Merry Christmas to one and all from Baby and me!!!!!

Saturday, Becca attended childbirth education classes with me. She will be my coach, and if Zion makes it, she'll have to help him know how to help me. The classes were pretty predictable, boring and full of somewhat misguided information.... (Including "if you must smoke, do not do so while you are nursing", how insane is that?!!) as well as being very graphic and generally disgusting. =)

Sunday I went to church, everyone seemed pretty happy to see me and I was very happy to see all of them! After church I went to Las Palmas (my favorite Mexican restaurant in the world!) with all the family that is here. It was delicious!!!

Monday night, I went to the first ever boys basketball game at Bible Believers Christian School. I worked in the concession stand and it was great fun. It was lots of fun when Sister Kelly K. came in and asked how far along I was and I very straight faced told her, "I'm not pregnant." Her face fell and she was so completely worried for about 20 seconds before I laughed and said I was only teasing and had 6 weeks left. LoL! It was pretty funny. (For those of you who don't know Kelly K., you aren't getting to appreciate the full humor, but I guess it's still pretty funny.)

Tomorrow I have my first Doctors appointment in almost a month. I will be seeing Dr. Scott Stalkamp (who delivered Janessa) and will hopefully get to take a tour of the hospital because when Becca and I went to the childbirth classes, we had to take them at the other hospital because St. Rita's classes were full. I kinda remember the layout from Jess and Becca's deliveries, but it wouldn't hurt to take a refresher walk through the maternity ward especially since they have added on a ton to the hospital in the past couple years. I'll let you all know how my appointment went and if we get to take the tour or not. =)

Happy Birthday, John!! I hope you have a wonderful day!!!

I got here to Ohio yesterday afternoon. John and Janessa were at the airport waiting for me when I arrived. We had a nice drive home with a pit stop at Skyline Chili where Mom, Becca, Brandon and Ben met us. Unfortunately, it was raining on the way instead of snowing, and all the snow that was on the ground yesterday morning was melted. I can't wait until it snows again, it's beautiful in the woods.

Their house and driveway have come a long way since the last time I was here. (They actually HAVE gravel which is really nice!!)

I am heading to Ohio on the 3rd of December. Things were not working out on the Doctor front here in Midland, so I'll be having my baby in Ohio with Dr. Stalkamp. (The same Doctor who delivered Janessa, brother-in-law to the Doctor who delivered Brandon... and my family Doctor's brother...)

Hopefully Zion will be able to make it in time for the birth, but if for some reason he doesn't, he'll be there within a day or so. I think he'll make it though. One of the kiosks is scheduled to close on Jan. 4th, and I'm not due until the 17th, and Dad will be here to close the 2nd kiosk on the 19th. Things are crazy, but I believe everything is going to work out okay.

I have been feeling really sick again for the past couple days, I don't know if it's from stress, just being pregnant, or eating too much food court food... but I've been having a very upset stomach and alot of heartburn since Thanksgiving day. I'm hoping that when I get to Ohio I'll be able to relax a bit and my stomach will calm down. (Fingers crossed!!)

Zion's business venture seems to be working about like they projected, which is a relief. There are of course some additional expenses that were a bit higher than we expected, but our hotel is cheaper than we planned so it might all even out. We had to hire more labor to get everything set up than we anticipated, but I am optimistic that everything will still work in our favor when all is said and done.

Dad's here!! He got here about an hour after the mall opened and helped me out the whole day. I was able to show him all the ropes about the calendar kiosk and teach him to use the register so tomorrow I don't think I'm going to go in until later and then I probably won't even stay that long. (Thank goodness because I really don't think my body could take much more. My shoes hardly even go on my feet anymore and the other day I had a couple/few contractions. Nothing too serious, most likely just Braxton Hicks, but still. It's probably a good thing I'll be able to take it a little slower for a while. I'd rather keep the baby inside until he/she has the opporunity to grow a bit more.)

We're here!! Yesterday Zion and I drove to Midland, Texas. (Actually we drove to Odessa and got up this morning and came the rest of the way.) We stopped at about 1 A.M. Texas time (Midnight Tucson time... or 2 Ohio time.) We were both exhausted and stopped at a Motel 6 because there were no Holiday Inn's around and the Motel 6 had the right price. The place was gross, kinda creepy and smelled horrible of smoke. It's only one night though.

Today we got to Midland early and started filling out some of the tax papers and stuff like that that we had to get going to start the businesses, then this afternoon we went to the Midland Park Mall to see our locations and meet the managers. It's all a big undertaking. I don't know how we'll get it all done, but God is in control and He didn't bring us this far to leave us.

