Normally throughout the 2ww I start to have all kinds of phantom symptoms, and I start convincing myself that it means I am pregnant, not that AF is about to show. My boobs hurt, I get a headache, etc. This time around, I had something a little more obvious. My boobs started leaking! It's not much, just drops, but I have this creamy white milky stuff coming out. I hope that means something good. I had it at 4dpo, and then again today at 10dpo. I think I am going to test tomorrow, 11dpo is a possibility for a positive. It's all I can think about. I wanted to test today, but I knew that if it was positive and I came into work I would not be able to concentrate at all! Better to wait until a few days off.

I decided that even if it is positive this time around, instead of telling our families at Thanksgiving, I want to wait and tell them at Christmas. That would give us a few weeks to enjoy the news, and maybe even get a doctor appt in first. Hopefully my plan works out!

Our trip to Vegas was wonderful. It flew by, but we saw a bunch of cool stuff and had a great time. We ate some really good food. I had raspberry french toast one morning, drizzled with pecan butter and syrup. Duck for dinner one night, and it just fell off the bone and melted in my mouth. Soooo yummy! I wish I could be a professional chef! Seriously, I would love to spend the day in the kitchen, creating recipes, making yummy food. I would probably gain soooo much weight though, so it's a good thing I am a nurse instead!

That's about all I have time for right now, since I am at work. Hopefully I will have some wonderful and exciting news to share in the very near future!!!

Cycle 3

When we first decided to TTC, our original plan was to start in November. We were hoping that the timing would be right for Vegas. Well, my period just showed again, and it looks like Vegas could work out to be pretty good timing. This is onto the 3rd cycle now. I know that really isn't bad, and it takes a lot of couples much longer, but I guess I figured it would happen right after coming off the pill. My periods have regulated really quickly since stopping the pill, and I have ovulated both cycles, so I am lucky in that respect. The odd thing is, each period has started on the 28th of the month. Strange!

I had planned on doing some cleaning this afternoon while I wait for Verizon to show up, but instead I feel like opening a bottle of wine and vegging out on the couch!

Almost time to test!

I've completely given up the temping thing. I think I took one temperature this cycle. It's too hard with getting up a different time every single day. I was able to get into the habit for the first cycle, but it's easier just to take an OPK and figure it out. The night shift really throws it off, anyway. Based on my OPK and CM, I o'd last Thursday, making me 8 dpo today. I ordered a bunch of tests online, and tried one out this morning. I figured I needed a control, since I knew today I would get a BFN. I ordered 10, but they actually sent me 20 - and only charged me for 10. I'm trying to decide if I want to keep testing over the weekend, or wait until Monday or Tuesday to start testing. I'm hoping to hold out, we'll see!

I passed my citizenship interview on Wednesday! The interview had been cancelled because of the hurricane, so they had to fit the cancelled people in, which I guess is why the waiting room was so crowded. It wasn't too bad though, because I was out of there within about 2 hours. My appt was at 9:40. Cell phones weren't allowed, and I don't wear a watch, but I think I went back sometime around 10:30. Then I had to wait to get the piece of paper about the oath ceremony after the interview. The interview was really easy. He went over my application, and the test was ridiculously easy. I had to answer things like what the Constitution is, who the current vice president is, what the name of the national anthem is, and other really easy things. The oath is next Wednesay. When they told me it was at 7 and to expect to be there until 11, naturally I assumed pm. Well, it's a 7AM!! It's pretty close to the place where the interview is, so in other worsds, about an hour from home...I will have to get up at 5am, and leave before 6 to get there. Hopefully that means it's early enough at least that traffic won't be too bad. But I do have to work that night. I had to change my schedule around. So, I'll work Monday night, sleep for a few hours, and then get up, and go to bed early on Tuesday night. Then, I'll get up around 5 on Wednesday and do that whole thing, probably get home between 12 and 1. I can nap for a couple of hours I think before work, assuming everything with the oath runs on time, because I'll have to leave the house for work just after 5!!

Even with the schedule rearranging I should still have Halloween off. Not that I really care so much about Halloween, but this being our first year in the house, it will be fun to see the little kids in the neighborhood all dressed up and give out candy. I almost bought Wesley a hot dog costume today in Target. It was on sale for $8.49, and they even had a size that looked like it would fit him, but I decided against it...

