fun, fab, and fief

Oliver said MAMA!!

2010-04-19T22:45:00.002-05:00

On April 9th, I had a few errands to run so I left Oliver with Donna. Brice's mom happened to stop by while I was gone. Long story short, they both heard Oliver say "mama, mama, mama" and they were very excited to tell me once I got home. My dad didn't believe that's what he was actually saying since he didn't hear it.
Fast forward to today, it's almost bedtime so I leave Oliver in my bedroom while I go fix his bottle. My dad came into the kitchen and told me to hurry because Oliver is getting cranky and hollering for me. I said how do you know he wants me? Maybe he wants you! He said "no, he's saying mama, and it's very clear, too!" My dad was just as excited as I was. Oliver will be 5 months old at the end of April. I just love him:)

belated easter bunny....

2010-04-19T22:43:00.002-05:00

Oliver's 1st Easter

Oliver Call Photography

2010-03-15T18:53:00.002-05:00

Check us out on Facebook and become a fan!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Oliver-Call-Photography/349485699997?ref=ts

Kiss Me....

2010-03-08T01:18:00.003-06:00

Not because I am Irish, but because my mommy taped this hat to my head!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Love,
Oliver Call

Oliver's newborn pictures-

2010-01-19T07:58:00.010-06:00

With Oliver being born 5 weeks early and staying in the NICU for 2 weeks, we brought him home a week before Christmas and things were crazy around the house. I thought I would never find the time to get his newborn pictures done. Finally at the age of 6 weeks I was able to get in touch with Robin Maxwell and she told me she normally doesn't do newborn pictures past the age of 2 weeks, but we could give it a try. I think they turned out perfect.

An Oliver fix

2009-12-31T07:43:00.003-06:00

Here's a recent picture for those that choose Oliver as your drug of choice:)

I had posted on Facebook before Oliver was born that my dad was teasing me over the expensive things I buy Oliver. He wanted to know if we would be able to buy Oliver's formula from WalMart or if it would need to be specially ordered from Paris. Well come to find out, we are in fact having to order his formula off the internet! He has to drink the EnfaCare for preemies which I can't find anywhere in the ready-to-use cans so we have been ordering it from the Enfamil website every week. Shipping is free so it's no big deal, but I'll be glad when I can switch him to the Enfamil Premium.
We attempted to weigh Oliver last night on our kitchen scale:) I have pictures of that to post as soon as I upload them. He's almost 6 pounds now.

One month old

2009-12-29T11:56:00.003-06:00

Oliver is one month old today, and yesterday was my official due date. Never would have dreamed he would arrive this early!

My cousin Ashley was due January 20th. And I say "was" because she just had her baby girl Ava on December 26 which is our grandfather's birthday. She weighed 6 pounds 9oz. I think they must have had her due date off. Here is a picture of Ava. She is already home and doing great!

And speaking of sharing birthdays, I don't think I ever mentioned that Oliver was born on my uncle Thomas' birthday. Thomas is my dads brother and likes to ride Harley Davidson motorcycles with my dad. I guess we all know what Oliver is going to be doing when he's old enough:)

3 weeks 3 days

2009-12-23T01:15:00.003-06:00

Oliver is 3 weeks and 3 days old today. He's such a good baby and doesn't even cry when his diaper is wet or dirty. He hates cold wipes on his butt, though! But he loves when I put his eye drops in his eye. He has some clogged tear ducts right now.
Here is another sleeping picture. I promise to start taking better pictures with his eyes open. I'm sure I'll get plenty on Christmas day.

Oliver's first night home

2009-12-15T09:45:00.003-06:00

He didn't cry one time last night! But waking him up every three hours for his feedings was pretty easy because he's on a pretty good schedule and he's hungry right on time. The minute I would wake him up, he would start crying and "eat" his hand. He does this when he's hungry.
Here are some pictures from 2am:)

Home At Last

2009-12-14T23:00:00.002-06:00

After two weeks at Texas Women's NICU, Oliver is finally home. It's 11pm and time for his feeding, and he's sound asleep. Time for me to go wake a sleeping baby. My blog is about to get CRAZY. I can't wait to write everyday about all our new adventures.

xo

Who does he look like?

2009-12-13T22:42:00.003-06:00

Today Oliver had his feeding tube removed. Yay! I can finally see his face better. I think he looks so much like Brice, but all the nurses tell me he looks just like me. What do you guys think?

Oliver & Santa

2009-12-13T13:42:00.002-06:00

So, Santa Claus came to visit Oliver and all the other babies in the NICU and take pictures with them. Notice his latex gloves?? He changed his gloves after holding each baby. Now that's one germ free Santa Claus!

Birth Story Part 2

2009-12-09T08:59:00.003-06:00

After the nurses let me hold Oliver for about 2-3 minutes, they had to take him to the NICU. Now it's time to deliver the placenta and sew me up. This was very uncomfortable and worse than pushing Oliver out. I didn't like this part at all!! So the entire time that was happening, I was texting all my friends telling them "Oliver is here. 4 pounds 6oz and 17 inches long!"

I did a great job staying relaxed and calm. Maybe that's why my labor went so quickly? But when the nurse told me it was time to push, I totally lost it and broke down. I kept saying I can't do this without Brice. This isn't the way it's suppose to be. The nurse started crying and had to step back for a moment and calm herself down. As sad as I am that Brice chose to miss Oliver's birth, he has now been sitting with Oliver every night in the NICU and feeding him. And that's all that matters right now. Sadly, it won't be that way once I get Oliver home with me. It breaks my heart, but those are the choices Brice made. He knows I love him and that he would have made a wonderful daddy, but I have to do what's best for Oliver and me now. And I say "would have" because it won't be the same as us being together as a family everyday in the same house.

Oliver has now been in the NICU since November 29th but today they are taking his feeding tube out and he's suppose to come home tomorrow or Tuesday. Please pray nothing changes. I can't wait to get him home on my own turf, and I need to stop letting people run over me and stick to my "rules".

Since my sister couldn't be here, I want to thank Jennifer for staying the night with me at the hospital two nights in a row, and for being there for me and helping me to the bathroom and holding my hand during all the uncomfortable "down there" checks. I don't know what I would do without you Jennifer, I love you!

This is my own personal writing space, and if anyone has a problem with me talking "openly" about my personal life, then don't read it. A lot of people didn't realize how stressed I have been since I moved back home, and I truly believe that has a lot to do with why Oliver came 4 weeks early. No one is to blame for that except me. I should have been able to handle things differently. It helps me to write my thoughts out and read everyones comments. Everyone keeps telling me that Oliver will be able to sense when I am stressed and sad, and that's going to make for an unhappy baby. So I'm going to keep doing what I do to make myself feel happy. And reading all the support I get from you guys, and sometimes complete strangers, means the world to me.

xoxo

My birth story

2009-12-05T23:20:00.002-06:00

The past week has been a complete blur because everything happened so fast. I was suppose to be on an airplane coming home from visiting my sister in Kansas. At the last minute I decided not to buy my plane ticket because my sister had a bad feeling about me flying so close to my due date. I really wanted to spend Thanksgiving with her, but we have a close bond, so I knew if she thought I shouldn't come than I better not.

Saturday November 28th, I went to dinner with my dad and Donna at Cafe Anice. I had a hard time eating and getting comfortable. My back was hurting. Didn't sleep too well that night. Sunday November 29th I woke up with bad cramps. Which were actually contractions, but I thought they were cramps from not sitting on a toilet in the past 5 days! So I tried to use the restroom and noticed I was bleeding a bit. I thought it was from my infection so wasn't too worried about it. An hour later at 1pm I am still cramping and still bleeding so I decide to take a bath. While in the bathtub I felt what felt like I was peeing in the water and more blood came out. I thought man, that infection I have is bad! It never clicked that maybe my water had just broken. So I got out of the bathtub and wrapped myself in a towel. The cramps are still coming every 4-5 minutes and by this point I started to think maybe they were actually contractions and not cramps from being constipated. Right about that time, I felt more fluid drip down my leg, and when I looked down, to my horror, saw a huge puddle of water on the bathroom floor with blood mixed in it. Okay, now my brain starts to work- maybe I should text my dad? No wait, can't do that, he's on his motorcycle an hour away. So I texted my mom and Donna and we decided it would be best for Donna to drive me to the hospital while my mom tries to get ahold of my dad.

The entire way to Houston my contractions are coming every 4 minutes. Donna wouldn't take me to McDonalds eventhough I was starving, so she agreed to stop at a gas station and let me get a snack. So we went inside and I got some chocolate milk and a snicker bar all while having contractions and grasping the aisles as I walk. But hey, I knew once I got to the hospital I wouldn't be allowed to eat! When we get to the hospital and I get out of the car, more fluid soaks my pants the minute I stand up. Yup, positive now my water broke. During all this I am texting my sister who is texting Jennifer, who is hauling ass from the deer lease back to Houston so she can be by my side. It's a 4.5 hour drive she ended up making in 3 hours, and still ended up being 5 minutes too late for Oliver's birth.

