Life of Birdie

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 14

2012-02-08T14:03:00.007-06:00

How big is the baby?

The baby is the size of a lemon - about 3 1/2 inches long.

Here we have the "weekend look" for the maternity photo. This means I am not wearing make up. Also I am just a couple of days away from week 15 because we may have procrastinated with our photography. Also we have an empty bookshelf. Perhaps next week it will be full of books and other styled items :) I am turned the opposite way in my photo because I was feeling crazy this week.... Now everyone can decide what my good side is.

How am I feeling?

I am back to being very tired this week. I am having weird nights full of crazy dreams, tossing & turning. I end up wide awake and feeling OCD about strange things that seem insignificant in the morning. I must say the middle of the night is odd and I usually sleep right through it. I have a feeling I'm going to become more and more acquainted with 2 am, 3 am, 4 am, etc over the next few months, so I may as well get used to it. So, it's no wonder that I end up wanting a nap after eating breakfast. Also, this is a busy work week, so perhaps that's a contributing factor.

What am I eating?

Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, macaroni & cheese, salads, toaster strudels, and cereal. I have heartburn pretty much every night regardless of what I eat. I had some free pizza during a lunch meeting and the heartburn wasn't so bad. So, maybe I can handle more marinara? I'm not brave enough yet to put it on the regular menu ...

Weight: I forgot to get on the scale this week...

Highlights: I had a routine Dr. appointment this week. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat (rate was 160) and got an overall good report on all my blood work & blood pressure. I can't believe how low my blood pressure is. I think it was 106/64. I headed back to the gym this weekend and did 15 minutes walking inclined on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the elliptical, lifted weights (only 8 lbs), and did a lot of stretching.

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 13

2012-02-08T13:46:00.007-06:00

Ok, I'm only behind by a couple of posts, so I will be caught up this week! Then, the photos you see & the info will be real time rather than a couple of weeks old.

How big is the baby?

The baby is about the size of a peach & 3 inches long.

We always take these pictures after it's already dark outside, so we definitely have some issues with lighting and shadows. But ... the days will be longer and warmer soon, so hopefully we can move our weekly photography session outside and get better pictures :)

How I'm feeling:

I have felt better this week! I do get tired at night and my favorite after work activity is hanging out on the couch. But I have gotten some good sleep and I can get comfortable pretty easily.

What I'm eating:

Favorites this week are olives, apples with peanut butter, popcorn, chicken, salads, cheese. I am definitely craving veggies in salad form. I am loving the salad bar at Jason's Deli. The only things I can drink are water, milk, and orange juice. I love lemon or lime in the water. For a fancy drink, I mix orange juice and soda water. How refined.

What I'm not eating:

Still no pizza or spaghetti. No mexican food... I haven't even tried to eat mexican. It sounds gross to me and I used to eat it about once or twice a week. Weird. The key is not to overeat, and the weird thing is that I can get really full on about half of the portions that I used to eat. It is not the most convenient thing to eat tiny portions constantly throughout the day, but when I can make this happen, I feel the best.

Weight: I have lost weight since last week and I'm back to +2 pre-pregnancy weight

Highlights:

I got an awesome package in the mail from Jessi with books, maternity clothes to borrow, and a cute tie-dyed onesie. We are working very hard to clean out the room that will become the nursery and Poppy's first few baby items are making their way into his/her closet. This week is legendary for the first person asking if I have a "bun in the oven" just because of how my tummy looked. It was a coworker, but the pregnancy news hadn't made it to her wing of the building yet :) We are right in the middle of a kitchen renovation and I am so excited for it to be done! The walls have been painted and we have new countertops and tile backsplash. The painters are coming back soon to do the cabinets, so it's off to pick out colors. I am very tired of picking out paint colors and hope to go many years without having to do so again. Anyway, if all goes as planned, we will have almost every room in our house decorated and furnished the way we want it before the baby gets here. And we've already lived here for over 4 years. It seems that a house is always a work in progress...

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Week 12

2012-02-07T06:58:00.005-06:00

How big is the baby?

The size of a large plum ... about two and a half inches long and half an ounce.

Here is the first belly pic:

How I'm feeling:

Definitely better this week. Perhaps I will side step morning sickness entirely :) ... although maybe I shouldn't speak so soon. All of the weekly emails I get are singing the praises of the upcoming 2nd trimester, so I have high hopes for lots of energy and nesting ability. I am not a natural "nester," unless that's what you call all the piles of stuff that look like bird nests all over my house. So, we'll see if pregnancy turns me into a crazy organizer mom.

What I'm eating:

Lots of fruit and cereal. I'm still going out to lunch most days - just have to get away from the office for an hour - and I just drive straight to the restaurant that I'm craving at the moment. I am frequenting Chick-Fil-A and Ding How. I am having trouble with marinara sauce, so I'm staying away from pizza and spaghetti. Oh, how I miss eating pizza without getting heartburn.

Weight: +3.5 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight

Highlights:

Finally starting to take weekly belly pics. I feel like my tummy is large already, but I know that in reality, it is just barely showing. I can't wait until I'm carrying around a watermelon ... then I can look back at this photo and reminisce about the good ole plum days.