We were getting kinda worried about accommodations because when we were looking online we couldn't find anything decent for less than $72 a night, and when we called the rate had gone up to $99 per night. (Scary when we were figuring on the $72 to be our maximum and we're talking 2 months!!) We decided to pull over and pray about it and about 20-30 minutes later Zion was looking online and he said, "Why don't you call this one?" I was like, "Okay, but I already checked the rate online for that one when we were still in Tucson and they were like $109 a night or something like that...." I called the number and asked about the rate, and it was only $50 per night for a week long stay! Praise the Lord!!!!

We asked if we could go ahead and come to the hotel and SEE a room before making our decision, the girl said that was fine and we came on over. The place looks pretty good and there is a fridge, microwave, stove, kitchen sink and it's a pretty nice size room with a comfy king size bed. Plus, when we were actually checking in, we were talking to the girl at the front desk and she decided to take an additional $5 off per night for us... so now the rate is only $45 plus tax per night!!! Now we have a nice place to stay for at least a week and if we like it, we can extend our stay for the duration of our time in Texas, for less than the cost we were planning on!! God is so good!!!


Thank you all for your prayers for us during this crazy transition time and please keep them coming!!!! We still have much craziness ahead of us in the next couple months (especially the next few days while we set up two kiosk stores!) and we can really feel the prayers of our friends holding us up at this time! (Seriously, I only got 6 hours of sleep last night and my eyes are still somewhat opened!!!) God bless you all and we will keep you posted as much as time allows!!!

Now we know where Israel gets his Political views...

Olga gave Zion a very special t-shirt for his birthday. It is bright red and says "D-Backs" on the front (no doubt for the Arizona Diamondbacks...) and on the back it says Brett Clerc DDS!! Zion just googled Brett Clerc to see if he was a player... or an ex-player... or anyone having anything to do with the Diamondbacks.... he's not. He is in fact a dentist in Benson, Arizona. Why Zion has his shirt... we're not sure. But it sure is funny!!

Zion and I both about died laughing!! Zion's going to see if he can get an autograph at the next dentist convention. LOL

I wish I knew someone who had an RV that we could borrow/rent for 12 weeks.... it would really make life so much simpler. =) Unfortunately, the only people I know with an RV are in Ohio... so it doesn't do me any good!

I can't believe we are going to Texas even for 12 weeks. Who would have thought when I took that poll on where my baby would be born that we would ALL be wrong?! They didn't give me the option of entering 50+ answers to the poll, there were only 4, I thought for sure one of them would be correct. (I was hoping for Ohio, but really thought it would be Arizona... oh well! Guess we all live and learn!) =)

I am working today... my last day at the Holiday Inn (at least for now...??). I'll be going back to retail for a while anyhow, do that should be fun. Things were getting pretty dull around here without Jariah, Becca and the boys, so I am ready for a new adventure!!! (No, I'm not changing my blog to dragged2tx.blogspot.com; although, that would be pretty funny!)

Please keep us in your prayers as we have a couple very hectic days ahead of us getting ready to leave and driving to Midland probably on Saturday morning. Please also pray that this opportunity actually pans out like it looks like it should. (I just keep singing one of my favorite songs "He didn't bring us this far to leave us..." , it's a real confidence booster!) I'm honestly pretty cool with the whole thing (surprisingly) I feel pretty at ease (for now) and like it's all going to work out.

I don't know how much time I'll have for blogging in the next few days, but I'll be sure to send my greetings from Midland if I don't get back on before then!! Thanks for the prayers! Catch ya on the flip side!!! ;)

Houston, we have a problem!

Looks like we are moving Midland, Texas for the next 10-12 weeks!! Zion has an opportunity to run a couple retail stores in Texas so we are headed there on Saturday. Life is so nuts and always an adventure!! =)

A gallon of water a day is alot for one person to drink. That is all.

A very happy Joanna with a not-quite-so happy Eliya...

Some very proud big brothers.... Nobody better mess with this little girl!!!

Isn't she a doll??

Already opening her eyes.... right before her Daddy blinded her with the flash!!! hehe

*UPDATE*

Danny and Joanna welcomed a beautiful baby girl at 1:39 this afternoon. Both Joanna and little Eliya Joy (pronounced Uh-lee-ah) are doing well. They both look great!! Eliya was 10 pounds 1 ounce and she has blonde hair! She's not as fair as Isaiah or as dark as Mathias... she's got more like Danny Joe's coloring. Her eyes are blue and Joanna thinks they will be the same color as Isaiah's. (I will post pictures as soon as I can... with parental permission!!)


Joanna went to the hospital early this morning to be induced. She was already half way through the labor before she left, so it shouldn't be too much longer and we'll have a new little niece!!!

Zion is going back to Tucson this afternoon with Vernon (the guys who's training him) for a meeting, and then they will be back late tonight. He spent a couple hours last night going over some strategies and Vernon is very optimistic that Zion will be successful enough that he might not have to have a "job". He told Zion that not everyone has "it", but he thinks Zion does. That's pretty cool coming from someone who was chilling with Donald Trump just a couple weeks ago. =)

This is exciting, Joanna is having her baby on Election day, and my baby could be born on Inauguration day. (Little Liberty born on Inauguration day... how cute!!! We still don't have a boys name that we both love and agree on completely.)

