i can't believe i haven't updated this livejournal. i guess i am too busy with my blog. haha. anyway, i had my baby. a BOY! on january 8th, 2009. we were allowed to wait until january 16th to induce (i was due on january 2nd), but the doctor wanted to make sure everything was okay (via ultrasound) with the baby on january 5th. that's where it was realized that ashton was frank breech. since i was 41weeks along, i figured i would just avoid attempting to flip him, (i would have if i was not as far along as i was) and get a c-section (my worst nightmare. i had planned and practiced for a unmedicated birth). c-section went smoothly and i have had no issues regarding his birth. he weighed 8lbs 3oz and was 21inches long.

here are some recent pictures of him... i can't believe he is already 4 months!



i'll try not to whore up your friends page haha. but if you want to see more pictures of him, here is my flickr photostream.
as you can tell i have been working on my photography a bit lol.

i also went to europe last fall. it was amazing. you can view my pictures of that trip in my flickr as well.

haven't updated in a while.. opps.. i am finally pregnant after trying for almost 2 years.. i had pcos and it was a long hard journey but now that this baby is finally coming i feel it happened at the best possible moment.. it also happened on our "break" month. go figure! anyway our first baby is due January 2nd, 2009.. david (husband) is hoping the baby decides to come earlier before the new year so he can file the baby as a tax exemption and the fact our insurance changes for the worst on January 1st, 2009.. lmao.. we don't plan to induce or anything.. so it's totally up to the baby.. however, i hope butterball decides to come before the due date.. mostly because of the insurance dilemma.

currently we have 100% coverage.. pretty awesome right? yeah well, david's job is axing that plan and going with a different company that only offers 80% as the highest paid plan.. still better than not having anything at all.. but the whole reason we paid 100% for the last three years was to be able to pay for our labor and deliveries and now it seems we won't be able to get it and wasted all that money for nothing ::sigh::.. doesn't matter.. i am more than happy to have this baby at a more expensive rate.. lol.

right now i am almost 18weeks along.. we saw the baby on an ultrasound at 7weeks to date the pregnancy and to make sure the little butterball had a heartbeat.. around 10weeks.. because i freaked out pretty much all the time that something was wrong.. we rented a doppler.. we have been able to listen to the heartbeat at home since 10weeks.. i can't tell you how awesome having that doppler is!

our big ultrasound, where we hopefully get to find out the sex of the baby, is set for August 21st.. i know the ultrasound isn't the purpose of finding out the sex but i sure hope butterball spreads em for us.. lately i worry that something is still wrong and worried about having the ultrasound done.. either way, there is nothing we could do even if there is something wrong.. so i just have to put my big girl panties on and deal with it i guess! lol.. btw.. david and i both believe butterball is a boy.. i wouldn't mind having either.. but there is a small part of me that wishes it would be a girl.. my gut and dreams say it's a boy.. david wants our first to be a boy.. either way we will be thrilled!!

david and i are going to Germany this September (a month away!).. i will be there for a month and david is only staying for two weeks.. my family lives in Germany and i visit as often as possible.. it will be interesting to be there pregnant.. i can't wait to stuff my face with my favorite German foods! we are not sure what other trips we have planned while there.. we are thinking Paris and Amsterdam but nothing is set as of it.. doesn't matter.. just being there will be worth it..

i haven't picked up my camera (well that is lie).. truth is.. i haven't been able to take any great pictures of anything great because we live in texas and this summer has been brutal.. let me just say.. being pregnant = hot all the time.. so the 100f PLUS weather everyday really takes a toll on you.. this is going to be one expensive summer for us.. i have to have the air conditioning running 24/7.. still worth it though.. don't think i am complaining or anything.. i would rather suffer through this than not have our baby (obviously).. but the heat is really getting ridiculous... cabin fever is not fun! i really miss playing with my baby.. i was hoping to save up a lot of money in the next few months to purchase a great piece of glass for my camera.. but that was BEFORE we found out i was pregnant with butterball.. so of course any money i am able to scrap up will be obviously put towards butterball.. lol. he/she is already sucking us dry.. jk.

i haven't baked in a while either! mostly because my first trimester i had severe food aversions.. thankfully i didn't have any morning sickness.. i don't know what would be worse.. not being able to be in the mood to eat anything or puking up food 24/7? lol. i am still tired all the time.. some days i have loads of energy.. other days and most days i am struggling to stay awake.. so i have no energy to bake/cook anything at this point. for a few months i was out of breath for anything.. even getting up to get a drink of water would take it out of me.. the last week or so it has subsided so i am feeling better in that department.. i will say even though i have had few issues i feel my pregnancy has been relativity easy compared to others..

so that is the update.. w00t.

after seeing a million posts about rainbow cupcakes, i realized i wanted to make them too! i used the martha stewart's recipe which twentysevenjune  recommended.. and you can find it here. I am sure most of you are sick of seeing the same thing made over and over but i couldn't resit making these cute cupcakes!

i didn't really like these too much. i love lemon but the filling had this really strong/rich lemon flavor to it. the cupcakes alone though were yummmmmy.. figured even though to me this was a failure i would still share it.. just because i didn't like it doesn't mean someone else wouldn't.. and besides as I said the lemon poppy seed cupcakes were delicious!

don't you just love springtime? i do. love it. love it. love it. we went ahead and purchased some flowers for our balcony patio but it's only half of what we want to end up with. they didn't have a real good selection at the time but david couldn't wait any longer. i wanted to plant them today, but rainy weather has delayed it until further notice :o( enjoy the pictures.

18 months of TTC and no baby to be heard, seen, or loved.. I am starting to feel hopeless and like this will never happen for us! And the worst part of the whole thing are people who really don't understand..