Anyways, I get a room and the nurse checks my cervix. I'm not dilated at all!! That's when the nurse told me it would be 24 hours from the time my water broke at 1pm before anything would happen. Okay great, just great- this is gonna be a long ass labor. My dad finally shows up in his black leather motorcycle gear. And now here comes my mom freaking out. Okay everybody calm down, we got 24 hours to go.

At 6pm, five hours into my labor, I'm starting to feel like a wuss because I need that epidural- like now! But isn't it too soon if I still have 24 hours to go? The nurse said if the pain was too bad I could have it now. Yes please get that damn anesthesiologist in here as soon as possible. I think I was 4cm dilated at this point. So finally what felt like an eternity, the freakin anesthesiologist finally decided to end my suffering. Such sweet relief. Well sorta. It wouldn't work completely on the right side and I was having bad back labor, but at least I was numb on the left side. An hour after I was given the epidural, I decided to take a nap while my parents and Donna eat good smelling food right in front of me, laughing and joking having a good ol' time. The nurse comes in before I can even shut my eyes and says she wants to check my cervix. Ok, just hurry so I can take a nap. She checks me and her eyes about pop out of her head. You're ready to push she said. O.M.G I'm ready to what? Push? No, I'm not ready for that yet. Yes you are. But I've only been here for six hours and you people said it was gonna be 24 hours! I'm sitting here thinking okay just calm down and breathe and do what the lady says. So we do about 3 practice pushes and she yells at me to STOP! "I can see his hair" she said. Well go get the doctor then! So since he was going to be a preemie they made everyone except my dad leave the room and warned me the minute he comes out they have to take him out of the room to make sure he's breathing and then they'll bring him back to me.

So the nurse gets everything ready. The on-call doctor takes her sweet time. All while I am laying with my legs spread open and my sons head about to pop out of me. By this point it's 8:30pm (remember my water broke at 1pm) the doctor finally comes in and tells me we're gonna push with each contraction which I could still feel on the right side so I didn't even need to be told when the contractions were coming. So right before my first push, I decide to text Amber, my sister-in-law, and let her know I am pushing that they better hurry up and get to the hospital. So I push once for 10 seconds. Relax. Oh wait, gotta text Kristi before my next push. So I text her and tell her Oliver's almost here. I push again on the next contraction for another 10 seconds. Now I gotta text my sister before the next contraction because the doctor is telling me this is going to be my last push. The last and final push I gave it every bit of effort I had, and saw the doctor grab the nasal aspirator and I knew that meant his head was out. I looked up at my dad and his eyes were kind of teary. Next thing I know I see Oliver screaming bloody murder at excatly 8:55pm. My dad puts his fingers in his ears and says "He's crying, I'm never gonna get any sleep!!" The entire room starts laughing and they rush Oliver out the door. Five minutes later he's finally in my arms and breathing on his own. He's so alert. His eyes are wide open. He's looking me up and down, and left to right. He knows I'm his mommy.

To be continued....

Oliver pictures!

2009-12-04T11:30:00.010-06:00

Snug as a bug!

Oliver!!

Still sleeping

What BIG feet you have!!

My little holler'

Soo funny. He's thinking "Okay, now what am I suppose to do?"

5 minutes old. He knew excatly who I was and was looking me up and down with his eyes.

Well so much for that 9 month belly pic......

2009-12-02T00:33:00.003-06:00

I know I promised everyone a 9 month belly picture this past Monday and I swear I had every intentions of doing it, but Oliver had other plans. He was born one day shy of 36 weeks on November 29th. He weighed 4 pounds 6.7 oz. And was 17 1/4 inches long.

He's doing great, but is still in the NICU because he didn't finish a feeding last night. His lungs have been working at 100% since the day he was born. And he's been able to regulate his own body temp without the help of the heat lamps. Hopefully he'll be home on Thursday. The nurses said he's doing wonderful, but he has to be able to finish all his feedings in the bottle without the help of the feeding tube before he can come home.

I am exhausted and promise to write my birth story soon. It's a bit crazy!!

Oliver Call

9 months pregnant!!

2009-11-28T13:32:00.002-06:00

Well almost. I'll be 9 months on Monday. Holy cow!! I'll post a belly picture then- I promise.

Last week we made a trip to the emergency room because I thought either my water had broken or I was leaking fluid. Turns out I just have a really bad infection. So got some yucky cream for that and I'm doing better now. But while we were there at the hospital, the doctor told my dad Oliver's head is straight down towards the birth canal. So he's ready to come out as soon as my body is ready. Hopefully that won't be before my induction date. My sister will be here December 19 and my good friend Jennifer will be my "doula". Jennifer has been with me thru a brain surgery so she's use to taking care of me and waiting on me hand and foot. My dad is getting me a HD Flip (video recorder) for Christmas, so Jennifer will also be in charge of filming the birth. And I'm giving her a copy of my birth plan so she can keep the nurses in check. Now that I think about it, Jennifer's job is more important than mine trying to push a baby out, hehe. She's a good multi-tasker so I think she can manage. And my God, what would I do without my sister? So I think we got a good plan in place, and as far as Brice being there I just don't know yet. One day at a time I suppose.

And BTW, I am having some trouble with my email. If anyone needs to email me my address is maryann@cmaaccess.com but I can not send out messages right now. We are trying to get that fixed with my cable company. However, I can receive messages so feel free to email me, but it may be a bit before I can respond.

xo

33 week belly shot!

2009-11-09T23:16:00.003-06:00

Today I am 33 weeks pregnant. 6 more weeks to go till my induction date at 39 weeks. Here is a bare belly shot. xoxo

I think...

2009-11-03T08:42:00.003-06:00

This is a good picture of what Oliver is going to look like. What do you think? Look at that mouth? We'll have to compare this picture to him once he's born.

For those of you who had 3D ultrasounds done, did your baby look anything like the ultrasound picture once he/she was born?

Oliver Call Fief

2009-10-30T05:04:00.002-05:00

I don't really know how I came up with Oliver. I don't know anyone in real life with that name, or anyone who has a son named Oliver. And it defiantly isn't a name I ever saw on the top baby name list. About 3 years ago, a girl on a fashion message board I am a member of named her son Oliver. I thought it was kind of an odd name. But for some reason it stuck in my head. So after Brice turned down Joel and Avery, I mentioned Oliver not even being totally serious and he loved it. At that point it just stuck, and after a few days I knew that's what I was meant to name my son. It fits him perfectly. Even my sister said he looks like an Oliver already.

Now I know you're wondering about the middle name- Call.
If you have never seen the old western movie Lonesome Dove then the following will make no sense to you:)
Brice is a huge Lonesome Dove fan. And so am I. Though I admit I had never seen it till I met Brice. So we wanted the middle name to come from the movie. Brice's first choice was Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae, but I couldn't picture my son with the middle name Augustus. So that leaves Captain Woodrow F. Call a famous Texas Ranger played by Tommy Lee Jones.
If we had a girl, her name was going to be Brynn Lorena. Lorena is another character on Lonesome Dove.

I guess now that I am single I can name my son whatever I want, but honestly I know he's meant to be Oliver Call and I know everytime I say his name and see his sweet face I'll remember the great man his father use to be before he turned his back on us for crystal meth.

My side of the story...

2009-10-29T17:24:00.002-05:00

I'm writing this here in hopes the more people who know, the more who can reach out to him and try to help. It's a hard thing for me to admit and talk about, but this is MY blog and that's how it got started to begin with- when I needed an outlet and my own private writing space after my miscarriage. This won't be my last post on this subject-

After my miscarriage in July 2008, Brice became really depressed. One thing led to another and he somehow started using crystal meth. He was still the same sweet and caring and loving Brice, but money started getting tight. He somehow managed to blame it all on me to why he couldn't pay his truck note, insurance, credit cards, ect. We always had separate checking accounts and our own money. My dad always told me that's a huge mistake and not how a marriage should be, but it worked for us.

Every month I paid the water bill, light bill, gas bill, and paid for every piece of food in the house. Brice paid our mortgage. Six months ago Brice didn't have the money for our monthly mortgage of $1400. I took a loan out of the bank and told him not to worry about it (the bank loan) I would pay it each month. During all this, he was still the sweetest most loving husband anyone could ask for. He was so excited to be a daddy. I was in complete denial he had a drug problem. But I knew he did. He never slept. He never ate. He stopped hanging out with all his friends. He stopped visiting his family. He had meth sores on his mouth and sores all over his hands from where he would pick at his skin. After catching him twice in the garage smoking a meth pipe, he started going out and would stay gone all night long to get high.

I use to tell him that if he didn't stop I was going to move back to my dads house. He would cry and beg me to stay and to please support him that things would get better. I guess I figured as long as he was paying the mortgage and treating me like the Brice I married, I could deal with it. That's called denial I suppose. He was your typical addict. He use to tell me that if I got better with cleaning and doing laundry, he would stop doing drugs. He always blamed it on me, but yet told me how much he loved me and didn't want me to leave.