Zion and I are in Phoenix this week, he's getting trained in his new business by the top recruiter in the country, so hopefully he'll pick up some useful tips that will start providing us an income. =)

Joanna is going to have her baby either today or tomorrow. She's going to be induced this evening or tomorrow, depending on how busy the hospital is today. =) I'll keep you posted.

I suppose I should be grateful....



Bill has been giving me a couple more days a week since I told him that Zion lost his job. He had cut my hours down to 2 or 3 days a week over the past couple months, then in more recent weeks I was only getting 1 or maybe 2 days. Since I told him about Zion's lack of a job he's been scheduling me for 3 days again. The only problem with this is that it's getting harder and harder to make myself get up at 5 a.m. and when I do, I generally feel ill most of the day. I am (like most preggos in the 3rd trimester) not sleeping all that well lately so getting up that early is especially painful. =)

I'm feeling particularly sick this morning, headache, nausea, can't breathe properly and a myriad of other cold/flu like symptoms.... plus stress despite everyone's warnings that I don't need to stress. (I don't really know how I'm not supposed to stress.... but whatever!) I dunno... I guess life goes on.

Zion is at jury duty today, doesn't that sound like a good time to one and all?? hehe Poor guy, he's having a rough couple weeks! He was still employed at TEP when he got the summons to appear and he was actually excited about it because his company would have been paying him, plus he would have gotten juror pay, plus, he wouldn't have had to be at work. Win win win- unfortunately, the timing wasn't great and now he's stuck doing jury duty instead of being able to use that time growing his business, looking for another job, or going and getting government assistance. Isn't life just jolly?! ;)

Help us come home!!!

Everyone can help, we just need you to renew your cell phone contracts through us. It won't cost you a penny more and in fact will probably even save you money on your cell phone. For example, the Blackberry Curve, will cost you $100 less from our website than from Sprint directly. It's the exact same phone, the exact same plan, we'll just save you money and it will help us be able to go back home to Ohio. We need about 20 customers. We also can offer you all the other major cell phone providers, direct tv, local and long distance, and the coolest thing, the video phone. (It's the wave of the future and it's completely awesome!!)

Please visit the link to the right of your screen, "Zion's Business", to see what all we have to offer. If you are interested in making some money as well as saving some money, email or call Zion and he can explain how! Thank you so much for your help!!!!! =)

You're My Hunnybunch, Sugarplum, Pumpky-Umpy-Umpkin, You're My Sweetie Pie, You're my Cuppy Cake, Gumdrop, Snookums-Snookums, You're The Apple of My Eye!!!

Happy Anniversary, Zion!!

I love you and am very proud of you....

thanks for a great 8 years!!!!!

Nobody was lying about the nasty tasting stuff they make you drink to test your glucose level when you are preggers. It's really gross! (Not the thick syrupy stuff I was expecting, thankfully, but disgustingly sweet nonetheless.) Thank goodness they don't make you chug that stuff in the first few months of pregnancy or I wouldn't have been able to complete the test and would have had to retake it over and over again.

I won't get the results back for a couple of days. No one in my family (that I know of) has struggled with diabetes, gestational or otherwise, and I don't foresee any problems in that area with me. (Despite my lifelong addiction to sugar in all forms...) I really hope and pray that I don't have those problems because if I do, it will mean adios to the double stuf oreos and bon-bons I've come to adore...

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Happy Birthday Cyndi!!!

Hope you both have a wonderful day, and great next year!

Things are pretty quiet around here with Jariah, Becca and the boys gone. Yesterday was especially long for a couple of reasons, 1) it was the first day that Zion had to go to work since they left, leaving me at home all alone.. and 2) he had to work overtime (like they do every Monday) so I was there by myself for about 12 hours. Very mundane. I worked on my laundry and got that all caught up. (Now I don't know what I'll do next Monday, because I don't think we can create that much laundry again in a week even if we try!)

Over the weekend, Zion and I moved some furniture around in a sad attempt to make the house seem less empty. (We failed miserably by the way... there's just no way to make our piddly little amount of furnishings fill a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2 living room and giant kitchen house!) Thank goodness Jariah and Becca left their old couches and table or it would be even worse, and trust me, it's bad enough!!! I'll post some pictures sometime to show you all just how sad it really is... it's actually so sad that it's kinda funny. haha

The kitchen looks like a showroom with one dish per shelf.... room to breathe I guess.

Yesterday after picking up my Dad from the airport, he took me to Denny's for breakfast. I had the Grand Slam Breakfast, with two eggs, two slices of bacon, pancakes and hash browns... it was the best day ever. (LOL ~Inside Joke for most of my family...~) Anyway, it was really good food and a pretty fun breakfast. We spent the rest of the day with Becca, Brandon and Ben, ran a few errands (grocery store, Fed Ex, etc.), and then the evening with Jariah and Zion, too.

