Congrats Deidre and Stevie

Tonight we went to my cousin Deidre's wedding.  My cousin married her long time love Stevie in a beautiful church ceremony with the reception at her parent's house.  My mom and I helped Deidre and Stevie plan the wedding, and I am happy that it all turned out perfect for them.  I wish them a lifetime of love and happiness!

                                            Deidre(the Bride) and I

                                        My baby bump at 13 weeks

                                          Danielle placing her sister's veil

                                                      My cousin Sarah

                                                  Me and my Mama

                                                     My Parents

                    My Hubby and I( I think he was talking when this was taken)

Germs Invade the Fitzgerald House

Our poor Liam caught whatever virus is going around.  He was sent home from preschool on Tuesday for a fever, and he hasn't been able to shake it since.  He went to the doctor yesterday, and registered a fever of 102.8.  I was assured it was just a virus and that it would run its course.  This morning he scared us at 5:00 when after being up all night uncomfortable with fever, I found him to have a fever of 105.1!!  After medicine and sleeping with him upright, he finally broke his fever around 8:00.  I feel so bad for him, the worst part of being a mom is seeing your baby sick.  We our crossing our fingers that the worst is over and he will start to feel better soon!                 

                                       Waiting with Liam at the doctor yesterday

Heavy Heart

Usually my posts are lighthearted and happy, except it's been a rough couple of weeks for Bill and I losing friends, and a rough year for making that total of friends lost of 3.  It weighs heavy on my heart that these three are gone, these young friends with families and friends that loved them are no longer here.  It's even harder for me and Bill to imagine because these three friends were our age.
In June, Bill lost his best friend of seventeen years Eric.  They met Bill's first day of college class and were best friends ever since.  Eric aka "Hays" was in our wedding and stayed with us when he came down for the wedding.  Even though I only met Eric once, from all the stories Bill had told me and how easy he fit right in with our family when he came down, I felt like I had known him much longer.  He was a part of the Fitzgerald family and even became friends with my parents as soon as he met them.  In the moment I had to tell my husband his best friend had passed away, I knew our lives would be forever changed.  I kept hoping it was all a mistake, that he wasn't really gone, I would have given anything in the world to make my husband's pain go away and bring his best friend back.  We couldn't grasp the fact that he was really gone, with no answers at that time as to why.  We now have an idea why he passed away, but even that aspect is hard for us, because it's something that could have been detected and controlled with medical intervention.  I will always be grateful that he brought so much happiness and friendship into my husband's life and will always help Bill keep Eric's memory alive.
                                                              Eric and Bill

A couple of weeks ago we received word that a young women that worked with Bill in radiology and that I went to high school with had passed away from ovarian cancer.  She was diagnosed when I was just about to deliver Liam a little over a year ago.  I never thought this illness would take her life.  She was so young and beautiful, she was a going to go to ultrasound school when she got diagnosed.  I had just seen her the week before she died, and while I knew her illness had progressed, I never thought she would die.  I sometimes wonder why young people die, and people who abuse their bodies and have poor health can survive.  I don't mean to sound mean, but it's frustrating that with all the medical technologies we have that people are still dying from cancer.
Yesterday I had got word from one of my best friends that her fiance had passed away in his sleep.  He was only a few years older than Bill.  He had children and a family that loved him so much.  We don't know exactly why he died and out of respect for my best friend, I won't tell speculation of what happened.  My heart is breaking for her, this person that she was going to spend the rest of her life with is no longer here, gone in a second, leaving everyone with questions why?  I am going to spend time with her today, and while I don't think I am the best in these situations, I have learned that often people just want an ear to listen.  So that's what I'll do; I'll give an ear to listen to her heartache, the memories, and her fears. I'll give as many hugs as she needs and tears with her, because that's what friends do.

Me and Brit

With all the losses we've had this year, my husband has said he is ready for a new year and what is in store, hopefully without loss for our family.  I am still going to make every memory, smile, and laugh count for the rest of this year, and take next year when it comes.  With the loss of our friends, it definitely makes me realize how precious time is.  I am living by the song words, "If tomorrow never comes, will she know how much I loved her."  It doesn't matter what you have, how much you work or things you can accomplish.  It matters how you make the most of the time you have, the memories you make with the ones you love, and accomplishing the task of making sure the ones you love know how much you love them everyday.

Taking Care of that Smile

My friend had a post on her blog about some things she doesn't tell her pediatrician http://www.conscienceparenting.com/2011/12/07/why-i-dont-tell-my-kids-doctor-the-whole-truth/, and I kind of laughed because I hadn't told our pediatrician the Rylie hadn't gone to the dentist yet, and before our appointments I would stick Liam's pacifier in my purse in hopes to avoid a lecture.  It wasn't like we hadn't talked about Rylie going to the dentist before, my husband would say, "They are her baby teeth, they will fall out anyways, what's the point of the dentist at her age, and I don't want to expose her to x-ray for teeth she is going to lose."  I can hear that horrible comments now on how we were neglecting our daughter's teeth and oral health.  That isn't true, in fact we did brush her teeth and watch them for any issues.  It was just our choice for her not to go before now.