September 2009 once again, he didn't have the $1400 for our mortgage payment. At the end of September things were getting tensed for him at work because his bosses knew something was going on with him. He was always late to work and wasn't doing his job. Those are the exact words of his boss Darrell Taylor. Brice came to me and told me he needed to quit his job because the stress from his job is the reason he gets high all the time. He said he wanted to be sober so he could be a better husband and father and begged me to please support his decision. My brain told me no man in their right mind who has a baby on the way, quits their good paying job without finding another job first. But this is where my denial stepped back in. I told him to do whatever it is he needed to do to get sober. He quit his job that day. He started going to Houston 3 nights a week and would stay gone till 6am. His reason was he needed to sell the drugs he had to help us pay our mortgage. I told him it wasn't worth it. I told him we could get an apartment till he finds a job. He said no because me and the baby deserve a better life than that. This went on for 3 weeks straight- him going to Houston 3-4 nights a week till 6am. And he never had one penny to give me to pay our bills. Come October we are now two months behind on our mortgage. And he's three months behind on his truck payment. With no truck insurance. Because he stopped paying that, too.

A week ago he started getting really moody and would start crying for no reason telling me he's so confused about things and doesn't understand why we (me, my dad, his family) can't just understand why he has to do this because it's his only way to support us right now without a job. Well that would be fine if I was actually seeing money from these drugs he's supposedly selling. I realize now he was never selling drugs. He was going to get high all those nights. Last Saturday he came to me crying and said he loved me but he needed to get away and think about things. He said he didn't know how long he would be gone. So I let him go. That night he texted me and said "I love you baby. Sleep tight. I'll be home tomorrow sometime". He never came home. On Sunday he still wasn't home and ignoring all my text messages and wouldn't answer his phone for his parents. On Monday he still wasn't home and still ignoring all my text messages and still ignoring all the calls from his worried family. Finally Monday afternoon he texted me and asked me to move my stuff out of the house. I asked him why? He said "because I can't go on like this any longer. I have to do this for myself". He was blaming me for the drug situation he was in.

He finally came back to the house on Tuesday with his new meth whore by his side. Was high out of his mind. I called the cops on him in hopes they would find drugs on him and take him to jail so he can get help. They did find two meth/crack pipes, one in his truck and one in the house, but for whatever reason didn't arrest him. He now has a "meth whore" living in the house with him. She supports what he does because she does it to. He chose all that over his wife and son. We had such a good life together. Brice is now telling his family we were having marriage problems and that he has been trying to get me to move out for 6 months now. This is so far from the truth. Not once in the two years we have been married has Brice ever asked me to leave. He was always the one begging me to stay. Meth has taken ahold of the man I married and I don't even know who he is anymore. Brice use to have the kindest heart you could ever ask for in a man. But he's not that person anymore. And he blames it all on me.

I am now living at my dads and plan to file for divorce soon. I love Brice dearly, and if he would agree to get help I would forgive him for everything he has done. I want our old life back. I want our future back. I want my husband back, the man he was before crystal meth took over his mind, body, and soul. The Brice I know and loved would never end our marriage the way he did- thru a text message and then having a meth whore move into our house with all her clothes in my closet. Anyone who knows Brice, knows this isn't anything in a million years he would ever do. He was raised better than that. If he was in his right mind, he would have came home and told me this isn't working anymore we need to figure out who's going to move and who gets what. But instead, he chose to break our marriage off over the phone and asked me to move out, and came home the very next day with his new girlfriend. He had no guilt at all for kicking out his wife and the mother of his son- for drugs.

It kills me inside to know he chose drugs, the drug lifestyle, and a meth whore over me and the wonderful future we had together. But I guess like my sister said "Stop thinking about yourself for a minute, Brice also chose all that over his own son and his sons safety". When I look at it that way, I am glad he kicked me out because I would have never left him.

I don't want this divorce to get nasty, but right now I do not feel like my son is safe being around him, and I will do everything in my power to make sure of that. I'd give my life before I let my son be around Brice in that house without me or his parents there supervising. A lot of people close to Brice may now think that since he was so unhappy with me that he'll get better now that I am gone. They don't realize what meth does to a person and it's not a drug you can just stop, which is how Brice got himself into this situation to begin with.

Everyone that knows about this, even Brice's best guy friends, have come to me and said "I knew something was going on with him, he's been so different lately". And like my good friend Kristi said, "everyone has marriage problems, but marriage problems don't cause you to do drugs and make the choices Brice has made and is still making".

I'll end this here and all I ask for everyone to please pray to God to bring back the old Brice. Even if we never get back together, I just want him off drugs and to be the happy fun loving person he use to be so he can be a wonderful father, uncle, and a good son like he use to be. I'm not the only one who sees all the bad changes in him, but sadly I am the only one not in denial about it anymore.

xoxo

A good website to learn about meth www.kci.org

Introducing.....

2009-10-28T20:56:00.006-05:00

Oliver Call Fief at 30 weeks

Will write a new blog later about how we came up with his middle name.

His little face was pressing against a lot of tissue so that's why his eyes and other parts aren't too clear. He likes to snuggle against me I guess! But you can tell he looks a little squashed, haha!

28 week placenta check-up

2009-10-07T08:11:00.002-05:00

Today I am 28w3d. Yesterday me and Jennifer went to Texas Womens Hospital to have my low-lying placenta checked. The girl who did the ultrasound was really nice and spent 20mins showing Jennifer the baby and all his cute features! He was face down, but tilted to the side a bit so we weren't able to get a full face view, but we did see his mouth and lips which were moving and talking to us! The ultrasound tech pointed this out to us and thought it was really funny. You could see his little lips moving 90mph. I'm not sure what he was telling us, but then he waved. So maybe he was just saying hello. Then he stuck his tongue out at us twice. I think it's amazing we were able to catch all that on the ultrasound. The doctor came in to check some measurements of his legs that the ultrasound tech did. The doctor made a comment to Jennifer how "defined" his hands and feet are for 28 weeks. They told us everything looked great, so I assume that means my placenta has moved up to where it needs to be, but I will know for sure next week when I go see Dr. Miller. The doctor said he weighs 2 pounds 2oz. and is in the 50 percentile for his weight and length. So he's average- not too big, and not too small. We got one last look at the side of his face before we left, and his little lips and mouth were still moving!! I guess he's going to be a talker just like me:)

I have my 29 week 3D/4D ultrasound this Saturday. I really hope he turns over by then because if not they won't be able to do the ultrasound with him face down. You can't really see anything with him in that position. So send us good vibes he turns his head by Saturday!

xo

O.M.G

2009-09-28T13:27:00.002-05:00

*you better be sitting down for this one*

I am officially in my 3rd trimester today. I am 27 weeks. Only 90 days to go!

Some of my FAVORITE things

2009-09-26T20:39:00.010-05:00

We have been given so many generous baby gifts, but I wanted to post a few of my favorites. I love everything we have gotten, but these are really cute and I wanted to share.
These are all his clothes. I have only bought three outfits out of all of these!

Precious Planet cradle swing from Donna.

Precious Planet bouncer from Mollie.

Harley Davidson jacket. Can't remember who bought this.

Camouflage blanket from Natalia and Paul. Green blanket from aunt Kat.

I bought this frame today at Babies 1st Furniture.

These are Nathan's old baby Uggs. He's going to let us borrow them for the new baby. They are kind of dirty, but that's okay.

And my new favorite outfit I bought at Ava Grace today in Sugarland. It's so much cuter in person and sooooo soft!

I wish I had time to post pictures of everything because we have gotten some really nice and generous stuff already for the baby, but I'm sure once he gets here I'll be taking lots of pictures of him using all his goodies and wearing all his cute outfits. Without our family and friends there is no way we could afford all this nice stuff for him- so thank you all so much from the bottom of our hearts:)

xo

showers and stuff!!

2009-09-22T14:17:00.029-05:00

My first baby shower hosted by my wonderful sister and mom was August 29. We had a great time! This shower was mainly my moms side of the family and a few close friends. Here are some pictures....

Then we had a couple's shower this past Sunday hosted by my dad and Donna and their good friends Mollie and Larry. Everything turned out perfect and was so beautiful. We had a great time. Somehow there was a mix up with my cake. The cake lady didn't have time to come inside so Donna met her outside in the parking lot to get it. It was in a huge white box and the cake lady told Donna to take a look at it before she left. When Donna open the box, she was shocked to see it was a pink and purple baby girl cake with pink glitter!! Donna didn't have the heart to tell the lady it was suppose to be blue, so she brought the cake inside and was afraid I was going to be upset. When my dad and Donna showed it to me all I could do was laugh. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. I loved it. And it was yummy! Probably one of the best cakes I have had in a long time. The cake was donated as a gift from the lady who made it, so it's not like we really had the right to complain. All you can do is laugh in a situation like that and enjoy it. Donna added a blue diaper pen to it that we had left over from some deco's. Here are some pictures....

