SURPRISE!!!!

Ok...so it's been quite a while since I last updated my blog! Shame on me for being such a slacker, and shame on all of my "followers" (except Sherrie) for allowing me to slack and not being on top of me about it!!!! With that being said, I think it's time for an update....

How far along: 18 weeks (just starting 5 months)

How big is baby? 

How my last few appointments have gone: Some people dread going to the dentist...not me! I'd say I dread going to the obgyn more! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE getting to see the baby or hear it's heart beat, but if it's not one thing it's another!!! I've had blood work done 3 times so far (the first time I passed out twice).  At my last appointment they told me 2 things that did NOT excite me: a) I am RH negative- so lucky me, I get to do the RHOgam shots :) and b) they can't do the gender ultrasound here in Virginia the day before Matt and I leave be I won't be exactly 20 weeks...fyi I will be 2 days short of 20 weeks-so, someone please tell me what difference 2 days makes?!  Needless to say, we won't be finding out until we get to Texas (at about 22 weeks).


Sleep: HA! For a while there I was sleeping so much better (not waking up to pee every other hour). Now, although I don't wake as often, I wake up a few times each night because my back is KILLING me!! You're not supposed to sleep on your back or your belly...and it's recommended that you sleep on your left side. REALLY?! Is that supposed to be comfortable all night for anyone...let alone a pregnant woman?! Anywho...it's obviously not worked out that well for me! I start out on my side, clinging to my body pillow for dear life and wake up in the middle of the night aching because I've somehow managed to end up on my back! BUT, there is good news...thanks to my fabulous SIL (who suggested using ice packs at night) my back pain has ceased, or at least calmed down a little!


Food Cravings: FLAMING HOT CHEETOS AND DILL PICKLES!!!!
Why is this so large and underlined you ask??? Well...simply because I could live off of these two things!!!! SERIOUSLY! As my belly grows, I couldn't tell you how much of that is actually baby and how much of it is cheetos. I've also been craving a GOOD house salad with ranch and have yet to find one that satisfies that craving.
On another note, I CANNOT wait to be home for a few days because I have been craving the following:
-Chicken Country (chicken and dumplings)
-Stobys (fruit punch)
-Holly's Country Cookin (ummm just about anything off their menu)
-US Pizza (THE BEST SALAD)
-Mexico Chiquito (cheese dip and salsa)
-Old Chicago (ANYTHING!!)


Aversions: I'm still not too fond of meat, but I'm getting better and slowly eating more (mostly chicken).


Mood: Up and down-that's the only way I know how to describe it. Some days I'm great and others I get upset over the littlest of things. I'm sure this will only get worse as time goes on....


Pregnancy Symptoms: Thank God the morning sickness has passed! The only things I'm experiencing now are backaches, faintness, a good appetite, and (so far just today) leg cramps.
The BEST pregnancy "symptom" so far has got to be fetal movement!!! A few weeks ago I felt "it" moving around in there and saw something poke out of my belly! For the past few weeks, the feeling of baby has only been inside, but 2 nights ago (while Matt and I were watching a movie) the baby was goin to town! I could feel my belly rollin a lot, so finally I stuck my hand down there and felt it...and so did Matt! And for those of you who will question it...no, it was NOT gas! I know what gas feels like and it's usually followed by it's passing which did not occur!


Weight loss/gain: Over the first few months I managed to lose about 15 pounds....but the dr. told me it was "normal." No, fear though because it is steadily coming back! I've gained back about 5 of it so far. As baby and I grow, clothes are beginning to fit a little more snug. I'm not a big fan of this. Everything makes me look fat (kinda like an after dinner pudge). As my belly starts to round out though I'm sure I won't look as bad in normal clothes. Matt tells me it looks like I have a beer belly and that he loves how everywhere we go people stare! On a side note, it's nice to have the front stared at rather than the back, if  you catch my drift!

I'll leave you with a recent baby bump picture...

 

Rainy Tuesday

Just a short little blog to feed your hunger for more (since I know my blog is loved so much, by so many)....

The weather here has been absolutely amazing for the past few days! It's been 75+ degrees...perfect for laying out :) But, today it is storming, completely ruining my tanning sessions I had planned to have all week! I figure if I'm gonna get fat, I might as well be tan. My momma always said "fat looks better tan."  So, in that case...Dear Weather, please clear up and get warm again so me and baby can come bask in the sun again!

