Holy?

I haven't written anything in a while; I missed posting anything about Brooks' birthday party and our trip to the Children's Museum and our home buying/selling exercises. It's not that I've been too busy or those topics weren't worthy, I just haven't felt the passion behind the posts.
Recently, I read a post from my sister in law, Katie, about her Bible study group discussing women of the Bible. She followed up with some questions she asked herself about how her modern-day lifestyle would be viewed and if she saw herself as a good Christian woman. I thought about these questions for a brief moment and moved on to what I was doing. A few days later, I came across a link online that a Facebook (and grade school) friend had posted. This link was familiar in message. I won't go into too much detail because you can read the article here. http://www.sj-r.com/features/x1461788336/Tom-Ehrich-asks-if-we-really-live-like-Christians The article begs the question, do we really live like Christians?
I started to see a pattern forming. I talked to Beau about it Saturday night before bed (and after my Ambien) and he said I was getting too deep for being so late at night. I think he chalked it up to the Ambien...that is, until yesterday.
We went to church yesterday. It's been a really long time since we've attended due to the typical two year behavior of my son, Beau's schedule and the behavior of my son (did I mention that??). I was almost blown away while listening to the First Reading. It was Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18. If you're familiar with it, you can skip the next few sentences. For those that are not, it's below:
The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD.
17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.
18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
So after this topic popping up three times in about the same number of days, I really started to be introspective. Am I holy? Am I a good Christian woman? Am I living like The Lord? Frankly, the answer is no. For me, I always thought, "I'm not doing anything bad or breaking any laws." But opening my mouth to say something unnecessary or slandering my neighbor isn't right. I have had grudges and hate and these things aren't holy. This isn't how I want to live. Prayers and church don't make the Christian, living holy does.
So, short of being slapped upside the head by Him, His message has been delivered and well received. I will be a good and holy Christian.

My Latest Obsession - PINTEREST!

So, I've been impatiently waiting for my invitation to Pinterest and I FINALLY got it. I've wasted so much time surfing today that I'm a little ashamed to even being posting this. If you don't know what Pinterest is, go check it out http://pinterest.com/. It is so amazing! I've probably got a million pins from just today alone. I can't wait to try the new recipes and DIY projects. Now that I'm starting to have more energy, I can totally see myself doing some of these fun things. I <3 Pinterest!

11 Years of Marriage - 9/16/11

Friday, 9/16/11, marked our 11 year anniversary. For most, it's hard to believe we've been married that long because we got married so young. For those close to us, it's not unusual at all. The majority of our friends and family were married quite young and have been married for 10+ years.
This year's anniversary was very nice. The day started off not so great, with me having a major headache. I thought for sure that I was coming down with the flu, since I had the flu shot the day before. I left work around lunch time to go home to work. I took more Tylenol and laid down on the couch with my laptop close by to see if I could rid myself of this headache. A couple of hours later I was feeling great. We hadn't solidified any plans oh what we were doing or where we were going, but we did have a babysitter (or two). We dropped off Brooks at Mom and Frank's around 6:00. I was worried that he would be too much for them but lucky for everyone, Makayla was there too. They seemed to keep each other entertained as soon as she warmed up to him. Brooks isn't shy at all when it comes to other kids. In fact, he doesn't know a stranger at all! At the last minute, Beau and I decided to go to Paesano's for dinner. This is one of our favorites that we don't visit very often. I think we've been 4 times since Prom Night. :) It was cool on Friday due to a morning thunderstorm, so we sat out on the patio. It was perfect! We sat close to the water feature that had koi fish that would come beg for bread crumbs. Beau had a couple of beers with dinner and I sprung for iced tea. We both ordered the Shrimp Paesano (our favorite) and then had dessert. I had the Amaretto Creme Brulee and Beau had the Coconut Key Lime Pie. Everything was so amazingly delicious. The conversation was great too. We rarely talk like we used too. Most conversations are interrupted by a "Dada" or "Mama" or us wrangling him in. There was also a three-piece band playing jazz in the background. Did I mention it was perfect? Beau and I have decided we will do more outings like that together. It usually only occurs a couple of times a year, and that's just not enough. Thanks to Mom and Frank for helping make this night so great!

15 on the 15th

I am 15 weeks along today. I had my first appointment with my OB - whom is amazing, I might add. He always puts me at ease. My blood pressure was a little high 133/79 but I know that was due to anxiety. I talked to him about my morning sickness that hasn't yet gone away. He suggested taking half of a Unisom at night and/or foregoing my vitamin. He mentioned that vitamins are unnecessary because we get all the nutrients needed through our food intake. He said prenatal vitamins were created for women in third-world countries. Apparently, the large amounts of iron cause nausea so not taking them might make me feel better. I'm still thinking about that one.
We didn't do much in today's appointment. He asked me any first trimester testing had been done and we listened to the heartbeat. Baby's heartbeat was 164 bpm. I have a sonogram in three weeks! I can't wait to see our baby!

