Now this little shot right here hurts like a motha...just in case you were wondering, BUT it's so worth it.  I started on all of this and went back on day 3 for more blood work. 
9/26/13 - HCG: 4442 (more than doubled :), progesterone 23.7 (yay, medicine is working!) and estrogen 551 (yay, working!).

It's been about 6 months since I posted last and a super crazy 6 months it's been.  We have been enjoying the summer and having hubby around just as much as possible before football season comes and takes him away again. 

What's been going on with us?...

Hubby: Summer football camp, football and more football.  Shocked?

Keegan: getting so big and smart!  She is finally taking a liking to writing.  She refused to write her name for the longest time but we are thankfully passed that now.  She starts her final year of pre-k next month and starting a new school.  Poor girl is just shy of the cut off date for Kinder so she will have to wait one more year.  I'm totally ok with that though; I need her to remain my baby as long as possible.  Helicopter mom much? 

Me: Just working and enjoying my family.  I get asked quite often when we are going to have another baby SO I will just go ahead and answer that question....Your guess is as good as mine!  In HIS time.  If you have read my blog before you know that we have been struggling with fertility issues for a little while now.  Since I last posted we have started with a new fertility Dr.  Dr. W has done a million and one tests on myself and hubby-All results have come back perfect.  Last week I had a Hysteroscopy and tubal catheterization-that was a blast...BUT oh so worth it.  Dr. W said I "have a beautiful uterus." HA! Everything looks great and he sees no issues.  So on one hand that is fabulous-everything looks great and perfect.  On the other hand that still leaves us with no answers.  We have a follow up appointment with Dr. W next Wednesday to discuss our next step so we'll see. Prayers!

Surprisingly I can not WAIT until fall/winter.  Although I love the pool and beach, I sure do love to dress for the cold...AND it's football season!

I just bought these wellies and can't wait to find things to wear with them.  Yes I am aware I live in Texas and it doesn't snow much BUT it does rain and it does get cold so I will get some use out of them.  I had to google images to see how the girls are wearing them these days and found some really cute ideas.  Just to keep the record straight, I will NOT be wearing them with shorts Ralph Lauren, even though they look fabulous on your perfect size 0-2 girls with their perfect legs.
So how do you wear your wellies?
  
While I'm at it.  I have to share one more thing- I was using MAC foundation for a while and started having horrible 14 year old break outs.  It was awful!  I've always had such great skin, thank you Mommy for that, so it was very alarming and disturbing to me.  I did lots of research, because I'm a research psycho, and found this fabulousness. This foundation stays and covers like MAC but does not clog my pores.  It also comes with concealer on the top as an added bonus! Go to ULTA right now and get it...like right now.  You can thank me later :)
 


  

For the most part we usually eat healthy...at home. BUT when we get too busy, its football season or just any excuse to run to Chick fil a come about we really don't. And when I say WE I mean Keegan and myself. Hubby eats really well 98% of the time. He also works out all the time....me not so much. My other issue is I love dr pepper, coffee and not eating breakfast. Three big no nos, yes I'm aware. With all that goes on on the world (yes I'm thinking about "the beast") it's time to get serious. Keegan loves fruit but not her veggies with the exception of carrots. I try to sneak them in where I can but the kid always catches me, always!!!! Anyway, we went to eat with the in laws this past weekend and my MIL was telling me about this fabulous new bullet she bought, etc etc. She insisted I have one and told me all about. Well, I am so happy I listened to her.  It's amazing!  I can feed my family all of the nutrients we need and it takes GREAT!  Protein shakes I have tried before tastes so gross; chalky or too veggie"ish" but this tastes wonderful.  Keegan even said, "thank you for my yummy milk shake mommy." HA!  She had no idea it had spinach, celery and broccoli in it.  She would NEVER get anywhere near if she did.  I just had to share just in case some of you have the same problem and need a fix that actually works. 

Here is the nutri bullet and the protein we bought.  They have tons of flavors but we decided on vanilla.  My MIL has the chocolate and loves it too.


This is one of the befores....

during....
and after....YUMMY!!!!!