Thank you to my good friends Jennifer, Nikki, and Kristi for taking pictures during my showers. Without you guys I wouldn't have gotten any pictures at all- so thank you! My next (and last) shower is November 7 with Brice's family. I am soooo excited!!

Baby Fief's Godmother

2009-09-22T10:24:00.002-05:00

Brice and I thought about this long and hard before we officially named someone to be the Godmother of our baby boy. This person can be anybody, but to us, we wanted it to be someone who's not a blood relative. I defiantly consider this person family, but she isn't blood. So then we asked our self who can we trust? Who will spoil him the most? And who will guide him and give him advice when he needs it the most? After asking our self all these questions, the answer was easy! We just knew it had to be Donna Estrada. For those that don't know Donna, she is my dads girlfriend and a really great friend. My plan was to give Donna a Godmother picture frame at our shower on Sunday, but we had so much fun it totally slipped my mind and I forgot it was sitting in my truck. So I gave it to her last night, and she is thrilled and honored to be the Godmother of our baby. And so are we:)

busy day...

2009-09-22T10:17:00.002-05:00

Today I woke up to thirty Happy Birthday messages on Facebook. That just made my day. I am 27 years old today. I have also been married exactly 2 years today. We promised we would eat the top layer of our wedding cake tonight because we forgot last year and it's still sitting in our freezer. Wish us luck:)

Baby Fief's new ride....

2009-09-14T19:21:00.004-05:00

My dad bought the baby a very sweet ride!
Introducing the new Peg Perego Uno

How awesome is that? Now we just gotta get the matching carseat which snaps into the stroller in carriage mode. But I told my dad me and Brice would take care of the carseat. Just needed him to buy the expensive part, hehe. Love him so much.

Our newest 3D/4D of Baby Fief

2009-08-31T09:43:00.005-05:00

This was done at 22w4d this past Friday.
Here is a picture and click on the link to watch the 42 second video of him playing with his feet!

Click on link below for the video-
http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q15/maryannp100/?action=view&current=4D.flv

doc appt update from today

2009-08-13T22:59:00.002-05:00

Today I had my 20 week (20w3d to be exact) check-up. I have gained a total of 6 pounds! And my blood pressure was great. But I think when I reach the 30 week mark I am going to have them check my blood pressure before they weigh me, hehe.
Dr. Miller said the anatomy scan at 18 weeks of baby Fief looked really great! No abnormalities on the baby from what they could see. This was such a huge relief!! But she did mention my placenta is low-lying. Not low enough to put me on any restrictions (lucky Brice) but it is lower than it should be. She said this is very common. Even my sister had it with Nathan. But she said more than likely it will move up to where it needs to be by 28 weeks. They will do another scan at 28 weeks to check. If worse comes to worse and my placenta does not move up, the baby will be fine, but I will need a c-section come delivery time. Regardless, Dr. Miller wants to induce me at 39 weeks, December 21st. Way too many medical reasons that aren't pregnancy related to list, but those that know my history I'm sure you can figure it out:) So I'm excited to know my baby will be here before Christmas. Now let's just pray he doesn't come before then because my sister won't be here till December 18 and her and Brice are the only two people allowed in the room with me:) I can't have my mother in there because she will drive me crazy and stress me out. So everyone will have to wait patiently in the waiting room:) I was watching an episode of Bringing Home Baby and this woman had her mom, sister, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and four grandmothers all in the room with her while she was laboring and pushing. You have got to be kidding me, right? I'm sure my sister-in-law is not going to want to watch me poop on myself while pushing. Good God.

And yes we have a name for our baby boy. And yes it's a secret:) I'm still working on Brice on letting me tell everyone. He's not budging as of now. Darn it!

xoxo

20w1d belly pic plus a little cuteness...

2009-08-11T12:54:00.004-05:00

Finally looking pregnant, and the best part is that I can feel him move a little bit every morning and evening. He kicks the hardest at night when I lay down, and in the mornings I can feel him moving around again. Haven't been able to feel him much during the day yet while moving around.

And here is someone else cute to look at-

19 weeks

2009-08-03T15:09:00.003-05:00

I am 19 weeks today and finally growing. My face and arms still look too thin, but my belly is growing! Last week I got sick while driving to Lake Jackson and had to pull over to throw up in a plastic baggie in my truck. I was going to get out and puke on side of the road, but couldn't even get out before it started coming up. If this wasn't bad enough, a Texas State trooper pulled over to see what I was doing. When I rolled down my window and showed him the baggie full of my lunch, he stepped back a few feet and asked if I needed help. I guess he thought I had the swine flu. When I told him I was pregnant, he goes "oh!!" and stepped closer to my window. Yeah dude I'm not contagious- just pregnant. He seemed pretty grossed out by it. I bet next time he sees me pulled over like that he doesn't stop to see what I am doing, ha ha. I know it probably wasn't very nice of me to show him the baggie of vomit like that, but I am pregnant, hormonal, throwing up in my truck in 100 degree Texas heat, and the last thing I want is to be bothered by the cops.
I will post a belly picture at 20 weeks. Hopefully there will be a change from my 15 week picture.

xoxo

18w3d

2009-07-30T07:27:00.002-05:00

I forgot to post a blog on how my appt went this past Monday when I had my 18 week anatomy ultrasound. I guess everything looked good with his brain and other organs because we never heard from Dr. Miller and she told me she would call if there was a problem. He's a very stubborn baby- his legs were crossed for the entire 20mins of the ultrasound. I begged the tech to please check one more time to confirm boy when she got done, so she put the gel back on my belly and sure enough this time his legs were spread open! She said no doubt it's a boy, and pointed out his cute little wee-wee which I swear looked like it was moving- which would explain it being Brice's son.
We are 95% sure we have a name picked out. And because of my bright idea months ago on keeping the name a secret till birth, Brice won't let me tell anyone. He really wants to surprise everyone so we'll see how long we can keep it a secret.

xo

Doodles

2009-07-23T10:56:00.003-05:00

I want to start this blog off with a message to my sister-in-law Amber, my sister Crystal (both proud soon-to-be aunties) and anyone else who thinks there will be nothing left to buy this sweet baby boy. Just go to Doodles, buy anything blue, expensive, and over the top for a newborn, and you're set:) Totally kidding- well sorta! But seriously guys, there is still plenty of things we need, actually more important things than what I am spending my money on. See below-

Too expensive hat, and an over-the-top-not-very-practical burp cloth. But hey, the socks were cheap!

dog gone cute!

2009-07-21T22:36:00.005-05:00

So I'm sure you all knew it wouldn't be long before I started posting the cute baby boy outfits I am buying.
Just the first of many-

And tomorrow (Wednesday) my mom has a facial appt in the Village which just happens to be right next door to my favorite baby boutique- Doodles! I'm sure I'll be posting whatever I find there. The last time I was in there, about two weeks ago, I only looked at the baby girl clothes and actually bought a size 3 month dress (cuz I KNEW it was gonna be a girl) which is now proudly owned by Kylee Faith Buswell. Maryann's mistake- Kylee's gain.

scratch that-

2009-07-16T21:51:00.003-05:00

Okay so forget the Pottery Barn bumper ideas I posted. We decided to get the entire bedding set from Picci (Italy) that I had originally picked out for a boy before we even got pregnant. And luckily Babies R Us has it online so I was able to add it to our registry:) There is so much cute boy bedding out there, but I knew all along I wanted something plain and simple, and I'm not a procrastinator- so I'm glad to have that out of the way now.

Just the bedding set. I hate all that extra stuff.

which bumper?

2009-07-16T08:30:00.004-05:00

Since our crib is dark brown, I want light blue bedding. And since Brice and I both agreed we don't want a theme for the nursery (ie: john deere) I really like both these bumpers because they are plain and simple. I'm not sure which I like best. I don't plan to use those sheets or the quilt. Pottery Barn has a lot of mix-and-match sheet sets so I want to pick out the bumper first since both these are discontinued from Pottery Barn. The blue mink I can only find on eBay, and the blue diamond is on final sale on the PBK website for $29.99.
Looking for opinions here-

or....

Boy oh Boy...

2009-07-15T10:50:00.006-05:00

:sigh: My head is spinning.
We had our 3D ultrasound yesterday. And walked away with a 70% chance this baby is a boy! Wow, a boy? Such a surprise, and totally exciting. The umbilical cord was between the legs, and the boy/girl parts are not fully formed yet. But it did look like a boy from what the ultrasound tech saw, but he also said everything is still forming and the way it looks could change by 18 weeks. I said well 70% sounds pretty good. He said no, we like to be able to say 90% because 70% is not very accurate. So I am a little frustrated to be honest. I just want to be able to start buying blue things if that's the case, and start planning my shower that my sister is coming home for August 29. My poor mother refuses to get her hopes up (she wants a boy so bad, but thought it was a girl) till we know 100% for sure. Hopefully the next two weeks will zoom by and we'll have more answers then.
We did get some amazing pictures...

poll results-

2009-07-12T11:31:00.003-05:00

I still have the gender poll going, but I thought I would update everyone who hasn't come back to my blog to check the results (for those of you who get my blog post thru your email).
As of today....

