A Nice Escape

*L to R: Keri, Heather, Melissa, Michelle, Erinn

Through the monthly "game-night" get-togethers here in my subdivision, I have become very good friends with this group of fine ladies. Throw our husbands into the mix with this group and it is more fun than you can imagine! It is awesome that everyone seems to get along so well and I am so very blessed by their friendships.

These past few months, we have been getting together every few weeks for happy hour at the mexican restaurant/bar here in Spring Hill called El Tapatio. Sometimes the husbands join us, other times it is just the girls. Tonight started with just a "girls night out" and later on Michelle's husband Rob & Keri's fiance Ken joined us. Karaoke fires up around 9pm and that is when the true entertainment starts :) If given a few drinks, you will even see some of us from our group sing a song or two. The karaoke draws in quite the crowd and provides some fun while people watching. There is always a "winner" from the crowd that we all talk about and Friday night did not leave us disappointed. The most talked about guy this evening was the one wearing a t-shirt that said "Can my penis buy you a drink?" Really? You seriously think that is classy? Like I said....we are amongst Spring Hill's finest so nothing suprises me :)

It was so good to get out of the house for a bit and share some good laughs amongst friends! Thank you ladies for such a fun night!

Ups & Downs

The month of Febuary will go down as one of the best months of my life & so far, March will go down as one of the worst of my life.

It was the beginning of Febuary that I found out that I was pregnant. Nothing was more exciting than seeing those 2 pink lines appear on that pregancy test after trying for almost 2 years! After telling Shane, I think he was a bit stunned at first but soon became used to the idea that he was going to be a father & he began to get really excited. After a doctors appt confirmed the news & all my labwork came back normal we decided to share with our family & close friends our happy news! I can't tell you how excited we were to be experiencing all of this for the first time!

It started out as a normal pregnancy. I was having the usual symptoms of early morning nausea, being extremely tired & my boobs hurt something awful! At 6 weeks, I was having some left-sided pain & slight cramping so my doctor wanted to do an early sonogram to make sure this wasn't an ectopic pregnancy. So last Friday, Shane & I got to experience seeing & hearing the heartbeat of what was to be our baby. We also got a few pictures to take home for our scrapbook. It made being pregnant seem so real at that moment & I couldn't help but get teary eyed. They found a cyst on my left ovary which was more than likely the culprit of my pain & was told it was nothing to worry about. Everything looked & appearred normal on the sonogram and we went about our day as two very happy parents-2-be!

Sunday marked my 7th week of pregnancy. We went to church that morning & headed home to let the dogs out & grab my grocery list that I had forgotten. I went to the bathroom before we left & noticed bright red blood. I instantly went into "panic mode" as I knew from the books that I had read that this wasn't normal. I went down to tell Shane & we went straight to Olathe Medical Center ER. They ended up doing another ultrasound & that is when we got the devastating news - there was no fetal heartbeat. At that moment, our world was crushed. I could not control the tears & Shane just grabbed my hand & we sat there in silence for what seemed like forever as the ultrasound tech made her measurements. Deep down we both new the instant the image came up on the screen. There was no fast flicker in the little gray blob like there was on Friday & we couldn't hear anything. We went home & the rest of the day was pretty much a blur. We called our family & told them the news & just spent the rest of the day grieving.

Monday morning, I called my Dr & explained what had happened on Sunday & they got me in that afternoon. Dr. Martin went over our options with us - we could wait & let the miscarriage happen naturally which could take up to 3 weeks or we could schedule a D&C and take care of everything surgically. The thought of sitting around for weeks waiting for this miscarriage to happen was horrific to me so we opted for the D&C - as horrific as that sounded also. It was scheduled for first thing the next morning (Tuesday) & as weird as it sounds, I was SO relieved.

Tuesday morning we made it to the OP Surgery Center at 6am. Dr. Martin was kind enough to squeeze me into his busy schedule as first case of the morning. There was no other patients there so it was kind of nice, quiet & somewhat calming - if you can understand that!?! The nurse started my IV, asked me all kinds of questions & I signed all kinds of paperwork. At 7am Dr. Martin showed up & 5 minutes later I was being wheeled into the OR. I slid onto the surgery table, they hooked me up to their equipment & told me I would be getting sleepy...that was the last thing I remember. I woke up 45 minutes later in recovery & was leaving the surgery center at 9am. I was surprised at how it was over & done with so quickly! One minute I was pregnant and the next minute I wasn't! On the way home I think all the emotions & hormones hit me like a ton of bricks - I was no longer going to have a baby :(

I spent the rest of my day in bed, high on great pain meds, the furry kidz by my side & the best husband I could ask for catering to my every need! Throughout the day I received so many text messages, voicemails, & emails from family & friends. We both want to thank everyone from the bottom of our heart for their support & for being such a great friend! It means the world to us to know we have such a wonderful family & such a great group of friends in our lives. I want to take a minute to thank my mom & dad for sending such a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers - they smell oh so good - and to Kitty, Susan & Shawn for the lovely bouquet of daisies that we received. Thank you also to Melissa for bringing over my favorite cookies and milk - that was SO sweet of you! Everyone has made us feel so loved by their friendship, kindness and generosity!