11 months ago on February 23, 2012 I wrote a post about my dad being diagnosed with Cancer.  Shortly after we found out that he had some cancer cells, we found out that it was actually stage 4 cancer.  He went through several rounds of chemo and his body responded very well to these treatments.  He lost his hair and got a little sick but nothing horrible.  When he got his PET/CT scan results in July we found out there were no more cancer cells.  The Dr's called him a walking miracle.  It was amazing how someone could be diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and 5 months later be in remission.  A little before Thanksgiving my daddy started complaining of his back hurting after a fishing trip.  He assumed it was from all the jolting from the offshore boat ride.  That moved to him starting to having bad stomach problems.  He visited his GP Dr and they scheduled a colonoscopy for him on December 13th (the same day we found out we lost our last angel baby).  After the outpatient procedure they ended up in the ER due to seeing some fluid on his lungs.  For what seemed like forever, no one could tell us what this fluid was and where it was coming from or how to stop it.  They would drain his lungs and the fluid would fill his lungs right back up.  Meanwhile my dad is still in the hospital with no answers.  Finally they decided to do an exploratory surgery on him.  He had some trouble waking up and ended up in ICU.  I was terrified!  Terrified!  Seeing my daddy with all of these tubes in his throat and you had to put on scrubs just to go in the room....it was just very scary.  Anyway, that night the Dr told my mom and me (grammar queens: I used that correctly right? :) that in a few days we would find out what he was pretty sure it was...cancer.  I've never hated anything in my life until now.  I hate that word, I hate what it means and I hate what it is.  Yes, HATE! So we got the results back at the beginning of the next week; it was indeed cancer and it came back with a vengeance.  They showed us the pictures of the inside of his tummy and it looked horrible.  It was like someone punched you in the gut! I will never be able to explain the feeling you have at this point.  I would not wish it on anyone!  Over the next two weeks dad was up and down.  He had good days and bad days.  Even though I hated seeing my dad in pain and knowing whats going on in his body, I actually loved going to the hospital all the time and spending ANY time I could with him.  Even the days he was on morphine and we didn't get to talk much-it was still a blessing to just sit next to him or even be in the same room with him.  He started to show a little improvement-starting to walk a little (with a walker), eating a little more, etc.  At this point there was nothing left that the hospital could do for him.  He had to get stronger so he could get more chemo treatments so they moved him to a long term accute care facility (pretty much like a mini hospital) on Thursday, January 3rd.  The next day my mom called me from the hospital around 4:30 and said he had taken a turn for the worst and the Dr said the family needs to come soon.  My uncle, aunt, cousin, mom, other aunt, sister and I hung out in his room until about 10PM when they all went home except for me, mom and sister.  The 4 of us sat together until midnight.  Dad could not hardly breath at all on his own and was now on a breathing machine.  He was in so much pain and he was so unsettled.  It was so sad to see him like that.  Unfortunately in his state I was unable to talk to him but even though, it was somewhat "nice" to just be with my immediate family for one last time for several hours.  I didn't know it was going to be the last time but I knew it was a possibility.  Saturday morning (January 5th) we got a call from dads nurse saying we needed to get up there right away, he took another turn for the worst.  By the time we got there, he had already passed.  It must have happened so fast.  I can't explain the loss of a parent.  It's nothing at all like losing another family member or a close friend.  It's like a piece of you has been taken and you wont ever get it back.  It's so surreal.  I know my daddy is gone and I will never see him here again but honestly, I just feel like he is on vacation or the deer lease and he will be back soon.  I look at pictures of him that were taken not long ago and I don't feel like he is gone.  I know he is but I can't imagine not taking another picture of him or giving him another hug or kiss on his cheek.  It's like a bad dream and you can't wake up.  cancer is a beast, it's the devil and I HATE it!  I miss him more than you can ever imagine. 

I need to lighten the mood :)
I have been so bad at blogging this year.  One of my New Year resolutions for 2013 is to blog more.  I use my blog to vent sometimes and I use it also as a "virtual scrapbook."  I want to remember the good and the bad; our excitements (is that a true word? and not like ginormous is a word) and our challenges.  I don't worry about my grammar, I type my blog like a speak, which is sometimes a loooooong run on sentence! ha! I use lots of !!! because that's also how I speak.  Ok, off topic. 

You know this picture will be framed :)
This is Keegan and her favorite player and friend, Adam Taylor.  Not only is he an amazing running back but he is also such a well educated, all around great young man.  He will be playing at Nebraska next year so I guess we will need to start stalking up on Huskers gear.  He has become pretty close to our family and we are so sad to see him go but we will keep cheering him on and hope to make a game next year.
Hubby and Adam-can you feel the love?~

The last time I saw hubby this happy was when K was born :)
Hubby and our head coach, Coach Joseph
Hubbs and Adam again
K and Adam-so happy!

Hubbs and our awesomely talented defensive coordinator and friend, Coach McDaniel. These two both graduated from Katy and have come back to coach there as well.  There is something said about that.