"You just need to relax"
"God will bless you when it's time"
"It will happen, don't worry"
"Give it time"
"Relax, Relax, Relax"
"When I was having trouble TTC (6months! HA! That isn't trouble.. that is NORMAL!) we relaxed and it just happened"

I don't mean to sound rude.. but these comments come from people who DO NOT KNOW what it is like to be trying for so damn long.. and if you are one of these people who make these type of comments.. please.shut.it. You don't think we haven't relaxed? Let me break it down to you.. for six months we had fun.. taking the "if it happens, it happens" approach.. no timing.. nothing was planned.. and guess what.. never.got.pregnant... Then we went into "okay.. we are going to concentrate on this" mode.. this included a lot of sex, I had started learning more about cycles and how they work during this time and started charting.. we weren't stressed but anxious.. we followed this routine for about 4months when I started noticing something in my charts.. something wasn't "normal" with my cycles.. I never had a temp rise.. ever.. which indicated I wasn't even ovulating.. SO your theory of "JUST RELAX" doesn't apply to me! SERIOUSLY! I was later diagnosed with PCOS.. $#^&@*! UGH.. then we went into the "OMG WE ARE REALLY DESPERATE FOR A BABY! IT'S CONTROLLING OUR LIVES!" mode.. The doctor wants me to try Metformin for a year to see if maybe we can conceive.. Well, 10months later.. and NO CIGAR! no baby.. not even close! We also took a "break" for three of those months where we stopped focusing on a baby, just tried to have fun.. AGAIN RELAXING DOESN'T WORK! SO STOP RECOMMENDING TO PEOPLE WITH FERTILITY ISSUES TO JUST RELAX! Every single time a family member or friend tells me this.. I want to punch them in the face and rip their eyeballs out... Oh and for those who are like "Omg.. I am sorry you are having issues... we have 3kidsthat we can't even take care of.. and people call me fertile myrtle" go jump off a bridge.. What made you think I want to hear that? And don't even get me started on the people who get a million kids and end up on the news for killing or abusing them..

Sorry, my period has to be just around the corner considering how moody I have been the last few days.. and I am so.sick.and.tired.of.people.telling.me.to.relax.

In May I will see my doctor again, it will mark one year on Metformin.. I will say, Metformin seems to have help with some other issues I was having and I am thankful that I have been on it for this long before taking the next step.. but damn it.. I-WANT-MY-BABY! WHERE ARE YOU!?

I purchased Tartine's cookbook and this is the first recipe I have completed..It also qualifies for the theme contest which is why I picked this recipe :o).. it's a Banana Cream Pie made with no pudding... It was very time consuming but I guess that comes with the territory when you are a beginner..  The pie tasted amazing.. It was very sweet and really rich so I don't think I could eat the whole thing in the next few days :o( but over all, it's a great banana cream pie..

As if I already didn't have enough neglected blogs, I figured why not start another one!? HA! I fail once again! My name is Anne Marie and I am too old to list my age, 28, I live in North Texas with my husband David, and four cats in a super tiny 500sqft apartment. Living in this tiny apartment is awful. We dream of a day when we will be real, live, homeowners.. We have been trying to conceive our first child for about 20months. I have been diagnosed with all sorts of things mainly hypothyroidism and PCOS. But we remain optimistic. I enjoy being outdoors whenever possible [I love nature].

I recently just started photography as a hobby. I went out and purchased a Canon Rebel XTi without knowing what the hell I am doing. I figure I would learn as I go. I don't have a "job", haven't in over 5 years. Don't worry I am not a leech on society [no welfare for us! not that I have anything against welfare.. I fully support it when it isn't being abused]. David likes to refer to me as a "housewife" though I have to admit, I really suck at being a "housewife" [looks around apartment.. dishes not done.. bed not made.. desk a mess.. living room in shambles.. me still in my PJ's at 3pm (ohh Dr.Phil is on.. must. change. channel.). at least the laundry is done!]. Yup! if you haven't noticed I suck at being a "housewife". That's not to say I am trying my best to improve myself [I have a binder with a to do list that I am supposed to check off everyday].

proof of said cleaning binder

Now that I think of it, it's probably best I don't have kids yet.. if I did, they would probably be taken away from me due to how horrible of a "housewife" I am.. I am glad they can't take husbands away for neglect, otherwise I would be single and alone fo-evah!.. I often like to list "cooking" as one of my hobbies [which it is] but I haven't cooked a single dish in over four months! Pathetic! And like everyone else, I love to travel but my fear of flying keeps me from going to too many places. My Family lives in Germany [not military, real life leatherhosen, beer drinking, bratwurst and sauerkraut in hand, yodeling Germans] and I am usually forced onto a plane [without any type of awesome drugs to knock me out or make me feel high as a kite] to visit my family. My. Life. Is. Really. Exciting. seriously..

Back to the "I Don't Have a Job" part, before any of you start freaking out or don't care but still reading this. I do have a "Hobby Business". I design, sew, and sell Bugaboo Stroller covers. Now some of you are probably like what the hell is a Bugaboo. Let's just say it's a very overpriced [and you could totally live without it] baby stroller. I enjoy what I do and even though I haven't done any work in awhile [I keep telling myself I am going to start tomorrow, but that has yet to happen] I tell everyone it's my "job", so I don't sound like a complete pathetic loser who sits around watching Dr.Phil in her PJ's at 3pm in the afternoon! Someday, I hope to go back to school and major in Graphic/Website Design. Not sure when that someday will be, but it is on my long list of "TO DO before I die"..

I have tried almost all types of blogs and so far haven't really enjoyed any of them. so we shall see if this one fits my wants..</span>