New Orleans trip 2018

We finally made a trip to Louisiana. Mom booked us a hotel in Kenner since we'd be staying on that side of the bridge for the majority of our visit. On Friday night, we checked in and got the kids to bed. Elias slept between Zac and me, quite restlessly as he filled up on a LOT of junk food during the drive. So much fun, so little sleep.

Saturday morning, we headed to the Audubon Zoo to meet up with Karen and her brood. At one point, we got separated, so we went one way while Karen and my parents went the other and we had a hard time catching back up. Karen and her family left, so we enjoyed the day, just us and our kids. There was an Asian Heritage festival going on, so the entire zoo was incredibly crowded. The food smelled great, though. We stopped in the Cypress Knee cafe for catfish, chicken, and gator bites. Elias' neglected diaper soaked through his shorts, so we went back towards the entrance to meet back with my parents. We dropped them off at the hotel, then headed to the mall to walk around a bit. I had a craving for a real New Orleans poboy, so Zac spent about 40 minutes making calls to various seafood locations to find me a shrimp poboy where the shrimp was deveined. I learned I'm high maintenance when it comes to poboys, but I'm fairly certain I am 100% reasonable in requesting shit-free shrimp.

Sunday morning, we decided to go to Cafe Du Monde for beignets. My dad was still asleep, so we went and ate, then brought some back to my parents. They weren't in the mood to go anywhere, so we took the van and headed to Slidell to visit with Mawmaw and Zac's cousin, Christina. Mawmaw had some tamales for lunch and Zac told her we have another baby coming in December. Jac and Leah spent most of the visit in the front yard digging up crawfish holes in search of crawfish. Jac managed to find a baby one, but released it after we took a picture. We left for Marie's and hung out with her for a little while, but missed seeing Francesca since she was out with some friends. It's hard trying to squeeze in so many visits in such a small amount of time, especially when driving consumes most of the time. After Marie's, we met up with Jena at Italian Pie for dinner. The lasagna is the best. So good, I didn't even think to get a picture before I ate half of it.

Monday, we woke up relatively early while my parents slept, so we went to Target and walked around the eerie Esplanade mall until lunch time. Zac wanted Reginelli's, so we headed there for lunch and Jessie came to meet up with us. I went with her to her place while Zac brought my parents back to their room for a nap, then came back to get me. It was a brief visit, but as previously mentioned, it's hard planning to see so many people in such a short time frame. She had to go pick up Orrin, so we headed to the Lafreniere Park to see Katie and meet Chase and baby Jacob. We walked around the bird sanctuary and Katie let me hold the baby (even when he spit up on me), until Karen called and wanted us to eat dinner with her. Had I known the visit would be less than pleasant with Karen, I would've just stayed at the park with Katie. Since Mom decided not to get her tattoo and I'm not supposed to get one while expecting, we decided to come home a day early instead of spending one more night in the hotel.

Did I mention we didn't have hot water in our room's shower? There was also food under the bed, like Cheerios and candies that we didn't put there. They didn't even have extra pillows to spare... Not going back there again. So, avoid the Econo Lodge in Kenner off Veteran's.

Baby Stuff

I went to the local clinic and filled out the usual paperwork. I've got an ultrasound appointment on the 17th, as well as a OB appointment with Dr. W on the 24th. I miss the days when I could enjoy pregnancy and not be super paranoid about miscarriage.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 5 weeks.

Size of baby: Sesame seed.

Total weight gain/loss: No change.

Maternity clothes: Do leggings count? I'm bloated.

Gender: Unknown.

Movement: None yet.

Cravings: Nothing yet.

Symptoms: Moody, tired.

Best moment this week: Pregnancy tests are still showing a strong positive.

Easter 2018

I woke up around 6:30 this morning. I was craving lasagna, so luckily we had some leftover from last night's dinner. The Easter Bunny hid eggs around our almost-overgrown backyard while I woke the kids up to get them dressed and ready for church. Three baskets of candy awaited them in the kitchen, so they ate chocolate for breakfast and we headed to church. 

