How we told our parents

The first two people who found out we were expecting were our Moms. Steve called his Mom the day I took my second pregnancy test confirming my pregnancy. I was a day shy of 5 weeks pregnant. Its sad to have to tell everyone over the phone since we live so far away but we will be moving back over to those parts in less than a year. We will be driving our car and a uhaul across country to Idaho from Delaware with two cats, a dog, and a newborn baby. More on that soon.

 Here is how our conversations went-

Steve said "hey Grandma" as soon as his Mom, Lauraine, answered the phone.
Lauraine said "huh?, what do you mean? Grandma to the cats?"
"nope" said Steve
"Is Crystal Pregnant?" she asked
"Yep" He said
Lots of screams, crying, Oh my Gosh(s), and congrats after that. This will be her first Grand-baby.

I was worried to tell anyone just in case something happened to the baby since it is so early but I knew I would tell my Mom that moment if something did happen so why not tell her now and let her be excited with me?! I called my Mom on Father's day.
I did the same thing as Steve and said "hey Grandma" as soon as she answered.
She didn't notice (mainly since she is already a Grandma to both my brother's kids. Being called Grandma is normal)
She went on to tell me all the new happenings in her life and, by coincidence, she said she would tell Steve Happy Fathers Day but he isn't a dad yet. I think she was hinting at something. So to her surprise, I told her I was calling her Grandma for a reason.
I could hear her gasp and she repeatedly told me to not mess with her. I told her I wasn't kidding and she started saying "oh my gosh" over and over again, told her dad (my grandpa) that was sitting next to her what she just learned, started saying how happy and excited she was and then went on to say she needed to go so she could call my brothers and all my other family. Haha. Everyone is so excited for us. My Mom said she was more excited for her then for me, Haha. She is one happy Grandma.

The Big Announcement!

It's true! We have a baby on the way.

I really thought that I would never be able to do this post. I have prayed and prayed to become a Mommy and the Lord has blessed us with a beautiful gift that is growing inside of me.

I am seven weeks pregnant. I have never felt more exhausted in my life. There are dishes in the sink that have been for a few days and laundry is piling up because I have not had the energy to do anything! Steve has been a big help with taking Gunyr out for potty time and makes sure I take a walk at least once a day (usually we have our nightly family walks) for my health and sanity but besides that, I really have no idea how women are able to work in their first trimester. I would not be able to do it. I am just exhausted! Just a few more weeks (five, to be exact) until I am on my way out of my first trimester and on to having more energy (so I have read in my pregnancy books). But besides exhaustion, bloat, and a few cramps, I really have nothing to complain about. No morning sickness yet and hopefully not at all.

How we found out!
Early June 2013, I started cramping just like I always did right before a period. I even started it, so I thought, but realized it was spotting once my period never did start. I started getting real excited and thought it may be time to take a pregnancy test. I was sorta weary since I was cramping that maybe my period would start up soon since I had been irregular for a few years now. We decided to buy a cheap test since I really doubted I was pregnant but kept my hopes high. I eagerly awaited the next morning to take it and it had a very faint pink pregnant line. I desperately scoured the internet for other people who have had faint lines to see if they were ever confirmed pregnant or otherwise.

I decided to wait two very long agonizing days to test again. I got up at 4am on June 15th, just because I couldn't sleep and just had to know.  That test pretty much screamed Pregnant. Praise the Lord! I paced around for a bit trying to comprehend what I had just found out. It seemed like a dream. I had always thought we couldn't have kids because we have tried before and it never happened. I realize now, it had to happen on Gods time.

I asked my husband to come in to the bathroom and told him to look at the test. For the last couple days he had said he just knew I was pregnant, but a second test confirming it just made him beam with pride and gave me a big hug. I spent the whole morning reading my What to Expect book, learning so much, and telling my husband over and over again that I could not believe this is reality.
I was really surprised to learn while reading my book, that when you conceive, doctors consider you already 2 weeks pregnant. So I guess that makes me 5 weeks pregnant when I found out. (I know our conceive date, May 26, since I have been tracking my cycles as well as when we tried to conceive).

Well I am really excited to experience this short season of life called Pregnancy.  I can see many pregnancy journal updates and sewing for baby posts in the future.

Obedience Progress

Gunyr is doing so well in his training. I really want to get him in to Agility soon. I need to start looking in to local agility classes around town and getting some prices. Today he is 23 weeks. We did a little show-off session on all he has learned. Although I did leave out the sit and stay and walk out the room as he still stays in the same place. But he is doing really well with that. Hope you enjoy the video. Click here to watch on our family You Tube channel.

Waiting for the O.K.

Popcorn on the head. Such a good smart boy.