Hubby and another great player, Rodney Anderson.  He will be our Adam next year :) He is extremely talented and a great kid as well.  We are so happy he is coming back as a senior next year.
I adore this picture x's 100000! This was right after we walked onto the field, just seconds after the clock hit 0.  This is daddy's girl!
watching the last play, ready to go on the field.
A good shot of K's jersey.  We try not to show favoritism with the kids but let's face it, Adam is K's favorite.  It is what it is.  Adam's mom made this adorable jersey for K to wear at the state game and it speaks for itself.  She was so proud to wear it and Adam was even more proud to see her wearing it.  (the reporters loved it as well and went crazy taking pics of the two of them).
And just for smiles.  This pic of hubby and I was taken at our first state game in 2003.  We had been dating just over 4 months.  I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into here.  HA!

GO KATY TIGERS!!!!!!!!

Last time I blogged I was 7 weeks pregnant.  That was December 6th.  That doctor's visit was amazing!  So much joy filled our hearts.  I got really sick with a URI/FLU during this week but I still had a great feeling about going into our next u/s scheduled for Thursday, December 13th.  I was 8 weeks.  Little did I know this was going to be such a horrible day in so many ways.  It was so beautiful outside.  I told Hubby he didn't need to come, everything was going to be fine.  Everything looked great last week.  I mean we got to see our little sweet pea and healthy heart beat, etc.  We are passed the scary point.  I won't go into all the details but I remember the u/s room just being so silent.  The tech looked at our sweet pea, who was only just a tad larger than the last time I saw him/her, but this time I didn't see the "flicker."  My stomach dropped.  The tech didn't say anything except "I will be right back."  I knew, I just knew, but when my Dr came in the room...I just knew.  I told Dr S that I was so scared and she said, I know sweetie.  Then they both looked around for what seemed like a life time she looked at me and said I'm so sorry.  If you have been in that situation, sadly so many people have, it's so awful.  I felt so empty.  I didn't cry.  I was just lying there and my body shook.  She told me to take as much time as I needed and then to meet her in her office.  I don't remember how long I stayed there, staring at the ceiling, not crying, in shock.  I had such a wonderful, positive feeling about this baby.  I would have bet money this was our #2.  I walked into Dr S's office, still not crying and sat there for again, what felt like forever.  She spoke to me about my "options."  At that point I half way listened to her.  My "options" were so different from when I had walked in 30 minutes before.  How is everything so different in an instance? We scheduled my D&C for the next day.  I didn't start crying until I got a text from my husband asking how my appointment went just as I was about to leave.  The whole experience is so surreal, I just went through the motions. 
To make 12/13/12 even worse, that evening my Dad was rushed to the ER and still is currently in the hospital.  That's another post by itself...
I have not been able to deal with the emotions of losing another baby because I've been dealing with the emotions of having a father fighting for his life.  2012 was such a tough year for me and my family but I have faith in God's plan, I never knew I was so strong.  I would be lost without Him.


Well as you can see, everything is ok! Whew!  What an emotional week this has been.  I had a good feeling going in to the Dr.'s office.  Even though I was scared out of my mind, I just had a great feeling.  Hubby and I had a quiet wait in the waiting room.  The tech called us in for our u/s and we were able to see the baby right away this time.  As soon as I saw the heart flickering, I said "is that it? Is that the heart beat." She smiled so big and said yes and it looks great!  I started bawling!!! I mean bawling, I was a hot mess.  I apologized to the tech.  She was so sweet and said, "I've been there. Don't be sorry!"  Hubby and I looked at each other and just smiled so big.  It was amazing!!!  What a great day.  Praise The Lord!  I go back next week just to make sure everything is growing as it's supposed to.  I think given our history we are all just a little cautious.  I have a great feeling about this baby though; I feel he or she is going to stick with us.  Prayers prayers prayers!  PS we get to tell big sister tonight.  I'm sooooo excited!!!!!