25 people have voted GIRL
7 people have voted BOY
1 person voted BABY

I know my sister is the one who voted BABY because she isn't sure if she thinks it's a boy or girl. We always do these gender polls with my online friends, and normally the results will be about 50/50 so I think it's totally crazy so many people voted girl over boy. For those 7 that did vote boy, if they end up being right, they must have some sort of special powers:)
Two more days and we'll know for sure, but I have a very strong feeling the baby isn't going to be in a position to let us see. I'm trying to think positive, though!

John Deere Baby

2009-07-06T22:13:00.003-05:00

My new favorite store- Lollipop & Lace in Lake Jackson. OMG I love this store! There is so much stuff in there I am going back to buy as soon as we find out the sex. But I did buy this really cute John Deere wipe case and booties. Adorable, huh? I told Brice he can have the wipe case for his daddy bag!

PS: I am 15 weeks pregnant today. I promise I won't announce this every Monday for the next five months :)

14w2d baby bump

2009-06-30T22:49:00.004-05:00

I finally have a bump to show off. I can't wait for it to get bigger and bigger.

We find out the sex July 14 (maybe July 17 if Brice has to go to Dallas for work) and I got this cute idea from 18 Kids And Counting on TLC how to tell our parents what we're having. They had a cake made, and the inside was either pink or blue. So I thought it would be cute to take a cake over to our parents house and let them cut it and be surprised- but I'm not sure I would be able to contain my excitement for 24 hours or longer in order to have a cake made. I'm going to want to text everyone right away and tell them. But Brice thought it was a cute idea, so we'll see. Haven't really decided yet.

Kylee- 1 month old already

2009-06-22T08:46:00.004-05:00

I just realized Kylee is one month old already. And I have yet to meet this little lady. I was throwing up again this morning, and have been putting off going to Chad and Kristi's house. I wanted to go see her last weekend, but they went to College Station so that's Kristi's fault:) She promised to hold off on the baby food and lunchables till I can meet this tiny little princess.

It should be illegal to look this cute-

Don't worry baby, I like to sleep during church, too-

12 week appt update

2009-06-19T08:18:00.002-05:00

Everything went great yesterday. At first the nurse couldn't find the heartbeat with the doppler, and since I told her it had been three days since we had been able to find the heartbeat with our home doppler, she was a little concerned and said Dr. Miller would need to do an ultrasound. So I guess if it wasn't for the baby being difficult I wouldn't have gotten an ultrasound. I am far enough along now to where they can do my ultrasounds right there at her office. So Dr. Miller comes in and ask me if I have been bleeding or cramping? Umm no. I'm sitting there thinking just start the damn ultrasound already. The second she turned the machine on, I didn't even have time to blink, she said "oh, no wonder we couldn't find the heartbeat, the baby is flipping around in there and won't sit still". So she called my dad over to point out the heartbeat, head, body, arms and legs which were flying all over the place. We all laughed because the baby flipped over when she was trying to point out the belly to my dad. I kept looking at his/her little nose. It was clearly visible and so cute! She pointed out where the "goods" will be between the legs, but it was too early to see if it's a boy or girl.
My first question was to ask Dr. Miller if it looked like the baby was growing normally. I take two category C drugs everyday, so this is one reason they are keeping such a close eye on me. She said the growth and head growth looked perfect to her. Brice and I previously declined the first trimester screening for birth defects like down syndrome or even for NF like what I have because those things don't matter to us- we would still have the baby anyways. But it is nice to know my medication isn't having any affects on the babies growth, but this is something I defiantly want to keep an eye on every time we go.
I did get an ultrasound picture yesterday, but her machine isn't very good like the one at the hospital so it's not a very good clear picture. I will scan it and post it later when I finally post my belly picture:)

12 weeks

2009-06-15T13:03:00.002-05:00

Today I am 12 weeks pregnant. Whoohoo!! Some doctors say the second trimester begins at 12 weeks, but most say it's the first day of the 13th week. So either way I guess you could say I am in my second trimester which is very exciting. I have a doctor appt this Thursday at 3:30pm for another ultrasound. Brice wasn't able to get off work and I don't mind going by myself, but my dad is really excited since I am getting an ultrasound so he wants to go with me so he can see the baby. My dad is always kissing my belly and putting his ear next to my belly, so seeing how excited he is, I thought it would be nice to let him go with me.

I had a weird dream last night. I dreamed that I had twin boys on December 28 via c-section. I was holding them both and could see every detail of their face. It was a weird dream though because my friend Kristi was in the room next door to mine having her baby Kylee.

Brice and I came up with a girl name last night. I picked the first name and he picked the middle name. So if it's a girl it won't have my middle name, but I think it's important part of your child's name have meaning to the dad or something he picked out. It's kind of funny because everytime we talk about baby names, we always talk about girl names. Even Brice talks about this baby as if it's a girl. We're stumped on boy names so hopefully we won't have to go that route:)

I will post a belly picture later this evening:)

boy oh boy...I really hope it's a girl!

2009-06-05T09:52:00.003-05:00

So the other day I bought the famous IntelliGender test. From what I have heard, it's suppose to test for some sort of protein in your urine that boys produce in pregnant women. I really have no idea how it works, but it was invented by two moms in Dallas, and they claim it's 94% accurate. So basically it's testing for a boy. If you're having twins, and it turns orange for girl, that means you are having two girls. But if it turns green for boy, that could mean you are having two boys, or a boy and a girl. Make sense?
So anyways, I took the test and followed the instructions perfectly. As I'm sure you all don't want to see a picture of my pee in a cup, so take my word for it- it says I am having a GIRL. I sure do hope it's right, but I will be just as happy with a boy. I love my little nephew, and can picture myself raising a boy who constantly wears a John Deere hat.
I'm hoping to get my gender ultrasound at 16 weeks since my doctor said she can try to do it that early. So 5 more weeks till we find out if this baby really is a girl.

the crib

2009-06-02T06:00:00.003-05:00

I am so excited because we ordered our crib yesterday and it should be here next month. I was originally going to wait because if the baby is a girl I wanted a white crib, but after seeing the white in person I didn't like it so we decided on brown regardless what the sex is. Baby Fief's heartbeat was 184 last night so I'm still thinking girl. I would be just as happy with a boy. It's the wait I don't like. I want to know NOW so I can decorate my dream nursery:)

Kylee

2009-05-30T16:41:00.003-05:00

Well Kylee is here and I never made a post about it. Kristi is going to kill me because I can't remember the exact day she was born, but it was about a week ago. Brice and I think she has Chad's mouth and nose, but I think it's obvious the only reason she is so beautiful is because she takes after Kristi. I mean seriously, what newborn has a tan like that? She is breath-taking.

a piece of history- nursery idea

2009-05-29T15:23:00.006-05:00

I have been saving this to frame and put in the nursery one day.
In 1983 I won a "real" Cabbage Patch Kid doll at Angleton-Danbury hospital. The first time in my life I have ever beaten my sister at anything, ha! My mom entered both our names in the drawing. Mine was drawn out of hundreds.
Click on the newspaper article picture if you can't read it.

The poor doll is now 26 years old and looks like the bride of chucky. My mom said the original outfit got lost about 3 years after I got it. So she had put one of my night gowns on the doll that I wore as a baby. I'm sure I was upset at the time that the original outfit got lost, but now I am thankful she had put one of my own baby gowns on the doll so I can show my kids one day what I use to wear.

Baby Beats

2009-05-28T07:16:00.002-05:00

I rented a digital fetal heartbeat doppler from Belly Beats online. FedEx dropped it off yesterday and I immediately started jugging a bottle of water to get my bladder full. The book says it works best starting at 10 weeks and since I won't be 10 weeks till Monday I was a little nervous I wouldn't be able to find the heartbeat. I put the gel it came with all over my belly and started moving the little probe around right below my belly-button. And at first I kept picking up my own heartbeat because the digital screen kept saying 90bpm. Finally after 10 minutes I found what I was looking for- 165bpm and I could actually feel the thumping of baby Fief's heartbeat thru the speaker on the doppler. Of course I got all excited and made my mom come over to show her. Later that evening I went to my dads house to show him. I found the heartbeat within 5 mins this time and it was 163bpm.
So when Brice got home he was eager to play with our new toy, too. This is where it gets kind of funny. 15 minutes of Brice rolling that little probe all over my belly, he still couldn't find the heartbeat. He started mouthing under his breath "come on Augustus"- that's what he calls our baby. I assured him that "Augustus" was probably in a bad position and that's why he couldn't find the heartbeat. By this point it had been 25 minutes so I told him he needed to stop because I didn't know if it was safe to do it that long even though the booklet says it is safe. He was pretty mad he couldn't find "Augustus" heartbeat so I promised him we could try again tonight.
I can't wait to show my Nana and my mother-in-law. Hearing that heartbeat makes it seem so much more real that there is actually a baby growing inside my tummy:)

Happy Anni....and Birthday.....

