Sunday, December 28, 2008

Baby Shower Fun!

On Sunday, my aunt Lynn (with the help of Nicole and Mom) threw me a baby shower! I was very touched! Since this is the only time we'll be driving to IL before the baby is born, this was the perfect time to throw me a shower b/c we can haul the gifts back to TX in the truck.

The shower attendees included: Mom, Aunt Lynn, lil' cousin Nicole, my brother's girlfriend Pam, Aunt Kay, Aunt Tina, my cousin Jayme and her daughter Kaylie, my cousin's wife Melissa (who is also pregnant), and long-time family friend Renee'.

Nicole, me, and Kaylie:

We enjoyed lots of good finger foods that Lynn and Mom prepared. Then, we played a few games: name that baby food, list the baby animal names, and a baby word scramble. Next, I opened all of the great gifts. I received lots of onesies, some bath towels & wash clothes, a few cute outfits, bottles, baby rattles, diapers & wipes, a pack-n-play, and a very pretty knitted blanket. Robert had to buy a tote to be able to haul all of the stuff back. Thanks to everyone who attended!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Good News from the Doc!

On Monday, before we headed up north, I went to the doctor and received good news that the bleeding was nothing to worry about. Dr. P doesn't believe it has anything to do with the placental lake. Apparently, some women simply experience this bleeding and it is nothing to worry about! That is great news just before Christmas!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

A Scare that Continues

Last Friday morning I woke up and discovered I was bleeding. After a moment of disbelief, my mind started reeling with all of the horrible things this could be from. I called my doctor's after-hours line and within 20 minutes, the doctor-on-call called me back. He told me if I wasn't bleeding after laying down for 10 minutes, to call once the office opened for an appointment later that day... which was the case. So, I spent the morning worried about the baby, but was reassured when the nurse found the baby's heartbeat. Robert convinced them to do an ultrasound (he can be very convincing), which was good b/c they found something in my uterus that was odd. This was my 3rd ultrasound, but the first where we could see a little baby. Robert thinks the baby will have an attitude b/c s/he flipped over while we were watching, as if to say "don't look at me!".

Then, yesterday I was concerned again when I saw more bleeding. We went back to the doctor today and thankfully again were reassured by hearing the heart beat. They did another ultrasound. At this point, they believe the odd thing in my uterus was a "placental lake", which means a pool of blood, which is what caused the bleeding. They said it looks much better today than 5 days ago. Thank God!

We go back to the doctor on Monday and actually see the doctor. The past few visits have been with the nurses / PAs (all of whom I really like!). So, we'll see what he has to say but I'm believing everything is fine.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Snow in TX - FOR REAL!

Today was an unusual day for Houston. For one, it didn't get above 40 degrees. And, for two, it SNOWED! I've been here 6 years and this is the first time I've seen snow here. I'm sure it will be gone my mid-morning, but it is still really cool!

A small accumulation of snow

Spade enjoying the snow (well, maybe not enjoying... she is kind of a priss in the cold); Cinder gets very playful in the snow but he doesn't like his picture taken :-)

Thursday, December 4, 2008

1st Trimester Recap

OK, now for a little more detail. My post last week was rushed since we flew to FL to visit my grandparents for Thanksgiving on Wednesday evening. I am enjoying the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy. As for the 1st trimester, it wasn't as enjoyable. I found out I was pregnant on Sunday, September 21st, and I kid you not, I had morning sickness the very next day. It continued until our 2nd anniversary on November 11th. Thankfully I never threw up; the nausea and tiredness were enough, though.

I had my first ultrasound on October 15th. The baby was simply a little dot, but we could see and hear the heart beat. How incredible! At that appointment, the doctor said my due date was June 10th, but wanted me to have another ultrasound b/c the baby was too small to accurately predict. So, 2 weeks later on October 30th, I had a 2nd ultrasound and the due date was moved up to June 7th. So, currently, I am due 6 days before my 30th birthday. I'm just hoping the baby isn't born on my birthday... I don't want to be in labor that day! At the end of January, we will find out the gender of the baby (well, likely - as long as the baby cooperates during the ultrasound). Robert really wants to know.

We've started preparing the nursery. Recently, we had the interior of our house painted and since I did not want to paint again, we chose colors that can be added to later once we know the gender. So, three walls are tan and the one full wall is dark brown. With this set-up, I figure we can add pink or blue hi-lights. The only pieces of furniture we need to purchase is a crib and a glider. The rest of the furniture is my childhood furniture.