Last Thursday was supposed to be the most exciting visit thus far.  Well, it was good on one hand and extremely scary on the other.  First we had our u/s.  I was so excited to see a sac, first of all, and then we saw a little blob-fetal pole but she kept trying to look further and said well, I don't see a "baby."  I'm not an u/s tech but just to be clear, you probably should not EVER say to a expectant mother "I don't see a baby."  You automatically think OMG, we've lost the baby!!! So of course I start to cry.  I'm trying so hard to keep it together but it's not really working.  She asks how far a long I am and I tell her 6 weeks today.  She said well you are measuring just a little over 5 weeks.  Ok, go out to the waiting room and your Dr will call you in shortly.  Ummmmm what?  What's wrong, what's wrong with my baby?  Do I have a baby?  So many things I rushing through your mind.  So hubby and I are in the waiting room-full of pregnant woman and woman with their newborn babies-awesome!  FINALLY we get called back and talk to Dr. S.  She says she isn't worried.  It looks like I probably ovulated later than I thought and I'm measuring a little over 5 weeks so come back next Thursday and we will see the baby and heart beat.  I just start crying.  I keep thinking in my head, but what if we don't?  What if the "baby" has not grown at all.  What then?  I feel pregnant, I am pregnant, but for how long?  I understand this sounds so negative and 98% of the time I am so positive but given our history I have to prepare myself for what could happen.  I know I cant change anything.  What ever is meant to be will be.  It's not in my control as much as I want it to be.  I just pray and pray and have faith that this is the case.  We will find out on Thurs....

11/8/12
I've been feeling a little "not myself" lately.  I have had to visit the ladies room a whole lot the last few days and I've been super tired.  I usually go to bed about 11pm and have literally fallen into bed at 8:30 or 9.  That can only mean two things to me right now: I'm getting sick OR I have a "party in my tummy" {this is what my friend and I call it; it's our "secret" phrase, lol. Was!It came about from yogabbagabba "there's a party in my tummy"}  Moms/dorks, yes I'm aware.  Anyway, I had a little spotting the day before yesterday so I assumed AF was coming soon.  I still had two tests from the last few months but wanted to hold out as long as possible before taking them. I did not have an urge to take one at all; that all changed on the way home.  For some reason all the sudden I felt this need to take a test like right away.  I guess I now know how addicts feel.  Hello my name is Lisa and I am a pregnancy test addict!  So as soon as I got home last night I took one and this is what I saw...{very faint line but I saw a little something}

I ran in and showed Hubby. He is the total opposite of me and said ummmm yeah, I can't really see anything so just tell me.  HA!  This is so different from the first time I announced we were pregnant with Keegan.  It was a big to do with onesies and a card and rolling out the red carpet for the new dad and the big "TA DA!" I was not as excited as I have been in the past, I was just really scared.  Scared to get attached and honestly, to lose another baby.  I wanted to be sure so I took the last one I had in the house.  This one is a yes or a no, no iffy lines.  So I took one this morning:

YAY!!!!! I love those words. I have seen the opposite for so many months- which seems like forever. Every second that passes and I think about it, I get more excited.  I feel different this time.  I feel the early symptoms {tired, bewbies hurt, etc.} that I didn't feel last time.  I am very hopeful and I have a great feeling about this pregnancy.  It's so early; I am only 3 weeks so we have a LONG way to go until I feel comforatble and in the "safe zone." Healthy baby prayers- prayers- prayers!

Friday 11/9/12
Good Morning! I went to the Dr this morning to get some blood work done.  At this point everything looks ok.  I have to go back Monday morning for more blood work to make sure my HCG levels are rising as they are supposed to.  They should at least double by then.  We also scheduled our first U/S for Thursday, the 29th.  I will be 6w1d at that time and I pray we will be able to see a baby with a healthy heartbeat.

Monday 11.12.12 3w4d
This morning I had my follow up dr's appointment at 8:30AM.  The nurse said she would have Jill (my fav NP) call me later this afternoon with the results.  I was a wreck all day!  My tummy was in knots.  FINALLY at 4PM Jill called me with my results.  I starting tearing up when I heard the words, "I couldn't be more thrilled! We have great news!"  She said my progesterone level is a 24-which is really good.  My HCG level on Friday was 59 and this morning was 267-which is even more fantastic!! HCG levels really should at least double every 48 hours; so these are great results.  She said everything looks wonderful and she could not be more excited and happy with how things are progressing.  Now we just wait for our first ultrasound on the 29th of this month.  I can't wait to see our sweet baby and healthy heartbeat.  God is so great!

11/20/12 4w5d
I can't wait to push publish this time!!!  Well, I'm almost 5 weeks now.  Everything is going well so far.  All of the early pregnancy symptoms have graced my presence.  This is about a week earlier than with Keegan.  I'm exhausted and pee all the time.  Today is the first day I woke up not feeling well BUT I'm happy and blessed to be in this position.

