Holy Ship!

Last night, around 8:00 PM something wild happened!  The whole county is all a-buzz about it, too!  A bridge in our county was hit by a cargo ship and collapsed.  The bridge is the Eggner's Ferry Bridge and it crosses the Kentucky Lake connecting Aurora to LBL/Land Between the Lakes.  It is a bridge I came to know oh-so-well when I was in college because it was one of the two bridges I crossed on my way to/from Clarksville.  I hated that bridge.  I always held my breath when I crossed it because it was so gosh-darn narrow!  I was sure if I passed a car on it I would be going over into the lake.  Just sure of it.  Sadly, it is the major way people get to Murray, and a lot of people that live "over there" (i.e. the next county over) work "over here" (in Murray).  Now these people are having to detour more than 30 miles out of their way to get to their destination. 

When one hears of a working bridge collapsing, the first thing they think is victims.  People in their cars in the water.  Scary stuff.  This bridge, as I mentioned above, is a major thruway for some 2,800 vehicles per day and has pretty high traffic, so why wouldn't there be people affected?  Somehow or another, there were no victims!  (Thank you GOD!)  No cars went into the water and no one on the cargo ship was injured.  Pretty miraculous, really, once you see the pictures of the bridge and ship.  One of Keagan's teachers works for the Marshall Co. Rescue Squad on the search-and-rescue boat and was on the scene most of last night; I talked to her this afternoon and she reassured me that they used sonar all around the area of the water and no cars were found.  She also sent me some pretty awesome pics of the scene.

Before I show you her pics, Josh and I drove out as close as we could get tonight and took some pics of the "big picture" with my zoom lens.  Josh wanted to see for himself the damage. :)

And here are the pics that Ms. Valery gave me:
This is the Delta Mariner (a stock photo; same ship, but not at the location of the accident).  The Delta Mariner is 312-ft long by 82-ft wide and was built to ferry Boeing Delta IV rockets for NASA.  I couldn't find what it was carrying on this particular day.  Guess it is really irrelevant.

Picture of the search and rescue boat and crew doing their job last night:

The ship in relation to the bridge, from multiple angles.  You can see the section of the bridge that collapsed laying right on the bow of the ship:

Close-up of the section of bridge laying on the ship: 

Seriously scary stuff, isn't it?!  Someone who was crossing the bridge at the time of the collapse said that as they came up on the section that collapsed they knew something wasn't right because there was just a black-hole where the bridge used to be (it was pitch black night and raining at the time).  Can you imagine being that person?  YIKES! 

So Silly!

It's raining here.  I couldn't conjure up any work today (bummer. haha.) and so I am still in my jammies.  I am waiting for the cable guy because our box has been out since the wicked storms that rolled through last Sunday night.  And Richard Simmons just came on the Today Show with Hoda and Kathie Lee (I am watching TV in our bedroom...no cable box).  I seriously think he's wearing tights.  We won't talk about his be-dazzled "muscle" shirt that shows his chest hair.  He frightens me, and has since I was a kid.  But for some strange reason, I just got up off the bed and started "exercising" with Richard, Hoda and Kathie Lee.  Yea, for real.  May have been the "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fu-un" song that came on.  I am out of breath now.  I think that 30 seconds of activity is the most exercise I have done since being with-child.  Sad, isn't it?  I was still RUNNING at this point in my pregnancy with Keagan.  Oh well.

So I didn't start this blog to tell you about my fun with Richard Simmons this morning.  That seriously all happened while I was typing out this blog.  So the above paragraph is in real-time.  I actually was gonna post some silliness of Keagan!  He is such a fun and entertaining child.  Personality abounds with him and it just amazes me what this little guy comes up with!

