Let's play catch-up, shall we?

Right now I'm 34weeks, 6 days pregnant, and the past seven months seem like a whirlwind. There have been a few bumps in the road, but the most important thing is that I'm at home now {on bed-rest}, and our baby girl seems to be growing and doing great. 

I'd like to say I'll be back to share the rest of our pregnancy stories, but these days we're taking things one day at a time, so I can't make any promises. 

Here's how it all began...

~~~

It was June 16, 2013. Father's Day. I had been in Yoakum that weekend for a wedding, and as I drove back to Corpus I started feeling a little queasy.

It must have been the sweet rice, I thought to myself. Why did I eat so much sweet rice? 

Sweet rice was my dad's absolute favorite, so of course it was part of our Father's Day lunch. 

That's probably what made me feel bad, right? I mean, I ate a lot of sweet rice. 

I called Brandon to let him know I was about half way home and told him I had a weird queasy feeling in my stomach. We agreed to spend that evening doing nothing, thinking that a little rest and relaxation may do the trick.  

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday came and went, and not only did I still feel queasy, but I was completely 100% exhausted. I spent those three days laying on the couch in my pajamas, promising Brandon each night that I had some kind of stomach bug and that my laziness was not a permanent thing. I had resigned from my job the month before, and I didn't want him thinking that this was the new norm. 

Thursday I decided it may be good to get out of the house, so we made plans to go to the driving range that evening. Brandon called when he left the office and mentioned that Julian and Michelle might meet us there. 

I should have known in that moment what was really going on.

I started crying. 

"I don't want anyone else to go with us," I told B. "I just want it to be you and me!"

"But Emily, I don't even know for sure if they're coming," Brandon said.

"It's not that I don't want them to come, I just don't want to fix my hair and put on make-up!" 

After we got off the phone I glanced at myself in the mirror and realized how ridiculous this all was. Why in the world was I crying?? I washed my face, ran the straightener through my hair and put on my favorite casual but cute, neon t-shirt from Gap. And I put on a little make-up. 

We got to the golf course, and the weather was perfect. Sunny but not too hot. Brandon went and bought a bucket of golf balls, and I walked over to the driving range to choose our spot. We took turns for a while, until my nauseous/queasy feeling got the best of me. Brandon finished off the bucket, and I sat in the shade and watched, trying my absolute best to enjoy this time with my husband that I had missed so much when I was working every evening. 

But despite my efforts, by the time we left the golf course I was miserable. I felt so nauseous and so tired, and all I wanted to do was eat. Brandon started listing off restaurants; Chili's, Roadhouse, some of our usual go-to places, but the thought of any kind of meat or vegetable only made my queasy feeling worse. 

"IHOP," I said. 

"IHOP??" Brandon asked.

"Yes, IHOP. I need pancakes." 

~~~

Four days later I found out I was pregnant.

Random thoughts on a Monday

~~ Brandon finally came home yesterday after being in Oklahoma for two weeks. I realized during those two weeks that I was never meant to live alone. I lost all motivation to cook, clean, or do anything productive with my time, and my meals consisted of Kix cereal, Farm Pack market wieners, and Little Debbie Nutty Bars. It was that bad. On Thursday night I realized I hadn't eaten an actual meal in several days, so I decided to order Chili's to-go. As I drove home with twenty dollars worth of food, I realized I should not be allowed to make adult decisions when I'm in such a lonely/emotional state of mind. Yikes!

{She missed Brandon, too.}

~~ I've really enjoyed my Lenten daily meditations. Some days I feel that the bible readings were chosen just for me.

~~ Speaking of Ask, Seek, Knock... Dear God, I am not sure how much longer I can handle these work hours. I know You have everything under control and that we are living out Your plan, but I could use a little more help. Please continue to guide us and help us to make the best decision for our family. Love, Emily


~~ My tomato plants are doing great! {The ones that Brandon didn't pull up. Let's not go there..} I have given some to my dad and my PaPaw, but I haven't actually eaten any myself. I just like to pick them, set them on the counter, and look at them. If they don't taste good, I don't want to know!

~~ I recently read this post, and I was really interested in the part about love languages. I decided to take the online quiz, and it said that most people have one, maybe two, languages that are more prominent than the others. Not me. Poor Brandon has to use words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, and physical touch to make me feel loved. I always knew I was needy, but not that needy! I'm sorry, B. Looks like you have your work cut out for you! 

I think that's all for now! Even if it's not, I'm officially going to be late for work. Have a great Monday!!

Life Updates

I know, I know. I'm slacking in the blog department. Honestly, I have several posts in my head...posts about marriage, faith, a Saturday night at the camp house...I just need time to sit and write. I hope these quick updates will hold you over until then.

First I want to say THANK YOU  to my sweet blog friend, Tiffany, who sent me a little something to congratulate me on my new job. Opening and reading her sweet card put a huge smile on my face! Thanks, Tiff!

So, life updates...

- Life is good. Brandon is continuing to work hard at his job, and we are finally starting to somewhat get used to his schedule. I shouldn't even use the word 'schedule'. He's here for a few days, then he's gone for a few days. He's in Dallas for a few months and then Oklahoma for a few weeks. There's really no rhyme or reason to it. I've just learned to go with the flow. When I tell people about his job, and how often he is gone they say "I don't know how you do it." Well, I don't either. I think the only thing that helps is knowing that it's not going to be like this forever. It's only temporary. That's what I keep reminding myself.

- As far as my job goes, I'm still getting used to it. The schedule, itself, is an adjustment. I'm working Sunday through Thursday, 3:00pm to 11:30. It's not the best, but it's not the worst. I'm starting to get used to sleeping later, which was actually hard for me at first, and waking up at 8:00am and not going back to sleep 'till 2:00am can make you {or at least me} crazy.

I'm also adjusting to working at another facility, a facility that does things a lot differently than what I'm used to. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, but I will say that I have moments, days even, when I feel very frustrated. That's when it's helpful to come back to my office and read this:

It's something my mom gave me when I was in high school, and I've carried it with me through every stage of life since then. Mom, I bet you didn't even know I still had it! It is a great reminder, and something I will be reading often.

- I'm headed to Austin this weekend to run in the Color Me Rad 5k with my sister. I've heard it's one of the funnest {is 'funnest' a word?} races, and I can't wait to show you pictures!

- I finally stepped out of the stone age and into the world of Instagram. I only follow a few people {four, to be exact} but I love it! If you have Instagram, find me! {@emrenken} And if you don't have Instagram, get it. Then you can take super fun pics of what you eat when there's no groceries in your house, like me!

{#starving #unhealthychoices}

- One good thing about my work schedule: Today's my Friday! Haha, hope you all have fun at work tomorrow! Don't worry, you can rub it in my face on Sunday when you're all at home relaxing. Seriously, have a great weekend! And thanks for reading, friends!