Ultrasound Round-up

2012-02-05T09:09:00.008-06:00

I love getting to see how much the baby changes in such a short amount of time...

6 weeks - grain of rice. Even though the baby was this small, we could see a flicker of a heartbeat.

7 weeks - blueberry. I think the baby looks like a little snowman in this one. This was the picture we made copies of and had my grandparents open up for a Christmas surprise :)

9 weeks - grape. I will never forget this ultrasound because the baby was moving around in there like crazy and even waved at us with a tiny little arm! Usually, the fertility clinic graduates patients at 8 weeks, but since we were on vacation that week, they let us come back for one more visit & ultrasound when we got back. The nurse was so fun. She said, "Oh my, you have a BIG baby!!" I think she was not used to seeing arms & legs because most of their ultrasounds are of little grains of rice. It's all about perspective.

This is the most recent picture we've had and it was 3 weeks ago! I can't even imagine how much the baby has grown since then.

This is a close up of the arm & head from the same visit at 10 weeks. Our baby already wants to be an internet sensation... S/he is Tebowing for this pose!!! Awesome.

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Weeks 9-11

2012-02-04T10:51:00.002-06:00

How big is the baby?

During these weeks, the baby's size was comparable to a grape, a prune, and a lime.

How I'm feeling:

The extreme fatigue definitely started to wear off and I had a bit more energy. I even went to the gym and walked on the treadmill a couple of times. We also felt overwhelmed with love & joy when we saw Poppy on the ultrasound screen at our last visit to the fertility clinic during week 9. We saw tiny little arms & legs and the baby waved at us!!

What I'm eating (& not eating):

I'm eating a lot of cereal and I very rarely ate cereal before getting pregnant. Also, I used to only eat greek yogurt and now I am back to regular yogurt and do not want the greek kind. I'm still craving chicken a lot. I'm also craving thai food and chinese from Ding How. I'm eating lots of fruit. The main snacks that I take to work are apples w/ peanut butter, bananas, chocolate covered pretzels, and pudding.

Weight: +2 lbs from pre-pregnancy

Highlights: My clothes started feeling tight around week 10. My mother in law bought me a lot of maternity clothes in different sizes from unclaimed baggage and thrift stores, so I started wearing some of the smaller options. I changed from the fertility clinic to a regular OB at week 10. I completely changed to a new practice I've never gone to before. It seemed a bit stressful to decide, but I got a lot of good advice from friends all over town and I love my new doctor.

The Pregnancy Chronicles: Weeks 5-8

2012-02-02T16:38:00.004-06:00

It's time to play catch up. Even though I'm currently 13 weeks, I have to do a couple of backtracking posts. Weeks 5-8 covered the entire month of December. We had a lot going on due to the holidays, shopping & wrapping gifts, and then we had the whole interior of the house painted. Our house was turned upside down and we stayed with my parents during most of the "construction" days. This was lucky for me because I could park on the couch after work and let my mom fix me dinner and bring me snacks :)

How big is the baby?

In these weeks, the baby changed from the size of a sesame seed --> grain of rice --> blueberry --> raspberry. We have a lot of fun with the food size references. I think my dad is the biggest fan :)

How I'm feeling:

VERY tired. I could sleep for 11-12 hours one night, get up and eat breakfast, then feel like I needed a nap. I had to take breaks to sit down and rest in between parts of my morning routine. Shower. Sit. Brush hair. Sit to dry hair. Get dressed. Sit to put on makeup. I can't ever remember another time I was so constantly tired.

What I'm eating:
I am lucky that I haven't had morning sickness. During this very early stage of pregnancy, I learned I had to change my eating schedule. I used to eat 3 meals a day - small breakfast, large lunch (usually at a restaurant), and medium size dinner. I never ate snacks during the day. I learned that if I don't eat every couple of hours, I will start to feel sick. I went through short-lived cravings... ate a whole jar of pickles in one weekend, then haven't eaten any since. Chicken was my biggest craving. I wanted to eat chicken at least twice a day. The only big food aversion was Mexican food.

Weight: No change

Highlights:

We had two ultrasounds during these weeks. David was really nervous to go to them, but he made it through. We could see the heartbeat flicker at the 6 week ultrasound, then we heard the heartbeat at 7 weeks. It was the most amazing thing. Christmas was just 2 days before I was 8 weeks along, so we decided to announce the pregnancy to our extended families over the holidays. We told David's family on Christmas morning. We went to both of my grandparent's houses on Christmas eve day. I had my grandparents open a picture of the most recent ultrasound as their surprise. It was really fun and everyone is so excited to have a baby around! This will be the first grandchild on both sides of our family, and also the first great-grandchild for all of my grandparents. We spent the last week of December on vacation in Gatlinburg. We had a great time relaxing, reading, watching season 1 of Mad Men, and going to a magic show.