Beep Beep!  Watch out, one cool dude coming through!  (I just wish he'd learn to "propel" it himself!  He likes free rides)

Keagan's favorite thing to do is watch Bubble Guppies.  He asks for it only 127 times per day by pointing to the TV or iPad and saying "bub bub bub gu-ies."  Then he says "Pweeease?"  I mean, it is so sweet!  BUT we have started limiting how much he watches it because he truly tends to zone-out during tv time.  So the other day we put on Pop-Up Videos (yes! they still exist on VH1!!!!) and this is what we got: 


Josh and I could not stop laughing!! It is so funny to watch him dance, and he l.o.v.e.s. to do it! I pray this innocence stays around for a very long time, and no one tells him he dances funny or has no rhythm. It is the best thing to me that he likes to move his body to good music (and he will break into dance anywhere music is playing!).

I love this silly kid!

Ah! The energy of it all.

Or lack thereof.

I am 12 weeks along in the pregnancy.  One more week to go until second trimester.  Hallelujah.  I have never been so ready to hit a milestone like this in my life.  Why?  The small hope that my nausea will just automatically disappear.  To say I am miserable is an understatement.  I am depressing to be around.  I go to bed as early as I can and sleep as late as I can, and I take as long a mid-day nap as I can.  I feel best when I am sleeping.  I am not particularly tired, just don't.feel.good.  At all.  It is much worse than when I was pregnant with Keagan, but that could be for a number of reasons, two being I didn't have a child then, and we were beyond excited about being pregnant.  OK, that sounds bad.  I am overjoyed about being pregnant again.  But ignorance is bliss the first time around! ;)  I know what I am getting into now!!  (OK, so I am not making myself sound very good...but hopefully you get my drift!)

But the second trimester really doesn't mean much.  I was nauseous well into my second trimester with Keagan.  And this pregnancy has been nearly identical to the first one...so I am holding out cautious hope. 

But, alas, I am at the 12 week mark. Therefore there is a promised bump pic. I am going to make you laugh now. This is the first picture I have taken of my belly with this baby; I started at 5 weeks with Keagan. HAHAHAHA...and I think I took twice monthly pics then (as if I was changing that rapidly). We will be lucky to get monthly bump-alert pics with this one. Just sayin'. Also, yes, I am in sweatpants. I live in jammies and sweats these days. No more cute little bump outfit. You are lucky to be getting a pic at all.


Now....

Then...

So there you have it.  I am growing quite a bit more rapidly with this one.  I have heard this to be the norm with subsequent babes.  Sadly, the jeans I am wearing in the picture at 12 weeks with Keagan don't fit anymore.  I never got back into those.  Some nice, pricey Seven jeans.  I think I gave those to my sister!  (eye roll) 

OK, so I pledge to be a better blogger.  I haven't had any energy lately (imagine that) but I have taken some cute pics and video of Keagan so I will get that up soon.  Eventually. 

Fun Facts (of life)

This post is a long time in the making.  What I mean is, a lot of thought has gone into it, and therefore there have been a lot of sleepless nights!  (This happens occasionally when I have something I want to blog but can't find the time/energy...I "write" it in my sleep.  Problem is, it is never as good as in my sleep!)  So I hope it doesn't disappoint!  It isn't supposed to be depressing, so don't get all bored with it just yet...I just want to be candid.  Generally, I put my best foot forward with my blog (after all, it is public)...but life isn't always rainbows and sunshine and overwhelming cuteness!

Many of you know the struggles we had at the end of my pregnancy with Keagan, and then after he was born.  I didn't blog about them until right at the very end because, as much of an open book as I seem, I am quite personal.  I spill my guts to people I am comfortable with and those I know care and/or won't judge me regarding the topic.  But what we went through with Keagan was tough.  Very tough.  And it frightens me to ever go back there.

Another struggle with which I haven't been very forthcoming is mine and Josh's struggle with infertility (yes, we both brought something to the table to help us not get pregnant). 

in·fer·til·i·ty (nfr-tl-t)
n.
1. Absent or diminished fertility.
2. The persistent inability to conceive a child.