My next big task is maternity clothes shopping. I'm hoping it is more fun than I'm expecting it to be!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Life's About to Change!

Robert and I are extremely excited to say WE ARE HAVING A BABY! Today was my 12-week check-up. We heard the baby's heart - 165 beats per minute. I hope it is a girl! More to come...

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Cinder turns 6!

Today is Cinder's 6th birthday. Of course, to him it's just another day, but to me my best lil' buddy is middle-aged now. Cinder has been with me since near the start of my time here in the Lone Star State. He has had to make a lot of adjustments in his life. He started out as the man of the house and then when the big alpha dog (Robert) moved in, he had to transition from being the man of the house to the dog. Big transition for a dog - still dealing with this today when he acts out and tears up the garbage, or when he runs down the street away from Robert as Robert calls him. Then, he became alpha dog when his sister, Spade, came to live with us. This was probably a ego-boosting move for Cinder b/c he got to be the head of someone again. And now he's middle-aged; he sleeps a lot but still plays rough-and-tough when Spade grabs on to his neck and pulls.

Happy Birthday, Cinder!

(I know, I know, you probably think I'm nuts, but he's like my child!)

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Life after Ike

I intended on posting all about our hurricane experience right after we got power back, but life has been a bit hectic since Ike. After sleeping in the closet as the fury of Ike passed, we emerged to find we were spared any damage. We were without power for 9 days. Thankfully Robert bought a generator, despite me giving him a really hard time about buying one. He takes good care of me, even when I am a pain in the butt. We ran it for a few 3-hour periods through each day. From Saturday until Tuesday, gas was hard to find; most gas stations didn't have power and those that did had really long lines. So, we conserved the generator gas since we didn't know when we would get more. Thankfully a cold front came through the day after the hurricane, so the weather was gorgeous and fans in the windows were sufficient to keep the house cool. By the 8th day without power, it was starting to warm up again, so I was very glad when the power came back on Sunday night, Sept 21st, so we could get a good night sleep in the A/C.

We kinda enjoyed not having power. People in the neighborhood were actually outside hanging with their neighbors. One guy made brownies on the grill to share. We played 42 with our friends in the neighborhood several nights. It was kinda like camping out at home.

Robert's grandparent's place was damaged in the storm, so they have been staying with us since last Wednesday. They had evacuated to OK since Memaw needs electricity to run her oxygen machine. When they returned, they stayed with Robert's dad for a few days and then came to stay with us. Robert, his dad, and some others are at their place now trying to repair it as quickly as possible.

We rescued a little Schnauzer puppy as the last bands of Ike were passing. By that point, we were already at Robert's grandparents trying to figure out what to do about the tree that had fallen on their place and punched through the roof. As Robert and his dad were on the roof with their chainsaws, a little dog came running by and then basically hung by me for the rest of the time we were there. As we were leaving, she put her little paws on the car door like "don't leave me", so we brought her home. After 3 washing and some flea medicine, she was good to go and enjoying playing with Cinder and Spade. After 2 weeks with us and dealing with 4 dogs in our house (Memaw & Punkin's little Poodle is staying here too), I finally created some fliers for Memaw and Punkin to post by their place to see if we could find her owners. Within 3 hours of putting the fliers up, her owner called and she went home the next day. While she was with us, we called her Ikea. I was curious to know what her real name was... turns out it was Fifi.

We were very fortunate to not have any damage to our house. There are several houses in our neighborhood that have tarps on their roofs due to tree damage. In our part of the Houston suburbs, the majority of damage done was due to fallen trees. When we build our new house, I've decided that I don't want any trees close enough to the house to fall on it.

My hope is that is the last hurricane I have to experience for a long, long time!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Hurricanes are a pain in the butt!

I'm sitting at home this evening waiting to experience the fury of Ike. In the 6 years I've been in Houston, this is the 2nd hurricane I've had to prepare for. I just returned yesterday from a recruiting trip to IL, so Robert did some of the prep work like bringing in the patio furniture before I came back. Then, when I got back to Houston yesterday, we went grocery shopping for the non-perishable food items, chopped ice out of a cooler where the ice bags had melted / frozen together, went from gas station to gas station in search of gas and propane, and Robert waited in line for at least an hour to buy a generator. My high school friend, Dana, who lives near the Gulf, has come up with her husband to stay with us since they are in a mandatory evacuation area. For now, we will sit tight and see what the storm will bring.

