Happy Life, Happy Wife!

Lately I have really been counting my blessings. Our Christmas was wonderful, spent with my parents, grandma, and my brother and his fiance. I was happy that even though my parents have split and gone their separate ways they were still able to come over together and watch Rayliana open her presents. We also "adopted" a six year old beagle. He was my mom's dog but with her work schedule she hasn't been able to give him much attention and we said, "We'll take him!" He gets plenty of attention now with a toddler and another small pup!

On Christmas night, I was soooo happy I was unable to fall asleep. I thought to myself, "How lucky am I? Soon we will have another daughter and get to relive the exciting newborn stage, I get to stay home and raise both of my daughters, and Ian is blessed to have a great, stable job during these hard economic times." And of course I was excited about our new furry addition to the family! I've also had a great pregnancy so far, not a lot of unnecessary weight gain, minimal heart burn and back pain, all tests have come back negative, and Scarlett and I are just all around healthy! I've been walking around on cloud 9 and have my friends and family and of course the number one source-GOD, to thank!

Earlier this evening I was thinking how fast time flies! Since tomorrow is the last day of 2010, I was remembering this day four years ago when Ian and I first started dating. It was the last day of 2006 and he was far away in New York with friends and I was in good ol' Chino Valley with friends! We had talked several times that night on the phone and said goodbye to 2006 and hello to 2007 together, well twice due to the time change! And here we are four years later, married, second child on the way, own a house together, and spend everyday together! So here's to 2010, a great career move for me, conceiving our second daughter, and many great memories with my family and friends! May 2011 bring health, happiness, and many exciting new adventures! Cheers!

Anxiety Attack!

So lately I've been freaking out about everything! Could be because partly that's just my personality and/or because I'm pregnant and crazy. I'm worried about what to do with Rayliana when we have to leave to go to the hospital, I'm worried that we haven't set up the other baby room yet (partly because I'm waiting 'til after my baby shower), I'm worried because my baby shower invitations aren't even started yet...and Ashley I know you're reading this and this has nothing to do with you not doing your job it again has to do with me being crazy! I'm worried about going through labor AGAIN, I'm worried about having two children only two and a half years apart-a newborn and a toddler AAAHHHHHHHH! Oh and I'm worried about our financial situation because we can't catch a break- first our Benz pretty much dies and we have to buy a new car, then Ian's truck has $500 worth of problems with it, then we've received three bills for Rayliana totalling almost $700! UGH. Poor, poor Ian pretty much has to calm me down while I cry! Like earlier today, we made fish for lunch and the stone was on the stove. Like a dork, I put the stone back in the oven WITHOUT wearing any gloves or pot holders! I sort of dropped it back on the stove and started crying. It didn't even hurt all that bad I think I was more embarrassed that I would lift it bare-handed! Ha Ha Ha!

So God help me through the rest of this pregnancy (12.5 weeks to go!) and my uncontrollable emotions and anxiety! And all of the stuff I'm worried about really aren't big deals at all! Well, okay maybe the labor and the having a toddler and an infant thing but other than that we're in good shape people! I don't remember being this emotional the first time I was pregnant! But several things are different than my first pregnancy I suppose...Rayliana moves and kicks a lot more than Scarlett does, I've gained a total of 6 pounds so far compared to my grand total of 43 last time, and my ankles and feet don't look like one combined formation!

Baby names!

It's official our second daughter's name will be 'Scarlett Ella Wright.' Ella is Ian's mom's mom's name and we've both always liked the name 'Scarlett.' I love thinking of baby names. I love weird names that nobody else has (i.e. Rayliana!) Although, 'Scarlett' is more common than 'Rayliana,' I still think it is somewhat different and don't hear the name too often. Sadly, this is our last child and I won't be able to come up with any other weird baby names! And I know what most of you are saying, "Oh yeah right, last child whatever!" But it is and we have control of that and believe me we are going to control it! My dad said that 'Rayliana' and 'Scarlett' sound like out of a movie or something! I thought that was cute! Rayliana is starting to understand that 'Scarlett' is in mommy's tummy. But I still don't think she understands that 'Scarlett' is a baby that will soon be here! This is such an exciting time, we have four good friends who are also pregnant all at the same time! Crazy huh! One is due in January, February, March (besides me), and May~! We're missing one for April though! It is nice to be able to use a lot of stuff that I've kept from Rayliana, even some clothes with the tags on them that Ray never wore! Ian and I went to register for my baby shower and it was actually boring...We have EVERYTHING! It will be nice to get new and different stuff for Scarlett though! It's weird to think that Ian and I had to adjust to having a baby at all and it not just being the two of us, now it's weird to think about it not just being the three of us! A family of four! Perfect for us, one adult to one child, an even number, and affordable! Ha! Well happy baby naming to those of you who have the opportunity to!