Losing puppy teeth

Gunyr is 22 weeks old! Can you believe it? He is almost 6 months old. I think I mentioned a few weeks back that I was going to do a video of all his new tricks he has leaned around 20 weeks but I just haven't gotten around to filming it. I will soon, promise. Lots of new things happening in the Cox family but I will talk about those in future posts.
I just can't believe he is growing up so quickly! Our first year together is half way over. If puppies can have Terrible Twos (at six months), he is so there! He barks, growls, groans, and whines until he has his way. If you tell him to lay down, he will give a big sigh and groan a bit and then pretty much falls to the ground in a big huff and puff fit. But if you have a goodie waiting for him after he does the trick, then he flies to the floor and drooling by the time he makes it back to the sitting position. His salivary glands are coming in nicely. He literally looks like he has shoe laces hanging from his mouth when he drools for goodies. Its funny to watch.

We have been finding little puppy teeth all around the house. Here is a photo of two that we kept. I think its the same tooth on both sides of his top teeth. He lost them days apart.

baby teeth!

22 weeks

Big-dog teeth are starting to come in

Homemade cleaners

I finally got around to learning how to make homemade cleaners. The fact that we are running low on laundry detergent sort of made me get around to it since I didn't want to buy more and have a ton of our old stuff left (since we get ours from Costco) when I did get around to doing it. Anyone else want to convert over with me? Here are my recipes. It safer for your family (no chemicals), very low in cost, and it gets the job done.

Homemade Laundry Detergent
3 tbsp Borax
3 tbsp Washing Soda
2 tbsp Liquid Dawn Dish soap
1 gallon jug

Mix everything in a 1 gallon jug with 4 cups of hot tap water. Fill the rest of the way with cold water. Bubbles will spill out but don't mind them.
1 cup of detergent per load of laundry.

Homemade All Purpose Cleaning Spray
1 part vinegar
1 part water
1/4 cup lemon juice (optional, but I add it)
spray bottle

1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup water is what I used. Just make sure they are equal parts.
Mix and you are set!

Homemade Febreeze
6 tbsp Fabric Softener
2-3 cups hot Water
1 tbsp Baking Soda
Spray Bottle

Mix and you are set!

Beans only, please!

Okay, so I have to tell you this story! I am cracking up just recalling it. I hope you don't get disgusted with gross details.
My husband and I like to indulge ourselves in fast food on paydays... but only on paydays. Its like a fun start to a day of grocery shopping and errands. Well, we decided to head to Taco Bell for lunch and you know me, I ordered a crunch wrap with beans only-no meat. I am a Pescatarian.
We sat down and I took a bite in to my food and instantly knew they put meat on it. I asked my husband to go get me some napkins to spit it out on. During the time he went to get them, I was using my tongue to get all the meat that jammed its way in to my teeth (yuk!) and since I was holding all this in my mouth, of course I was generating more saliva (not to mention, I have an overactive salivary gland).
By the time I got some napkins, my mouth was full and I tried my best to just spit it in the napkin but since I didn't make a bowl-like shape out of it, it sort of make its way to the napkin, down to the bottom of it, and dripped off in to the crunch wrap and wrapper on the tray.
Steve explains it like my mouth was liquifying because there was so much dripping saliva and soggy food off of the napkin and on to the tray. Of course, I did not know this, I thought it was all going in to the napkin. I was wondering why he was looking at me weird as I was spitting it out.
He took my crunch wrap to the front and asked them to make another one. They asked him if he had the wrapper for the crunch wrap and he actually told them his wife drooled all over it.
We were laughing and busting up the rest of the time there. Such a memory. I can only imagine what he witnessed as I thought all of it was going in to the napkin. Haha.

New Believer's Bible

Awhile ago, I was searching online for more information about the Bible to try and understand what I was reading as I was so new to the faith. I came across this online church called LifeChurch.tv. Although I was not a huge fan of the sermons I watched form there, they did have a free What's Next kit for those new to the faith. I went ahead and ordered it to maybe get a better understanding of everything since it was all new.
Anyways, I received it in the mail a few days ago and the book that came with it is called How to Find God, A new Believers Bible. Its a study bible that lays all the foundation at the beginning of the book. It has everything from who God is, who Jesus is, what the trinity is, whats Heaven, whats Hell, whats angels, whats demons.. etc. I am really enjoying it and is helping me understand hard questions I had such as if Jesus was God in the flesh, then why did he pray on the cross to God..if he was God... did he know he was God or did he just have the Holy spirit? Well, I am still at the beginning of the book and learning more each sentence I read.

I wanted to share this free book to those that are also new believers and reading through the Bible for the first time. It can get confusing and I am so thankful for this Book. I believe God knew I was having a hard time with understanding the Bible and gave me this book.

Get a copy for yourself for free here.