Flying the friendly skies.

I've blogged a lot about what it's like traveling with Betsy. I feel like we've mastered the art of packing, getting through security, bringing enough food and bottles, and generally not being a nuisance on the plane. However our trip home from Atlanta last night was like a description our of a book of some harried mother and her outrageous child.

Our flight was delayed an hour. Betsy was getting fussy and squirmy in the airport (it was her bedtime!). She threw food around, she threw her book around, she yelled at me. She tried to run away from me at one point. When I stopped her from running away she slapped my face and I told her ‘no,’ which created a melt down, heart breaking crying response from the little angel. I changed her diaper at the last minute before getting on the plane. As we’re walking on the plane she pooed (getting even for telling her no?). We’re in the last row, so I walked past the other 80 passengers with an adorable, but stinky baby. I changed her diaper in the plane bathroom with her standing up so they could dispose of it before we left the gate (yes!). The plane was supposed to be full so I resigned myself to struggling with the fussy baby with a stranger next to me. There were two open seats on the plane and they offered them to me, so Bets and I got extra space (yes!) Before departing Betsy vomited all over herself. The good thing was if I was holding her she would have thrown up on me. I got her cleaned up. I got told I HAD to hold her on my lap during departure (they were very nice though). Betsy was trying to jump off me to the baby behind us who teased her with his bottle. She was a screeching mess and MAD that I had to hold her in my arms until the plane was in the air. She passed out the second the plane took off and slept the whole trip. The second half of the trip the only way she would sleep was in what I like to call 'The Starfish Position'. Arms and head thrown back into the aisle, legs splayed open into the seat next to me. The surrounding passengers found Betsy to be hysterical, which was a relief as if she kept acting as she was in the airport and before take off I think mutiny would have occurred and they would have tossed us out from 10,000 feet in the air (perhaps without a parachute). I arrived in Killeen (thankfully just an hour late) gave Ben the stroller and went to get my bag, and enjoyed every second of the 10 minutes I had to wait for my bag without Betsy.

The kiddo slept in the car, we changed her and she went right to bed at home. I stayed awake long enough to brush my teeth and change into PJs before I passed out snuggling that little 'Nauzer who missed me all weekend.

Stay tuned for a post tomorrow with tons of pictures from our AWESOME trip to Atlanta, and more details about all the fun we had :)

Betsy's tubes and Baby 2.0

Yesterday Betsy had tubes put in her ears. We woke up at 5:45, got our stuff together, woke Betsy at the last minute, and drove to Temple for her surgery. We checked in at 7:00 am. We spoke to the anesthesiologist, ENT doctor, and nurse and at 7:40 Betsy got taken back for the surgery! She wasn't even fussy about not getting her morning bottle.

As soon as she went back I ran to my car and drove next door for my ultrasound. My appointment was for 8:00 am and they got me right in! It was a pretty quick appointment as I had seen my doctor three weeks ago. My ultrasound showed ONE! baby and it has a strong heart beat. I'm measuring right on track for my 12/10 due date. After the ultrasound I had to run downstairs to give blood, then I walked out to see Ben and Betsy!

Ben says Betsy woke up easily from her surgery. She was disoriented and a little fussy but as soon as she had a bottle she was back to her happy self. She recovered there for 30 minutes then Ben put her in the stroller and walked next door where I was. She greeted me with a smile and a wave.

The doctor gave me six pictures from this ultrasound, though they all pretty much look like a pea in a pod. I did get my gender revealing ultrasound scheduled for July 6th!





Last night Betsy was an energetic happy camper. She was babbling, running, spinning, jumping, chasing, and flinging herself everywhere. She didn't go to bed until 9:00 last night and I'm thinking she had the 'hyper' response to anesthesia rather than the 'she'll go home and sleep' response. Regardless the kiddo is feeling great. And I'm feeling pretty good, and so happy to hear that all is right with Itty Bitty Baby B.

Birthday Party Pictures

Ben's thirtieth birthday party was Saturday and we had SO much fun. I think the pictures tell it best.

I'm really proud of how the cupcakes came out. Even 'the guys' made a big deal out of how neat they were.



I set up this area as a concession stand.

These were the awards for best costume, male and female.

Window decorations

Movie poster decorations around the house.




Betsy as Maggie Simpson. I didn't have her head measurements when I made this, but it was adorable-in-theory.

I went as Marge Simpson for a while (until Betsy cake hands got my green dress dirty!)

Mary as Julia Child and cousin William as a Car character!


JD and Tiff as Betty and Barney Rubble from the Flintstones.

Cousin Jonathan as a character from 'The Hangover' with Abby as 'Carlos' the baby.


The stud-muffin birthday boy in his King Leonidas attire.


The Jones' came as Gilligan and Ginger.


Party guests


Betsy enjoyed the cupcakes. I later learned Betsy would walk up to everyone during the party and ask for "moh!" and they would feed her. No wonder her tummy looked so big when she fell asleep that night!




A day later, ONE party animal needed some extra rest.

Things I forgot about pregnancy

I just did this two years ago! How did I forget these things?!