Some of my reasons for not being candid with this are: 1) People who aren't like us won't understand our physical and emotional struggles.  2) I don't want friends who aren't like us to feel as if they can't celebrate their pregnancies and babies with us.  3) I didn't ever want to hear things like "Maybe it just isn't your time." or "God might have other plans" or "It'll happen eventually."  (these are painful things to hear when you are trying ineffectively to conceive a child)  The good thing is, it DID happen (obviously!) and we didn't have to wait as long as we expected (a year and a half of actual trying to conceive).  But when you are in an infertility hole, you never know when you are going to get out of it, or how.  We were lucky enough to find a doctor that, with the right combination of medicines and lotsa prayer on our part, got us pregnant. 

Fastforward...
In July I quit nursing Keagan.  I also went off birth control knowing it might take longer than we wanted to have another baby.  And we aren't gettin' any younger!  (read: we don't have a ton of time if we want our family to grow!)  Well much like before I learned that I do, indeed, have issues in the female department.  I just don't ovulate.  So I went back to my doctor's office this fall, talked with the nurse practitioner and decided to start back on some of the fertility medicine.  Mainly to get a normal cycle so when we were ready to seriously "try" for baby #2, we had a decent playing field!  We assumed it would take a few cycles to get "back on track" and then come 2012 we would begin the "fun" of trying to conceive Baby O #2.

But...

Yep...it only took one cycle of fertility meds and, unbeknownst to me when I went in for some bloodwork, I was pregnant!  We are very excited, I am a little nervous (it's gotta come out!), and Keagan has no clue! :) 

So, I guess the pregnancy posts resume!  This time around, I have felt just about like I did when first pregnant with Keagan: very nauseous, very nauseous, very nauseous, and a little tired.  The difference: I have an 18-month old to take care of!  Oh! How I wish we had family nearby!  Another difference?  I am already showing!  I will get a bump-pic up when I reach 12 weeks (at 10.5 now)...funny thing is right now I look like I did when I was 4-5 months pregnant with Keagan.  I am also starting out 5 pounds heavier (breastfeeding took all my baby weight off, but no one told me to quit eating when I quit breastfeeding! haha, so I put 5 lbs back on!). 

Some hopes for this pregnancy include (besides the normal "happy and healthy 9 months"):
FULL TERM BABY! :)
No growth restriction or need for steroid shots
VBAC (for those who aren't down with the birthing lingo: vaginal birth after c-section)
Nausea to go away at the same time I say good-bye to the first trimester

Here is how we told Josh's parents:

 Yes, my sweet boy does have a cut and black eye in these pictures.  All in a hard day of playing at school!

And finally, something to really tug at your heartstrings...it makes me cry (but I am hormonal and pregnant):
No one else will ever know,
the strength of my LOVE FOR YOU.
After all you're the only one who knows what
my HEART sounds like from the inside.

When You Say Nothing At All

My sweet "baby" boy is now 18 months old (well, we are actually working toward 19 months...but who is counting?).  At his latest check-up we learned that Keagan is a little bit behind in his speech.  Well, I say we "learned" but really, it was confirmed.  Keagan has been behind in everything since he was born, yet he has always managed to play a good game of catch-up (he was born a month early, but I tend to think that's "not that much").  He sat at nearly 7 months old, crawled at almost 10 months, and began walking well into his 15th month.  Our (wonderful) pediatrician is very milestone-oriented and has always questioned his motor development.  I, too, am overly concerned with milestones (I can't help it--part of my education and career).  Pair me and Dr. Tara together and sweet Keagan doesn't stand a chance!  BUT on the upside, I feel like if there were a true delay it would be caught.  For instance, at his 9-month appointment when he still wasn't crawling, she had an X-ray done of his hips (something that was supposed to be done at 6 weeks b/c he was born breech, but wasn't per his first pediatrician).  Luckily the X-ray showed nothing to be concerned with, and I was told to just work with Keagan on more tummy time and weight-bearing.  Can Do! 

