April & May

Here is how Daphne and I passed another deployment together. What I learned: I will go home next time Kelly deploys, even if I have to pay for 2 plane tickets. I felt so sorry for myself I succumbed and bought an iPad, which costs more than a plane ticket. :) On the bright side, I have a really cool iPad now that both Kelly and I enjoy. And Daphne. Sorry there are no pictures of Kelly!

And even though I uploaded these photos in their correct order, they are not in order!

Spring weather is awesome and what better way to enjoy it than reading books on a bankie

Easter Egg hunt for her Mother's Morning Out. It was a little tricky keeping her away from the eggs until it was time to start and then limiting how many she took!

Swings at the Herrin's from church-our Girls' Camp director. We spent some evenings there getting ready for camp!

More Easter Egg hunting

May 31st-My first violin recital with my two students! 

June 2nd-Kelly returns home!

Kelly arrived late at night and so he surprised Daphne the next morning. This was how she greeted him. :)

Back to the MMO egg hunt-she's taking a break to swing

Conference Sunday-it was a long and difficult day, so we made the best  of it!

She wore her curlers for 30 minutes until she got mad at me and took them out. I thought she looked so cute, though. It was fun to do!

Reading her Easter card from "Maga and Paga" Wood

As soon as I could after my surgery, I planted my vegetable garden and dug up some dying grass to plant a flower garden. 

This is the beginnings of my long project

Daphne became obsessed with "ban bans" (bandaids), and while at a stake youth activity our Bishop improvised and  made her some out of duct tape!

At the end of March my dear sister, Carrie (aka Aunt Bear) came to visit. Of course we had to see the NCAA Gymnastics Championships!

We got a babysitter for Daphne

But don't worry, later we took her to get her nails done.

My beautiful hydrangea that I planted 2 years ago...I am so proud of it that  I planted 3 more this year. :)

After planting. I should post a current pic because everything has grown SO much

Playdate at the Seymour's from church. They have a big and beautiful home with lots of fun things to do with kids, like ride a golf cart!

I couldn't find a sitter one weekend and because I was desperate for change, Daphne and I decided to go on a formal date.  We started the night at Stevie B's pizza buffet

Next we headed to Petsmart. This girl loves the animals, especially the dogs!

We finished our date with frozen yogurt. Daphne is still satisfied with a sample. 

I asked her if she wanted to help with dinner and she disappeared. I heard lots of noise in the kitchen which concerned me. She returned with this: flour in a pot. In the kitchen I found a measuring cup next to the flour bin and the pots cupboard open. this girl knows her way around the kitchen!

This is May 10th, so I am about 23 weeks.

This is me at about 24 weeks. As you can see my sweet hubby got me a  body pillow for Mother's Day!

Another pic from when bear visited

Mother's Day weekend-Daphne and I drove to Columbus to see Tash and Leland. Leland has been stuck there awaiting Officer Training and Tash finally got to visit. Daphne warmed up to them very easily!

It was wonderful to see their reunion.

Mother's Day 2012

March Madness

Not-So-Brief Summary of March. 


Kelly came home March 2nd, the day after our 4th Anniversary (yay us!). He was home for one full week before we took off on our long-planned getaway to the mountains of Georgia. My dear friend Kathryn Wood (we call each other kindred spirits) offered to take Daphne for two nights. She is about my mom's age and has no grandchildren yet. She has a lovely 3 acre home with chickens, gardens, and lots of opportunities for a toddler to get into mischief. Not to mention she has 4 VERY friendly cats that Daphne just loves following around. She and her husband are great people. I teach violin lessons to her and she kind of filled that void of not living near my mom.  Each violin lesson is usually accompanied with me asking questions about my garden or food storage and she likes to bring Daphne food from her garden. 


ANYWAY. We had a pretty good time in Northern GA. The "mountains" are more like hills, but it was nice being among hills. I researched cabins and found an amazing deal on a huge cabin right on the Chattahoochee. We loved it so much we want to go back with another family. Kelly wasn't thrilled spending one of his few weekends home away from Daphne again, but he ended up having a great time. It was a told-you-so moment. :) Ha ha. I was still a little sick, but nearing the end of all that at 14 weeks. 


We returned home Sunday night. After getting Daphne to bed my increasing nausea turned into severe pain over the next 4-5 hours. At about midnight I finally decided to go to the ER since I was worried about the baby. Kelly and our EQ president gave me a blessing. His wife stayed the night at our home with Daphne and Kelly and I went to the ER. Every speed bump or turn or brake hurt so badly. 


The ER is a funny place. There are some interesting people there. Kelly liked telling me about it while I was hunched over in pain. Kelly is a people watcher and so I am glad he had to help pass the time. Its unfortunate that the ER is full of people with problems that a Family doctor could solve. But because they're likely uninsured, they have to go to the ER. 


I think because I am pregnant they didn't make us wait long, maybe 30 minutes. The pain that was all over my abdomen was starting to gather in one area, right over my appendix. This actually helped me feel a little bit better. I was beginning to think it was stupid we came. But, the pain worsened again. They found out my white blood count was very high. Because they couldn't do an xray, I had several ultrasounds done to see if it was my appendix. We waited a lot. They weren't sure what to do with me because I was pregnant and they just weren't sure! Plus, my OB is in Macon, 30 minute drive from where we were, and it was the middle of the night so they had to wait for approval. I found myself getting very hungry. I hadn't had that kind of appetite in a long time. It was strange to be so hungry when you're appendix is near bursting. Kelly joked every time he walked me to the bathroom. He said I looked like an old man hunched over. Laughing of course hurt.  I wonder if my returned appetite had to to with being so hydrated? While nauseated, I couldn't drink water. It made me throw up and left a nasty taste in my mouth. I was dehydrated for so long. At the hospital, they pumped lots of fluid in me-I felt great. 