• Fatigue- how intense it is. Last night I (accidentally) fell asleep at 8 pm, and didn't take my medicine, brush my teeth or change out of my dress I wore to work.
• Aversion to salt and artificial sweeteners. My last pregnancy I couldn't eat potato chips or french fries because smelling the salt (much less tasting it) grossed me out so badly. I'm also off the hooch (ie Diet Coke) as I can taste the Aspartame (gag!).
• A funny story about that...I drove through CFA this morning and ordered a biscuit and sprite. When I get to the window 'the girls' ask "What's going on?! No Diet Coke?!" which affirms a theory I've had for a while that I'm addicted to both Chick-fila and Diet Coke. P.S. they were super excited to find out I'm expecting and offered to throw me a baby shower. Seriously. That's how close I am to the CFA staff.

KIDDING!

• The hormones, OH the hormones. I'm doing well to grind my teeth and smile politely rather than react to things that irritate me. Things I know aren't a big deal (I mean they might bother me a smidge before but now they induce steam coming from my ears).
• The cravings. My cravings are pretty consistent this time with last time. I don't want junk. I want fruit, veggies, and Subway. Ben is thrilled yet again (not!). WHY can't I be one of those wives that request Taco Bell in the middle of the night?! It would make him so happy. I've lost some weight, but I'm not concerned about it because I'm eating healthy food!

That's all. It's not all bad, it's SO worth knowing I'm growing a little one. Probably a triplet for Ben and Betsy, and what could be better than THAT?!

They're having a BABY!!

I had to wait for my brother and sister in law, JD and Tiffany, to spill the beans before I made this post! As it's now on Facebook I guess I can spread the word. Easter weekend I found out I was pregnant, and I told Ben in front of JD, who blurted out that they ALSO found out Tiffany was pregnant...the day before. I've met no two siblings who are more 'best friends' than Ben and JD. For the two of them to find out they are expecting babies a day apart was pretty darn exciting!

After church on Easter Sunday JD and Tiff came over to hang out while I baked cupcakes and got ready to head to the Bralleys for lunch. I told Tiffany about an idea I read online where you tell everyone you're pregnant by claiming 'family picture time!' and instead of saying "cheese!" you say "We're having a baby!". These are the picture from the big announcement.










After that sunk in Tiffany told everyone that we had news too... which is when we told them we are expecting as well.

The more I think about this, the more excited I get. First, Betsy and William LOVE to be with each other and play together constantly. I think these next two will be the same. Not to mention they will only be two years younger than the first two, it'll be a pack of Bralley babies running around! Imagine four cousins less than two years apart, who live within an hour of each other. I forsee many sleep overs with Grandma and Grandpa in the future!

I'm also happy to go through pregnancy with Tiffany. The last time I was pregnant I had two great friends to go through this with, the OTHER Tiffany, and my cousin Cynthia. It's nice when you want to talk baby with someone who's going through the same stuff you are.

And finally I'm thrilled Ben and JD get to do this together. Ben knows what he's doing, and watching Uncle JD with Bets this weekend, he does too. I think changes in lifestyles are easier to adjust to when you have friends to relate to and support you.

So that's the news X 2! Tiffany's estimated due date is 12/7/10 and at this point mine is 12/10/10 though I'll have a more accurate due date next week!

Shannon 1, Morning Sickness 0

Oh the morning sickness. Yuck!

I had it bad all nine months last pregnancy. The last two week I was feeling great which led me to think I might dodge the morning sickness bullet this time around but that was WRONG. However, I've learned what to do and what not to do so that I don't react to my morning sickness.

Today I gave a presentation in front of 25 site directors for the college, and while I felt terrible, I pulled it off!

I ate a toasted Subway Sandwich for lunch and it's the first thing I haven't forced myself to eat in days!

I brought a two liter of 7-Up to work and am keeping myself hydrated.

And of course, the best tip is not to lean over while brushing your teeth because it encourages the gag reflex.

Today I won the battle against morning sickness (though the war continues tomorrow).

Thanks for sharing!

Earlier this week Betsy had a little stomach virus. It was 'bad' for about 12 hours, Ben stayed home with her and she's been acting fine for a few days now. Ben was awesome, there was lots of vomit involved and as the smell triggers my pregnancy magnified gag-reflex he took care of everything (without a complaint). He probably gave Betsy 6 baths in two days, some times having to wash her hair three times in one bath, did countless loads of laundry, changed her sheets four or five times, sent me to sleep in the guest room, etc. He was so awesome that I surprised him at work yesterday with having pizza delivered to him. He was really touched and his coworkers enjoyed the pizza too.

Unfortunately yesterday I got sick at work and had to come home, then I got REALLY sick. At one point I told Ben I thought I would throw up my esophogus. I called the doctor and the nurse said if it went on for more than 24 hours I needed to go get an IV because it was dangerous for the baby. Luckily I stopped throwing up last night, so I was only sick for about 12 hours. Ben kept refilling my sprite glass, making me toast, and he took care of Bets so I slept great last night.

I'm going to the doctor this afternoon because I want to make sure everything is A-OK. I lost about six pounds of fluid yesterday and today I've been hydrating like crazy to try to make up for it. Please say a little prayer for the littlest Bralley, I think we're ok, but prayers are always welcome.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!