It's ours!

We finally have/own the house! It's been a stressful few weeks with some major ups/downs, so it felt SO good to have that key placed in our hands. Just in time for the homestead exemption- woo hoo! It was awesome to walk around the house now that it's actually our home. I took all the "pre" pictures, so we have some to compare with after we do all the painting/renovation that will be taking place in the next few months. We're so excited. As a housewarming gift, we found out today that my parents are getting us a washer/dryer! Sweet! There's definitly a reason to have fun tonight!

After we got the house stuff all signed and after we went and saw it for the first time as ours, we had ourselves a Congratulatory luncheon at McDonalds. It was fun not worrying about when we were going to close, and we had so much fun talking about having children. We're both really nervous about testing tomorrow because we want to see that second line so bad! J thinks that it's happened based on how I've been acting and because his life is usually charmed like that; good things always happen for him. Of course, I'm not complaining about that! My temperature did go up today, but I didn't sleep very well last night. As soon as I rolled out of bed this morning, I felt so sick. I almost thought I was going to throw up, but as soon as I had some toast, I was fine. I'm also pretty bloated today. Eek! We have to steal a plastic cup from my sisters tonight (where we're celebrating NYE- just as we have for the past 9 years) to use tomorrow, haha. 

I have mixed feelings about 2008 being over. It's been a great year (graduation, a Meditteranean Cruise, our wedding and honeymoon to CA, and, now, buying a house!), but I know we've got great things coming to us in 2009! Maybe a New Year's BFP will be just the thing to welcome in the new year? We shall see.

Stats:

-CD 30: 9 DPO

Ugh

We're finally "closing" tomorrow morning! THANK GOD! I have been getting so pissed off at this entire situation. Ask J- I have not been a very pleasant person to be around. Of course, it won't be finished yesterday, and we're probably not going to get the key because they have to mail the papers to the sellers (who moved out of state) after we do, and the title company is freakin' closed on Friday. So, we should be all finished on Monday. Ridiculous? Extremely. I'm hoping that they just give us the key since we've already paid our down payment (last week...) and the loan is obviously approved. Not likely, but the hope exists.

As mentioned above, I've been pretty irritable the last two days. It kind of came out of nowhere last night, and I've been pretty awful ever since. If J stands too close to me, I snap at him. He's not a fan. If I'm not pregnant, I'll have some serious explaining to do to him. It didn't help that when I input my CM in today, my crosshairs became dotted. Grrr. I'm still having those twings in my stomach, though not nearly as constant. It's definitly mostly when I'm in the car. Besides the oddness of that, I don't have too much hope. My chart is looking way too similar to the last 2, even with the fertile CM on CD 8ish. I still plan on testing on the 1st, though. If BFN, then no testing until at least 14 DPO. I only have 2 tests- PIAC ones that I got with my pre-seed. I can't lie- I'm pretty excited to use them.

Stats:

-CD 29: 8 DPO

Darn stomach!

J and I had a great Christmas! It was a hectic time, as it always is, but it was a lot of fun. We had a great time at the in-laws annual Christmas get-together on Christmas Eve playing a Christmas trivia game, spent the night at J's parents home (as did his sister and her boyfriend), had Christmas morning a french toast feast with his family, and then went over to my sister's house for Christmas with my family. We got some great gifts: the new George Foreman grill, a crock pot, a digital picture frame, and lots of other cool stuff. J's favorite gift was from his Nana (grandmother- the only one surviving out of the two of us): his grandpa's doorknocker that he inherited from his dad that's engraved with our last name. It was really special to him, and he can't wait till we get the house (finally!) and put it on our door. 

On the house front, we should be closing either Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. Our lender's office is closed today, so we won't hear anything until Monday morning. Lame.

In regards to TTC, my crosshairs were moved after I entered my temp yesterday to the next day. That means that we had sex the day before and after O. Since the day that FF says I O'd on, I've been having cramps in my stomach. They're not really painful (though there is a ping every now and then) and it's mostly while we're in the car. I am experiencing it right now, however. I figured that it was constipation, as it had been a few days, but I "dropped some kids off at school" twice yesterday! So, i'm not so sure. I finally understand the whole phantom symptoms now. 

Stats:

-CD 25: 4 DPO

Merry Christmas!