The Pregnancy Chronicles: How I Got Pregnant

2012-01-27T14:53:00.003-06:00

This is not the post for readers who are not fond of female medical terminology and/or info about infertility treatment. If you fall into that category, kindly skip to the next post. If you want to know my story, are up for a long read, and can handle moments of t.m.i., please help yourself...

I was on birth control for 10 years prior to trying to conceive, the last 2 years of which, I used implanon and took a very low dose of progestin. I knew that it might take a while to begin to have a cycle again after all those years of various hormone cocktails. So, I waited to have the implanon removed until we had been married for about 2 years in the summer of 2010. It took 3 months for my cycle to return to normal. I read everything I could get my hands on about fertility, conception, and pregnancy. After a few months of no success, I made up my own non-detailed charting system. I tried the temperature charting for one month and being that I am not at all detail oriented, I was really terrible at it. Instead, I just used ovulation test strips for about six months and they were always positive right around the expected time of the month. I was also very regular. I couldn't imagine that everything wasn't fine, but we started getting a bit nervous that something wasn't right. So, since boys have it fairly easy in the fertility diagnosis department, David agreed to go ahead and be checked. He was fine - sigh of relief. Armed with all of this information, I went to see my gynecologist in May 2011, fully expecting some diagnostic tests to be ordered. No such luck. I was told to come back in about 8 months if I still hadn't gotten pregnant.

We were both frustrated, but we carried on for the next couple of months. I started getting antsy, so I researched fertility clinics and called one to find out if I needed a referral. I did not, so I went ahead and scheduled the next available just in case. My appointment was three months away. I imposed a "trying to have a baby break" until then. Although we were both really ready to be parents, we focused on enjoying our time as a family of two. It was very nice to not think of anything fertility related for a while and get ready for the journey that was ahead.

By divine intervention, everything fell into place for November 2011. We heard from close friends about acupuncture to treat infertility. When I called a local clinic, their next opening was the day before our fertility doctor appointment. Crazy good timing. So, I went for it and did 1-2 acupuncture treatments per week for the entire month. The fertility consultation was very interesting and not what I expected. We met with the doctor in his office and he spent an hour with us getting a detailed history, explaining a lot of basics about the true miracle that is conception, and filling us in on our options. He recommended that I have a series of diagnostic ultrasounds, bloodwork, and a fallopian tube test. If all went well, I would take a half dose of Clomid, give myself a trigger shot, and have an IUI procedure. All of this would happen within the next two weeks.

Wow, what a busy couple of weeks that was. It was determined by ultrasound that one of my ovaries had an abnormality, possibly endometriosis. A true diagnosis couldn't be made without some sort of invasive scope procedure, so they wanted to try the IUI at least 3 times if needed before doing the scope. Sounded great to me. Other than that, all the other tests were normal. The fallopian tube test was very painful, but I was lucky to have a dear friend come along since both David and my mom couldn't make it. I had a stressful, yet comical experience giving myself a trigger shot in the belly in a coworker's office because I share my little office with 6 people. Everything ended up working out fine and I had the IUI in the middle of November.

Then we waited. No doctor appointments until I took the pregnancy test exactly two weeks later. We were staying at my parents because our house was being painted. David had to stay at our house the night before, so it was one of the few mornings we weren't together. At first the test appeared negative, but another look showed a very faint second line. I almost had to squint to see it. But it was for real. I immediately called David and then told my parents as well. My blood test the next day confirmed the home test results. Since I was going to a fertility clinic, I was monitored twice a week to make sure my hormone levels were rising at the correct rate. It was nice to have reassurance that everything was going well so far.

Even though it wasn't always easy, we have always kept an open mind about whatever direction our life takes. For years I have been unnecessarily worried about how I would handle pregnancy and childbirth. Would I be able to get pregnant? Could I sustain a pregnancy? Would I get morning sickness, stretch marks, other scary sounding side effects? Would I dread going through labor for the entire pregnancy???? I can be a bit of a worrier at times... The reality is that once I made it another week and then another, I found myself relaxing more and more. I've been really tired at times, bought groceries I was craving and then couldn't eat, and cried over very strange and not sad things. I am definitely not a crier, so that part is weird. But, I'm no longer scared of this life experience. Bring it on, baby :)

Poppy

2012-01-26T19:47:00.002-06:00

At the end of November, we found out that I am pregnant! It took 17 months, the last of which included seeing a fertility specialist. The good news was that all it took was one month of fertility treatment and all I needed was a relatively minor procedure to achieve pregnancy bliss. I also went to acupuncture. It was quite a unique experience. I'm planning to write "Pregnancy Chronicles" on the blog, so I will do a more detailed post on the fertility treatment/acupuncture experience for those who are curious. The baby's nickname is Poppy because when I found out I was pregnant, I was only 4 weeks along and the very tiny bundle of joy was only the size of a poppy seed.

We are very excited. It took me a few days to believe that this was real. Even though we are anxious for Poppy's arrival (official due date is August 6th), it is nice to have about 9 months to prepare for the transition into a whole new life experience for our family.