So fast-forward 9 months to his 18 month appointment.  Keagan is doing great with his motor development (finally, no concerns from his physical therapist-mommy!), and his social development is off the charts...this kid has a ton of personality and is very appropriate in his behaviors in different circumstances.  Some things Dr. Tara was looking for:  does he problem-solve? Yes.  does he point to familiar objects in a book?  Sure does.  does he know where his body parts are?  Absolutely...Keagan, show Dr. Tara your belly button.  is he talking like other kids his age? Well, um. No.  how many words does he say? Well, um. Maybe 4? But he doesn't even say Mommy. 

We discussed his speech for a bit then it was decided that a First Steps evaluation would probably be good to see if Keagan needs speech therapy.  A very nice lady from First Steps called me a couple weeks later and told me all that would happen: she'd send a questionnaire and we would then have a phone interview to discuss the answers, she would then plot them on a grid that was age-adjusted for his pre-maturity at birth.  We went through the whole thing, and it was decided that Keagan didn't need speech therapy!  He was actually right on target for his adjusted age and would probably catch up quickly.  This is something we figured from the get-go, but figured we'd go with the speech therapy if that's what was necessary because it couldn't hurt.  But it is so nice to know that we don't have to go there!

Funny thing is, since this all took place just a few short weeks ago, Keagan now has an arsenal of words:
please (pa-weeeeese...and is extra sweet and drawn-out if he really wants something)
thank you (daank-ooh)
tractor (tracor)
truck
duck
dog
basketball (bas-ba-baa)
Cats! (Cas! with a fist pump.  as in Goooooo Cats!)
blue berries (ba-baarr)
Bubble Guppies (bubble guppy, sometimes just bub.  this is a show on nick jr. that he LOVES and asks for constantly)
dada
Oscar (he loves to call to Oscar when we let him out to go potty...funny)
cheese (much like please)
uh-oh (sounds like uh-oh)

And JUST TONIGHT, he said "mama" for the first time!  And said it and said it and said it.  It brought tears to my eyes.  I've been waiting to hear my name for 18 months.  I swear, it's the second best sound I have ever heard (first was his meow-cry when he was first born).

Keagan also makes a lot of sound effects:  he roars, makes truck sounds, helicopter and airplane sounds (with hand gestures to show that his hand is flying!), blows (as in bubbles, dandelions, hot food).  And he communicates a lot with sign-language.

All-in-all, I am beginning to think he might just be a little bit like his daddy:  a man of few words! :)   But it is so wonderful to see his rapid progression from 4 words three weeks ago to an ever-expanding vocabulary today.  And best of all, to hear him call me by my "new" name tonight.  I feel like I have just been given an award!!

Getting some snuggle-time in (rare!) during an episode of Bubble Guppies.

A little Chicken Fried

A cold beer on a friday night.

Pair of jeans that fit just right.

And Zac Brown Band on!

Last Thursday night, Josh and I had a date!  We went to Nashville to see our favorite music group:  Zac Brown Band.  I am in love with their music.  Have been since their first single "Chicken Fried" came out.  They are played on country music stations but really have a lot of different sounds.  Of course, they are country, but they have some reggae and grassroots influence in some of their songs.  And their music is just real and fun.  And the band sounds great in person, better than on their CDs and radio!  To say we had a blast is an understatement.  I am still tapping my toes to their music in my head!!  We had excellent seats but my pics only turned out so-so...hard to get good pics with concert lighting.  Never heard of their music?  Go.Listen.Now.  They are fantastic!!  And to top it all off, they are good people and are involved in charities and founding a camp for children with developmental disabilities.  Zac Brown is a father to four little girls and is the 11th of 12 children himself.  Not that you cared about this tidbit, but I found it very interesting and just rounded out why I love his music.  To me there is nothing better than a celebrity figure who is a real human being and who uses his status to do good works.