My first Christmas present this year: crosshairs! I was pretty upset after I temped since it was a bit lower than yesterdays high, but it wasn't low enough to be around the same as they had been! I was pretty shocked to see that red line (not dotted!) pop up after I put it in, but I was certainly thrilled! It looks as though we only had sex on O day, but that's okay. I have "good" timing, according to FF, and it's only Cycle 1. We've got some time to make it work, although I'd prefer if we didn't need it. I'm so excited to be in my first 2ww! Just in time for the holidays, which should make it go MUCH quicker! My plan was to wait until 14 DPO to test, which would be January 3rd, but, since it would be super fun, I may test on January 1st! That would be an awesome way to kick off 2009. It all depends on how I'm feeling, though. 

J and I wish everyone else the greatest of holidays! We'll be heading out in a few hours to begin our Christmas festivities, and we're so excited! Happy Holidays!

Stats:

-CD 23: 3 DPO!

Bummer

We're not closing on our house tomorrow. Apparently, there are too many people buying/refinancing houses right now, so it took longer than expected to file the paperwork. It should be ready at noon tomorrow, which sucks more than if it were going to be done in a few days. We'll miss our closing time by 2 freakin' hours. So, we're more than likely going to have our house by tuesday! At least we're done with all the crap now, and we just have to wait. The holidays should make it go by much quicker! 

I had a major temp spike today- hooray! That means that I most likely ovulated yesterday. Our timing wasn't 100%, but it's only our first month. We plan on hitting the sheets again tonight. Of course, J doesn't have any idea that I've O'd (he's expecting it to be a week or so from now based on last cycle- he wants to be in the dark about that). I just bargained with him last night that if he gave me a massage, I'd promise him sexy time tonight. He was too tired last night. So sneaky. Only a few more days of high temps until confirmed O!

Stats:

-CD 22: 1 DPO (i believe)

Party time!

Last night was J's company Christmas party! We'd been looking forward to it for a few weeks, so it was fun to actually go to it finally. I haven't been able to get all dressed up like that since our honeymoon (only 4 months ago, but still. I love getting dressed up). We had a great dinner and we had an awesome time with the people that we were sitting with. They were definitly people that I could see doing stuff with outside of company-sponsored events. It was good for me to finally put some faces to the names that I'm constantly hearing. If I could only remember some of them- red wine plus meeting a ton of people at once is not so conducive to a great memory.

Here's us:

I'm still thinking that I could have O'd a few days ago based on the change in how my temps are reacting and the fact that they're still on the rise. I'm still hesitant because it's early for me(though my 2nd cycle off of BCP was O on CD 20) and because they're still low temps- definitly no cover line as of yet. Most likely, I'm gearing up for O and they'll shoot up in a few days. That's how it happened last cycle, though it was about 15 days later! I'll take the shorter cycle, but we just need to work on the sex part. We've been lacking.

Stats:

-CD 19

F/U to Baby "Callie"

So, I lurk on 1st tri. I know I'm not alone in that. Well, today, I found a fun link to predict your birth story. I figured: what the heck? These were my results:

The day you deliver, outside will be hot. Your baby will arrive at night.

After a labor lasting approximately 3 hours, your child, a girl, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 7 pounds, 11 ounces, and will be 18-1/2 inches long. This child will have green eyes and some very fine hair. 

Although not a relaiable source at all, it just may be accurate! I live in Houston, so it'll most likely be hot outside. Then, there's that dream I had the other night about the tiny little girl we had. I told J she looked like she was about 7 pounds, and she had green eyes (like her daddy). J's red hair (like the little girl had) is fine, too! So, it's a long shot, but it's exciting to think about! 

I had some EWCM yesterday, and my temps seem to be evening out, so I very well could be Oing sometime soon! Maybe I'll be a NYE/New Year's tester after all! 

Stats:

-CD 17

Baby "Callie"

Callie is the name that we have almost agreed on for our baby girl (should we get one). He loves it and gets a huge smile on his face whenever we talk about  it. I love the name, but I'm not 100% sold on it. Mostly, I'm just worried that it will be confusing if we have a Callie with my niece, whose name is Aly. But, for now, we're sticking with it. We've got plenty of time to change, if need be. 

Anyways, this whole conversation came about because I had my first baby dream the night before last. We had the most beautiful baby girl! She was so tiny (about 7lb-ish) and beautiful- looked just like her daddy. She even had the cutest red hair, but it was tied up in a little pony-tail on the very top of her head, so there was a little tiny "fountain". Very Who-like (as in The Grinch's Whos). In the dream, J wouldn't even put her down and refused to let anyone else hold her! He was so in love! It was a great dream, but it couldn't really progress because she didn't have a name! So, last night we went over our list of names again. The list is still pretty long, but at least there's a few top contenders now (including Callie). It was so easy for us to choose a boy name that I'm almost positive our first will be a girl, haha. J seemed to be pretty excited about that concept.