Cravings!

Okay so here is the truth about pregnant women...We don't actually have cravings to the point where we cannot live without a certain food! Sure there are times when we want something and we want it now, but believe me we can live without anchovies in ice cream or whatever weird concauction an expectant woman may come up with. Also, I've heard some pregnant women refer to their unborn child wanting something. For example, "Oh I don't want to eat this but he/she is making me!" Nope, sorry, that's ridiculous! Sure the hormones may make someone have a weird craving for something, and we may kick, whine, and scream until we get it, but the truth of the matter is that we are pregnant and we know we can usually get whatever we want when we want it. Trust me it isn't life-threatening if we don't get whatever we are craving. In fact, I bet in most cases it is probably better, for health reasons, for the mom and the baby if we don't consume everything we want, when we want it.

Now, I of course have a list of certain foods/drinks that I "crave," however, they aren't anything different than what I loved before I got pregnant. So here is a list of my so called, "cravings" and yes they are in order of priority:

1. Beef Jerkey
2. The $.66 pot pies from Fry's (yum!)
3. DECAF coffee (non-fat vanilla lattes to be exact! Please note DECAF is in all caps, I don't want criticism from people about coffee and being pregnant!)
4. Ice cream (chocolate fudge brownie)
5. Lipton iced tea mix
6. Pasta (I really backed off of this for a long time before I got pregnant but not now!)

So you see, the baby and I would be better off without any of the above! But I do treat myself every so often with one or all of the above! So now everyone knows the truth about pregnant women and their notorious cravings! It's just a ploy to get YOU, to get US, whatever WE WANT!

8 Years and I've Come Full Circle

Hey everyone, this is Ian and this is my first time blogging. I'll be honest, it has something to do with the verbal lashing I received for not having posted on here earlier. So, for my first blog, I decided to write about my near DEATH experience tonight. This is serious stuff people! I'm writing tonight about basketball. Yes, basketball, and it almost killed me tonight. But, before I get to tonight, I should start earlier, 8 years earlier to be exact.

In September of 2002, during one of my first weeks at Riddle, a group of us went down to the gym to play basketball. After about 30 mins I actually thought there was something wrong with me. My lungs were killing me, my muscles (please hold your laughter) ached and I was very short of breath. But fret not my friends, I was OK, turns out I was just not used to the low oxygen levels this mile high city provided. After 4 years of activity here, however, I was able to not feel too effected by the lack of oxygen.

The last 4 years here have definitely been much different for me in the activity department. aside from softball once a week for a couple of months a year and chasing Ray around the house, the majority of my time is spent watching TV. Sad but true people. Now, I will say that I still haven't felt short of breath even with my lack of activity. That was, until tonight...

Once again, basketball was the culprit. I haven't touched a basketball since senior year of college, and it was evident tonight. I used to think that the softball games would give me a decent cardio runabout. Never again will I have that misconception. The only difference between tonight and that night in September 2002 was that it didn't take 30 mins for to feel like death, I'd say it was about 10 mins of actual play time and I was DONE! The lungs were on fire, I was lightheaded and then came the muscle cramps. This was all extremely embarrassing considering that at 26, I was the second youngest player there. I mean DX,sorry work initials in use, is like 90 and he was running circles around me. I have no doubt that my 5 month pregnant wife could have out run me tonight, with all of her Crossfit nonsense. (And she wonders why I won't go with her there)

Something's gotta change. I mean, really Ian? Come on! Don't get me wrong, I'm still not gonna do Crossfit, Nicole is right, that crap is HARD. The one time that I went I puked before I even finished the workout, it's intense. For the time being I'm gonna start slower. More basketball and bike rides mixed in with some workouts from Ted, Nicole's dad, mixed in. Hopefully, the next couple of games I won't feel like I'm dying!