My Dad is coming today!!! I am really excited about that! (Not quite so thrilled with the reason he is coming.... to help Jariah drive the truck back to Ohio, but it will still be nice to see him for two days before they all abandon me on Saturday.)

Remember not that long ago when I looked like this.... I just don't want anyone to forget. =)

I am starting to feel like John Locke on Lost.... we have this fire alarm panel at the hotel that keeps going off every 5-10 minutes for the past week. We have to go into our "backroom" or hallway and push this annoying little "Trouble Acknowledge" button to make it stop. Thankfully, it's not the loud fire alarm, it's just a little beeping sound so it's not bothering the entire hotel, just us as the front desk. It's exhausting though because between running back and forth between the alarm panel and the front desk to answer phone calls/ take care of in house guest issues, I'm getting a real workout!!

For my birthday, Zion took me out to eat at one of my all time favorite restaurants, "Bob Evans", for their ultimate WildFire Chicken Salad (which I have been craving for months...) He had to get a little creative because the closest Bob Evans is about 1800 miles away, so he found the recipe online and had Becca make it for me.

Zion took me out for about an hour (we went to Babies R Us and got a couple of things that I had coupons for off our registry) and then he said we had a reservation for lunch at a great restaurant. He drove me back to the homestead where Jariah and Becca had created "Bob Evans" just for me!!! (Complete with a sign and everything!!!) ) It was so cute, and the food was quite delicious. (Not quite the real thing, but pretty darn close!!!)

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Oh, yeah, Zion and I finally came up with a name we like for a boy.....

........drum roll please............





Obediah Juan Ramirez




and we'll call him O.B. JUAN!!




buh dum bump chish!!




LoL




Kidding....

Justin sent me this, and told me these are Obama supporters. They look like real winners and not like hillbilly Republicans to me...

For Israel:

People are so rude. It wasn't that long ago when they first started to realise that I am pregnant, and now, everyone asks, "So when are you due?" and when I respond with my due date of January 17th, they just raise their eyebrows and look at my stomach like I'm a huge disgrace to pregnant women everywhere and they think I look like I'm about to pop! Rude, Rude, Rude!!! And, what's worse, is that these people are guests, so it's not like I can be equally rude back (and slug 'em or something) I just have to smile and say something like, "Yeah, I've still got a while... heh heh." It's so annoying.

The other day, Zion and I went to Babies-R-Us to try to make sense of what we have to get in order to be ready for this little ones arrival. On the way, I wanted some ice cream so we drove through Sonic and Zion got me a cookie dough blizzard, (it was delicious!) and I decided I also wanted some onion rings. (Weird combo, right?) Zion was quite repulsed when I started to dip the onion rings in the cool whip that topped off my ice cream. It sounds disgusting even to me, but man it tasted great!! Being preggers sure does mess with the old taste buds!!

I had another Dr. appointment yesterday, she asked me if I had been feeling the baby move much right before she stuck the little heart monitor on my stomach and got kicked. I guess the baby answered the question for me!! haha! She said everything looks great which is always reassuring. =)

Oh yeah, and I was sick again on Tuesday night, but it had nothing to do with the onion ring ice cream because that was on Saturday or Sunday. Go figure!

I need help deciding on a stroller.... unfortunately, I haven't found a purple one or even an affordable lime green one, so these are the two top choices. I need feedback!! Thanks!

Option A Option B

You've asked about names, here they are:

For a girl:

Liberty Anne Ramirez

For a boy:

Zane Thomas Ramirez

or

Leviticus Andrew Ramirez

The only problem we are having is that if this one's a boy and we choose Leviticus, (whom we would call Levi for short) and then next time we have a girl and name her Liberty, we'll have to have another "L" name for our 3rd child for a boy and girl! (We already know we want the name Liberty for a girl, that one's pretty much non-negotiable... so don't even try!) We do like the names Lincoln and Landon for a boy, and Larissa and Loralei (kinda... but it might be a little too "Gilmore Girls"....) for a girl.

If we do Zane and Liberty, then we would just need a name that sounds good with those but it doesn't have to start with "L" which one would think would make it easier.... but I'm at a complete loss. (It's possible that I am overthinking this....) I kind of like Honor for a girl, and I like Justice for a boy, but I can't very well have a Liberty, Justice and Honor! That's too much, even for me!!

Thoughts, comments, ideas? We don't want "normal" names, because, let's face it... we are Zion Jeru and Jeshanah! We can't name our kids names that are on the "Most Popular Names" lists!! I do want something pronouncable though, so that my kids in-laws know what their name is.

Well, I had my first stranger recognise that I am pregnant today... (A guest at work) so I thought it was time to post some pictures of pregnant me for Mom, Jess and anyone else who cares. Enjoy!!