My beau, Beau

I have so much respect for Beau. I rarely give him enough credit for all the things he does. There are very few men out there that do what he does. He's a fantastic father, helps out around the house (inside and out) and has recently taken up cooking. In addition to that, he's a great provider.

In 2008 he decided that he had enough of the retail worker's life and tested for the San Antonio Fire Department. I was not so thrilled about this decision at first. I thought, there goes our holidays together; it's a huge paycut and; I'm not sure I'm comfortable with such a dangerous job. I quickly changed my mind when I saw how committed he was to this idea. I've never seen him so passionate about anything...even baseball! I knew this was when I needed to suck it up and go along with whatever made him happy.

So here we are...him, a firefighter and me, a firefighter's wife. He loves it! And I love that he's happy about what he does. I know there are people out there that think being a firefighter is a piece of cake. If they aren't making runs, they're taking naps, playing games or hanging out. While that maybe be the perception, it's not even close to being accurate. When Beau arrives on shift around 8:30 AM (shift doesn't officially start until 9:00), he relieves the firefighter from the prior shift and then proceeds to check the truck and supplies. They make sure there are enough supplies (air, backboards, gloves, buckets, etc.) for the 24 hour shift, check the hoses and then make sure everything is working properly (sirens, lights, horns, nozzles, etc.) After that, they could be making runs all day. Don't get me wrong, they're not constantly running to fires. They're doing other things like lifting up overweight people on stretchers, giving CPR ("bagging") someone that had a head attack, assuring young mothers that their child is okay and clearing out accidents. I know this is Beau's job. It's what he signed up for, but it's never easy to see a frantic family reacting after something horrible has gone wrong and you're trying to save their loved one's life.

In addition, it's never easy to be away from your family on holidays, evenings and weekends so that you can care for someone elses family. For those people that don't think firefighters do enough, I challenge you spend a day with them. Whether you're collecting donations on a hot street corner for Jerry's Kids, cooking dinner for 8 to 10 guys, stepping through blood and other unmentionables to save someone, or waking up 4 to 5 times a night for calls that seem meaningless, you'd probably change your perception of this occupation. After 9/11, how could you possibly doubt these folks?!?

(Don't) Bring on the Heat!

These roasting temperatures are driving me crazy. The two hottest summers on record have been in 2009 (the hottest) and 2011. Both of which I've been pregnant. This last Saturday evening, Beau, Brooks and I went outside for about an hour between 7:30 and 8:30 PM to visit with neighbors and let Brooks get in some playtime with Oscar from across the street. It was still around 100 degrees but we have a ton of shade in our neighborhood. I had chased Brooks up and down the street and into neighbor's yards and garages. When we came inside that night, my feet were swollen and I was a hot mess! I'm just ready for this heat to be over. I would love to take Brooks to Sea World or the zoo on the weekends without bursting into flames. Just yesterday, my office was hitting temps over 90 degrees...INSIDE!! I am okay with it being warm but this is ridiculous!!

My Emerging Belly

Today was really bittersweet as I walked out of The Fertility Center of San Antonio. As they said goodbye and hugged me, I felt this overwhelming sadness. I will never walk through these halls and see their smiling faces again. These doctors, nurses and MAs that eased my worry, answered my often ridiculous questions and helped me give life to two little miracles would be out of my life forever. I got a little emotional because I know these people care. I wasn't just a name to them. They asked me to send pictures of the baby and to keep them updated. There aren't many offices that do that. At the same time, it was good to leave there. It's progress -a graduation, if you will. I will now go on to my OB visitis with Dr. Almendarez. He's an equally amazing doctor. I actually don't know where I would be without him.

So, today I'm 12 weeks along and already look and feel the size of a house. I know my intestines are up in my chest and it's obvious that everything has moved around. Attached is a photo of me and a sono photo both taken today. Beau works today and wasn't able to make the appointment, but we also got it on DVD, so he didn't really miss a thing.