Stats:

-CD 15: I had a huge drop today, so I'm wondering if it's a pre-O drop?

Here We Go...

The days seem to be going by pretty quickly lately, which is a good thing, I think. We finally had our "Welcome to TTC" celebration the other night, which was awesome. J made some pork chops, which was a nice break from the chicken we always seem to be eating. Darn being on a budget. It'll all be worth it in the end, though. We're all finished with the inspections of the house, and we submit our request for money to pay for some required electrical work tomorrow. After that's all done, it's just a waiting game until closing! Less than 2 weeks away! I'm getting so excited about it all. I'll post some pics of our new house once it's actually ours. It was exciting to talk about it last night at a Christmas party we went to with a bunch of friends that we graduated high school with. They're all excited that we're staying in the area, as are we! 

As far as TTC, I've been having some mild cramping today mainly focused on my left side. From what I've read on GP, that could be an ovulation pain. I marked it on my FF chart but also wrote a note that I'm not too sure. It seems a bit early for me to be having an ovulation pain, but I did have some creamy/watery CM today, so who knows? I definitly would not complain if my cycle was shorter this time around! My up and down temps are getting closer together, as well, which has indicated getting closer to O. J will probably be getting some lovin' tonight just in case. If not, it's good practice! 

Stats:

-CD 13

Let's Get it On

Our pre-seed came in the mail today. Our TTC kick-off celebration will finally occur tonight. That is all.

Stats:

-CD 11

Amazing!

It SNOWED today! Seriously, it was amazing. (note: you should remember that I'm from Houston...TX; it doesn't snow here). It's not like it stuck or anything, but I saw snowflakes! Of course, I was also having a stupid day, and I only wore a sweater to work today. Me= freezing. AND, last night, DH took my car on a printer ink search (which failed) and didn't fill up my car. So, my "fill up" light came on, but I couldn't get gas then because I'd be late for work! So, in the freakin freezing cold weather after school, I had to go put some darn gas in my car. One more thing: my debit card wouldn't work in the pump, so I had to go inside. I was so cold that I had tears coming out of my eyes. Needless to say, I did not enjoy the snow as much as I should have. I was much happier upon snuggling with a big blanket and my bean (our dog) and watching the snow outside our sliding door. It's crazy to think that we could have more- it's so early in December, and it usually doesn't even really get cold until January!

Oh, and we didn't have our TTC celebration last night. Bummer. We're not having it tonight either; DH is at a Toys for Tots rally thing for his company. Bummer. Our pre-seed has not yet arrived. Bummer. Of course, we wouldn't need it yet since I'll O later in my cycle than most, more than likely. Bummer.

Stats:

-CD 9

Stupid Seller

Here we are: super happy that the option period was going to be over by now and that it would be just deciding how much the seller would actually be giving us. But, no. The seller pulled a dumb move (which will be beneficial to us in the long run, most likely) and cut off the electricity. Of course, we don't find this out until we're at the house waiting for the AC guy to come and check it out. We had to call and put a hold on that, obviously. Our realtor called the seller's realtor, who had no idea that they had cut it off, and now we have an extra week in our option period! Plenty of time for us to find more things to request money for.... We're just annoyed that it's not over. Blah.

Even though we don't have the house inspections crap over with to celebrate, we're still going to have our TTC kick-off dinner tonight! I'm excited. I'm expecting our lovely pre-seed to be in the mail today. Hopefully, tonight goes off much better than earlier did. I need some stress relief!

Stats:

-CD 8

Is it December?

I'm shocked that I don't feel the Christmas spirit yet. Usually, as soon as we finish eating on Thanksgiving, I'm singing Christmas carols. I have been listening to Christmas music, but I'm just not feeling it like I usually am. Maybe it's the stress of getting all the inspection stuff finished for the house by Wednesday or maybe the excitement of TTC has taken over, but I'm sad about it. I'm really hoping that it pops up any time now. 

