Whirlwind!

Phew! May has been quite a busy month! We actually have not been at home for a single weekend in the entire month. It's been a great month, though. Here's a brief outline of what we've been up to to catch you all up...

1) Trip to Chicago
Ian and I were in Chicago for a super-quick visit over Mother's Day weekend. Last year, Ian won a "traveling fellowship" award through Loyola's Department of Surgery, which was how we took our trip to Europe last spring. Loyola had a reception & brunch celebrating the 20th anniversary of the award, so that's what brought us back to Chicago. Unfortunately, it also kept us busy and left us with little (no) time to visit with all the Chicago friends we miss. Boo. :( We did get to stay with Ian's brother, Mark, and his family. It was wonderful to see them. I hadn't seen our 7-month-old niece, Sophia, since November, so she's a whole different person now! On top of that fun, my sister-in-law, Naomi, totally hooked me up with maternity clothes. I basically took everything she had. No idea how I managed to stuff it all in the suitcase I brought (that already seemed full), but apparently, I'm a master packer.

2) Back to Chicago for Ian - Off for Graduations in Springfield, MO, for Mae
After being back home for just a few days, Ian flew back to Chicago the following Thursday for a 4-day course. His schedule was jam-packed, so again he didn't get all that much time to hang out with friends, but one of his buddies from residency attended the same course, so at least they got to catch up. Thursday was also a big day for me because it was my last day of work!! It was really hard to say good-bye to all the amazing people, but I am so thrilled to leave all the stress, driving (52 miles each way!), and limited free time behind. Even in spite of the pregnancy, I feel about 20 pounds lighter! The following morning, I flew to Springfield to attend the graduations of my two youngest brothers. Dave was graduating with his MSW and Kevin was finishing his BSN. It was a bit of a travel-disaster day for Mae and I ended up missing the ceremonies entirely. BUT, I did have a fabulous long weekend with the family and was able to be there for the graduation BBQ on Saturday. Our 8-month-old niece, Emma, was amazing and great fun to play with. While I was there she learned how to clap (must be all those graduations) and to crawl! Unfortunately, I left one of my memory cards there, so I don't have pictures of the Chicago trip or this one. :( I do have one sweet little video of Emma having good times with her daddy, though!



3) On to Wichita!
Just 4 days after getting back from Springfield, Ian and I were back at the airport ready to head off to Wichita for a week of house-hunting and meetings. I'll let Ian share info about all the meetings... Basically, it seems like the entire hospital system is thrilled that Ian will be coming. I'm expecting them to declare a "Dr. Ian Villanueva Day" any time now. The house hunting was epic. We saw about 25 houses in 3 days and saw about 4 houses a couple more times. There were so many ups and downs but the week ended with a giant UP... we bought our first house! I still can't believe everything ended up falling into place. We'll close on the house on July 15. I'm so excited about it... and relieved that we're not going to have to A) move again when I'm 8 months pregnant or B) try moving with a new baby.

So that's a quick view of what we've been up to! I'm VERY MUCH looking forward to being home for the next couple of weeks before the next round of traveling - and then moving - starts up again. Hope you're all well!

We need your help!

OK, I need your opinions here... especially those of you who have kids, but I'd love them all.  We've been debating about what we should do for our housing situation when we move to Wichita.  We know we won't have trouble making mortgage payments (mostly because I'm currently saying no to Ian's dreams of a 14-bedroom house...), but the down payment part is tricky.  We're trying to figure out if we should (A) plan to rent for a couple months and work on saving like crazy, (B) do something like 6 months and then buy or (C) just plan to rent for the first year.  That whole baby thing also complicates things.  I told Ian there's no way I'm moving any closer to our due date than about 3 weeks before.  Renting for 6 months would mean we'd be moving with a 2 month old.  Crazy?  I kinda think so, but who knows?  It would stink a bit to rent for yet another year, but at least we'd be able to get settled in someplace we plan to be for a (little) while before the baby comes.  What should we do?  Discuss. :)

Morning Sickness - Round 2

As some of you know, I spent most of March and April feeling pretty terrible thanks to my friend "morning sickness," which is a term I really don't understand because I sure didn't feel any better in the afternoons or evenings. When Ian and I first found out we were expecting, I was feeling pretty good... tired like I had the flu, but otherwise great. As soon as I told all of my family how good I was feeling, it was over. :) This leads me to some things that I should have learned by now, but seem to ignore most of the time...

1. Keep your mouth shut. Once you tell everyone you're feeling good, you won't.
2. Just wear your glasses. Contacts give you bad headaches. Give up the vanity and just go for the glasses.
3. Chili dogs are really not a good idea. Really.
4. You'll feel better if you drink more fluids.
5. I'm serious about the chili dogs.

#1 - Even after experiencing this rule early in the pregnancy, I didn't pay attention to it. I finally had a week at the end of April when I didn't feel terrible and nauseous every day. How did I respond? I told everyone I talked to that I thought I was past the morning sickness phase. Naturally, my friend, morning sickness, returned with a vengeance this week. Boo. Here's hoping I'll keep my mouth shut now. :) #2 - I really don't like wearing glasses. It's all vanity, I admit... plus the fact that I don't have prescription sunglasses and the sun blinds me during my daily commute. It has happened without fail, though, in the past month or so that every time I wear contacts, I end up with a really terrible headache. I'm trying hard now to just give it up and go with the glasses. I guess pregnancy isn't really the best time to become overly concerned about my appearance anyway, huh? #3 - Every now and then I get this idea in my head that everything I eat makes me sick, so I may as well eat whatever I want instead of sticking to bland foods. If crackers are going to make me sick, why not eat a chili dog? How long can a person live on crackers and ginger ale, anyway? Sounds lovely in theory, but it ignores the important fact that there are distinct levels of "feeling sick" and even though I don't feel great after eating crackers, it's a world of difference from chili-dog-land. #4 - I've found that at various times there will be one magical food or beverage that I can eat or drink with relatively few problems, but then one day - out of the blue - it's over and that item will make me as sick as anything else. Even my old friends apple juice and ginger ale fall into this category. It makes me think of my friend, Vicki, who consumed far more ramen in college than any one person should. One day - out of the blue - she was done with ramen forever. It may have had something to do with eating it for breakfast... :) Anyway, at this point, every beverage out there makes me sick. Well, except for sweet tea, but that doesn't exactly help with hydration. Anyway, I fully admit that I have not been a super-star at making sure I'm taking in more than 64 oz of fluids. It's a vicious cycle - I feel like I can't drink anything because I feel nauseous, but then dehydration makes you nauseous! Cruel. Yet again, I know I really need to just suck it up and suck down the liquids. #5 - Self explanatory. :)

So, after my beautiful one-week reprieve from morning sickness, I'm back to feeling nauseous. On top of that, I've either developed allergies from hell (entirely possible, since Charlotte seems to be known for that) and I'm dearly missing Claritin-D right now OR I have a cold. Yuck. :( We were supposed to go to a wedding in St. Louis this weekend, which we've been VERY MUCH looking forward to, but I honestly cannot imagine flying at this point. The wedding may become our first baby-related social casualty. I'm hoping this second round of morning sickness will be short-lived, but I promise I'm not telling you if it is! I've learned my lesson!