It's a Part of the Family

So last night, Beau and I were getting settled into bed and a commercial comes on for Chevy. I've seen the commercial before and got a little emotional but this time I really watched it. It's the Chevy Runs Deep commercial (You can see if here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvnohA-sdNo). Now, I know what you're thinking..."it's just a car commercial." To some it may appear as just a car or truck commercial, but to me it's much more. You see, my dad had a 1964 Chevy pickup that his dad, my grandpa, bought new. My Paw Paw handed it down to my dad, and my dad to Travis and hopefully it will continue to be handed down. This truck has been much more than a truck to us. Knowing that three generations of Meier men have driven it makes it even more special. There's a lot of blood, sweat and tears under that hood, too. It's seen many of hot rod nights at Bun n' Barrel, family functions, date nights (for Travis and Jackie) and even took me to my first day of high school. When I think of that truck it reminds me of what brought my grandpa, dad and brother together. It was something they all shared besides their name. It's not just a truck. As I sat there bawling in bed, I remembered some special moments spent in that truck - as a child, with the whole family loaded up in it; hauling butt at 8:24 AM into the Taft parking lot, as not to be late for first period; racing down Westover Hills Blvd blaring "Ain't Going Down 'Til the Sun Comes Up;" cruisin' down the beach in Port Aransas on Spring Break; making many trips to Rocky J's; putting along in the July 4th neighborhood parade; and finally, peeling out and honking that signature horn after laying my dad to rest. Chevy Runs Deep!

Sweet, sweet boy

Brooks is doing some really cute stuff these days. I can't believe how much he picks up on. These are some of my favorite things that I want to cherish FOREVER!

He's really taken a liking to singing. Some of his favorites are, "Sing a Song (from Sesame Street), "If You're Happy and You Know It," "This Little Light of Mine" (from Veggie Tales) and "Down in My Heart" (from Veggie Tales). Not only does he sing along with these songs but he REALLY gets into it! It just warms my heart to hear him sing in his little, almost two-year-old voice!

Another thing he does that makes my heart flutter is when he says "I love lou" aka I love you. He will tell me that before I leave or when I put him to bed. "I love lou" is quickly followed with "bye."

Right now, Brooks has an obsession with other kids around his age. He absolutely loves his cousins, JD and Ryan and neighbor, Oscar. Peeling him away from any of these three is close to impossible. There is much screaming and kicking and tons of tears when it's time to go. It just breaks my heart that he's already developed such strong relationships.

Brooks has been playing with toys that Beau had as a child. There are GI Joe and Dick Tracy men (that he calls man), rusty tractors, remote control trucks and toy guns (bang bangs). It's fun to watch Beau and Brooks play with these toys together.

Nom Nom Nom!

All I want to do is eat. Now, I'm pretty choosy about what I eat because I'm definitely having food aversions but I can't seem to get full. Everything I want, crave, desire is carbohydrate based, of course. I dream of warm, fresh out of the oven dinner rolls with melted butter; big bowls of hot, salty and buttery movie-theatre popcorn; fresh corn tortillas stuffed with greasy, melted cheese and smothered with enchilada gravy and even more cheese. And cake...don't forget cake. My mouth waters for a hunk of strawberry flavored cake, slathered with rich cream cheese icing. This pregnancy has definitely been interesting. I didn't have cravings like this while pregnant with Brooks. Food was almost the furthest thing from my mind and now it's a top priority!

No Fences

After a long day of shopping, errand running and visiting with Bud, Katie and the boys, we came home to this! This isn't exactly what I wanted to see at 9:00 at night after an hour drive home and exhaustion. I just wanted my bed. As soon as I parked Beau's truck, I ran through the house to check on Chulito (our chihuahua) to make sure he was okay and still in the yard. Beau made a bee line to the neighbor's house to figure out what happened.

Apparently, there was an argument between a boyfriend and girlfriend a few houses down from ours and the man took off from the house in a hurry. As he sped around the corner, he fishtailed and then gained traction but pointing directly at ours and our neighbor's fences. After he hit the fences and the huge boulder on the inside of our fence, he took off. Since the neighbors a few houses down knew him, they were able to give the police his information to locate him.

What scares me so much about all of this is that if we had been home, there's a good chance we would've been in the backyard. Beau and Brooks often spend time sitting on that boulder because it's shaded in the evenings. Also, that boulder is a recent addition to our yard and if it had not been there, there's no telling what would've occurred. I'm grateful the damage isn't severe, although it's another thing to add to the list of things to do!

The Boy's Club

I am so excited about Sunday. Our church has come up with a little program they call The Boy's Club. This program is to get young families (who all happen to have boys) together for fellowship and a little lunch. Initially, I thought Beau was off. I must have looked at the calendar wrong because he was indeed scheduled to work. Then yesterday, he texted me and said he was off on Sunday. Someone needed to trade days with him. I think that was a God moment, for sure. I'm a little nervous about Little B's behavior during the service because he can't sit still for seconds, but looking forward to meeting new friends!

Dear Dad

Dear Dad,

Today marks two years since you left us on Earth. Your spirit still lives on in us, though. I think about you every day. Every. Single. One. Some of the things I think about and remember are how you taught me to "hit the hell out of a softball," make my bed the Air Force way, catch a redfish, shoot a shotgun, drive a standard, have an appreciation for nature and have a sense of humor.