Today was an exciting day for another reason besides Ike... Andie got married today! She was supposed to get married tomorrow but Ike ruined that. So, she made some quick arrangements to hold a family-only ceremony today. Pastor Tierce led a meaningful ceremony and now Andie is Mrs. Amilcar Oscar Osorio. Congratulations Oscar and Andie! Andie and Oscar will hold a reception celebration in the coming months.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Labor Day Weekend Fun

This weekend involved some work and some play for us. I'm excited to report that we FINALLY purchased some new living room furniture! Since I moved to TX 6 years ago, I've had the same hand-me-down furniture in my living room - a La-Z-Boy recliner from Aunt Lynn that is probably 20 years old and a couch from a college friend. The recliner is mauve and the couch is red/blue/green plaid, so needless to say the living room didn't quite look "put together". So, after ~1 year of research (seriously - we don't make decisions quickly), we purchased FlexSteel leather furniture - a recliner, couch, and ottoman. It will be delivered in a few weeks. Can't wait!

On top of that, we finally bought hardware to put on the cabinets. We stayed up until 2am this morning putting it on. I think it really dresses up the cabinets and it definitely makes opening the drawers easier!


Then, today for Labor Day we had cousin Louis, Kathy, Cameron, and Baby Louis over, along with our new friends Caleb and Whitney. We made way too much food and had fun hanging out and playing games.

Baby Louis is as cute as ever.

Cameron enjoyed playing with Spade.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The Fury of Edouard

On Sunday afternoon, we became aware of a potential hurricane forming in the Gulf. So, we prepared...bought some non-perishable food, got some ice, and brought work home in case it was bad enough to stay home. When we woke up Tuesday morning, squalls were in the forecast with potential for flooding, so home seemed like the safest place to be.

Unbeknownst to us, we would have some serious wind damage. So, here you have it... pictures of the wind damage from hurricane... I mean, tropical storm... or, rather, afternoon shower Edouard.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Sunday Afternoon at the Pool

The pool in Benders Landing Estates (where we bought an acre lot last year to eventually build on) opened last week so Robert and I went over there today to check it out. It is a big, beautiful pool with lap lanes. There is also a small kiddie pool and then a kiddie pool with waterfalls and water buckets that fill up and dump out. Robert swam 1/2 of a mile and I swam 1/3 of a mile. We forgot how tiring swimming can be!

Andie's Shower

After a couple months of planning, Andie's bridal shower finally arrived on Saturday. It turned out so well! We kept all of the details a surprise and I think she was pretty surprised. We held the shower at Macaroni Grill in The Woodlands. The guests were a combination of Andie's friends and her mom's friends. She got a lot of nice gifts!

The Battle Group members were all there. It is always so fun to get together with all the girls!

Amber, Beth, Courtney, Andie, Denee', Cheryl, and Jay

Friday, July 25, 2008

Hanging in Town Green Park

With Andie's shower being this weekend, Beth came in from Alabama and Jay drove down from Dallas. On Friday evening, half of the Battle Group hung out in Town Green Park, just behind the Pavilion where Foreigner and Brian Adams were playing. I enjoyed catching up with Cheryl, Beth, and Jay. Its hard to believe that we've known each other nearly 5 years. Wow, lots has changed in 5 years!!

clockwise: Amber, Beth, Jay, Cheryl

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Summer Vacation 2008 in MI

Robert and I had a blast in MI on our annual summer vacation with my family! We flew into Grand Rapids on the 4th and left on the 13th. We stayed at my parents' cabin (left in pic below), which is just next door to my grandparents' cabin (right in pic below).

We golfed a couple days; once with my dad, Uncle Sven, and cousin Nicole and the other time with my mom, Uncle Sven, and cousin Nicole. Robert and Sven golfed a couple other times without the rest of us. Robert's favorite part of the vacation was catching a bunch of bass in the lake across from the cabin.

My favorite part of the vacation was our kayaking trip down the Pere Marquette River. Mom has wanted to go kayaking up there for years, but this is the first time we have done so in the 22 years we have been going to MI. It was so beautiful. Other than Robert accidentally whacking me in the ear with the paddle and Mom falling out of the kayak when her shirt got hung up on a tree, we had a great 12-mile paddle!

I really enjoyed spending time with Nicole. She is 10 years old already! We played some card games with her and Grandma, took her for ice cream, and splashed in Silver Lake together. Such precious times with her!