I sang in the cantata (no solos) and giggled over how the older ladies discussed not farting in front of their husbands, even after 30 years of marriage. We drove to my parents' and visited with Dad for a bit. I gave him a small basket of candies to cheer him up since he's been grieving Emily a little more this week. She hated all things Easter because Jesus being crucified always made her upset. Dad's looking a little strange now that the right side of his face doesn't work. His eye is irritated and his mouth droops a bit. There's also a sunken spot by his ear where the tumor was removed. I feel sad for him. He's just been through so much in a year. He's looking forward to our New Orleans trip this weekend, though! He usually hates going out of town, but he's actually excited about eating seafood and going to the aquarium. I'm really hoping he has fun. I just want to eat all the beignets and catfish.

Mike and Ashley came over for dinner and we sat around daydreaming of life in the mountains with cottages and gardens, mountains, and waterfalls. One day, that would be quite the life. The kids played really well together. I think their boys liked our trampoline almost as much as Mike did. Leah was bounced so high, it was all she talked about for an hour, haha. We're planning to go visit them after we get back from New Orleans because Mike mentioned he makes really great homemade General Tso chicken, while Ashley was bragging about how amazing her steak fajitas are. We will just have to see which one is better.

I've got an appointment with the clinic on Tuesday, then I can see if Dr. W (he delivered Elias) will take me on as a patient again. He was so awesome last time, so hopefully.

No More Coughing

We're all feeling better! Zac no longer sounds like he's wheezing to death, nobody has fever, there is no mucus falling from anyone's noses, and we have been enjoying the great outdoors!

*Throws confetti*

Unfortunately, Zac missed a whole week of work, so he spent yesterday catching up on some projects. He met some traffic on his way home, so we were late getting Emily's car to the shop. I can go on Monday instead. The car needs more work than a back window, so we're going to get it looked at soon. After the window is replaced, we can take it to the car wash and vacuum the rest of the glass out. Maybe it'll stop smelling like her soon, too...

Yesterday, we had Steak and Shake for lunch since the weather was warm and breezy and we were desperate to get out of the house. The Parmesan 'n Garlic fries are to die for. Kids eat free on Saturdays, so bonus there.

I worked this afternoon/evening. I was supposed to get off at 6, but stayed til 8 because we had to change out two tables by switching candles and props, etc. My back isn't pleased, but oh well. I don't mind extra time to make up for Zac missing hours. No biggie.

And in other news, a 6th bun is baking and will hopefully arrive in early December. I'm taking it one day at a time and hope in a few short weeks to hear a healthy little heartbeat. But, one day at a time.

Dad

I haven't talked about my dad or how he's doing in a while. He had surgery today to remove a tumor from his face. When he and Mom came to visit about two weeks ago, he had a lump the size of a grape on the side of his face near his ear. Mom sent me a picture today and it was as big as half a lemon. The surgery was scheduled for around 7:30 this morning and should have lasted about three hours, but he wasn't out until nearly 6 this evening. He's spending the night in the ICU since the procedure took so long. The surgeon had to cut a major nerve in order to remove the tumor, so it's going to affect his eye. The tumor would've affected his eye, too, so either way something was going to happen. He won't be able to blink on that side and will either need a special device to keep his eye moisturized, or he'll have to wear an eye patch. All Dad's lymph nodes looked normal, but a few had to be removed from his neck. There also doesn't appear to be cancer anywhere else according to the scans, so that's a relief.

Meanwhile, he's still suffering from memory loss and has his early dementia, so he's confused most of the time. I haven't been to see him in a while, but will probably take the kids over there next week once we're all feeling better. Zac's got a sore throat, and even Mom has a fever now. Dad doesn't always recognize me, so it's hard to be there with him. I know if I spend more time with him, he probably won't be so forgetful. I'll update when I know more.