2009-05-25T04:40:00.004-05:00

Happy Anniversary to Crystal and PJ. Today they have been married 7 years.

And Happy Birthday to my first born- Sophia. She is 8 years old today.

Someone once told me these are the best times of our life, and we don't even know it. Make the most of it everyday- because one day you're going to look back and think "man, those were some good times". (and yes sis I am awake early again. thanks to this little gummy bear doing a number on my tummy)

texas bound

2009-05-24T10:11:00.003-05:00

My sister and Nathan are coming to visit June 1-10. I am so excited to see my little nephew, but even more excited to see my sister. PJ has to go to Kentucky for 2 weeks for work so Crystal is using that as an excuse to come "home". I guess this means I better get my camera charged!

8w4d

2009-05-22T03:19:00.003-05:00

Today I am 8w4d pregnant. Just four more weeks and I'll be in my second trimester!!
Yesterday we got really good news at the doctor. I had my second ultrasound at 8am to check for sac and baby growth, and most importantly, to see a heartbeat again. I started crying when the ultrasound tech found the baby and you could immediately see the little heart just pounding away on the computer screen. The ultrasound tech turned on the sound so Brice could hear it. Then I think he almost started crying. The heart was 176bpm and we are confident based on the heartbeat it's a girl. Last week it was 130bpm so I thought maybe boy, but my doctor said you can't base it on the first ultrasound because the heart was just getting started at that time. So it starts off slow.
I was excited to see the heartbeat, but I still didn't know what this meant for the sac growth. The ultrasound tech let us leave without talking to us so I knew that was a good sign. I had an appt with Dr. Miller that same day just a few hours later so I knew I would find out soon enough. So we go see Dr. Miller and when she walks into the room her eyes are kind of huge and I can tell she has something exciting to tell us. She said based on the ultrasound findings that the sac is measuring right on time and looks completely normal. She was kind of dumbfounded over this. Not only that, but the baby has grown like weeds in the past week, so they have now changed my due date back to where it should be which is December 28, 2009.

Here is a picture of our little gummy bear

See the little "hole" above the head? I was a little worried what that was since it looks like a hole in the head. I asked Dr. Miller about it and she said it's the yolk sac. Brice of course had to tell her "That's Maryann's kid- that's probably where the brain was suppose to be".
He better sleep with one eye open tonight!

I won!!

2009-05-18T16:36:00.002-05:00

Well actually I was a runner-up. This past weekend me and my fabulous mom went to a baby expo at the Reliant Center. I found a really great baby photographer there who was giving away a free photoshoot in a raffle drawing. I was the runner-up and get $100 off when baby is born. So thank you so much Debi at Life's Images Photography!! Check out her website, her work is amazing.

Of course Brice had to mouth-off about this. He said and I quote "The very first time you ever win anything, it had to be something you could have done yourself!" Thanks, Babe.

Meet Baby Fief

2009-05-18T09:09:00.002-05:00

Due to arrive December 31, 2009

At 6w5d (7w2d by LMP)our baby was measuring right on time with a strong heartbeat of 130bpm. Average heart rate at this stage is 110bpm so baby Fief is defiantly thriving. We did get some bad news, though. What else with me, huh? The gestational sac is measuring small. You can tell by the ultrasound the CRL (crown rump lenght) there isn't much room. Luckily there is room on the sides. My doctor isn't sure what to think of this as she as only seen it one time in 8 years. Maybe I should start playing the lottery? She said it's so odd for the "fetus" to be measuring right on time with such a strong heartbeat, but yet a small gestational sac. Of course now this increases my risk of miscarriage, but she's not too worried at this point. I have another ultrasound this coming Thursday to make sure the sac and baby are still growing. All I want to see is a heartbeat. So I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I did want to let everyone know what's going on because we could use the support and prayers.
I am exactly 8 weeks today and morning sickness is kicking my ass. I have lost 3 pounds on the scale, but yet all my jeans are too tight already. Good sign baby is still growing. I spend more time running to the bathroom to pee than I do on the computer. But I promise to continue to update everyone.

Nathan has a message....

2009-05-17T11:25:00.002-05:00

for everyone-

before & after

2009-04-27T13:36:00.005-05:00

I don't like to post-process my images to the point they look fake. I want my images to look amazing straight out of the camera, but I do like to add a few colors and sharpen them.

BEFORE-

AFTER-

AFTER w/ Lux Soft and Pool Party

Yes I Will...

2009-04-26T19:50:00.005-05:00

marry you.
Today I met up with Jennifer and Pat out at Varner Hogg Plantation to take their engagement photos. They are so sweet with each other, and Pat was such a great sport because all he wants to do is make Jennifer happy. We had a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to their wedding. Here is a sneak peak from today, but you'll have to wait to see the rest:)
As always, please click on each picture to see the amazing details.

Malaia

2009-04-25T19:54:00.000-05:00

Just for fun today, I took some more pictures of Nora's daughter, Malaia. I've had a lot of people ask me about her lips, especially the picture of her on my website. Yes her lips are naturally that color. She doesn't wear lipstick, she is 5! And I didn't do anything to them in photoshop. Her lips look purple in some, and dark pink in others. I promise you- it's all natural:)
Click on each picture to view the full detail

baby names?

2009-04-25T09:20:00.002-05:00

I was thinking of baby names today (just for fun) and was wondering what everyone's favorite names are for a boy and/or girl? I try to picture the baby as an adult, and ask myself if it sounds weird calling an adult that name. Or what if they grow up to be a lawyer or the president? Will people take them seriously if they have a "baby" sounding name? So this has always been a hard topic for me.
One thing Brice and I did agree on, is once we pick a name (when we get pregnant) we're keeping it a secret till the baby is born (sorry Kristi, hehe). Mainly because I want there to be a surprise for everyone to look forward to. And I'm not even going to lie- I don't think I could handle everyones opinion on it if they don't like it. But I am open for suggestions till we decide. So how did you choose your babies name? I like the idea of them having our middle names, but that's all I can come up with.

A couples session....

2009-04-20T08:45:00.004-05:00

Turns into an engagement session!
So I had Jennifer and Pat scheduled for Sunday the 26th for a couple session. As of last weekend it is officially an engagement session. Congratulations you two. And Jennifer I am so happy you have finally found someone who treats you like the wonderful person you are.
Jennifer and Me (capree in the middle, sorry boys she is married).

Jennifer & Pat

photoshoots...

2009-04-16T12:27:00.003-05:00

I am so excited because in the next few weeks I have a couple's session, maternity session, newborn session, model session, and hopefully a boudoir session. I can't wait to use my camera again and post the pictures on my website.

Yay!

Say Cheese!

2009-04-10T12:33:00.003-05:00

The waiting is over! I have finally launched my new photography website. And it totally rocks!!

FIEF photography
by Maryann Fief

Happy Birthday....

2009-04-10T11:10:00.004-05:00

Today is my sisters 29th birthday. Wow!
Happy birthday sis, I love you and thank you for being my best friend.
Make PJ and Nathan wait hand and foot on you today!

Kristi's maternity shoot

2009-04-07T09:58:00.008-05:00

Last week I picked up Kristi and we went to my aunt Brenda's house to take some pictures. Here are two to show everyone- the rest will be on my photography website. You really have to click on each thumbnail to get the full experience how amazing these pictures are. Isn't she the most beautiful pregnant woman you ever saw?

"Warm It Up, Kris" @ 13%. That's the only photoshop action I used on this one. And I thought the name suited Kristi well:)

Last week I picked up Kristi and we went to my aunt Brenda's house to take some pictures. Here are two to show everyone- the rest will be on my photography website. You really have to click on each thumbnail to get the full experience how amazing these pictures are. Isn't she the most beautiful pregnant woman you ever saw?
"Greetings From Paradise" @ 75% which made the water blue. The rest is all natural- and breath-taking!

Jennifer

2009-04-06T13:28:00.007-05:00

Last week I had a great photo shoot with Jennifer. You never would have guessed it was raining during our entire shoot! Some of the pictures I had to take from the truck so I didn't get my camera wet!
I really love the two pictures below, but was wondering which is everyone's favorite? I can't decide which one, or both, to put on my website?

Jennifer you look beautiful. Thanks for being such a good sport in the rain!
(click on each picture to see full detail and quality)
The first picture is meant to be light in color with blue tints. The second picture is the original color- which I think is my favorite. I was mainly playing around with photoshop on the first picture.

sneak peek

2009-04-05T12:45:00.005-05:00

I'm having a bit of trouble launching my website. The hosting site I was planning on using reduces the quality of my images. So I found a great hosting company (thanks to my SIL) who I can use for my website, but now I have to start over. It won't be much longer, but till then....here is what I have been up to-

where have I been?