Horrible story: J and I went to a Christmas concert at a local church to support one of my good friends last night, and I kept thinking about how I always wanted to be able to announce my pregnancy at Christmas. There's no way that I'd be able to do that, unless I had a super short cycle. Chances of that= unlikely. FF doesn't think I'll even O until New Years Eve! Oh well. The horrible part? I kept thinking about it whenever there's be any mention of the baby Jesus. *sigh

Sad story: I have an adorable niece, whom I love completely. Since birth, I've been working on making sure she realizes that I am her best friend. Up until Saturday (when we were at our house with the families), whenever I would ask who her best friend is, her response would be "Aly" (which is her name...she didn't quite understand the question- she turns 2 in January). Her response on Saturday was, without skipping a beat, "J". Ugh. J walked in right afterwards and, after he heard the story, is now using this against me. I feel stabbed in the heart, haha. I will be making him make dinner for the week to help me with my depression. I've also forbidden him from seeing her until she realizes that she is wrong. (note: I am being sarcastic...)

I'm still spotting, though it has only been a drop today. I should be getting my pre-seed in the mail tomorrow- yay! I'm planning a nice pork chop dinner complete with lots of red wine (yum!) tomorrow night to kick off our TTC journey now that AF is gone! Exciting!

Stats:

-CD 7: minimal spotting

Overwhelmed

J and I got to see the house we're buying again, today, and we were there for a long time! It was fun. We showed it to both of our parents and my sister (along with her husband and my awesome niece), and they all approved. J, his dad, and my brother-in-law did a major scan of the house, and there are a few things we want to get checked out, just in case. Not a big deal, but we have to have it all done by wednesday if we want to get some cash from the seller (of course!). The biggest ordeal will be the A/C. It's pretty old and super expensive to replace. So, that's our biggest stress. We did get our quote for the renovation that we're doing in the kitchen, and it was right where we had guessed it would be. Overwhelming (see the trend?), but we're excited about it. We know that we'll get it all back, eventually, when we sell the house. It's just scary now! We've never spent so much money on something, obviously. I'm just ready for the whole ordeal to be over, and we have the house!! 

We got a few "slight" comments on babies as our parents checked out the guest rooms. They're trying to just get information, and we didn't get upset by it. As I've mentioned before, we have older parents.

Also, I just ordered some pre-seed! YAY!

Stats:

-CD 5: light AF

She's here!

There is no doubt about it. AF is here in full force. I started having major cramps last night, and I even had to pop an Advil (one of my last ones! I don't need to take Tylenol just yet) so that I could get myself to sleep. I'm still pretty crampy, but it's not too bad. I think I went through the worst of it last night when I was sleeping. Awesome. J has been really cute about it. We're both hoping that this is the last time I go through this in, say, about 9 months. It would actually be a about 10 months, though, since I'll probably have another long cycle. 

Last cycle ended up being 51 days with a 12 day LP. Based on that cycle and the previous one (which was 31 days with an 11 day LP), FF estimates my average O for this cycle to be Dec. 31st. I'm pretty sure we could manage some sexy time for New Years Eve. I am hoping for a shorter cycle, though.

This will officially go down in history as the most excited I have been (or ever will be) to see AF! We're officially TTC, Cycle 1! 

Stats:

-CD 2: heavy AF

What a Tease

I woke up this morning to a substantial temp drop (though not below the coverline) and some light pink spotting this morning. I think- she's here! Apparently, I wasn't excited enough because she still hasn't fully unpacked. I am starting to cramp up a bit, so that's a good sign. I can't even see my whole chart on FF because it's so long now. I think that proves that I need to start a new cycle. 

J and I met with our lender tonight and did all the necessary signing and handing over copies of our documents to get our loan all finalized and such! That's a nice relief. Only a few more things left on the checklist- get home insurance, get a quote that we want for the rehab work we're getting done, and submit said quote to our lendor. Otherwise, we're a go for the 24th. (Btw, we already have an inspection from a previous attempt to buy, so that's awesome. No worries- we didn't forget to have that done.)

Stats:

-CD 52: 13 DPO- spotting

-I'm hoping that tomorrow is our first official day of our first cycle TTC!

Here it is

Today, AF should arrive. I haven't had any spotting yet, though, and that bums me out. Granted, I'm excited to have a longer LP, but still. It's been 2 months, and I'm ready to move on. I was explaining the reasoning about having a good LP last night, and he's really excited that I do. He doesn't want me to start AF just yet, it seems. Crazy boy. I've been having spouts of craming the last two days, so I know she's coming. Guess I'll just keep waiting.

We should find out today when our official closing date is and the paperwork will officially be signed by the buyer (they were on vacation when they accepted)!!! I've been researching contractors, getting our loan stuff ready (we were pre-approved, so it's minimal), and day-dreaming about how we're going to decorate it (mostly the nursery, though)! I just can't believe we have a house....

Stats:

-CD 51: 12 DPO

-starting our TTC Cycle 1 tomorrow? today? Who knows...