I admit, I have slacked in the last year updating about every detail of our life.  I'm so sorry family-these are the people who really care right (every detail I mean)?! I started this blog when I was pregnant with Keegan-in January it will be 5 years!! It really has been so important to me.  I was able to keep my out of town family and friends up to date on everything going on and I have met some amazing people through my blog who are now my IRL close friends.  So here's to 500 more and many more wonderful memories.  I hope everyone has a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving!    

This is a video I found in my blog drafts back in July of 2008.  I'm not sure why it was never published but how cool is it to find 4 1/2 years later?  I was around 5 months pregnant with Keegan here.  Look closely to the left and then to the right toward the end.  This is the miracle of life...

Several of my blog reads have been doing this {and US Weekly} so I decided to join, you should too!  I wondered what the heck I would write about myself but it's funny, these just came to me. These are so random, non important facts about myself and some of them literally made me LOL! 

1. I learned how to drive when I was 11.  At our deer lease and it was an old hunting jeep-standard I might add, with a few missing gears.  Very safe!                 
2. I like the smell of gasoline
3. I was voted best dressed of SHS class of 1999-what what!
4. I don't chew gum
5. I'll take that with mayo, mustard AND ketchup!
6. I have failed the sexual harassment test at work at least 4 times.  What does that say about me? Nice!
7. I LOVE snow
8. I am the funniest person in my family. Right Mom?
9. When we (my sisters and I) were young we loved that my Dad had an imaginary dog that lived in his brief case named Rosco.  Then he ran away and we were devastated. 
10. I love excessive use of exclamation marks!!! AND I know it annoys most people.
11. I sleep with 5 pillows. One being a body pillow.
12. I like really cold beer with frosties on top
13. I am a procrastinator
14. I went to school to be a teacher but ended up working in Property Management for a Residential/Commercial Real Estate company.
15. I cry every time I hear/sing The National Anthem.
16. I'm 5'9 and I've been this height since 7th grade.
17. I have anxiety, bad anxiety about certain things.  Hence why I always drive. I will not ride with you but you are more than welcome to ride with me :)
18. I went to first grade twice to catch up with my age group.  MOM??
19. I say "fixing to" and it drives my mom batty.
20. I hate talking on the phone-love talking to my mom and dad.
21. I love just about every kind of music. I listen to Chris Tomlin almost as loud as I listen to Tool and Drake.  
22. I rarely ever drink
23. I hate feet-except for my sweet baby girl's feet-those are the best!
24. I don't like to cuddle when I sleep-K and Hubby LOVE to cuddle.
25. I'm a terrible speller and grammar'er {ha!} and it doesn't really bother me.  That's why they made spell check...or my mom, she's one smart cookie.
26. My assistant re-writes almost every important memo I send out{see #25}. 
27. "The terrible 3's " make me want to upchuck. If you are super close to me you know there are 3 words that literally make me want to throw up. Probably not the words you are thinking about right now either. And no I won't mention them. 
28. I didn't go to my senior prom because I got suspended from school for getting in a fight with a boy.  {PS I WON!}
29. I have seen every episode of the Bachelor/Bachelorettes since it started 10 years ago with Alex. Crazy!
30. I have the nose of a bloodhound.  I have a freakishly great smeller.

That's it ladies & gents.  I hope you enjoyed and I can't wait to read yours.
Oh and one to grow on: I'm obsessed with Instagram! It's the one place I feel I can upload as many pictures of my adorable kid and not feel judged.  Yep, I'm that mom. Have a wonderful day!

 Some of the crew
 That's a lot of kids! These are all the kids that live on our street. Crazy hu?!
 Baby Finley, the cutest watermelon there ever was!
 "baby" Samuel-he wasn't feeling very well but he's oh so cute!

 I wish this wasn't so blurry. It's the only picture I have of K and Perri.
 M&S: Love that Jessie costume!!
 Happy ballerina!
 K, didn't you just bust out 2 teeth?? Let's not do anymore please. LOL
 CANDY!!!
 The girls at our house
 My sweet Ariel
 silly girls
 Ariel and Belle having a serious chat

My good friend Darci is doing a FABULOUS give-a-way on her blog.  GO HERE NOW to enter! I'm sure you know that I sell Scentsy.  I fell in love with it a few years ago.  I kept buying different products from a friend who sold it until finally she said, you should sell it!  I'm not really an outside sells kind of person BUT since finding this product, I have been in LOVE.  There are so many different products Scentsy offers.  So to try it out, go to the link above and enter into her give-a-way.  You can also click on the this link at any time to look and purchase products.  Please also visit and LIKE my facebook page for more give-a-ways like these.  This is perfect timing; think Christmas gifts.