2009-03-26T10:34:00.002-05:00

So, most of you have been asking where the heck all my blog post went?! Well right now I can't show you, but I can tell you. I am starting my own photography business, and have been working on my new website non-stop. It's going to be really awesome and I can't wait to show you all! I'm so excited and really proud of myself to be doing this because without you all complimenting my photography here on my blog, I wouldn't have had the guts to do this. I should have the website launched in a week or two, and I promise to show everyone then.

xoxo

MA

Friday the 13th...

2009-03-13T08:16:00.002-05:00

Today is my husbands 27th birthday. I guess if your birthday has to be on the 13th- might as well be on a Friday. Happy birthday babe, I love you.

Yesterday Kristi and I went to get pedicures together. Fun, fun:)

Lucy

2009-03-08T19:20:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I took some pictures of Lucy who belongs to my aunt Brenda. Isn't she pretty?

photo shoot weekend

2009-03-07T08:49:00.002-06:00

I am so excited for today and tomorrow. Today I am taking Easter pictures for a girl and her family who is good friends with my aunt Brenda. I have never met them and I am looking forward to doing a photo shoot for someone I don't know. If I want to do this professional one day, I have to get use to the idea of working with people I'm not familiar with. And tomorrow I am taking pictures for our church and new pastor. Hopefully on Monday I will be able to take Kristi's maternity pictures, but we're going to play it by ear and see how her dad is since he's still in the hospital. I know Kyle would tell her to go and have fun, but it's really not that easy when your daddy is in the hospital trying to get his heart rate down.

watch for an update:)

prayers please

2009-03-05T09:53:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Kristi and I went shopping to find outfits for her maternity shoot I am doing on Monday. We were heading home when Kristi's mom called to let her know, Kristi's dad Kyle, had a heart attack. We did a Chinese fire drill on side of the road (come on Kristi you know that makes you smile) and I drove Kristi to the hospital. Thank God I was with her yesterday. Kyle seems to be doing well, but they are monitoring his enlarged heart right now. Please say a prayer for him, as I'm sure they would appreciate it.

progesterone update

2009-03-03T13:21:00.002-06:00

I know a lot of you have been emailing me and wanting an update on this. I am really sorry I didn't post an update sooner. Things have been so crazy here with my sister and nephew visiting. They left yesterday and will be spending a week in Marble Falls with PJ's wonderful parents before they head to Kansas.
Anyways, my progesterone was normal of course and I am defiantly ovulating. They didn't give me an exact level number on the progesterone, so I may have Brice call them, but everything is fine according to the email I got. We are now heading into our 6 month of trying to get pregnant.

xo

play time!

2009-02-23T21:26:00.013-06:00

This little boy doesn't stop. And neither does my camera...

Below- gardening at Papa's (great-grandfather)

What are little boys made of?

2009-02-23T09:18:00.010-06:00

Frogs and snails and puppy-dog tails, that's what little boys are made of...

Above pic taken by PJ- Nathan's daddy

sophia

2009-02-21T23:23:00.001-06:00

My first born...

Happy 3rd Birthday, Nathan

2009-02-19T15:23:00.008-06:00

Nathaniel Jacob turned 3 years old yesterday, February 18th. It seems just like yesterday I was holding him in my arms while he looked into the eyes of his aunt Mimi the day he was born. We love you Nathan and can't wait to spend many more years with you. No matter how far away you are, your aunt Mimi and Uncle Brice will always be a phone call away.
It was really hard to take pictures last night because this little rugrat didn't want to sit still. I'm a little disappointed I didn't get better pictures like I had hoped, but things were too fast paced for me to keep up. They still look great, but my photography skills could have been better.

CD22

2009-02-18T16:03:00.002-06:00

Today is cycle day 22 for me. I had my blood draw this morning to check my progesterone. I don't know why I am nervous to get the results back since my doctor said she is certain there isn't a problem. The best part is they will email me the results which makes it so much easier on me. Will update when I know more.

dinner at nana's

2009-02-17T21:42:00.004-06:00

Tonight we ate dinner at Nana and Papa's house. I won't bore you all with more pictures of Nathan, but I had to share at least one. He loves to smile for his aunt Mimi. Then he will ask to see the picture on the camera screen. He even knows which button to push to browse thru all the digital pictures on the camera.

quick photoshoot

2009-02-17T16:53:00.009-06:00

Today we stopped by my dads office to grab a few things. I took Nathan outside and snapped a few shots. He was a bit dirty from lunch, and it was cloudy outside- but they look cool anyways. The only pictures I touched in PhotoShop are the first two. The others I did not mess with. Pretty awesome, no?

Nathan...

2009-02-17T11:31:00.003-06:00

is here!! And he's already making himself at home.

I promise to change my Valentine's Day layout later. I'm off to lunch now with my sister:)

yesterday & tomorrow

2009-02-15T17:20:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. We had a blast at Benihana's with Chad and Kristi. Below are some pictures that I took with my crappy 18-55mm lens. I didn't want to take the expensive 85mm with me since I am still learning how to work it.

And tomorrow my sister, PJ, and adorable nephew will be here. I am thrilled to see them.

Kristi- I had a great time last night, thanks for the laughs:) I'll cook you some elk soon- promise. And thanks for the extra rice:)

Babies Having Babies!!!

2009-02-13T23:22:00.001-06:00

Click on the link below to read all about the 13-year-old boy who is a new dad..

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2233878.ece

85mm

2009-02-13T11:23:00.002-06:00

I just got the Canon 85mm f/1.2L II lens. It's mainly used as a portrait lens which is the type of photography I am into right now. I need to play with it before I get the hang of it, but I think it's really going to help me out. I have always believed a good photographer is someone who can take an awesome picture without having to edit it in PhotoShop. So wish me luck:)

valentine's day 2009

2009-02-08T19:02:00.002-06:00

So what is everyone doing next Saturday? Normally I just get Brice a card, and he'll buy me flowers and cook dinner, but this year we made reservations at Benihana's with two of my most favorite people in the whole wide world- Chad & Kristi. I am really looking forward to next weekend so I can see my favorite preggo lady:)

Texas here I come...

2009-02-08T11:09:00.005-06:00

Right back from where we started from! Crystal and PJ (don't forget Nathan) have officially started their cross-country road trip from Washington to Texas. Along the way they are stopping at many beautiful places. Most recently was visiting Uncle Matt in Beverly Hills, CA. Uncle Matt acted as their tour guide and took them all over L.A. Crystal texted me all excited she saw the paparazzi following some "dark haired girl" at the Grove. And apartently Nathan got into trouble for playing and hiding in thousand dollar clothes at Barney's! Crystal took a stroll down the famous Rodeo Drive and said she bought me two shirts from a "reasonably" priced store that apartently Eva Longoria shops at. I told my husband and he responded with "Who's that?" Ugh, men. Anyways, now they are heading South and right now staying in a cottage on the beach somewhere in California. Nathan has become a pro at peeing on side of the road! Crystal said he has done it five times already! And he enjoys stopping at the gas stations to buy chips and junk food. They should be crossing the Texas boarder around February 15, just in time for Nathan's third birthday on February 18. They will be staying for two weeks and then heading to Kansas City, KS where they will live for the next few years. I will update with their adventures as I hear more.

is it too late...

2009-02-02T16:47:00.002-06:00

to post a picture of our Christmas lights from 2008? I forgot to share and so many of you wanted to see. We didn't win the contest of course. Some lunatic with 80,000 lights on his house and surround sound Christmas music outside won. He deserved it, though!

Our new doctor

2009-01-27T21:06:00.002-06:00

Our appointment was originally for February 6th, but they called yesterday and said we could come this morning. Since it was last notice and I wanted to go now, Brice wasn't able to get off work so my mom and I went. Let me just say I LOVE Dr. Hardwick-Smith at Hermann Hospital. Her office is decorated with the most beautiful life-size baby and maternity pictures you would ever see.
When they called us back I expected to wait on her in a typical medical waiting room. Instead they directed us to Dr. Hardwick-Smith's personal office. We sat there and waited on her for 5 minutes. When she walked in the first thing she told me was my urine test was negative for pregnancy. No big deal, I knew it would be. She wanted to know all about me and asked a lot of questions about my NF and brain tumors. She said I can continue to take my pain meds for now as they will not prevent us from getting pregnant or have another miscarriage. She is not worried about my progesterone level and told me to stop using the cream. But she did say to come back on cycle day 21 and she will draw my blood and test my levels just to be on the safe side. She said it's unusual to get pregnant on the first try like we did, and we're right on schedule where we should be because she said it takes a good 6 months before most people get pregnant.
I'm so happy we found a great doctor at a really great hospital. I will never go back to Texas Women's after the way they treated us, not to mention nobody in that hospital seems to know what they're doing. Everyone at Hermann today were so nice and classy- I can't wait to be treated there during my pregnancy. Hopefully soon:)

camp fief

2009-01-22T20:21:00.005-06:00

My cousin Ashton came to stay with us last weekend while her parents went to Dallas. I love being around Ashton- I have worked with her since the day she was born. My aunt Kat taught me everything I needed to know about taking care of a child with cerebral palsy. And even though I don't work with Ashton full-time anymore, she still comes to stay with us a lot. Raven loves her and sits on her pillow and watches over her- just like a guardian angel:)

progesterone defect...