In our room, I was finally able to dose off. Poor Kelly had to sleep in a chair. Around 6am Kelly left to relieve Mary and to take care of Daphne for a little bit. He took her to our friend Lori's house after a few hours, where Daphne played with her friend Ava and napped. 


While he was gone I FINALLY met with the OB doctor at this hospital, not mine. He told me the risks and possibilities of what it could be instead of the appendix. He said despite all this he would recommend the surgery from an OB point of view. I was grateful for his honesty because I was very nervous about surgery. 


Around 11am they wheeled me into the surgical unit. Kelly had returned. I was feeling pain, but felt ok while laying down. Because of this I truly wondered if it wasn't my appendix. I wondered if I shouldn't take the risk of anesthesia while being pregnant. Kelly felt the same way. We asked the surgeon if he regularly did appendectomies on pregnant women. He replied yes, that he had done a couple in the last year...that didn't sound like too many to us. They left us alone for a bit. Kelly and I said a prayer together. At this point I was very nervous. I was surprised how nervous I was, especially since I'd worked in a hospital around surgical patients. I was mostly worried for our little baby. After our prayer I said my own, asking Heavenly Father to help me feel peace if this was the right thing to do. Kelly then helped me to the bathroom. I remember feeling so much pain getting up and walking that I knew I had to go through with the surgery. I felt peace after this realization. It was that simple. God calmed my fears. 


So, I was wheeled into the room and they immediately gave me some drugs. I remember feeling like I couldn't keep my eyes open. And then I couldn't breathe. I told them so and they gave me oxygen. That is all I remember. I was woken up less than an hour later and they were checking my vitals and checking for the baby's heartbeat. Because I carry my babies so low, it took about 5 minutes to find a heartbeat...kind of nerve wracking. But, there it was! About 120 vs. the usual 150 because of the anesthesia. 


Some thoughts about recovery:

1. Anesthesia is very powerful. I couldn't keep my eyes open the rest of the day. For the next week I felt very slow in my brain. I couldn't read very well.  It also curbed any appetite I had. Along with the pain meds. 
2. I couldn't take pain medications after a couple days. They made me throw up so badly. I think my surgery set me back because I continued to have nausea with some vomiting into my 17-18 week. 
3. We had a great big hospital room all to ourselves. Kelly and I hadn't had much time together because of his job, so sitting together in the hospital room was bonding time. I felt like I really got close to him during these next two weeks. Its probably because I couldn't do anything but lay there most of the time. 
4. I had so much help from my mom. She flew out last minute and rescued me from a messy house and unhappy and confused toddler. All the while, my mom had a horrible sinus infection. Daphne wanted me to hold her so badly. She didn't understand. We finally found away for us to bond. By putting a pillow over my incision, she could sit next to me and I could read her books on the bed. My mom made great meals and helped me eat better. 
5. My ward family and friends both at church and outside of church were amazing. They watched Daphne while I was in the hospital and when Kelly couldn't. They took turns taking in meals. And they brought me care packages. The Bishop and Relief Society president visited me in the hospital.
6. I felt so blessed during all of this. 
7. I got to watch both seasons of Downton Abbey while recovering. :)

That's my surgery story. Here is a brief (I promise) overview of the rest of the month:


Kelly was informed he would be leaving March 25th to Qatar. I had my surgery March 12th. He worked hard to get ready since he'd taken off time to help me. By the time he left, I was feeling pretty good. We parted with a mutual feeling of "lets just get this over with." Before he left, he took me and Daphne to Callaway Gardens, a place in Georgia I had been wanting to see for so long. We also managed to see the Hunger Games. 


Enjoy the pictures. 

Tallulah Falls in Northern GA

We drove up Toccoa...we weren't the only nerds there. 

I messed up the panorama shot, but gives you an idea of the beauty

I didn't want my pic taken at this moment

BEAUTIFUL hydrangeas from Janelle. My favorite perennial. They lasted for weeks.

One week after surgery. 15 weeks

Kelly finished this in early March. Still needs painting. Daphne LOVES it. Called the Mother's helper.

My first day alone after surgery. I'm laying on couch and she's playing "tea party?"

Callaway Gardens

16 weeks.

My two favorite people.

Bye, dear hubbs!

January and February

Happy New Year! I took a pregnancy test New Years Day and learned I was pregnant! We were surprised it happened faster this time, but very grateful. Although excited, I try not to think of these months. I was very sick during them and husband-less most of the time. I was very lucky Kelly came home on weekends. I learned from other wives that their husbands didn't do that during this training because they wanted to stay and socialize and win team points and study and etc. I am so grateful Kelly drove home to help out. It helped so much! I was sick with Daphne, but this time I really threw up a lot. I got to the point that I could dry heave without warning. TMI? I think my gag reflex is easily triggered now. But, its over now so its time to forget and move forward to more exciting days! 

Trying to give Daphne something new to do...she didn't really like this experiment. Probably too young.

I heart attacked her door for valentines' Day...she loved it.

 The pix are out of order. We spent a few nights in Montgomery visiting Kelly toward the end of January. We went to the zoo and the Rosa Parks museum. It was a pretty good visit. Daphne came down with Rotavirus at the end and woke up around 4am one morning very sick. Instead of waking up Kelly's neighbors with her cries, I took off home. poor Daphne threw up on the way home. I've never seen her do that before. She was sick for almost a week more. Its a yucky bug.