It must have been my week to win every game because I won 3 games of Pit, 1 game of Pass the Pigs, and 2 games of Ticket To Ride. The Briggs' couldn't handle it. Every game we played, I won.
It was amazing.
It was amazing.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Beach House: Christmas Festivities
On Christmas Eve, we all went out for lunch as a family, opened jammies, made ornaments after Brinley went to bed, played games, and stayed up late watching A Christmas Story. Brinley was so excited to read The Polar Express this year and to get her new bell. I don't usually read the book, just summarize, as she looks at the pictures. We read the book Christmas day and she started crying because she didn't get another new bell. hahaha! She loves it! Such a fun tradition.
out for lunch at Harry T's
making ornaments for the tree
Opening jammies after dinner
Before bedtime in Brinley's new jammies!
Jammies!!!!!!
our tree on Christmas Eve
Christmas Morning before Church. Wasn't it so special being able to go to Church this year? I love Christmas being on a Sunday!
Group shot after Church
Looking through her stocking!
Uncle Stu and Auntie Julie showing Brinley how to use the drawing pad
We got her a pot and pan set to go with her play food. She loves it! It was the perrrrfect Brinley gift for sure!
Grandma and Grandpa Briggs got Brinley this musical instrument set. We had multiple jam sessions on Christmas morning!
sharing ice cream with Uncle Stu
walking down by the beach while Brinley was taking a nap.
my sad attempt at a jumping shot
our HOUSE!!!!!!!
playing at the beach after naptime
all the ladies
awww
our jumping shot. Hayley has hops!
Stu and Julie
pay attention to how fine and white that sand is!
our finished product!!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Beach House: Before Christmas
Before Christmas, we walked on the beach everyday, got our Christmas tree, ate out at some amazing restaurants, shopped at this HUGE outdoor mall, and played LOTS of games. The weather was pretty off and on when it came to rain, but we tried to make the most of it. The temps were well into the 60's and definitely humid. The house was obviously huge, and we all enjoyed just being in each other's company and enjoying the house. It was great that we had our own space and never felt like we were walking on each other's toes.
There is something SO magical about being at the beach at Christmas time. Granted, the white Christmas we had last year in Charlotte was pretty amazing too, but we had white sand at the beach. The sand at the gulf is incredible. I have never seen sand like it. Even my in-laws who have been to Hawaii multiple times to visit Ryan's older sister and her family said that it is equally comparable to the sand in Hawaii. It is so fine and soft. I could not even get over Brinley's toes in the sand. Yes, please! Brinley warmed up to Ryan's family almost immediately and I was so relieved about that. She can be sometimes really shy and clingy. She connected with everyone right away and it was really nice to take a mommy break sometimes!!
Enjoy the pics!
walking with Grandpa
Stu and Julie
after running on the beach
picking out our tree
snuggling with Uncle Stu
Brinley with Auntie Julie and Uncle Stu
the ladies and our new tree
decorating after dinner!
the finished product!
riding the cute train at the mall
everyone else stuffed into a small box car!
waving goodbye!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Ryan's Birthday
The beach house is ridiculous. I have a video to put on the blog. We are having SO much fun together.
TODAY, however, is my main squeeze's Birthday! Woohooo! The big 2-9!
We went to lunch down to the harbor and we loved every minute. After stuffing our faces with fish and chips, for me, and an oyster po-boy sandwich for Ry, we walked it off by playing mini-golf. We had a blast being outside, being together, and being without Brinley :-) Happy Birthday Ry! Love you!
More to come about our vaycay!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Unexpected Doctor's Visit
I applaud myself for tracking my "girl" stuff every month and keeping the pain managed. If not, I just ask Julia and she usually knows what is wrong. haha. This past week was weird and not normal to be feeling as under the weather as I was. The more I thought about my pain, the more my mind wandered. And then I was feeling more anxious, and shortness of breath, and then my back hurt, and then my hips were achy, and then I was getting more headaches, and then my heart was racing more frequently. Basically, I was a mess. I was worried about potentially having cancer right at the tail end of our year wait. I was worried to find something in my uterus or ovaries. I was worried to get that "look" my doctor gave me when he gave me the molar pregnancy news.
I finally decided to call this past Monday to see if he wanted to see me. I explained I was having abnormal abdominal cramping and lower back pain. The admin lady said he wanted to see me the next morning. I told Ryan the night before our appointment, 'It's probably good I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow because this is the worst I've felt all week! Out with a bang I guess!' Ryan is rarely amused when I joke about things flaring up, but I guess everyone copes with things differently. I'm a joker.