Well, it looks like I will be spending yet another Thanksgiving in Arizona. I was hoping to go home for that, since I won't be allowed to fly around Christmas, but the ticket prices are insane nowadays... and it's looking like it's not gonna happen. I'm pretty bummed about it, too. =(

This'll be the 3rd Thanksgiving, and 2nd Christmas not with my family, and I hate it!! Why-Oh-Why-Oh-Why-Oh.... Why did I ever leave Ohio????!! (it might be time for me to reinstate my theme song on the blog....)

I have my 20 week ultra-sound on Tuesday, Sept. 2nd! This is the one that if we wanted to, we could find out what we're having. I don't think we're going to, though. I've always thought that I would rather be surprised when the baby is born... but the closer we're getting I'm kinda thinking maybe it would be easier to just know. I don't know... thoughts?

On a slightly separate note, for those of you who are keeping tabs, it has been almost 10 whole days since the last time I was actually sick. That's a new record and doubles the old record!! Wooohooo!!! (I've felt like I was going to be sick a few times since... but I haven't and it's still major progress!) Sorry to gross you out, but I'm really excited about it! =)

I've been feeling the baby move for a couple weeks now. It's gross. It, along with everything else, makes me feel nauseus. I have still been feeling pretty lousy everyday, and surrogacy or adoption is looking better all the time for my next kid. =p



I went to the doctor again yesterday... I have gained another 6 POUNDS! ACK!!!!!! That means 10 pounds so far for my pregnancy (I am 18 weeks or 5 months, whichever way you like to look at it...) If I keep up at this rate, I'll be 700 pounds by D-Day.(I never have been very strong in math... hmmm.)

Olga and Andy are finally home!

I just picked them up from the airport and dropped them off at home. Olga has a nice little bruise on her face and a good size one on her arm still, but other than that she looks pretty good. (A little stiff as yet, but that's to be expected.) Apparently, Andy's entire left leg was black and blue and he had a few scratches, but he seems to be fine now. (I did not check his leg... ) =)

They're both pretty excited to be back home!

Thank you all for your prayers!! =)

Update 8-3-02 8:54 AM

Finally got to speak to Mom. Tried to call her yesterday but she was sleeping. She says today she feels sore all over. There was some bleeding in her brain and her belly, but the doctors now say that has stopped and everything looks good. She has alot of bruising by the seat belt and the air bag. It looks like she'll be recovering in the next couple days and she should be fine. Apparently they got hit by a "big old van" and Andy's brand new car is totalled, but at least he had insurance. Get this. When I spoke to my mom in the hospital, she seemed more concerned with how Jeshanah was feeling than how she was feeling.She said she's been praying for her to feel better. Once again, I appreciate all your prayers.

Update 8-2-08 7:26 AM

Good news: I want to say thank you to all the people who were praying for my Mom, Olga, last night. Sam told me this morning that he was told my mom's bleeding has stopped. The next 12 hours are still critical and she still needs your prayers, but things are encouraging at this point. If she can remain stable or improve over the next few hours, her likelihood of complications will go significantly down.

Update 10:15 PM

According to Sam, Andy has arrived at the hospital. Andy said that Mom is heavily sedated. They are sending her to cat scan again to see if anything has changed. He also said they got the bleeding under control. They will let us know if any thing's changed by morning.
That's all I've got so far.

UPDATE 8-1-08 9:13 PM

Mom has had her tests. Apparently she did have a little bleeding in her belly, but she seems to be doing ok for now. Sam (my brother) said that it really takes 24 hours for us to really be able to tell what effect the accident had on her. The good news is she is stable enough that they are moving her over to ICU right now. They didn't feel any immediate emergency surgery was needed which is a good sign, but some of her bleeding is from her aortic valve which may require surgery soon. Please keep her in your prayers.

UPDATE! 8-1-08 7:55 PM

This is the latest I've heard. I called the ER at St Anthony's hospital in Denver Colorado. From what I've heard, she was in a car accident, her and Andy (her husband) got T-boned and the majority of the force was taken by him. Andy's a little disoriented and sore, but otherwise fine, and is being driven by his brother (I believe) to Denver. He has not arrived yet. My mom however, just had open heart surgery for double valve replacement in January, so they life flighted her 100 miles to do some test. She is there now, and reports are that she's in "good spirits" and she's talking. They are scanning her now and said they will know alot more after they get the results which should be coming in the next few minutes. -Zion

Urgent:

Please keep my mother-in-law, Olga in you prayers. Her and Andy were in a car accident in Colorado earlier today, and she was life-flighted to a Denver Hospital. (As most of you know, she recently had a major open-heart surgery...) We are hearing that she has internal bleeding. No one is at the hospital with her yet, (Andy is still en-route, he called his neighbor who came down to tell me and Zion; unfortunately he was still at work and the only person I could get a hold of was Sam's wife, Christina.) so we don't have any further details, but I will keep you posted. Thank you for your prayers.