St. Patrick's Day 2018

We were sick this year, conveniently around the time we would normally go to New Orleans and see the Irish/Italian parade. We missed out on the fun and stayed home and I didn't get to cook my shepherd pie because I hadn't felt like cooking. However, since none of us were feeling sickly green today, we went out to run errands and wore green. I convinced Zac to take me to Home Depot so I could buy some soil and flowers and FINALLY get around to fixing up my window box planter in the front yard. I also picked out a bird feeder, but forgot to buy a bird bath. Zac has been wanting to attempt a DIY box garden, complete with door and roof made of chicken wire. It's much cheaper to build it ourselves than to buy it ready-made. I'm excited. We may have missed our time of planting, but according to the Internet, we have time to get tomatoes and peppers in the ground. I don't have much of a green thumb (lots of green, right?) so, I'm skeptical of my skills. But, playing in the dirt and planting my petunias was super awesome and I just want to keep digging. Walmart also has a tempting chicken coop that I'm leaning towards getting because all I want is a bunch of chickens. 

Yo ho, yo ho, the farmer's life for me.

Since the kiddos were so good and didn't get a disciplinary pinch from Mama Leprechaun, we treated them to some Bop's before heading home. I'm so glad they're feeling better. Jac still has a cough and I'm still getting rid of some funk in my throat, but we're okay. Zac has the beginning of a sore throat, but he, like Leah, doesn't stay sick for long. I'm just glad I went out and bought some meds because all of ours had expired... we just don't get sick often. Thankfully!

Sick

Leah picked up a fever last week and shared it with the rest of us, so we're a bit quarantined for now. I'm glad I'm off the rest of the week because I'd hate to call out. My throat hurts, but I don't have fever. Jac threw up this morning, but I think it was from his mucus drip. Today, the fevers finally went away for the boys. Elias has been super sweet and cheery, Jac has been in a good mood, though just tired, and Leah has been her normal, broody self. I just don't think she likes helping out, even though she's a good helper. She also lost a tooth, so maybe the money from the Tooth Fairy will influence a more positive attitude.

Mostly Sad

Thirteen years of blogging as of today. Neat-o.

Zac missed work earlier this week because our car decided to die. He spent about seven hours at the repair shop so they could replace the starter, but that time also includes having the car towed to the shop, as well as having a locksmith come by to open the car because my exhausted husband accidentally locked our only key in the car. My keys were most likely stolen back in December, so we've been lazy-yet-careful with our only key. We did try to get a spare, but Walmart doesn't have the right model for our particular car and with us only having one car, it's been hard going out to get a spare made anywhere else. Did I mention we're also a little bit lazy?

Meanwhile, I've got Emily's car in my possession now, which is both depressing and good. However, some asshole busted out the back window before we went to pick it up. I'm just glad her ex-roommate was smart enough to put a tarp over the space before the rain came. So, now we have that looming over us and the car is not yet insured. I feel like I'm drowning just a bit. Add the second miscarriage and I almost feel like my sanity is being tested... especially since I didn't think I would miscarry after having a term pregnancy last, and I was letting myself get excited enough to tell everyone straight away.

To perk us up for the weekend, Zac and I went and filed our taxes, so that's one relief. We decided to go to Fernando's for lunch because it's been a while since we went out to eat, just us. However, I got choked up when our favorite waiter (he's served us for about 12 years now) asked about Emily and if she still worked at Walmart and I couldn't tell him she died because I felt my throat close up and my eyes started welling up. It was more, "She did work at Walmart," even though she worked at TJMaxx last, but he didn't know that and I still had to talk about her in the past tense, which I don't think will ever be easy.

I'm just sick of being so fucking sad all the time.

I'll turn this around with some pictures of the kids from yesterday when we went to work with Zac to help him catch up on some things he was unable to do when the car broke.