Off to the doctor we went after dropping Brinley off at my good friends house for the morning. First, we were scheduled for an ultrasound. Not many people have had ultrasounds when they aren't looking for a baby in there. It was a weird experience. The ultrasound tech said everything looked good and that all the black abyss called my uterus looked normal. Relief!
She even printed off pictures. hahaha she asked if I wanted to keep them. Ummmm....no thanks? It felt weird denying those empty uterus pictures.
We then met with my doctor (who was running back from performing a c-section like 20 minutes before he saw me!). He is awesome. He said that everything looked clean and normal. I seriously was about to cry from being so relieved. I was honestly expecting the worst. He was glad I came in and was so reassuring that it is okay to come in if I'm not feeling like my normal self. He explained that the pain I am feeling is from ovarian cysts (which sounded scary at first), but he said he could see a couple in my uterus and that they are completely normal and expected. Hopefully those pass on soon because I still feel like crap.
THEN, onto the exciting part. I asked him about us reaching our year mark in March. He was 100% hopeful that after my blood draw the first week of March that we will be able to start trying again. They do still need to closely monitor me when I do get pregnant. He told me to start taking prenatal vitamins every day and to start planning for pregnancy in the spring time.
whoaaaaaaaaa!
We left the office feeling so happy and overjoyed that the ultrasound came back normal and the pains I'm feeling are absolutely normal (being a woman sometimes sucks!). Ryan told me as we were walking out that he was really worried about this visit. I don't blame him. After my bloggie friend and all her cancer drama post molar pregnancy, I don't blame him one bit.
I called my Mom to tell her the good news and she was thrilled. And then she said, 'Meg, you need to start becoming friends with your uterus again. You need to be friendly with the thought of getting pregnant and being excited for it.' Ry and I laughed SO hard at that. But it is so true. I have been afraid for so long of something going wrong, and it was such a relief to see that my uterus is doing good and that we are good to start trying in a few months.
So, my goal:
becoming friends with my uterus again.
--
On a side note, we leave for the beach soon to spend Christmas with my fabulous in-laws. We are so excited!! I wish we were able to send out 100 Christmas cards this year, but I could only mail 40. I absolutely LOVED our cards this year from Pear Tree Greetings, but they were definitely on the more expensive side of Christmas cards. Next year, I have decided to mail out a cheaper card so I can get more for my money. Our friend and family circle grows every year and I wish we could mail them out to everyone but we just can't!
I finally decided to call this past Monday to see if he wanted to see me. I explained I was having abnormal abdominal cramping and lower back pain. The admin lady said he wanted to see me the next morning. I told Ryan the night before our appointment, 'It's probably good I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow because this is the worst I've felt all week! Out with a bang I guess!' Ryan is rarely amused when I joke about things flaring up, but I guess everyone copes with things differently. I'm a joker.
Off to the doctor we went after dropping Brinley off at my good friends house for the morning. First, we were scheduled for an ultrasound. Not many people have had ultrasounds when they aren't looking for a baby in there. It was a weird experience. The ultrasound tech said everything looked good and that all the black abyss called my uterus looked normal. Relief!
She even printed off pictures. hahaha she asked if I wanted to keep them. Ummmm....no thanks? It felt weird denying those empty uterus pictures.
We then met with my doctor (who was running back from performing a c-section like 20 minutes before he saw me!). He is awesome. He said that everything looked clean and normal. I seriously was about to cry from being so relieved. I was honestly expecting the worst. He was glad I came in and was so reassuring that it is okay to come in if I'm not feeling like my normal self. He explained that the pain I am feeling is from ovarian cysts (which sounded scary at first), but he said he could see a couple in my uterus and that they are completely normal and expected. Hopefully those pass on soon because I still feel like crap.
THEN, onto the exciting part. I asked him about us reaching our year mark in March. He was 100% hopeful that after my blood draw the first week of March that we will be able to start trying again. They do still need to closely monitor me when I do get pregnant. He told me to start taking prenatal vitamins every day and to start planning for pregnancy in the spring time.
whoaaaaaaaaa!
We left the office feeling so happy and overjoyed that the ultrasound came back normal and the pains I'm feeling are absolutely normal (being a woman sometimes sucks!). Ryan told me as we were walking out that he was really worried about this visit. I don't blame him. After my bloggie friend and all her cancer drama post molar pregnancy, I don't blame him one bit.
I called my Mom to tell her the good news and she was thrilled. And then she said, 'Meg, you need to start becoming friends with your uterus again. You need to be friendly with the thought of getting pregnant and being excited for it.' Ry and I laughed SO hard at that. But it is so true. I have been afraid for so long of something going wrong, and it was such a relief to see that my uterus is doing good and that we are good to start trying in a few months.