Well today, I took Rylie to her first dentist appointment.  I had imagined her screaming at the top of her lungs like a wild animal trying to escape.  I would have not been surprised if she didn't make it through the appointment due to the screaming and tears.

However, I didn't give her enough credit.  She did great through the x-rays, the tech assured me that the dose of radiation was the lowest possible, and that it was no different from us walking around outside.  I couldn't be in there with her because of being pregnant, but I could hear everything from the hall.  She did great following directions.

She sat in the dentist chair like a perfect little lady and got the highest behavior score.  I guess some kids have to get their teeth cleaned in a sound proof room because of their less than happy behavior.  She squirmed a little during the cleaning(even I do that), but she did great!  Unfortunately she has a cross under bite(from the pacifier, go figure), this means her top teeth go over her bottom teeth on on side and under on the other.  To fix it, she has to get a quad helix appliance to fix her jaw before she loses her baby teeth so it doesn't mess up her permanent teeth.

                      She wanted me to stop taking pictures so she could play!

I was very proud of my girl and she already has her six month cleaning appointment, so yes the dentist is now part of Rylie's appointment routine of check-ups. At least I don't have to withhold the truth about the dentist from her pediatrician anymore!

Where we are at 12 weeks and 1 day....

Disclaimer: I will be sharing many personal aspects of pregnancy, if you don't wanna know, then don't read!!

Time is flying by and it's hard to believe I am beginning my second trimester already.  I had a doctor's appointment today, and got some good news and not so good news.  The good news is I was able to see our baby on ultrasound and he or she is growing right on schedule, definitely not a "little bean" anymore.  The bad news is while I was sick a couple of weeks ago, I had to see a doctor that wasn't "my" doctor.  He had done an ultrasound to check the heartbeat and told me the baby's size was a week behind my original due date of May 7th.  I already knew this and we were monitoring the baby's size.  He asked why "my" doctor hadn't changed my due date and I just said we were waiting to see the baby's growth.  So unfortunately he took it upon himself to change my due date on my chart until May 15th(I curse him).  The change is disappointing because living in Arizona, it starts getting HOT in April, and I did not want to be Shamu with swelling feet, having to deal with living in the Arizona oven aka weather.

Today when "my" doctor did the ultrasound, he said the baby's size was great and only about 4 or 5 days behind my 7th due date.  He said the baby isn't small, and it wasn't measuring with my last period date and original due date, because I most likely ovulated late in my cycle.  Also, he didn't want to change my due date officially on my chart because if I was ready to have the baby by the 7th, he could help make it happen.  He said I was now "locked in" to the 15th because the other doctor had changed it on my chart(still cursing that doctor).  Anyways, he said with this being my third pregnancy, the chances of making it to forty weeks were slim and if my body was "ready" by my original due date, then I would have the baby then.  So we just have to wait and see when our little one wants to make their appearance.

I am getting some energy back and having less morning sickness.  I haven't really started to pack on the pounds, but having some baby weight left over from Liam, I figure my body is just recycling it!!  I was happy to see our baby has grown, and I look forward to finding out if we are having a boy or girl!

Happy Halloween

We celebrated  Halloween by going over to my brother and sister-in-law's house and taking the kids trick-or-treating.  Rylie was a trooper and walked the whole time.  Liam was along for the ride, and he wasn't sure of the whole strangers putting candy into his bucket idea.  Here are some of our Halloween pictures!

                                             Halloween cupcakes!

                                                         Rylie

                                                         Liam

Our Family is Growing by Two Feet

9 weeks, 3 days

Well guess what? Yep our family is once again growing, Rylie and Liam are going to have a little brother or sister.  When we were in Chicago over Labor Day weekend, actually we were in Elkhart staying there for Notre Dame, we(me doing the carrying) found out we were going to have another baby.  We were surprised and excited.  We had talked about having another baby, we just weren't sure on the time frame.
As of right now, our due date is May 7th, 2012 except according to two ultrasounds, the baby's growth is a week later, which could put me to deliver around Mother's Day. That would be one awesome present!  My doctor is going to wait until we have our 18 week ultrasound to change our due date though.  I will be disappointed of the later due date due to the Arizona summer that will be approaching, although APS will love us and as my husband has said with my previous pregnancies, "It's like living with a polar bear."

Our first ultrasound 7 weeks, 4 days~9-23-11

Rylie says she wants a sister.  She says,"I just only want one brother."  We should be finding out around Thanksgiving or soon after if it's a boy or girl that is making me toss my breakfast and numerous other meals throughout the day. So besides looking forward to no more vomiting and getting my energy back, we will be watching our new addition grow and my waist line expand.