So.... I thought I wasn't supposed to be sick still, Mom, Jess?!

Monday I had a great day and felt pretty good all day. (Becca and I went baby clothes shopping to celebrate! It was a blast!)

Tuesday and Wednesday I felt pretty lousy all day and then Wednesday night and last night I was sick again. What's up with that?!! I'm well past the 14 weeks deadline and I should be feeling like I did Monday all the time now, right?! So why does my child hate me? (I know it's not the Oreos, because on the days I've eaten "bad" I've felt okay, and the days when I try really hard to do everything right and eat healthy stuff like apples, dairy and whole grains, I get sick.) I don't get it!

I'm a terrible mother. For breakfast today, I had 4 DoubleStuf Oreos and a glass of milk. It tasted delicious, but I feel pretty guilty about it.

On a separate note, I went to the doctor the other day, and I have gained 4 pounds and they said everything looks perfect so fat... I mean far.. =)

This is so much fun!!!! (DRIP.... DRIP.... DRIP) Now, in addition to the nausea, etc. I have searing pain in both of my legs!! It kind of feels like there is a freight train driving up and down inside of them. (It really is lovely.)

I have been drinking tons of water, so I know it's not dehydration. I have been taking my disgusting prenatal pill pretty much every day (I've missed a few here and there, what'r ya gonna do?) and eating healthy food all the time. I would be eating more banana's, but ripe ones of those don't seem to be readily available here in sunny Tucson, and the ones that are ripe are also usually badly bruised and look as though they have been manhandled by gorillas!

(For those of you who are like Zion and don't read my blog all the time and therefore don't get the "drip, drip, drip" comment, it is the sound of my sarcasm dripping.)

I'm at work again today. TWO DAYS IN A ROW, BABY!! TWO DAYS!!! Course, I called the night auditor when I woke up at 5 and asked if he could stay until 7 instead of 6 so I could get a little bit more rest before coming in, but.... still, I'm here and I think I deserve a cookie or somethin'!!

Yesterday I stayed until almost noon, and only left then because my boss asked me a 2nd time if I needed to go home and said it was fine with him if I wanted to. I think today I'll leave the first time he asks me though, because yesterday after being here for about 6 hours, plus the drive time to and from, I ended up feeling pretty lousy the rest of the afternoon and evening. =/

Well, I'm at work right now. =( I only got a few hours of sleep and I'm miserable. I'm just waiting for my boss to get here (in another 2 hours or so...) then I'm going home and going back to bed. I'm scheduled to work until 2, but that ain't gonna happen. I'll be doing good to make it till 9!

I so wish that this was a bigger hotel with more employees (like my old one) so that I could have just told my boss that I needed the whole month of July off to get over this, and there would have been someone else to work. Unfortunately, there are only 4 front desk clerks (including me) to cover 2 8-hour shifts a day, 7 days a week, plus at least 2 Breakfast shifts.

I have been so tempted just to quit ever since I got sick, the 40 minute drive alone is brutal, not to mention how painful it is to get up at 4:45 in the morning when you feel like this... but then I think how bored I would be once I get feeling better, and how much nicer I'll be able to make the nursery with my income... plus, just up and quitting is not my style. I usually give my employers more than 2 weeks notice, and if I'm gonna do that, I might as well stay because I've been assured that in another week or so I'll be feeling great!


Anyway, someone please say something because I'm really bored and my blog is my only source of entertainment right now. =)

I'm not sure how much more of this I can handle....


Brushing my teeth is one of the most torturous things I have ever had to do. Eating is painful, but then, so is not eating. Everything smells horrible and makes me queasy, and even looking at a Wheat Thins box is making me nauseous. (I'm not even contemplating eating them and I feel ill!!!) Standing makes me sick, laying down makes me sick, sitting up makes me sick, riding in a car, even my hand soap... everything! I can't win!

I'm sorry if you are all getting tired of reading about my stupid "morning" sickness, but that's all that is going on in my life right now. I have barely even been to work in the past month because I can't. It's like I've had a really, really bad flu for a month.

I don't know what to do and I'm running out of things I can eat. Someone, Please, Just Shoot Me!!!

Justin called me last night to remind Zion and I that today was the 2nd annual Ron Ball Memorial Fun Run/Walk at camp. (Zion was humiliated at that last year, and had vowed to beat Justin this year...) Anyway, he called right before I went to bed so last night I dreamed about it, except it was a horseback riding race. Much more comical, and much more dangerous. I don't recommend we ever change the run/walk to a horse race, as much fun as it sounds for me personally. It was practically a bloodbath! Everyone was falling off, getting thrown, and dragged. I seriously do not recommend it. =)


I guess people were right when they said you have weird dreams when you are pregnant.

I WANT MY MOMMY!!!!!!!!