On another note (speaking of baby)...we are doing just dandy! Our first appointment will be next week (so expect a blog about that-probably me venting about giving blood or something along those lines)!
It's about the size of a raspberry this week and growing fast! Baby has my appetite all kinds of messed up these days! I find myself either a) waiting to eat until something sounds good or b) making myself eat because nothing sounds good at all.  I make dinner every night for Matt to eat alone because it disgusts me!  Meat is on the top of my don't like list...thinking about it, making it, and eating it makes me gag! I made chicken parmesan last night for dinner and by the time it was done I could've died.  I immediately made Matt put it away and opened the back door! It smells terrible! He also had to do the dishes from that meal because I tried twice and gagged! Other than that, the pregnancy is going just fine for me. Matt on the other hand, is not enjoying my scattered emotions.



xoxo,
Casi, Matt, and Peanut

At the Threat of Being De-Sistered...

My sister has threatened to de-sister me if I don't update my blog, so here I go....
As many of you may or may not know, Matt and I found out a couple of weeks ago that we will be expecting our first child around Thanksgiving! We are so very excited!

How we told the family:
My fam- my sister was the first person I told, so we schemed for days on how to tell our parents they were going to be (first time) grandparents! After lots of planning, we decided to go with a homemade tshirt that said "Aunt to be."  Finally, the Friday after we found out, it all came together...we skyped that night and during our conversation, I asked my sister what she was wearing underneath her jacket (it was a pink shirt, which is abnormal for her to be wearing-this is what made it not out of the ordinary for me to ask what she was wearing). Anyway, she then told me she had bought a new shirt and took her jacket off to show me! I  told her it was very cute and asked if she had shown mom and dad yet! She turned first to mom who about fell in the floor screaming when she read it (she was/is so excited! She's been wanting a grandchild since before I was born)! Then, she turned to dad who just cheesed real big and immediately suggested I call grandma (his mom)! 
Matt's fam- They were a little harder to tell...Matt helped me NONE on coming up with a creative way to tell them! Since we're so far away now, I didn't want to just call them up and say "by the way...you're gonna be grandparents again!" So, I consulted a more creative Gaskin (his sister, Tamara)! Together we decided the perfect way in to telling/tricking them! Tamara made a cute little onesie for her 5 mo. old (Pierson) that said (on the front) "I'm gonna be a..." (on the back) "Big Cousin."  So, Friday afternoon Tamara called us and put us on speakerphone! She gathered the parents and told them she had something she needed to tell them! When she showed them Pierson's new onesie, their first thought was that she was having another baby! Then, she turned him around and we shared the big news! Matt's mom then told me that she wanted a granddaughter! lol...Matt quickly informed her that he didn't "make" a girl and that it better be a boy!




How far along:  6 weeks, 5 days

Baby size:  the size of a PEA!

Growing like crazy, baby is starting to sprout eyes, ears, nose, cheeks and chin. Those little hands and feet- still webbed like paddles- might wiggle by week's end, the heart is beating (almost twice as fast as yours!), and blood is starting to circulate.

First Appointment:  April 21

Sleep: what's that?! Although I find myself a little more less energized than normal, sleep is hard for me these days.  Between getting up to pee every hour or so and an overwhelming sense of nausea, I don't see the back of my eyelids as much as I would like to!

Food cravings: For the past 3 days I've had at least one grilled cheese! This could be because it's about the only thing that I can stomach eating these days. I've been craving fruits and veggies more (weird, but good I guess)...I randomly find myself going to grab and apple and string cheese rather than junk food.

Aversions: Almost EVERYTHING except for the above mentioned things! My nose is in overdrive and practically ANYTHING that smells makes me nauseous! I informed Matt last night that he stunk (like sweat) and he claimed to have "not sweat" at all yesterday...but I kindly reminded him that he will be hiding no scents from baby! 
Not only is my sense of smell killing my appetite, but my thoughts are as well! Just the thought of some foods sends me running to the bathroom!


A few things I miss: Caffeine, being able to use my face wash that was working so well (but contains 2 no-nos: benzyl peroxide and salicylic acid), oh, and CAFFEINE!!! Seriously...what else is there to drink?! I've resorted to capri suns, water, and juice (gag)! The worst part about it though is going to a restaurant and the waiter asking what you want to drink...how am I supposed to answer that?! Practically everything on the menu has caffeine in it!!! REALLY?! So, I end up ordering the most disgusting, tasteless thing on the drink menu-WATER, H2O, AGUA...whatever you call it, it's repulsive!