Today is Wednesday. It is the first day I am up & about & I am feeling pretty good. I am on the road to recovering both mentally & physically. The Dr said that sometimes writing about your experience with miscarriage & sharing your story will sometimes help with the healing process so that is why I decided to blog about it. It also helps to explain it to people through writing so I won't have to explain it over & over in person when people ask. I think that will be the toughest part - when I go back to work next week & naturally people will ask how I am doing, if I'm ok, etc. I can hardly wait to hear what comes out of peoples mouths - they can be so rude sometimes & not even realize it. I just hope I can hold it together. Oh well, just another step in the healing process.

Today I am getting out of the house & having some "Heather-Time". I have a Pedicure at 3pm & a haircut at 4pm so nothing like getting a little pampering done when you are feeling down & out! I am off work the rest of the week so I'm going to take this time to go to a movie or two, get some spring cleaning done around the house, meet some girlfriends out for drinks on Friday night & just continue to work through this. For those of you wondering, I will be ok - it will just take some time. I look forward to getting my body back on track & in a couple of months, possibly starting this entire journey all over again. Please keep us in your prayers...Love to you all!

The "Beast"

This is Shane's 1 Ton Dually pickup. I like to refer to it as "The Beast"! I HATE driving it because it is way too big and way too long and I can't switch lanes very easily with the topper on because I can't see. Well, today my husband needed my car and asked that I take his to work....all the way down to the Plaza, in rush hour traffic, in the rain. I was amazed he was letting me take his "baby"! I was a bit nervous as I was making my way down I-35 and noticed I was white-knuckling the steering wheel all the way there. I don't know what scared me more - the traffic whizzing by me at high speeds or the fear I would hit someone while changing lanes. Once I arrived safely to the Plaza area with no mishaps, my next challenge was where on earth do I park this beast? I managed to find a parking lot 2 blocks from the hospital and backed that thing into a corner spot. My husband would be so very proud of me if he could have seen my excellent parking job. I was never so relieved to have arrived to work safely and with no problems....and secretly, I think Shane was relieved as well! He only called me twice on my way to work :)

*all the green in this picture makes me long for warm, spring-like weather :(

Spring is coming...

Two signs that spring is right around the corner here at the Taylor house:

*my tulips & daffodils already making an appearance

*my tiger lilies beginning to peek up through the rocks

A Sweet Treat

This evening I had a sweet surprise on my doorstep when I returned from the grocery store. Seems that my dear friend Keri knows about my sweet tooth and left me some Mint Chocolate Malted Balls from Harry & David! What a great friend and such a nice treat to come home to after a long, crazy day! Thank you so very much Keri :) They are definitely mmm...mmm...good!

Another "project"

This morning Shane & I got up early, dropped Neo off at Petsmart to be groomed and then headed to I-Hop for breakfast. We debated shopping to kill time while waiting for Neo to get done or just head home. Well, we ended up doing a bit of shopping - at the Home Depot! Woo hoo - what fun! Little did I know, Shane was planning yet another "project" for around the house. He decided yesterday that he was going to add a phone line to the family room, as well as move the cable/phone/electric line in our bedroom so that he could hang a plasma TV on the wall without any cords showing! Well, 2 long, grueling hours later, we leave that place with $48 worth of stuff in Shane's bag and then headed to Best Buy to "just look" at plasma TV's. After killing another hour there and walking out empty-handed (thank goodness) we decided to just head home and I would come pick up Neo later when he was done.

As soon as we get home he goes to work with the sheetrock saw and I just had to turn away and not look at the craziness he was about to incur. I find I handle it better if I just walk away and try not to pay attention to what he is doing - otherwise I get all worked up and we end up arguing. SO, I leave to go get Neo and when I return we have a lovely phone jack in the family room that actually works :) I should know better than to doubt my husband! He pulls stuff like this off everytime. Next weekend - moving the phone/cable lines in the bedroom - I think it is best if I go shopping while he is attempting all this :)

A Birthday Party

Tonight I ventured out to North Kansas City to partake in my nephew-2-be Caleb's 9th birthday celebration. He is the son of my brother's fiance Meghan. Shane opted to stay home, watch the KU game and finish a few projects around the house! All I can say is thank god for the GPS - I had NO idea where I was going without the direction of "Susie"!