At least so, if for no other reason, I can apologize in person for how ill I must have made her. This "morning" sickness thing is for the birds!! (And who was the genius behind the naming of this malady, anyhow? Moron!)

On a separate note: Thank you Mom and Jess for the beautiful Little Giraffe Blanket and Music CD for the baby. When you told me you sent me something, I was hoping that it was that blanket. =) I love it and I'm sure our baby will, too. (Ben sure seems to like his!)

Happy Independence Day!!!!

I wish you all a very happy day filled with fireworks, family and fun!! (Maybe by next year we'll be home and resume our annual 4th of July Celebration Party that we started in 2005!! One can hope!!!!!!)

The little squirt has not been being very nice to me these past few weeks, but no worries... I shall have my revenge!!! Mwahahaha!!!

UPDATE:
I am due January 19th, 2009. I'll start my second trimester on Monday. I have no plans to find out what I am having, and I'm not tellin' the names either; although some of you should already know what it will be if it's a girl. =p

I heard something interesting today...

Today's fun fact, if you go 55 in a 40 m.p.h. zone, you will be ticketed. (Even if you've been doing it for 6 months. Eventually, those TPD guys'll catch on and get ya!!) So now, I get to go to work 4 days next week just to pay off my ticket!! Argh! You know that old saying, "Crime doesn't pay", so true. =(

On a completely separate note, I just walked outside barefoot to get the mail, and I'm pretty sure that I permanently scalded the bottoms of them... ouch!!

I am spending my Saturday in the kitchen. I am making 3 months worth of meals (or attempting to) in one day! So far I am off to a rather slow start... I've been at it since 8:30ish and at this point, I have yet to finish one item!

I am making my Dad's Chili (No carrots!!! ), my Mom's Spanish Rice, Potato Soup(I'm gonna try that again even though it didn't really work last time...), Shredded Chicken Sandwich Filling, and Beef a la Creole (I know, I can't believe it either!), Aunt Barb's Enchiladas, Sherry's Chicken Noodle Bake, Sis. Debbie's Cheesy Wild Rice Soup(YuM!), Crescent Roll dough for my Veggie Pizza, Meatloaf, and Baked Spaghetti, and seasoned ground beef for Taco Salad! (Phew!! I'm tired just planning it all!!! )

So far I've browned about 12 pounds of ground beef, and seasoned about 1/2 of that with taco seasoning for the enchiladas and taco salad.... and come up with a timeline of how I'm gonna accomplish all this in one day. (Answer, simple... I'll be cooking until midnight!!!!) =)

Gotta get back to the kitchen, no time for dillydallying!!!!!

So, have you all been to see the new Narnia movie yet?? Zion and I went last weekend, it's awesome!!!! (And I never even really liked the books!) They did an incredible job with it although you could kind of tell that they had a bigger budget for this one than they had for the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe... Anyhow, I highly recommend it and Zion and I both give it 2 thumbs way up!!! =)

I don't know really what I should write about anymore. My "Arizona Adventures" are basically non-existent at this point... I get up around 4:30-5:00, hit the road by 5:20 to be at work by 6:00 Mon-Fri, work my 8 hour day, and drive home. (Which usually takes about an hour and 20 minutes on the way home due to heavy traffic...)

I usually get home around 3:30-4 o'clock (I don't really leave work right at 2) so by the time I talk to Becca, play with Brandon and Ben for a few minutes, it's time to start supper 'cause Zion will be home soon. (He gets home around 6) We have some supper, and hang out for a while then at 8 I have to get a shower and get ready for bed so I can hit the hay no later than 9:00 and do it all over again the next day!

My job is okay, I like it pretty well, but it's starting to get kind of depressing because they keep dangling an assistant manager position in front of me, and acting like it's mine for the taking, but then when it comes time to actually talk about the position and what all it entails... the hotel isn't busy enough right now to merit giving me a big pay raise and promotion. Funny part about that is that earlier in the season, we were too busy for me to be getting trained... but they "have big plans" for me in the future. I don't know, it feels like they are just toying with me, and I don't like it.

Anyhoo, on a more exciting note, Zion bought me my very own laptop last week. (It's pink!!) I love it!! The only problem with it that I have is that it has the new windows stuff, and I don't know how to use the new word program very well.... I guess I'll figure it out in time.

Okay, sorry for making you wait so long for a post, thanks for reading. =) I'll try to post again soon, and more regularly and with more exciting things!!! ;)

Well, I was supposed to be in Chicago tonight... but, my flight was cancelled. =( I am rescheduled for a flight in the a.m. (fingers crossed that that one doesn't get cancelled also...!) I was going to surprise Janessa for her 8th b-day party at the American Girl store in Chicago. As it is, I will still be there for part of it, because my plane lands at O'Hare at 3:05 p.m. and the tea starts at 4:10! I really hope I make it!!! =)

When I finally get to Chicago, I will be with my mom, Jess, Ness and Sarah S and her daughter Abby, with the plan of driving back to Ohio with them on Sunday afternoon. I'm scheduled to come back to AZ on the 22nd. I'll try to post while I'm there, if I get there... we'll see.