Mood: I've found the past week that I've been pretty irritable. The littlest thing can tick me off...like last night-I was carrying laundry to our room to put away and something fell off my stack. I mean you would've thought someone had just eaten my last slice of cheese (which is a big deal, if you know me)! And, to top off the irritability, I've been really upset the past few days as well, crying at the drop of a hat for almost no reason at all.

Pregnancy Symptoms: About 75% of the day I feel nauseous.  While I haven't actually been sick yet, the nausea is far worse than the action! Matt has yet to understand what it's like/how I can feel nauseous all the time. Me and the porcelain throne have become quite the pair. I visit it several times throughout the day/night.  And while normal people (Matt) are sleeping, ignoring our ever faithful toilet, I am nice enough to keep it company at 9 pm, 10 pm, 12 am, 2 am, 5 am, 7 am, etc. On a side note, my boobs should be growing soon...personally, I think they should be huge by now with all the pain they've put me through the past 2 weeks! Also, my face is breaking out like a teeny bopper going through puberty...but worse (and NOTHING helps)!!!



What's it gonna be?: 
According to 
the Chinese Calendar-a boy! 
old myths- a girl! (girls steal your beauty & I'm breaking out like crazy and nausea is also said to be a sign of a girl).
Matthew- (it better be) a boy! 
my dad- (it better be) a boy!
my sister-a boy!
my mother-desperately wants a girl
matt's mom-a girl (she already has a grandson)
me- I don't care, as long as it's healthy! I would like my first child to be a boy, but there is just so much cute girl stuff out there! Not to mention- the girl section is always twice as big as the boy's!


<3 Casi, Matt, & Peanut

Cranberry Muffin

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week. I'd like to say it's been a crazy/busy one, but let's face it..I'm a housewife which entitles me to do a lot of nothing (i.e. do laundry, load/unload dishes into dishwasher, cook, and most importantly watch desperate housewives).  Matthew informed me this morning that I'm not a "real" blogger...because he knows EXACTLY what that entails...and that I needed to update! So, here I am..updating away.

This weekend Matt and I took a trip to Richmond-in search of running shoes...and who knew that it would be such an old/cute place?! Needless to say, I forgot my camera. BUT- don't fret because we're already planning a trip back and I WILL be taking my camera with me! We noticed a Holocaust Museum that we decided we would HAVE to go to. Also, while in Richmond, we visited a HUGE mall...it had a GARDEN RIDGE in it for crying out loud (it also had a barnes&noble and a tjmaxx-coming soon)!!

In other news, we found a wonderful mexican restaurant!! We'll probably be frequent Sunday visitors there. The only strange thing about the place is that when they brought out salsa and chips, they also sat down a bowl of ranch beside it...I'm still very unsure as to what I should do with that!?

I think that's all for now...we haven't had much excitement this past week...hopefully this week is filled with a lot more humor that I can share with you guys! I WILL be posting pictures soon...so be looking for those! Oh, and the title of my blog today is because this morning we woke up to an awful smell in the apartment that seriously needed to be masked. So, I went to the trusty scents for my scentsy and picked out Cranberry Muffin. Now it smells like a delicious breakfast treat in our house instead of a dead animal :)

Who Lives Next to a Pineapple Under the Sea?...

Squidward...I had him for dinner tonight and he was disgusting! Don't get me wrong, I've had squid before and loved it, but I suppose I might only prefer it if fried (maybe it's the southern in me).   Tonight it did the most awful thing it could do...it squeaked on my teeth!! freak me out!!!

As terrible as this squid experience was, nothing can top the awful (and I mean AWFUL) taste of octopus! I guess I should say texture rather than taste because it has absolutely no taste-and if it did, I didn't make it far enough to taste anything.  Just talking about it now makes me wanna gag!! There aren't many things that I won't eat-unless it has a freaky texture.  Yes, I am one of "those" people.  A weird texture will most certainly make me gag.  Laugh if you will, but I am not good with such strange textures.  My "normal" food aversions (due to texture) are bananas, jello, milkshakes, and syrup...random, I know!  Octopus was looking to be promising though.  It looked tender enough.  au contraire mon frere.  It was squeaky on my teeth (like squidward) and so tough/chewy! The feeling that I felt after sticking that awful piece of seafood in my mouth would (I assume) compare to the feeling you get when you are going on a date with someone new and are expecting to go somewhere nice (i.e. Olive Garden) and you end up eating a burger, fries, and a shake at Mcdonalds...such a disappointment!