The garden looks good! I've bought several new flowers for out there, so now we have mums, azaleas, lilies, and oleanders. The oleanders are blooming everywhere right now, so I am exicted for when they will bloom in front of the house! I also have some pumpkins out there which we can carve next week. Stephen picked the biggest pumpkin they had...of course!

Wesley!

Wesley is back home with us! We visited Grammy, Stephanie, JL, Brandon, and MawMaw over the weekend and came back with our puppy. He gained some weight! His paws used to look huge for his body...now they fit! I stepped on the scale with him and I think he's gained about 5 lbs...in a week and a half! Maybe now that he fits into his paws his growing will slow down?

In other news, I'm counting down the days until I can POAS! I may try a dollar store test out tomorrow, because it would be really awesome to tell Stephen on his birthday...but I'm pretty sure tomorrow will be too early to tell. I think I still have a week to wait...a very long time!

Ike Aftermath

We left Dallas at 4am to go back home this morning. Traffic was heavier than you would expect at that time of morning, but we didn't encounter and big delays and made it home in about 5 hours. Gas was the bigger issue. We stopped in Fairfield, about 2 hours out of Dallas. There was a line, but nothing too big. Only one car in front of us. Stephen filled the tank fuller than it has probably ever been before. We made it 100 miles before it even came off of full. Anyway, as we got closer to Houston, we started seeing lots of fallen trees, signs down, some power lines down. I didn't actually see any floodwaters, which was relieving. We exited the freeway and along the main road through our town saw a lot of debris, fences down, roofs with tarps. I had felt reassured the last few days, hearing from other people who live near us that they had no major damage, and seeing minor stuff like this helped. Of course, I was still anxious to finally see my house. Well, our house is completely intact. We have shingles in the back yard, but as far as I can tell, they are from the neighbors behind us and next to us who had holes in their roofs. Our fence in the backyard is leaning, as are the trees. Our bushes lost a lot of leaves, but that's it! We even had power and water when we got in, which I was absolutely ecstatic about. Our biggest problem is the food we had to throw out. But, if we came out of the storm and that's the biggest problem, we are so incredibly blessed! Unfortunately, we did have several pounds of ground beed, chicken, ground lamb, and several other meats in the freezer that I had to throw out, since they had all thawed and then refrozen over the 2 days we didn't have power. We decided to leave the wedding cake in the freezer. When the ice from the icemaker melted, it dripped into the bottom drawer where the cake was and surrounded it, then refroze. So, to get the cake out, I would have to completely thaw and melt that water, and probably thaw the cake in the process. Hopefully the cake will be okay for our anniversary in 2 months! Even though we have power and water, the internet, tv, and cable are all through the cable, which is out. Right now I only have access at work. Hopefully it won't be long before those things are restored, although they are far from the most important things.

On the TTC front - I was unable to chart my temps for 5 days...I think I may have O'd during that time, but unfortunately I do not have temperatures to confirm it. So, I may be in the 2ww, I may not. I am going to try to resume with temps tomorrow, just to get back in the habit of it, but it's going to be hard to make out a true thermal shift with those missing days. Also, Stephen is working 12 hour days this week, and I am working 12 hour nights...both of us 7-7. Hopefully he can change to nights, both to conserve gas (I can drop him off on my way to work and pick him up on my way home) and to actually see each other.

I finally heard something about the citizenship interview this morning. I kept calling the 1-800 number all weekend and checked the website frequently. Finally, when I got up at 3am they had posted that the office will be closed today and tomorrow. I assumed it would, but you never know. My interview was supposed to be today. It didn't say when it will be rescheduled for, so we will have to see how that goes. Hopefully the mail starts up soon so that I can get any letter they send rescheduling the date!

We are officially trying!

We are officially TTC! I am so excited. I have wanted to start since we got married. Stephen was not so sure about it...but just after my birthday we talked about it again, and here we are! I cannot stop myself from checking out baby websites, TTC websites, the Nest, and looking at all the baby stuff in stores. Ahhhhhh!!!