*Birthday boy Caleb (red shirt) making a wish

Caleb's birthday party was held at the AMF Pro Bowl bowling alley. My brother Steve and Meghan reserved 4 lanes for all the guests to bowl, ordered pizza and later we had ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Little did I know, half of Meghan's large Italian family would be there so I got to meet most of her aunt's, uncle's and cousins. Since we are becoming family in the near future, it was nice to meet relatives on her side of the family. They all seemed to adore my brother which makes me feel so proud as a big sister.

*Me and my brother Steve waiting for our turn to bowl

Mattress-shopping

I have finally convinced my husband that we need a new mattress. I have woke up one too many mornings with a sore back and just can't take it anymore. Shane finally caved and we went mattress-shopping today. Our first stop was the JCPenny Home store. The salesmen was quite informative and I was amazed at how much work finding a new mattress would be. We must have laid down and rolled around on about 10 mattresses trying to find the perfect amount of firmness & fluff. Lucky for us they were having a huge President's Day sale so all matresses were 50% off! Quite a bit of savings when you are talking about spending $2000 on one! Before we made a decision, we drove over to Mattress Firm and Sleep One just to see if they had anything comparible for a better price. We were sadly disappointed to see that they either didn't have the quality of mattresses or they were more expensive. So back to JCPenny we went where we settled on the Sealy Posturepedic with a memory foam pillow top. It feels SO dreamy and I can hardly wait until it is delivered next Thursday. A good nights sleep is awaiting....

Valentine's Day

Ahh - Valentine's Day. A day typically meant for romance, lovers, chocolate & flowers. For me? It meant a day of being on call, cleaning house, running errands, getting called-in to the hospital & later ordering take-out Chinese for my husband and I.

Was it romantic? Not really. Were there chocolate & flowers? No. But spending the afternoon with my husband watching KU beat K-State in basketball while eating Chinese food was perfect for us...Taylor-style :)

PS: Got this Valentine card from a girlfriend via email....LOL :)

Game Night

This months' game night was hosted by Jamie whom we haven't seen in awhile. I always love going to Jamie's house because she has a very handsome bulldog named Bruno who I love to shower with kisses and attention. It's also nice to get to see Jamie as well :)

All the ladies gathered around the island in the kitchen as usual drinking, eating and talking and later in the evening we finally settled into the living room for a fun game of Taboo. It was nice to see a couple of the girls who haven't been in awhile as well as enjoy the evening with the "regulars"!
Pictured L-R: (front) Keri, Erinn, Jamie (back) Heather, Audra, Michelle

Lunch & a movie

Wow - hard to believe it is Sunday already! These weekends seem to just fly by! Today I met the girls from the subdivision along with my girl Jill out for lunch at Granite City and then we all went to the movie "He's Just Not That Into You"! It was a super cute movie with quite a few good laughs! Really took me back to my dating days! If only I knew back in my 20's what the whole "he's just not that into you" thing was all about! Would have probably saved me countless hours of waiting by the phone wondering if "he" was going to call :)

*Michelle, Melissa, Heather & Keri at the AMC Theatre

Busy Saturday

Today was a super busy day. I don't even think I saw Shane more than 30 minutes today :( I started off my morning by working out and then running errands. Spent way too much money at Walmart & couldn't figure out how 4 bags of stuff could cost over $100!? I'm still baffled. Met my girlfriend Jill at Panera's for lunch and some much needed catching-up & then headed over to my friend Emily's house to see her and their new baby. Got my "baby-fix" in and then headed home just so I could jump in the shower and get ready for an evening out with the girls.

Tonight I met up with my friend Nickie and 8 of her closest girlfriends at GoJo's for dinner. Nickie had turned 30 years old earlier in the week and got us all together to help celebrate. It was a really fun evening and the food was oh so yummy! It was heartwarming to see Nickie surrounded by so many friends that love her to death! She is definitely one special lady! Happy 30th Birthday my dear friend :)

*The birthday girl is the one in blue :)

Shane also had a night out on the town...with the guys! He went out with his friend Chris to a bar downtown to listen to a live band. Not my kind of music so I opted to head home after dinner and catch up on some DVR'd shows. Wonder what time I should expect Mr. Taylor tonight?