When I think about all of our times together, I laugh as much as I cry. To say that I miss you is an understatement. We had thirty years together, yet that doesn't seem like enough. I think you'd be really proud of all of us.

Travis' family is beautiful and tall, as you know. He has his own custom fishing rod business that he has proudly named Meier Custom Rods. He still drives the red truck knowing you're giving him the thumbs up when he peels out. Jackie, Shellby and Wesley spend lots of time outdoors with Travis and all his hobbies. Shellby and Wes are quite the students, too. They've done really well in school and on their report cards. Shellby will be in sports this year and Wes has taken up catching on his Little League team.

Mom is good too. She has switched jobs and is back in a school that's closer to home. She has no pets. I bet you'd be shocked to know that. She has a man in her life. He is someone who is really special to all of us and we're sure you (and Vicky) had a hand in them connecting. She still enjoys Rockport although it's not the same without you. She is still living on the hill and the LFR Ranch.

My family is growing. We had a boy kid, not long after your passing, that we named Brooks. I call him Malcolm all the time because he looks and acts just like you. He even has that Meier square head and is stubborn like a mule. We have another baby on the way, too! Maybe this one will be Beau's little girl. Beau's a firefighter with the city and a wonderful father. He reminds me of the kind of dad you were.

Granny's doing well. She's getting around with the help of a wheelchair. She's still positive as ever and strong as an ox. She's quite a lady at 93 years old.

I talk to you a lot, Dad. I know you're listening and watching us with your Sea World pass smile. Every time I see something stupid, I think of you. That's exactly what you used to tell me. Most people would be offended but I know you meant that with the utmost love because we share an appreciation for stupid stuff like Naked Gun movies, tic tac toe, bad spelling and dirty jokes. I send my love to you in Heaven, Dad, and wish I could hold your hard-worked hands and kiss your cheek one more time.

With all my love,

Little Miss Muffet

Baby pictures

Yesterday, 8/2, we went for our second sonogram to check out what's going on in my ever-growing uterus. Baby Blair is doing great. S/he is 23 mm which is almost an inch. His/her heartbeat was at 175 bpm. Brooks' heartbeat was 171 bpm around this age, so maybe it's another boy! Speaking of boy, once again we aren't going to find out the gender. I know that drives a lot of people crazy, but it's what we want. I am the most impatient person, but this element of surprise helps me in the patience department.
I'm very excited about what's to come, but nervous as well. My concerns are about squeezing another person into our already bulging house and being able to handle two kids when Beau returns to work. One of them, I can do something about. I haven't been all that determined to sell our house and find another because we haven't agreed on where we want to live. Beau really wants to move on some land, but he's not crazy about me making the 30+ mile trek in to work everyday. I told him that I would make the sacrifice and quit working. HA! I just don't see that happening any time soon.
I will continue to pray about it and see what direction God sends us.

YUCK!

I've been in this real funk lately. Nothing tastes good or sounds good to eat. I'm nauseous when I'm hungry and nauseous when I'm full. I'm too tired to do anything...EVER. The heat hasn't helped either. Brooks wants to go outside and play but all I want to do is lay around. I don't really remember this part when I was pregnant with Brooks. With him, I was SICK. I was SICK, SICK! I had horrible morning (all day) sickness and migraines that left me in tremendous pain, but I never felt like this. At least with him there were ups and downs. This time, I feel awful ALL the time.
I'm definitely not complaining about this. I'm the one that wanted it. I wished and prayed for this, spent hard earned money to be here and get anxious if I feel less bad from one day to the next. I will forget all about this once I have that little Blair in my arms.

Virgin blogger

Yes, I'm a virgin. So what?? It took me a while, but I finally jumped on the blogging bandwagon. What made me do it? Three things, really. One, my sister in law, Katie, is committing herself to updating her blog more often. Two, I want to document my pregnancy and going-ons with the family. And third, it's a release for me to get all those things I'm thinking down on virtual paper. Since I'm doing very little scrapbooking these days, this will be my therapy.

I might write about what it's like to be a firefighter's wife and the crazy schedule, feeling like a single mom and being consumed with worry when he's gone for 24+ hours at a time. I might write about the fertility struggles we've had and how we're so fortunate and blessed to have Brooks and another baby on the way. I might write about work and how I took on more than I can chew...again. I might write about something cute that Brooks said or did that made my day. OR...I might write about, well, big fat nothing!! Something, yes, but nothing important. I can't wait to go back and read these posts days/months/years down the road.

Thanks Katie, for inspiring me to do this!