Check out our photo website for more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/amber.massingill

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Saturday Evening Church

Typically Robert and I go to church on Saturday evenings. We go to a big church and the Saturday services are less crowded than Sunday morning. Plus, this allows us to sleep in on Sunday morning. :-) Last night, I put on a new skirt I bought recently. A few minutes later, Robert came out sharply dressed and his shirt was coordinated with mine. So, after the 6pm service, my best friend Andie took our picture by the baptismal pool, which is where Robert and I got married a year and a half ago and this is also where I was baptized in Jan 2003.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Summer Haircut

Both of our dogs have A LOT of hair; Cinder probably has the most. So, for the past few years my mom has shaved Cinder when my parents come to visit in March. This year, she didn't shave him in March; instead she helped me order a new blade for a set of old clippers she gave me so that I could shave him myself. So, Memorial Day weekend I decided I was going to shave him. Well, after an hour of fighting with the clippers, I only got his back shaved and then gave up. I figured I would get Robert to help me later and wasn't really worried about what he looked like b/c most of Cinder's outings consist of walks in the neighborhood. Well, just so happened, later that day I decided to take the dogs to the park to throw the ball for Spade. Cinder got some funny looks while Spade enjoyed fetching the ball in the lake. This was her first experience at the lake, so she had to learn how to swim. She did a lot of doggy-paddling, but near the end she got the hang of it.

Half-shaved Cinder:

A few days later Robert grabbed the clippers and he finished up what I started. All in all, Cinder looks pretty good (not as good as Mom can do, of course) and I think he is a lot cooler with the heat that is on us already.

Robert shaving Cinder:


Spade & Cinder (w/ his summer cut):

Sunday, May 18, 2008

A Sunday Afternoon with Friends

Today we had some of our old neighbors over - Matt & Megan with 3-yr-old twins Mason & Madison and Wade & Tammy with 3-yr-old Trey & 9-mo-old Audrey. Every so often we try to get together to catch up; this was our 3rd gathering since January. Last year at this time we all lived on the same street, but late last year Matt and Megan moved to another nearby development and currently Wade and Tammy have moved in with her parents as they are trying to see their house. We enjoy spending the time with the kiddos!

Audrey, Madison, and Trey:

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Golfing Fools

Robert and I are really enjoying our golf membership. He plays about 4 times a week and I play about 2 times. It is such a great way for us to spend time together. It is so peaceful to be out on the greens. I most enjoy going after work because there is hardly anyone on the course with us. The weekends are much more crowded; yesterday we played and the course was packed. We nearly got pegged with a ball from the group behind us.
Last weekend we had a blast golfing with our friends Kevin and Misty. They brought their 6-month old little boy, Josh, who was so good through all 18 holes.


Monday, April 28, 2008

Golfer in Training

Robert absolutely loves to golf and while I was not all that keen about the sport in the beginning, I've grown to really enjoy it! So, this past weekend we bought me my first set of clubs (been using my dad's set for a few years) and we also joined a nearby golf club. Robert played twice yesterday and already has 2 more tee times set up for this week. I played yesterday evening for the first time with my new clubs. The kind of drive I hit off the 1st tee box will have me coming back for more!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Spring is in the air!

Last weekend we planted our garden. Each year we improve our garden spot a little more. This year we changed out the 2x4s for railroad ties. It has a more rustic look now.


This weekend Robert put a gate in the back of our fence so we can access the rest of our lot that is behind our fence. We plan to extend our fence to encompass our whole lot later this year. The dogs enjoyed exploring their new space.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Officially Yuppies!

Check out our new car. Well, new to us. We sold the F-250 to Robert's brother and then picked up this sweet ride from Robert's cousin. We are enjoying it and feeling like true yuppies!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Fun while in IL


While in IL, I spent a good amount of time with Nicole. here she is with Tommy, my mom's aunt's Pomeranian. Isn't she growing up?

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Hanging in IL

I'm in IL now visiting my family before I head to U of I to do some recruiting. I went with my mom to visit her Aunt Rita in the nursing home. Poor woman... she is 79 and has so many ailments. Today was the first time that I actually met her. I expected a mean old bat from all the stories about her, but she actually turned out to be pretty nice. I visited Lynn, Sven, & Nicole for a while and then went to church with Sven and Nicole. Very cool! We heard this ex-mob guy who turned his life over to Christ. When he was in the mob, he made $6-8M per week! Wow! Tomorrow I am going walking with my mom, the dogs, and her friends, then hanging with Nicole, and then I'll head to U of I for our info session tomorrow evening.