So, the moral of the story (and what I told Matthew) is that we will no longer be purchasing any kind of mixed seafood....EVER!  I will stick to "chicken of the sea," shrimp, (trying new) fish, and occasionally crab.  Other than that, Matthew will have to eat his octopus at a restaurant because this army wife ain't buyin it!!

Disgusted & Disappointed,
Casi

Pleased & Humored,
Matthew

A Change of Scenery

change of scenery

a move to a different place, where the surroundings are different.

New things that I'm having to get used to in Virginia:

1) living 5 minutes from such establishments as "Solomon Seafood Soulfood" (where food stamps are accepted as payment) and the adult video store (where they, so kindly, provide FREE digital viewing rooms). 

2) the time change-although we are only one hour ahead of Arkansas, this has definitely been the toughest to get used to. When I go to bed at 10 my brain still thinks it's only 9...and, even more tragic than that...tv shows that are on at "normal time" (old time) are NOT on at "normal time" (new time)-example: Hoarding Buried Alive premiered last night at 10/9C. Lucky for Arkansas you don't have to stay up from 10-11 to watch it!!!

3) COMICS-they are so not the same as they were in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette!! Virginians don't have a sense of humor-Arkansas comics are way better!

4) being able to hop in the car and drive 30 min to my mom and dad's! Matt told me last night he wouldn't be home for a few days next week because of some training stuff...well, normally when he abandons me like that, I just pack up and stay with my parents so I won't have to stay alone! As you may have guessed...I can no longer do this! :/

5) not knowing where I'm going/speed limits/etc- I'm SO very thankful for the gps my loving parents got me for Christmas! I have no clue what I would do without it-well, actually, I'd be lost! Virginia is very confusing-not like our simple roads in Arkansas. One minute you'll be driving down a two-way road, then all of a sudden it's one way...

6) being a "housewife"- it hurts to even say that- I am so used to having a job and making my own money...for the first week here though, I'm taking on a new role-cooking, cleaning, and of course watching desperate housewives.

and finally....

7) waking up EARLY! When I say early, I mean getting up before the rooster even thinks about getting up! Matt informed me that while I was being a "housewife" that I had the privilege of taking him to/from school...is he sick or what?! Anyway, it's not as bad as it sounds- when he thanks me for taking him and apologizes for me getting up early, I quickly remind him that when I get home I'll dream of him! :)

xoxo,

Casi & Matt

Meet Virginia...

After 19 hrs of driving  (including a pit stop in North Carolina) we finally made it to VA yesterday afternoon!!! The trip was...well, awful. We could only drive 55mph the entire way because we towed my car behind Matt's truck the whole way! Then, the first 20 min. into NC were curvy hills...there are only 2 situations in which I get carsick- a) lots of curves or b) lots of hills.  This was a double whammy! And, to make matters worse...when we finally got through the first 20 min., there was a lovely sign that said "next 16 miles winding hills." What it should've said was "winding hills throughout your entire drive in NC," because that's what it ended up being! Needless to say, I did NOT like NC!

When we arrived at our new apartment, it was all set up and ready for us to make it our home away from home.  The blinds were opened, allowing the sunlight to come beaming in...it was perfect (at least I thought).  We unpacked for a while and then decided to get showers and go out to eat...why am I telling you this?  Only because my idea for the first blog post (from VA) came from a blonde moment I had after making this decision.  Matt showered first.  When he got out and half dressed (underwear and a tshirt) he walked into the living room and freaked out because the blinds were open and someone may see him...so, he of course closed the blinds (in the living room).  After I got through with my shower, I wrapped up in a towel and headed toward the bedroom.  My next [brilliant] move upon entering the bedroom was to drop my towel.  There I was standing in our room looking the way I did 23 years ago when my mother gave birth to me...yep, naked.  And dang it if Matt forgot to pull down the blinds in the one room I drop my towel in.  Thank the Lord nobody was around to see (that I know of)!

Be looking for pictures of our apartment coming soon...

Love and miss you all,
Casi & Matt