2009-01-19T18:01:00.003-06:00

I've been doing a lot of research lately. Mainly because I keep getting this nagging feeling something isn't right. I've been charting and temping since my miscarriage. When I got my BFP the highest my temp got was to 97.8 I didn't realize at the time that was kind of low for someone who is pregnant. We started trying again in October 2008. In October and November I still noticed my temps were really low (97.8) after ovulation. I did some research and learned that low temps can be a sign of low progesterone. Progesterone is very important in early pregnancy because it's the hormone that controls everything till the 2nd trimester. Progesterone also thickens the uterus lining after ovulation to hopefully allow a healthy bean to stick. A drop in progesterone will cause a miscarriage- or for those not TTC- it will make your period start. So in December I bought an all natural Progesterone cream that I apply twice a day after ovulation. I noticed in December my temps were way up after ovulation- around 98.3 Now it's January and I ovulated 4 days ago and started my cream. Now my temps are even higher- 98.6! I really hope this is what I need to get pregnant again and make that little bean stick this time. Wish us luck, we really need it:)

And feel free to stalk my chart on Fertility Friend
http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/2171e2

missing my nathan

2009-01-01T01:12:00.005-06:00

Crystal sent me these new pictures of Nathan. I miss him so much. They will be here in February for a whole month! We'll even get to celebrate Nathan's 3rd birthday, February 18. My dad just got back from Seattle. He spent a whole week there visiting. Nathan loved seeing his Papa. I can't wait to see my sister, nephew, and even PJ:)

2009

2009-01-01T00:51:00.002-06:00

A new year with new friends. Not that I don't still love my old friends, but I have a new friend I'm enjoying hanging out with. Yes Kristi I am talking about your sexy pregnant ass.
I cooked dinner for NYE and invited Chad and Kristi to come eat with us. We even made sherbet punch that started looking like a green swamp after a few hours. Chad and Brice drank beer, while us girls googled baby stuff on the computer all night. I get to help Kristi decorate the nursery and I'm very excited about that. Though I think Chad is going to kill me because my expensive taste is rubbing off on his wife. :oops:
I hope everyone had a fun and safe new years. May 2009 bring everyone the joy and happiness you all deserve.
Love,
Maryann & Brice

Baby Buswell- part 2

2008-12-30T14:47:00.005-06:00

It's a GIRL! And she has a name, but I'm keeping it a secret in case Kristi and Chad aren't ready to tell. Kristi came over today and raided my closet of all the pink Juicy Couture baby outfits I had bought for my first pregnancy. It felt good giving them to her. It's hard for me to look at those outfits because it reminds me what was taken away from us. This was our 3rd month of trying to get pregnant. We're going to our new doctor in January, just to talk to her, and make sure everything is okay.
Here is a video of baby girl Buswell. She is a thumb sucker already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI2UYGjyGzY

Click on the above link

Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T12:44:00.002-06:00

Belated I know, but I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. And Happy Birthday to my Papa today, December 26.
I can't believe it's almost 2009. I'm a little sad because I thought I would be pregnant by now. This month was only our 3rd try since my miscarriage, and I know on average it takes 5-6 months. We hit the jackpot the first time, so I know the odds are slim that was going to happen again. I've been worrying lately that my progesterone levels are too slow. I have a border-line too short luteal phase (the time from ovulation till your next period). Progesterone is the hormone that takes over during this time, and if your levels are too low, it can keep you from getting pregnant because your uterus sheds it's lining before an egg has time to implant. Or if you do get pregnant like I did in June, and your progesterone is low or drops, you will have a miscarriage. So right now I am using an all natural progesterone cream. I plan to see my doctor asap to have blood work done to see if I even need it. But this could be the reason for my previous miscarriage and the reason I haven't gotten pregnant yet. If I do get pregnant, I have to continue to use the cream till the end of my first trimester because a sudden drop in progesterone could cause another miscarriage. I am 8 days past ovulation today, and haven't tested yet. Will update as soon as I do. Fingers crossed:)

bikes for tikes

2008-12-21T16:00:00.012-06:00

The Brazoria County Harley Davidson group raised money to help a few local needy families. Two weekends ago (yes I am behind) we had a Christmas party for the families and their kiddos. All the kids got gifts and a brand new bike! They even got to meet Santa Claus (my uncle Thomas)! The party was a hit and it felt wonderful to do something for those in need. Here are some pictures I took of the families we fed and gave gifts to.

And my dad, the chef for the evening

Secret Santa???

2008-12-18T16:39:00.005-06:00

We had a secret Santa gift exchange on a message board I have been a member of for 5 years :insert shocked smiley face here: Wow, I can not believe how the time flies. When I first joined, I hadn't even met Brice yet. How cool is that? So anyways, I joined the gift exchange this year. We had to make list of items we wanted. My SS got me the two items off my list I wanted the most. Here are some pictures...

I LOVE Woodwick candles. Brice tells me they sound like a fireplace crackling. I just love the smell, and they burn forever!
Sophia and Raven even got some homemade dog treats

House

2008-12-16T10:41:00.002-06:00

So does anyone love this Fox hit TV show as much as I do? My mom comes over every Tuesday night and we watch it together at my house. My sister is the one who told me about it when it first came out in 2004. She knew I could relate to House. He lives in a lot of pain due to a leg injury and sadly seems to be addicted to vicodin and percocet. But yet he is the smartest doctor at the hospital, the one everyone looks up to and respects the most.
I've been on Vicodin every day for the past 2 years. And recently started on percocet as well. My doctor at MD Anderson gives me both. I don't think a lot of people realize what it's like to live in pain. Like real pain. Like honest to goodness somebody shoot me pain. I see how easy it is to become addicted to these pain medications, espically the percocet. But those tumors are always going to be in my brain attached to nerves. We don't want them to grow and have to be removed. Let them sit there and cause me pain I guess, but in the meantime I have to be strong and have a lot of faith I won't become a pill popping junkie like House. It's only 10am, but I am so ready for 7pm to roll around!

Ladies Night Out

2008-12-12T22:42:00.003-06:00

The Angleton chamber of commerce sponsored the first annual ladies night out party last weekend. The price of each ticket included dinner, a tote bag full of goodies, a ticket for a free bar drink, and one free pamper pass for a massage or hair cut. The massages were given right there at the party by the same lady I pay to do my massages monthly. So I was excited to get a free massage! There were also lots of really cool vendors. I managed not to buy too much stuff. The guest of honor was a "sexy" Santa Claus. I think the "sexy" part was meant to be a joke. Donna and I had a good laugh sitting on his lap...

Here is a picture of my mom and me. I am framing this picture and giving it to her for Christmas. She hasn't seen it yet, and since she doesn't know how to work a computer, I don't have to worry about her seeing it on my blog:)

Is that SNOW?

2008-12-10T22:26:00.003-06:00

Yes, that's right- SNOW! It snowed here today which had every cowboy and cowgirl asking "Is that snow?" Us Texans don't even know what snow looks like! Last time it snowed here was Christmas eve 2004 which was a miracle of course. We drove down to the beach the next day and there was 10 inches of snow on top of sand. And of course someone had built a snowman with a bikini on! Anyways, today was only snow flurries, but it was a lot and continued all day. It's been melting as it hits the ground, but very exciting for us down here on the gulf.
I'll leave you all with my favorite Christmas song....

When its christmas time in texas
Its a very special time for me
In texas well go swingin round the christmas tree
Dancin to a christmas melody
When its christmas time in texas
It might look just like a summer day
There may not be snow in san antonio
But its a texas christmas to me

[chorus]
When santa claus slips over the border
Itll sound a little different when he sings
cause hell hear those twin fiddles playin
Christmas songs with a touch of western swing
There may not be snow in san antonio
But its a texas christmas to me

When its christmas time in texas
I love to hear those christmas carolers sing
People on the go childrens faces all aglow
Grandpas been chasin grandma around
Tryin to catch her neath the mistletoe
Everything is right the lone star shinin bright
But its a texas christmas to me

Frosty the snowman knew the snow was hot that day
So he said lets run and have some fun before I melt away
Down to the village with a broom stick in his hand
Runnin here and there all around the square
Sayin catch me if you can

[chorus]

And heres wishin you all a merry christmas
Merry christmas from texas and me

gobble gobble

2008-11-26T18:42:00.000-06:00