April Showers Bring May....Snow??

Oh, this is gonna be a long one! So much has happened lately...I'll try to organize things so it's not too chaotic, but no promises.

April 28th we left for MT. We left the house shortly after 3 a.m. and thankfully made it to the airport, through security, and onto the plane with no problems. Tiernan was awake most of the flight, but he was so good. We had a 3 hour layover in Seattle and were able to visit with my dad, Steve's brother, nephew, and sister. It was really great catching up!

I knew MT was going to be cold...but we got off the plane and I was freezing! I had to wait outside for our carry-on luggage to be taken off of our little puddle-jumper and I thought I was going to freeze on the spot. Even though the weather was unpredictable, MT is absolutely beautiful. I actually got misty eyed upon seeing my family and their amazing home. The home, the property, the surrounding areas are just so gorgeous. Tiernan had so much fun playing with dogs, chasing his cousin Tristan, and playing out in the snow....that's right, he played in snow in May. He also got to see deer, chickens, a rooster, lots of different wild birds, a caterpillar, and hear coyotes. I couldn't ask for a better vacation for him.

My sister had warned me that not only would it be cold, but the weather was very unreliable. I was shocked at just how right she was! One minute it would be sunny and beautiful, the next, it was snowing or hailing or raining! It really didn't matter though. It was so great to just be around family and relax for a change. I actually read three books while I was there! I haven't read a book for pleasure since before I started ASU in fall of 2007! So I'm thankful that we were homebound for most of the time...if we were outside, I never would've been lazy enough to lay around and read!

Tiernan changed so much over the course of two weeks. Well, I guess it's not so much that he changed, but he learned a lot. Auntie Mimi taught him to say, "I love you" and he now says, "I'm mad", "I'm sad", "I'm scared", "deer poop", and a whole array of other phrases, too. He also developed a fear of monsters. Two nights in a row he didn't want to go to sleep and kept saying, "I'm scared. Monsters." He even woke up two nights in a row saying the same thing. Each time he wanted daddy, instead of mommy, to hold him and make him feel better. I'm hoping the monster fear didn't follow us back to AZ, but I do love how much he can communicate now!

The trip home was good. We didn't have an early morning flight (thank the Lord!). We had another 3 hour layover in Seattle and were able to visit with family again. Tiernan fell asleep before the plane even left the runway, but when Steve and I tried to switch-off holding him, he woke up and didn't go back to sleep until we were in the car. Thankfully, going to bed late meant he slept in this morning!!

Two weeks went by so fast, but I am very thankful we had the opportunity to be with family. I'm hoping I can convince them to come down for a visit to AZ sometime :)

The pregnancy is still going well. It is still totally different than my first pregnancy. With Tiernan, I craved watermelon around the clock...this time, I tried a couple pieces of watermelon and spent the next 24 hours feeling like I would throw up at any minute. Now, I can't even look at watermelon...I still can't even look at muffins without feeling sick. I have started to really crave salad, but I crave bleu cheese dressing with it...which is supposed to be a no-no during pregnancy. My nausea isn't as frequent as it was before the trip, but when it hits, man it wipes me out. I'm glad that it's only nausea and not worse than that, but it's still not much fun!

We heard the baby's heartbeat with the doppler we rented on April 30. I was about 9 1/2 weeks then. It was a beautiful sound...little galloping horses trotting along at 177 beats per minute. I've listened to it frequently since then and when Tiernan sees the doppler he says, "dady (baby) heart."

Tiernan is going to be such a sweet big brother. He loves to kiss my belly and even tried to share his milk with the baby! He put the nozzle of his sippy cup in my belly button and made drinking sounds...and today, he pointed to my stomach and said, "dady heart" and then tried to play trucks with the baby. He hasn't seemed to notice that my belly is growing each week, but I just know he is going to be so wonderful when the baby is finally here.

I promise, someday I will post pics. I know people want to see update pics of Tiernan and of MT. I just have to steal Steve's laptop and get it done...