Opposites Attract!

Ian and I are like night and day! We are soooo different it's actually amusing! Let's define just how different we are: He grew up in Carlsbad, CA; I grew up in Chino Valley, AZ; I went to school for business; he used to make fun of people who majored in business; I have 40 pairs of just flip flops; he has 4 pairs of shoes total; he likes to read novels; I like to read magazines; I take an hour to get ready to go somewhere; he takes 10 minutes; I want to shop at Prada; he wants to shop at the PGA Superstore; I love to dance; he likes to watch T.V. on the couch. I think you get the idea!

A recent incident gave me the idea to blog about this. The other day Ian took Rayliana to run some errands and to give mommy a break from the toddler! Their last stop was by Tim's Toyota Center to pick up our season tickets for the Sundogs' hockey games. After they were gone for almost two hours I was starting to get a little worried about them as I knew what errands they had to run and I knew the total time would be less than two hours. I called Ian and he said that they were still waiting to collect our season tickets. Eventually, they did make it home and he told me that they waited for about an hour at Tim's Toyota Center. I felt bad for him trying to put myself in his shoes; waiting around for an hour with a two year old just doesn't sound fun!

Later that night, Ian says to me, "After waiting all that time at the Sundogs' box office, we never got the tickets." I said, "WHAT!!!" I was fuming! I'm sorry but when I am told that something will be ready on a certain day, at a certain time, I expect it to be ready! It's especially irritating finding out that the tickets weren't ready after waiting over an hour for them! Also, this happened last Wednesday and the Sundogs' first home game was that following Friday. This was the next thing I said, and I quote, "Are they aware that the first game is this Friday? Or do I need to call them and remind them?" Ian just started cracking up, he said, "Our reaction is totally different!" I asked him what he meant. Ian said, "When they said that the tickets weren't ready, they apologized, and I said, 'Oh no that's okay-don't worry about it.' But if you were there you would've been p***ed!" We both just kind of laughed about it and agreed that we handle certain situations completely different.

I suppose we do have some things in common: we both love to travel with and without Chums; we both love our sleep; we are both close to our friends and families; we will both be satisfied with having two children and two children only; we both agree on religious, political, educational, and societal issues (for the most part!); and most importantly we both agree on how we should raise our little SugarRay (again, for the most part!).

So, to end I would like to say Happy Birthday Eve to my better and very opposite half! :-)

Schedule Issues

So I now think stay at home moms should make more than anybody else! Okay maybe not more than doctors! Anyway, I have stayed home for three weeks now and I can't seem to get a schedule down. Ian comes home at 1:15 and Rayliana and I are still usually in our pajamas! Ha~! Of course one of the issues has been Rayliana not taking naps anymore. I took her to the doctor on Friday and the doctor discovered that she had a double ear infection! She has now had 6 doses of antibiotics so I'm hoping and praying that will help with the sleeping and eating issues she has had lately.

I have this idea of what my schedule should be and it goes a little something like this: wake up, change Ray, brush her teeth, wash her face and hands, make breakfast, do the dishes from breakfast, start cleaning (something different every day; Monday=laundry, Tuesday=bathrooms, etc.), make lunch, force Ray to eat the lunch :-), put her down for a nap, straighten the living room, her play room, etc., take a shower, and by then Ian should be home! Sounds great right? NOPE, that's not been happening at all! Once I start cleaning something she is making a mess of something else! And that's just the straightening up I'm talking about, not to mention the dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms, and mopping! Luckily, my dad came over today to play with Ray and during that time I was able to clean! Now, the house is spotless but let's see how long it will last!

I'm sure my schedule will come together sometime soon! Hopefully, before the next little baby comes. All in the middle of that we are also working on potty training! I'm trying not to force it with her and let her become interested in it. A good friend once told me that usually if you rush it they are more likely to have "accidents" down the road and we don't want that! So wish me luck and I will take any advice!