Zion has an interview for a higher position within TEP in the a.m. Please pray for him, that everything will go well.

Justin just left. Jariah took him to the airport a few minutes ago. Dad and Janessa are here until Tuesday a.m. (Oh yeah, Janessa came to and 'surprised' us!!!! So that was fun!) She and Brandon have been having a blast, and are in fact having a slumber party as I type! (Brandon's first, he's loving it. hehe)

It's 9 p.m. though, so I have to hit the hay for now. (Getting up @ 4:30 is for the birds!)

Okay, so here's some news! My Dad and Justin get to come to AZ in April for a few days! The best part is that it's only gonna cost them the price of 1 one way ticket! How awesome is that?!! (Pretty awesome, IMO!!) It's great because when Dad was here with Mom in January, he only got to stay a few days, and Justin hasn't been here since he helped us move out almost 2 years ago! (Can you believe it?! That's practically forever!! And for those who are wondering, yes, it still feels like it!!) I've lived 4 places since then! LoL (We hadn't technically lived in the hovel yet, and I had 2 "homes" that no one in my family ever even saw! CrAzY!!!!) Everyone saw 'the hovel', and everyone will probably see 'the homestead', but we all lived in 'the haven' in between visits, and the condo, well, we weren't even there long enough to dub it!!

Anyway, I'm excited! They will be here on April 4th for a long weekend, and I can't wait!!

The Dilemma:

Becca and I both went to the same zoo on the same day and had access to the same pictures to put on the same Internet to show to (most of) the same people and we both wanted to do a slide show to broadcast it.

The Solution:

Turn it into a friendly, little competition by each picking our favorite zoo themed song, using the pictures and about 4 hours to complete the videos and letting you, (the wonderful, beautiful/handsome, intelligent) viewers vote for your favorite!! Check Becca's video out on her blog, link ---->

This is my 200th post!!!!

Unfortunately, I have nothing fascinating to say, except that.



Oh yeah, and a Tucson City Bus cut me off today... what is wrong with these people??!?!

The people of Tucson are all trying to kill me!!

Seriously! I think they must have been reading this blog and taken great insult from it and are out for revenge! That, or my car is completely invisible and I should be able to sell it to the military for millions...

Nearly every day on the way to or from work, someone cuts me off as if they just don't see that I am practically right beside them, or they have a death wish.

Yesterday at about 5:45 a.m. I was on my way to work when I had the worst "cut off" to date. I was driving down Sunrise, or Ina (or is it called something else in that section of town? Who knows!) passing Campbell. I was in the middle lane behind a white truck as we were coming up to the stop light. The light turned green while we were both still about at full speed, no reason to slow down and pull in behind all the stopped cars in that lane when there was an open lane on the right side, right?! The truck in front of me changed lanes, and I followed him. The truck made it through the intersection just fine, and I was about 3/4ths of the way through when a white SUV decided to change lanes into me. (Which by the way, isn't that ILLEGAL??? You aren't allowed to change lanes in the middle of an intersection, are you?) The SUV wasn't up to speed yet, (and I admit, I was going 6-7 miles over... heh heh) so I had to hit the brakes, hard, to get myself completely stopped to allow the moron driving(if you wanna call it that) the SUV in. I came to a screeching halt and everything in my car flew to the front (including my purse, spilling its contents everywhere, Ugh!)

I'm going to go back in the daylight to see the skid marks, I might even take a pic to put on here. A near death experience, or an everyday occurrence, if you happen to live here in beautiful Tucson, Arizona!!!

Okay,



Nothing at all blogworthy has happened in the past couple months, hint's the lack of post-age by yours truely. =)

I just got over a month long cold. (What is that, my 6th in less than 2 years? Ridiculousness!) I've been working quite a bit at the hotel every week, not to mention trying to get the homestead organized. (Oh, and we changed the name of this house to The Homstead. I just think it makes more sense than The Habitat did, since Zion and all his brothers were raised here, it kind of seems like you could actually use 'The Homestead' in an average sentence and people would know what you were talking about.)

I've also done a whole bunch of laundry... but, that's all I have to say about that!

I was starting to feel like I was taking over Shan's blog with all the pictures of the kids, so I decided to start my own. I probably won't be writting a whole lot, mostly posting pictures of the boys and telling cute anecdotes. Hope you guys enjoy!

www.holsapplefamily.blogspot.com

Psted by Becca

Well Jariah worked and worked on Brandon's room, and here is what it now looks like. It went from a very girly room to this very boyish fireman room. Brandon loves it!!! There are still a few things that need done, but it is a hundred times better!!!




Posted by Becca

New pics of Baby Ben and Big Brother Brandon!!!!