So, my goal:
becoming friends with my uterus again.
--
On a side note, we leave for the beach soon to spend Christmas with my fabulous in-laws. We are so excited!! I wish we were able to send out 100 Christmas cards this year, but I could only mail 40. I absolutely LOVED our cards this year from Pear Tree Greetings, but they were definitely on the more expensive side of Christmas cards. Next year, I have decided to mail out a cheaper card so I can get more for my money. Our friend and family circle grows every year and I wish we could mail them out to everyone but we just can't!
Merry Christmas everyone!
I'll blog from the beach! YAY!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Visiting Santa=fail.
I thought I had the perfect plan.
Pick Ry up from work, drive over to the mall, and sneak right into seeing Santa. TOPS, 15 minutes.
Absolute fail. We pulled into the mall at 5:05pm. Santa was on 'break' aka having a smoke, until 6pm so we could either drive all the way home or roam the mall for an hour.
We decided to roam the mall. I got some Chick-Fil-A for dinner (Brinley ate before we left and Ry wasn't feeling fast food) and we ended up walking into Build-A-Bear, just out of curiosity.
The expression on Brinley's face the first time she hugged the stuffing-less bear was priceless. I couldn't help but yell, "I love this place! Pick any stuffed animal you want, Brinley!" She picked the rainbow colored bear and immediately named him 'Bear.' And then Ryan goes, 'Bear Grylls, Brinley'. Naturally, she repeated Ryan, 'Ya...Bear Gr-lllsss." Those two... :-)
The employee working the store was absolutely fabulous. She was so charming. She connected right away with us and especially Brinley. Brin is usually very shy when she first meets people, but this girl broke her out of her shell immediately.
and then my camera died (hence only two pictures)
I have to say, buying the bear is expensive, but you pay for the experience. It is so absolutely worth it. Brinley loved the entire thing. I mean, no kid needs 10 of these stuffed animals, but Brinley only has one dog, two rough looking lambs, and a ladybug pillow pet. We try not to spoil her, but sometimes, Ry and I just can't say no to the sweet little thang!
Okay, so we left the store with our bear house in hand and walked towards Santa. The line was...ahhh....standard I guess. We waited another 10 minutes before Santa arrived. I thought the "Santa mall system" was in and out in 2 minutes to get people in and out. Am I right?? NO WAY. Families were lingering around for 5 minutes or more, taking multiple pictures, and taking way too long. Geez.
Ryan and I weren't at all impressed with Santa. Granted, he looked the part, but he just wasn't jolly enough. I watched him with some kids and he didn't talk at all! If he did, it was so quiet! He never even Ho Ho Ho-ed, I mean, COME ON.
Basically, we ditched out of the line after waiting 25 minutes and I am so happy we did. It would have taken all night. We are going to try again when we're at the beach later this week.
The girl at Build-A-Bear was SO much better than Santa. It would have been so disappointing if we hadn't gone to Build-A-Bear and just waited in line. At least when we left, Brinley was still beaming while holding her rainbow bear.
and at bedtime, Bear, was right by her side.
''
and at bedtime, Bear, was right by her side.
''
Monday, December 19, 2011
Ugly Sweater Party!
I was so happy to have a reason to pull out my Christmas Best for a holiday party. My friend Freya and I decided to host it here at our place so that Brinley could be in bed and Ryan and I could party all night if we wanted to. And of course we did! There were so many yummy snacks and of course the drinks- hot chocolate and wassail. The wassail set the aroma perfectly for the party. I wish I could have that brewing 24/7! Mostly everyone came dressed in their best Christmas sweaters and of course we had a photo booth :-) I found these fabulous Christmas photo booth cut outs that were a fun addition to the party. I plan on using the cut outs for EVERY Christmas party we have, including the holiday party scheduled at my parents house after Christmas, very similar to last years bash.
yummmmy snacks
hot chocolate and wassail
chocolate sandwich cookies with sprinkles! Yum!
Freya and I, very proud of the party we put on together!
fun decorations. I saw the ideas on pinterest, naturally.
Ooooooo myyyyyy........
The Brocks! Melissa is pointing to their cooking babe!
Tis the season!
The Rudder's (Brett and Freya's sweaters were by far the best!)
Chris flying solo....his wifey is already with her family for the Holidays!
The Pope's
The Hudson's
The ladiessssssss
funny candid shot
The party was a BLAST! Thanks all who were able to come!!!!
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