to react to the painful needle! But I did it. Brian got really woozy and had to sit down - silly boy.

Once the epidural was in and working I was perfectly happy. My baby would be here soon and I could just relax! We called my mom to check on Lydia and asked if my mom could come join us and bring Brian some food (that boy was hungry). By this time it's close to lunch (I told you they made me wait forever in triage and then it took forever to get a room). And the doctors are ready to deliver my baby. 

Unfortunately, I was progressing pretty slowly, but they couldn't give me pitocin because Gideon's heart rate was constantly dropping and the drug would stress him out. I definitely didn't want a C-section (had miraculously avoided that with Lydia), but also wanted a healthy baby. The nurses kept changing my position until we found that if I laid on my left side, the baby was happy. This, of course, caused my left leg to be extremely numb! Finally, at about 3:20/3:30, I was 10 cm dilated and ready to deliver!

Gideon Amadeus Pfeiffer arrived at 3:58, weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs 9 oz , and was 21.5 inches long! My long awaited miracle baby had arrived!

Because of my super numb left leg, we were stuck in the delivery room for a long while - we had to wait until I could walk by myself before they would move me to recovery. Brian and I enjoyed quiet time with sweet Gideon (even though he pooped on me...twice). He nursed right away and was the perfect, sweetest baby!

We were finally moved into the recovery room and I was ready to eat and relax and hold my precious boy. Brian's parents came down to see their new grandchild, and Lydia came in to meet her new brother! Brian went home with Lydia and his parents, and my mom stayed with me during the night. 

Despite the awful contractions (how do you mommas do it without drugs?!), the birth was pretty straight forward and easy. My recovery was super fast - I went to Lydia's preschool picnic that Friday! I am loving being a Mommy to two precious kiddos!

You Has Me for Companion on the Ship

It's been awhile. I stopped blogging for a number of reasons. But now I want to start again - mainly because I enjoyed looking back to see what life was like with Lydia. Now I have another little baby to blog about and keep up with. It's fun going back and think about how things used to be. All the things that I was worried about or excited about. And, I always liked blogging and reading other people's blogs. So here we go...again.

Meal Planning Monday

We started out the summer going to HEB on Tuesdays. Then it changed to Mondays. And then it changed to Sundays. And now we're back to Tuesdays. But, when the school year starts, I will most likely change it back to Mondays. So, Meal Planning Mondays will begin. 

I did my meal plan yesterday, as I thought we'd have time to go to HEB today, despite piano lessons. But, Brian had an early morning training until 9:30 (and he got home at 10:15) and piano lessons started at 10:30. And it takes Brian a long (long, long) time to shop at HEB, so he wouldn't have had time to go in between lesson times. So, no HEB. It's a good thing we have three meals that roll-over to this week from last week. There were several times last week we either went out to eat (like on my birthday) or ate at my mom's house.

When I plan meals, I usually only plan five. I will plan more if there is a special occasion or someone is coming to visit.  We almost always eat out on Thursday nights, as that is Grandkid Night at my parent's house. And more than likely we will eat out on Sundays and there will be left overs for another meal. It has worked well this way for a long, long time.

Here are the five meals for the week - in no particular order: (they will be linked to their recipes)

1. Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This will be paired with some fruit. We had this recipe two weeks ago and Brian loved it. It really is quite delicious. I didn't include the quinoa, as that's really expensive and not particularly my favorite thing. We've been trying "healthy" meals, and this was very good. Instead of using a tortilla to wrap it up, you use a lettuce leaf. This was not a favorite of Lydia - she didn't even want to try it. I didn't make her eat the chicken as the buffalo sauce was a little spicy.

2. Sour Cream Enchiladas

This will be paired with brown rice, a salad and some fruit. We haven't tried this recipe yet, but it looks pretty tasty. I am always a fan of enchiladas. And hopefully Lydia will like them, too.