A lot of folks are sharing in our feeling of joy. This will be the first grandchild for all of mine and David's parents, and also the first great-grandchild for all three of my grandparents. Both sides of our family haven't had a baby around in about 14-15 years, so I'm pretty sure the lucky little one may be a bit spoiled. David's step-dad has made some sweeping proclamations about his plans to spoil :) We also have some fabulous friends who are equally pumped. While we didn't really broadcast our journey to conception, we didn't keep it a big secret from close friends either. We are so grateful for all of the kind words, encouragement, and congratulations over the past few weeks and months.

Hooray for Poppy!!!

Thanksgiving Tree

2011-11-13T14:23:00.002-06:00

I am so in the mood for twinkly lights this season that I couldn't wait to put up our Christmas tree!! It is artificial, so I really wanted to get some extra use out of it rather than it sadly sitting in the garage storage closet. I started rambling to my coworkers (I'm sure they love my ramblings) about my extreme need to get those twinkly lights plugged in. I said something strange like, "Hmm, I would love to have a Thanksgiving tree..." From there, things really took off. My fabulous coworker, Connie, let me borrow some wooden harvest-themed decor and I found the scarecrows and stuffed pumpkins at Hobby Lobby 50% off. Connie also made me a bow, and voila.

I am LOVING the Thanksgiving Tree.

Steak Out Shenanigans

2011-04-20T23:08:00.002-05:00

Pixie and I grabbed a quick dinner tailgate style at Steak Out tonight after work. Our offices are located conveniently about a mile away from each other. We couldn't decide what to get for dinner ... it had to be quick ... because the Pix had choir practice. Most of the other places around only have sandwiches and I wasn't in the mood for such. Steak Out was the only good choice.

First of all, I ran into a former co-worker I hadn't seen in over 3 years. Her legend is my best wedding shower gift. At my office recipe shower, everyone wrote their favorite recipe and their gift to me was supposed to "match" the recipe. Then, they took all the handwritten index cards and put them in a cute little binder. I use it regularly. I reminded Sheena about her recipe and how much I love coming across it in my cooking escapades. It goes like this:

Her gift: A sonic gift card
Contents of Recipe card: Forget cooking tonight, just go by Sonic and grab a cheeseburger. Make sure to pick up a cherry limeade. Add grey goose. Enjoy.

LOVE! We had a great laugh about this while the line of hungry patrons piled up behind us.

Pixie and I then made our way to the car and realized we really didn't have time to go find a place to sit and enjoy our salads. So, we popped the hatch and had a tailgate. Amongst a few odd looks and scoffs, one fabulous lady was all over the set up. On her way in she commented, "Now that is the way to eat your salads." She had some time to mull over the scene we were making while she was inside. By the time she passed by again with her food, she said "they should come out here and film y'all for a commercial! Bahahaha."

Photo Disclaimer: Pix got 5 mouth shots earlier today as part of her seemingly never ending dental work. If you can tell that her smile is crooked/puffy, please disregard :) We thank you.

Blog Disclaimer: I did not proofread this post. It is past my bedtime and there is no telling if my grammar is up to par...

Los Mariachis

2011-04-16T07:25:00.003-05:00

Richard and I discovered a new to us restaurant for dinner a couple of nights ago. We were very excited to learn that the mariachi band was in full force. They played some crowd-pleasers. Here they are covering CCR's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain."

Some of the wall decor was very entertaining as well.

Richard said that this is a main lunch buffet for the hospital crowd and they sometimes struggle to get dinner business. The perfect weather a couple of nights ago drew in a big outdoor seating crowd on the porch. Even this sun was chillin just smokin on a cig ;)

Addendum to earlier post...

I was so excited about posting pictures from my iPhone for the first time, I forgot about the best parts of our dinner. The mariachi band came over to our table to get our request and asked us if we wanted to hear something romantic. Hahaha! Richard was like, "uh, no, she's my sister." Hilarious!

When we were ready for our check, the waiter came over and we thought he asked if we would like the check. But, he came back with another beer for Richard. Just a slight communication malfunction that made our night out last a bit longer :)

Totally random

2011-04-13T20:27:00.003-05:00

Pixie stories seem to be a big hit on the blog, so here's one for the fans:

I got a phone call on the way home from work today and mom informed me that she had to have a root canal (this is her 4th ... yikes). Judging by her last two, she likes to get spontaneous root canals. She figures, "Well, I'm already comfy in the chair ... I may as well go for it." So the Pix doesn't know her dentists' age, but let's just say he's her Doogie Howser. She likes to joke around with him and she is high on the nose gas during the majority of their time together. Mom doesn't drink or do anything else to alter her state of consciousness as a recreational activity. She prefers to be "high on life."

Apparently mom always has something sassy to say when she gets her diagnosis and finds out she needs to spend more money on dental work. When the dentist came in to share the root canal news, he asked (with sarcasm), "So, what do you have to say today?"

Mom replied, "How about a 4 letter word?"

Dentist's quick witted response: "Which one?"

Mom: "Take your pick."

At the time of our conversation, she didn't have a clear memory of what else she said, but it involved something about her love for the inventor of novocaine. It is entirely possible that she said an actual 4 letter word at some point... Wouldn't it be hilarious to have a job involving a large number of folks being anesthetized. Ahhh, the stories you could tell. ***of course you wouldn't tell them because of health privacy laws, always there to ruin storytelling from the medical workplace***

In sewing news, I added a lining to a cheap skirt I got at Marshall's. Due to a problem with spatial orientation and not placing the right sides together, I cut the lining material so the slit is in the front rather than the back where it is supposed to be. I admit I was too lazy to start over with the project, so now I have a random lining slit in the front of the skirt. Since it is hidden, I'm not sure if I will even notice the mistake. The good news is that I have another couple of skirts to line and I will learn by experience. I'm certainly a fan of purchasing a $10 skirt, adding 50 cents worth of lining, and feeling like I bought something fancy/expensive that no longer creeps up the legs when I wear tights.

Does anyone else watch American Idol? True to my love for R&B and gospel, my favs are Stefano and Jacob. I'm afraid they're both in danger in weeks to come because I am WAY above the average voting age and may have different taste than all the 13 year old girls out there. My next favorite genre of music is country and I do not understand what people like about Scotty. He looks SO weird when he sings and he holds the microphone like it's a sandwich.

Laptop retirement, madness, and an iPhone anniversary

2011-03-30T17:33:00.006-06:00

My car had to go to the shop today. The brakes were making a funny sound, but it turns out there was nothing wrong. This gave hubby and I occasion to commute to and from work together. I'm pretty sure we've never done this before and it was a lovely experience, however fleeting. Fact: he will not be getting up early to carpool to work with me any time soon.

I bought my new, cute little laptop last November because when I changed jobs, I did not get a computer. It quickly became apparent that I might not actually be provided with a work computer and my beloved Mac was on its last leg, so I took the plunge. In a glorious turn of events, I did get a work computer all set up TODAY. So, I now have a stay-at-home laptop and my nerdy-portable-office-rolly-thing lost about 4 pounds. I must blog regularly so that the laptop will have a purpose since it is retired from Audiology.

Hubby is today's blog content advisor. So, his topic of choice is March Madness brackets. He entered two pools and due to the strangest final four seeding I can remember, he has already secured first place in one pool and he will end up in second or third place in the other. I, on the other hand, am just glad not to finish in last place... I have had a dismal couple of years in bracketology. Here's to Madness 2012!

My 1 week iPhone anniversary is tomorrow. I am slowly learning the world of smartphones. So far, other people have made my phone do really cool things, such as add apps and sync with google. I did figure out how to download the weather channel app. Now I consult it every morning as soon as I open my eyes. It not only helps me dress appropriately, but the screen brightness shining in our cave bedroom shocks me into wakefulness. My fav iPhone game apps are scramble and words with friends. Well, I guess mine should be called words with friend because I am only playing with one other person. Is there anyone else out there playing this game and needing a friendly adversary?? I'm not even sure how to start a game with someone. The only person I'm playing now invited herself from my phone and started the game. So, just let me know if you play and I'll figure it out :)

I'm off to watch American Idol. I don't have a favorite this season, but there are a couple I wouldn't miss if they get voted off this week...

Fun with Phones and Pixie

2011-03-26T07:47:00.005-06:00

Way back last fall, the Ivey clan started discussions about merging into a happy, glorious, family phone plan. After much research, copious amounts of email chains, and waiting for this phone and then that phone to "release," we finally had the launch party this past week. My dad ordered the phones through a rep at his work so he could get a fancy corporate discount. This means that all the phones were delivered by Fed Ex and we had to activate them. This is all very new to me as I have been in the stone ages with the same "dumb phone" for the past 3 years and I thought you always had to go into a store, look as if you have no clue what's going on, pay a lot of money, and walk away hoping you know how to answer a call.

Clearly things have changed ...

Before we even got started, mom remembered that she has been meaning to ask me something about her iPod shuffle. Stuart gifted it to her as a birthday present a couple of years ago, but he didn't load any songs on it. Once she realized what it was about a year ago, she gave me some CDs to put on it and I also threw in some songs from my iTunes - mostly rap :) It turns out she is a fan. Anyway, she's been happily listening for months and all of a sudden last week, her songs stopped abruptly. No matter what she did, they wouldn't play. So, her question for me was...

"How do you change the BATTERIES in this tiny thing???"

Apparenly she doesn't listen to the iPod all that much because, I mean, what is the length of a charge on these things?? She amazingly remembered where she put the box it came in, and even more amazingly, hadn't thrown it away. There, all packaged nicely in the bottom, was a charger.

And moving on to her phone ... in addition to an iPhone, mom got a gmail account and iTunes for activation purposes. She was getting a lot of new information and technology in her life in one evening. Richard was doing a mini tutorial for her because he is cool and has already had a iPhone for a couple of years. He got to the part about how she can now listen to music on her phone. Hold on a minute, she had a question...

Mom: "So, when I want to listen to my music, where do I plug my iPod into the phone?"
Richard: "Ok, that is a good question. Also, it's a funny one."
All participants in party: goofy laughter

Different Ears

2011-03-22T19:43:00.009-06:00

I spend my work days looking into, testing, and fitting hearing aids on human ears. For a change, we spent our vacation concentrating on Mouse Ears and all the Disney Magic we could find. Hubby has been to Disney twice and I have only been once way back when I was 8 years old. All I could remember was that Stuart was deathly afraid of the characters, I was very brave because I rode the train roller coaster, and Grandmom videotaped the sidewalk for the entire length of a VHS tape.

This is what we looked like after 8 hours at Epcot. HOT! We walked, walked, and then walked a bit more while fitting a couple of rides in between. The fireworks show was fab.

The cold weather caught us by surprise. Good thing I grabbed a hoodie at the last minute ...

We made it to our first ever spring training game. It was crazy crowded - probably because we picked a Braves v. Yankees game. They packed a LOT of people into a tiny stadium.

We also made it to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood studios, and the outlet malls.

The Muppets in 3D were fantastic. I love muppets in any form. Good times.

The ABCs of Allison

2011-03-22T19:12:00.003-06:00

A. Age: 29

B. Bed size: King.

C. Chore you dislike: Cleaning bathrooms. Also, I don't mind doing laundry, but I have a big problem remembering to move loads from the washer to the dryer and to unload the dryer.

D. Dogs: No, thanks.

E. Essential start to your day: On work days, getting into the shower. On non-work days, randomness. At least 2 hours can time warp on Friday and Saturday mornings and I have no idea what I have done. Probably the most common essential start to one of those days is watching teen mom. It's one of my must see shows that David won't watch and he sleeps later than me.

F. Favorite color: Blue.

G. Gold or silver: Both.

H. Height: 5 foot, 8 inches.

I. Instruments you play(ed): Piano for 10 years. I learned by ear (suzuki), so I'm not very good at sight reading and can't play much at all anymore. I want to learn how to play guitar.

J. Job title: Audiologist.

K. Kids: Nope.

L. Live: In Huntsville, AL.

M. Mom’s name: Karen, a.k.a. Pixie

N. Nicknames: Al, Allie, Birdie, Legs Ivey, Adit, Adittee

O. Overnight hospital stays: I had pneumonia when I was very little; there are pictures of me leaving the hospital so I bet I had to stay overnight. Nose surgery.

P. Pet peeves: Tiny drink glasses/ not enough refills at restaurants.

Q. Quote from a movie: From Rounders: "If you had it to do all over again, knowing what would happen, would you make the same choice?" (Mike) "What choice?" (Professor)

R. Righty or lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: Richard (27) and Stuart (24)

T. Time you wake up: Alarm goes off at 6:45, I get out of bed by 7:15. I'm usually up by 8 on the weekends.

U. Underwear: Hmmm, always. And I have a variety.

V. Vegetables you don't like: Beets.

W. What makes you run late: Being scatterbrained. I am much better about being on time since I met hubby.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Right hand when I broke it the day before 7th grade, jaw in college, both of my knees since they started being weird last year.

Y. Yummy food you make: Let's see, pico & guacamole is the most requested yummy food I make. My favorite recipes in the famous binder are lasagna, coconut cake, and rosemary potatoes.

Z. Zoo animal favorites: I'm into most zoo animals, but I will stay far away from the spiders & snakes. They're usually in the same little building and I won't go near it. David is all about penguins, and this has caused me to realize that they are amazing. Sadly, the penguin exhibit was closed at the Atlanta aquarium when we were there...

Rooster Juice

2010-10-21T18:23:00.002-05:00

I have been having knee problems for the past few months. Actually, I have always felt like my knees just weren't quite right, but I never really had pain ... just weird popping. So, I started having some pain last spring after working out at the gym. After a few visits to orthopedic physicians, a round of physical therapy, and some x-rays, it has been determined that I have patellofemoral pain sydrome. That's just a fancy way of saying that my kneecap doesn't stay where it's supposed to. I have developed arthritis under my left kneecap and it is causing mobility, discomfort, and swelling problems.

I have always felt that if one saw a list of my hobbies, they could assume that I am elderly. Now, with arthritis, I apparently have the health problems to go along with this :) I also had shingles when I was in grad school. How many in the under 30's age group can boast such a medical history?

So, today, a new orthopedic doctor took a look at everything and determined that I will likely need surgery at some point to get my kneecaps to stay in the right place. We discussed the fact that I have been conservative in managing this problem since it started up. So, to continue down that path for the time being, he offered to give me a shot of rooster comb to treat the arthritic symptoms, then get me fitted for a brace. Um, ok, I have heard of a brace before and that sounds good. But I also heard you say something about a rooster?? I must've misheard. Nope. That's right folks, there is a shot made from rooster comb - the weird thing on top of the head - and it is currently in my knee. Wowza.

I got a return appointment scheduled for next month and I just need to call if I wake up early tomorrow morning crowing :)

David is a painter :)

2010-02-03T21:39:00.005-06:00

We got photoshop elements so that we could become photography editing geniuses on a budget. I got frustrated early on with this program because I didn't know what any of the little buttons meant and it was difficult to find tutorials. I learned some things about the "real" photoshop and then got frustrated that I could not do them with my very-nice-and-much-cheaper version. After I spent 3 hours on a Saturday morning with 2 photos in need of help, I judged them to actually look worse. So, my friendship with little ol' elements ended.

I am glad to report that David does not accept defeat in this way. His computer nerdiness prevailed. I'm not sure how he does it, but he periodically calls me in to the study to teach me all of the tricks and show off the coolness of our new and improved pictures.

Just the other day, he became a painter:

This was formerly a picture we took while hiking at Monte Sano. Now it is a digital painting. Michelangelo would blush :)

Rain Days

2010-01-31T20:02:00.003-06:00

I am enjoying the end of a long weekend due to my office closing at noon on Friday. This was supposed to be in preparation for ice everywhere. Thankfully, I already had a 3 day supply of bread and milk, so I did not have to make the dreaded "snow/ice alert" trip to the grocery store. It turns out that this was the 2nd time in January that I got some time off for rain and wind. I know a lot of people just north of us got some lovely snow. I was perfectly happy to just see a little rain. I'll be alright if it doesn't snow in Alabama for another 20 years. I saw enough to last a lifetime in just one winter 'up north,' as they say.

I left church today with lofty plans to visit Target and possibly the gym. As it turned out, after David and I left his niece's fabulous birthday party, we entered into a vegetative state on the couch. Gotta love that Netflix features The Office reruns. I am always in the mood to watch Michael Scott declare bankruptcy :)

Blog Slacker

2009-10-05T21:36:00.004-05:00

It has happened. I am officially a blog slacker. I was called out on my facebook page. And this brings to mind the fact that I am also a facebook slacker. When I first joined facebook I was one of the 10 members above the age of 22. Way back then you had to have a collegiate email address in order to join the community. I resisted for a very short period of time, but it wasn't long before I took the plunge. You see, I was a very old and distinguished grad school student living in the trailer with my undergraduate brother. In those days, when I asked people to be my online friends, they paused, squinted, and then realized that I gave them a ride somewhere when they were 13. I was "Richard's sister," a terrible title when you're the older sibling. There was another common occurrence around this time whenever I was playing on the computer and my mom was around. She would casually ask, "Are you looking at your myface???" Ahh, the glory days.

Now every member of my immediate family is on facebook and I just can't seem to keep up. I go many days without checking all of my favorite websites and I don't even think about removing tags of photos posted with reckless abandon. I have decided that this is mostly due to my inability to access the internet while at work. You heard right ... I am only allowed to use the internet for work related purposes. Sadly, facebook and blogging don't qualify. Even if these privileges were suddenly extended to me, I couldn't budget the time into my 40 hours. My computer time at work is mostly spent programming hearing aids with the occasional report editing. This is exciting stuff.

I have heard many wise people say that you can always make time for that which is important to you. So this I say to all five of my readers (and especially the unnamed reader who cares enough about this blog to call me out on facebook), It's good to be back!!!!

Stormy Sunset in Sepia

2009-08-28T18:20:00.002-05:00

This is the very end of a beautiful sunset I spotted on the way home from work last week. I didn't have my camera with me, so I had to get home as fast as possible to see if I could find a good place for a photo op before the beauty disappeared on the horizon. I was lucky enough to find this spot just a couple of blocks from my house after I made my way around the massive trees that block any view of the sun from my front yard as early as the mid afternoon.

I thought that the sky looked rather unusual on the evening of this pic, but I didn't know the reason ... this could be due to the fact that I pay no attention to current events or weather. It turns out that the remnants of a tropical storm were moving in. We had rain starting the next morning that lasted 4 days. Rain, rain, and more rain.

Here's the photo SOOC before I clicked "sepia" in iPhoto. That's right, I do all my editing in my free version of iPhoto. I have Photoshop envy. But that is another subject for another day :-)

Singin on Sunday

2009-08-23T23:07:00.003-05:00

My Sunday morning began much earlier than I have grown accustomed to since I road tripped with mom and dad to a singing. After a cup of mom's coffee, we set out for Lookout Mountain. This mailbox at Pine Grove church marks the spot for day two of the singing convention.

The front row of the tenor section looks ready for action.

A look over at mom's book during Holy Manna.

Papa Coy is leading one of his favorite songs.

Just hanging out in the treble section.

Once the kids get tuckered out, you can tell we're nearing the end of the afternoon ...

Some folks traveling by horse and buggy stopped by for a quick chat as we were getting ready to head home.

And hey! Check it out! They're riding in style with a stereo system and air conditioning ... this looks like a sweet set up.

Treadmill Love

2009-08-17T22:24:00.004-05:00

I hear people say all the time that they don't like running on treadmills. They only do it when there is no possible way that they can run outside, etc. I have to respect this point of view. Maybe they don't live in the south. Maybe they have superhuman cooling powers. In any case, I happen to love the treadmill ... especially in August. Here are the reasons for this love:

1. It is located in an air conditioned building and has a little personal fan that I like to set on high.
2. It has a personal TV & iPod dock.
3. I don't have to stop/slow to let a car pass and then try to come up with the motivation to pick up the pace again.
4.. There is a cute little place for my water bottle, phone, towel, etc.
5. If I faint or become otherwise incapacitated, someone will be close by to bring me smelling salts
6. I have the goofy, woozy leg feeling for a few minutes when I dismount. This reminds me of the few minutes post trampoline or moonbouncing activity.

With all that said, as of tonight, it does appear that the treadmill may not share the same affection for me. Right around the 15 minute mark of my treadmill adventure, I apparently felt very sleepy and subconsciously rested my eyes for a split second. Before I knew what was happening, my right foot was on a stationary platform, my left foot was still on the spinning belt, and my hands flailed to the side handle things to save me and I amazingly remained in an upright position. With a lot of grace, I stumbled back into place and pretended like nothing happened. Even though I had the music at a considerable volume, I still heard a sound as close to burning rubber as a tennis shoe and treadmill belt can make. And yes, there were three people behind me and one person right next to me. I'm sure they quite enjoyed what might have otherwise been a dull evening.

In-laws and Idols

2009-08-09T09:01:00.004-05:00

The event that inspired our trip to Atlanta last weekend was the American Idol Tour at the Gwinnett Center. The in-laws love the show and I have really gotten hooked on it in the last couple of years. DVR helps because we can fast forward through the huge amount of coke commercials. Can you even imagine how happy the producers were that the tour made a stop in Atlanta, the World of Coke? They couldn't help themselves ... that was one of the first "plugs" that we had to hear about. Anyway, last season, we went over to the in-laws to watch a few of the shows. We also took it to the level of making picks. We each had a list of our fav contestants and who we thought would win. David came up with the idea of a road trip weekend and we added in aquarium fun and outlet shopping. David's step-dad made everyone aware that high on his to-do list for the weekend was getting to the Bass Pro Shops.

The concert was really good. Of course, it was all karaoke style (like the show) and all of the top 10 idols from the last season performed. It made for an interesting concert because of so much variety. The most entertaining part for me was the crowd in attendance. Every single age group was represented - from huge groups of teenage girls to a group of middle aged teachers with matching t-shirts (I got to hear one of them tell all about it in the bathroom line) to lots of elderly folks. One grandpa-type sitting very close to us danced in his seat the entire night. We also got to witness the healing powers of Adam Lambert. The build-up for the runner up was amazing. Every time his picture flashed across the big screen during intermission, the whole place went wild. I'm not an Adam fan, so this was comical. I couldn't imagine what would take place when he actually took the stage. Well, when that moment came, David called my attention to the handicapped section. Over half of the people in wheelchairs were on their feet! Awesome display of fan dedication.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the event because they proclaimed that no cameras were allowed - not even point & shoot. I did see hundreds of cameras in use with no apparent consequences, but I diligently followed the rules because I didn't want to risk confiscation of either of my awesome cameras.

One fish. Two fish.

2009-08-04T19:06:00.003-05:00

I went to the Georgia Aquarium last Saturday as part of a fabulous weekend trip. I have been hearing about this place for many years ... well, as many years as it has been open. At one point it was so prestigious, there was a waiting list to get tickets.

Jellies!! They look very puffy and soft. Don't let them fool you.

This lion fish seems to be all about business. His business is very somber. I did a little research on this guy because he looked so interesting. It turns out that he is quite poisonous.

Here you can see people moving on the people mover. It was very nice not to have to walk while trying to coordinate the task of looking overhead into the huge saltwater tank and taking pictures. Those three things at once could have proven to be too much for me :)

This school of fish came right on over to pose.

The whale shark looms in the background behind all the little dudes.

What is this strange specimen??? Oh, just a human.

We made it through the tunnel and found some sea anemone.

Oooh, look at the weedy sea dragons. I couldn't get any good pictures of the seahorses because the tank was too dark. These might be just as cool anyway.

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea. The belugas were so graceful. They are very flexible and just swirl around all over the place. I've never seen anything like it.

I'll leave you with this crazy water screen image. We also got to walk through a very interesting Titanic exhibit, but they did not allow any photography. There were many artifacts that have been recovered from the site of the wreck, as well as stories about some of the passengers. They even reconstructed sample rooms of first class, second class, and third class. There were only 2 bathrooms per 700 people in third class. Also, the first class one way tickets cost up to $80,000 when adjusted for inflation.

Coming up ... the remainder of our weekend adventure.

Dear Diary

2009-08-03T20:57:00.000-05:00

It is time to be blogtastic. Blogalicious. The blog diggity. I have been on the sidelines and have thoroughly enjoyed reading about everyone else's world for the past few months. You could call me a casual observer of sorts.

Now I feel compelled to share my basic template, beginner photography, and stories.

Get excited. It's time to enter the Life of Birdie ...