We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo...PART II

I know I have been a blog slacker, but apparently I should change the name of this blog to "totally dropped the morning nap, and afternoon nap is variable" naptime blog. Its been a tough week. My camera keeps getting some sort of an error, so as a filler, I now present from a couple of weeks a ago - a trip to the zoo. We again went with James's friend E (who still takes her morning nap).

Here is James with a bear. He loves bears!


E had a great time looking at toucans.


James liked picking up leaves:


What animals? James would rather push E's stroller. Well, it is a BOB.


James did like the goats, except he kept trying to eat the goat food.


Sorry about the big pictures. Hopefully they will update soon. Man, you forget one little thing...

Really?? Kansas??

For those of you who don't know because you don't follow college football or live in Berlin, Kansas is the number 2 ranked team in the country. Its because they are undefeated. That's right, Kansas. Everyone's homecoming team if Baylor is played away, Kansas is undefeated and ranked number 2. For you ACC folks, this is equivalent to when Wake Forest won the ACC championship. I now get it.

To make matters worse, or better, they are playing Missouri for the Big 12 North title this weekend. Missouri is ranked #4 with one loss. This is a little easier to handle becaues Missouri was good last year. They are just a scrappy team that you can never count out. The winner of this game gets to play Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game (who just so happened to lose to Texas Tech this past week. You knew I had to say something). There is a lot of hype for this game, but apparently, Missouri v Kansas is always a big rivarly. Really? It is? They have to play in a neutral size because it is so big. Um, ok. But College Game day is going to be there? With a national championship on the line?

Really?? Kansas?

One year ago...

It was very early the Monday before Thanksgiving and I was laying in my bed in our house in Dallas for the last time, waiting for James to wake up to eat so we could get on the road. James was 10 weeks old and we were moving to SC. Our house was still on the market and we were going to live with my parents. This was probably the most spontaneous thing that Mark and I had done, even though weeks of planning had gone into it. James finally woke up about 5am and we drove out of Dallas about 6:30am.

The drive normally takes 14 hours, but this time it took about 17 with diaper changes, breast feeding stops, and highly organized bathroom breaks. We rolled into Seneca about 12:30am and I'll never forget my crazy mom, who was the only one who had to work the next day, waving us in from the middle of the street.

Has it really been a year? I guess I will have to stop saying, "we just moved here from Dallas."

SUPER FUN!!

James and I met his friend E and her mommy at Kangaroo Kids in Anderson yesterday (don't worry Kyra, Lidia, SB, Lainey, AM, other Emma, Gretchen, Sofia - James was thinking of you the whole time!). This is a big room with several of those bounce houses/moon walk thingies. Oh my gosh, James was in HEAVEN. See he likes to bounce: bounce on the bed, bounce on the couch. Sometimes after his nap he doesn't want to get out of his crib. He just wants to hold on to the side and jump. He liked it so much, that James did the ultimate sign that he was having so much fun. That's right. He threw up.

Here is E and her mommy going down the big slide:

It was really tough climbing up there holding a 27 pound baby. You dreaed the "more" sign after sliding down.

One more picture. Most of them came out blurry. Too much bouncing I guess.


They are only open on tuesdays from 11-7 and it cost 3.15 for James and I to get in. Yay! We have something to do when it is cold and rainy now.

The rest of the story...

Yay, James is taking a morning nap! I hope this doesn't mess up our afternoon schedule though.

Anyways, have I been distant? I feel like I have. I have been posting without saying a lot. We have had a lot going on that I just wasn't ready to share. I'll start from when I got pregnant with James.

We conceived James via IVF due to severe endometriosis. IVF costs approximately $8,000. This is actually pretty cheap, and that number is really everything we paid for infertility that year...IVF, 2 IUIs, accupuncture. Yes, we really tried everything. Two embryos were transferred, but only one took. I guess from that momment when we saw the ONE heartbeat, I started thinking about #2 and the $8,000 we would need to pay for it.

Our plan was to start the process again on James's first birthday, but we just couldn't do it. I just didn't want to go through all that, and not to mention, since I don't have a job, and we moved, the $8,000 was going to be tough.

So I got a job. Yes, I sure did. It was pretty much my dream job and although I had some mommy guilt about putting James in daycare, I was pretty excited about it. I was suppose to start Oct 22, but I found out I was pregnant on Oct 2nd. It didn't just happen. We knew that there was a possibility that the endo could have cleared up enough after the pregnancy to get pregnant again so we were "trying", but just didn't think it would happen. (btw, I did try the whole "get a new job" treatment for infertility the first time around, but it didn't work) With time off for dr appointments and maternity leave, I just didn't think it was in anyone's best interest for me to start work. I ended up turning it down.

I am currently 10 weeks pregnant, due in June (really? JUNE?) and that is how I saved $8,000.

How to save $8,000

Yay! Now James can go to college. Not sure about this new one though...