3. Skinny Chicken BaCado Casserole

This will be paired with salad and a fruit. We actually had this recipe tonight. It was pretty good. Because it's "healthy" there really wasn't a sauce (and I am a big fan of sauces). It was really easy to put together and pretty tasty. Brian didn't pick up any turkey bacon, so there was no bacon in the casserole (which is fine by me). The avocado was kind of weird on top of the casserole, but other than that it was pretty good. I added cheese to mine, but Brian didn't like that (don't know why). Lydia loved the chicken in it, but not the pasta so much (she's not a huge fan of wheat pasta). I will definitely make this again, though.

4. Something to Grill

Brian doesn't know what he wants to grill yet, but he wants to grill. This may cause a problem when it's me who is going to HEB tomorrow....hmmm...will have to get him to go back to get something that he wants. He knows he wants to pair it with corn on the cob and beans.

5. Teriyaki Chicken with Vegetables

Paired with brown rice and fruit. We had this recipe two weeks ago (one of my first "healthy" recipes). It was really good! Brian loved it. Lydia liked the chicken, of course. I ended up buying already made teriyaki sauce, as that was easier (and cheaper). Very yummy!

Now it's time for Music Monday! 

I will post music videos of songs that (1) mean something to me, (2) I'm really into this week, (3) are funny or cute. I love music and always try to listen to it whenever I can. I love listening to Pandora stations while cleaning the house or working on the computer. I love listening to AirOne (or is it Air1?) on the radio in the car (when I'm allowed to - most of the time we listen to the Frozen soundtrack or Lydia's made up songs). I'm always singing a song (my go-to song of choice is Do You Hear the People Sing? from Les Miz) to my kids or to myself. And I love that that has rubbed off on Lydia. She will make up songs and sing while swinging or sitting in the car. She will even perform them for us! Love it!

This weeks song is Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United. Here is a brief story of why I came to love this song:

Brian and I tried for two years to get pregnant with our second child. After about 6 months of trying, I started getting upset every month when I learned I wasn't pregnant. We started using Ovulation Prediction Kits (OPKs), I started keeping track of all my "symptoms" on a get-pregnant-fast app on my phone. We went to see my doctor after a year of trying. He recommended Brian getting tested and then me. Brian's first semen analysis didn't look too good, so he had a second and it looked great. I had an HSG (where they look at my ovaries to make sure no tubes are blocked) and everything looked good. I had tons of blood work. It came back that my TSH level was too high (not good for getting pregnant) and indicated that I may eventually have Hypothyroidism. One of the main symptoms of Hypothyroidism is infertility. That, plus Brian's irregular semen quality and my irregular ovulation equals a very, very hard time at getting pregnant. So, we decided to start fertility treatment, and got into a medical study where we got a free IUI. And voila (praise God), we were pregnant! After two years of trying.

All this to say, music really helped me through my journey of infertility. The weeks and months were hard. I would be mad, then sad, then apathetic. This was one of the songs that helped me through. I started hearing it on the radio all the time. It made me cry. It made me hopeful. It made me trust God.

Here's an awesome story about why this song really touched my heart and life. I went to a preschool conference last year in Austin. The verse for that conference was Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Wow. That verse alone spoke to me. God had plans for me! Not plans to harm me (not give me a child), but plans to give me hope. I needed to hear that verse...and I heard it almost the moment I walked through the door. See, my period had come super early (like 15-20 days early)....and I had gotten it the morning I woke up to go to this conference. God knew I needed that verse that morning. He also knew I needed this song. And this was one of the first songs the awesome singers sang at opening worship. It took all that was in me to not cry in front of everyone. Wow! This song will always be special to me. When I listen to it now, I am filled with faith and hope and love. I know that God led me through a tough time and I made it through. I came out stronger (I hope) and braver and wiser and more faith-filled.

I have two miracle children and I will never, ever, ever, stop thanking God for them.

Some standout lyrics:

My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior