Princess or Super Hero???

We had our friends over on Monday night for a little pink or blue party. Except Wal-Mart was out of blue plates, so it was Generic Princess or Spiderman...

Here are their picks:
And here is the winner:

If you are surprised, you are not alone!

I was nearly positive this kid was of the female variety. I even asked the sonographer if she was sure.

But kid wasn't really shy about flashing his goods. It was quite obvious.

I guess I should get used to the whole flashing thing... I haven't met a male yet who wasn't obsessed with genitalia... including Justin, who likes to flash his "wing dog" every chance he gets. (Thanks Lori & Jeb for that fabulous name, which we have adopted in our house).

I made a blueberry buckle (in the v.cute dish J gave me for my birthday). Here is Justin with blueberry all in his teeth:

The End.

P.S. I did not cry or carry on in any way. I am making remarkable progress.

Bienvenue a l'hotel Chappell

We have been so flipping busy at the Chappell house. I'm talking about the kind of busyness where you need a weekend to recover from your weekend... except in our case our busyness has come in the middle of the week!!

Our friends Kris & Mitch came to see us from St. Louis!! We hadn't seen them in so very long, and it was great to catch up a bit. Kelly McJ hitched a ride with them, and we all got to eat together at Felix's. I will use any excuse to eat there... I love their she-crab soup more than words can say. We made reservations for a private dining room, which I love to do when going there. It is so nice to be able to hear everyone and get to visit properly.

Nicole, Kelly, Kristen, Emily (greasy, ugh)

They left just in time for our annual July 4th celebration. Carson invited us to her parent's house down on the bay in Orange Beach for a cookout. It was so fun! Carson's mom had cooked this very delicious meal for all of us (it was her birthday!) and had to miss it because her 3rd grandchild was being born. So, thank you GooGoo for the wonderful food. I am so sad you didn't get any. :( We even had white sauce for the BBQ. I have never had that, and I have surely been missing out. Check out Krista's blog for pictures. She got lots of good ones of the water slide fun. The husbands really had more fun than the kids, I think. I only went down once...it was bit of a hard landing.

Unfortunately, nausea+sun+hour-long car ride=one sick Emily. I had to miss the cookout at the Carrigan's pier, but we made it just in time for the fireworks. Apparently, the city of Fairhope is going through some cost containment in the fireworks department. It was a total bust, and I was mad that I dragged myself down there for them. I kept waiting and waiting for the "finale," and it never happened. Darn this financial crisis.

Okay... on to last week... I got a text from Taylor asking if she could spend the night with me on Wednesday! Of course!! She was driving through on her way to New Orleans to visit family. And then Lindsey decided she would come too (which I still can't believe because it was so last minute, and Linds is just not last minute...)!! I was so very happy to see my college BFFs. I hated to miss our girls weekend in May, but this was the next best thing. We had a lovely lunch at the BayBreeze Cafe, and then Tay had to leave, which was very sad.

Lindsey, Emily, Taylor

But Lindsey stayed and we visited with Lucy and Lauren all day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday! These Dothan girls sure can talk. I didn't know half of the people they discussed even though I lived there my entire life... county school v. city school at its finest. I thought Justin and Jason were going to kill us for sure. And I am really surprised that Lindsey is still my friend at all because I volunteered her to "serve" with me at a dinner on Friday night. I thought that "serve" meant to pass out the food and clear the dishes off the table. I thought two hours tops. Nope. "Serve" meant actually serve the food and wash dishes and clean up stuff for FOUR hours. Did I mention that Lindsey is 23 week pregnant? I thought we would both die. But it was really fun, and Lucy and Lauren were there, too, so that made it better. What was not fun was getting so sick that I had to lay on the couch and watch TV for two hours before I could finally go to sleep. I am so ready for this to be over...

Saturday night we celebrated Jonathan's 30th birthday with a fiesta at the pier. It was so fun! I can't believe we are all getting to 30. It just doesn't seem possible.

Yesterday we had a send-off lunch for the Mexico mission trip that leaves on Saturday. I am so jealous that Justin is getting to go, and I have to stay home. The kids are all so excited, and I cannot imagine a better group of youth to go with--they are going to have a blast. I hope that Justin takes my threat seriously and comes home with some Mexican pottery in his suitcase.

And finally, Oliver is tired of all the company and events. He is ready to take a nap without interruption. His little eyes look so sleepy.

Tagged!

I've been tagged! (I love being tagged, by the way)

Things I am looking forward to:
1. My birthday! (July 18)
2. 14-week checkup tomorrow
3. Watching So You Think You Can Dance tomorrow and Thursday!
4. Taylor coming to see me tomorrow night
5. Jonathan’s birthday party fiesta this weekend
6. Justin’s 30th birthday in October (I’m already planning and saving my $$--psycho I know)
7. Finding out if this baby is a boy or girl in two weeks!
8. Seeing my mama and daddy in Dothan in two weeks

Things I did yesterday:
1. Worked
2. Went to another follow up appointment for my ear (I really like to spend my time at the hospital… The ear is doing well, by the way. I can’t hear as well as in my other ear, but I can live with that)
3. Watched Gilmore Girls
4. Took a nap
5. Made pasta salad with spinach, cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella!
6. Watched Revolutionary Road (worst movie I have ever seen)
7. Read some of “A Voice in the Wind” (again)
8. …..(that is really everything I did yesterday)

Things I wish I could do:
1. Button my pants
2. Join the Grand Hotel (Justin is being a stick in the mud about this)
3. Go to Mexico with Justin in a few weeks
4. Be fit without having to exercise or diet
5. Get a check for $50,000 in the mail
6. Take an extended vacation—don’t really care where…just needs to be a posh hotel with good food and a good mattress and room service
7. Build a large house on the water somewhere…bay or beach or river
8. Go through an entire day without feeling the urge to puke (Soon??)

Shows I watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. House
4. So You Think You Can Dance/American Idol
5. American Idol
6. Desperate Housewives
7. Brothers & Sisters
8. The Hills/The City

Favorite Foods:
1. Crab cakes from the Red Bar
2. McDonald’s cheeseburgers (sick, I know)
3. Chick-fil-A fries
4. Chocolate milkshakes
5. Shrimp Fettuccini Alfredo
6. Shrimp & grits
7. Tomato, mozzarella & basil sandwich from Panini Pete’s
8. O’Carr’s chicken salad
9. Cream cheese meltaways from that bakery in Homewood that I can’t remember the name of now
10. Shrimp Lo Mein from P.F. Changs
11. Chicken roll ups with pasta salad from Zoe’s
12. Pretty much everything that is in Birmingham and not here

Places I've traveled:
1. London
2. Shell Knob, MO(Kanakuk)
3. Bahamas
4. Key West
5. Sea Island, GA
6. NYC
7. Chicago
8. St. Louis, MO

Places I'd like to travel:
1. Italy (all parts!)
2. Boston
3. California (San Fran, Hollywood!, Laguna Beach…)
4. Paris (although I heard it’s not that great—need to see for myself)
5. London, again (with J)
6. NYC, again anytime!
7. Greece
8. I would pretty much go anywhere. I love to see new things!

People I tag:Everyone. I am so far behind in reading, I am too ashamed to tag anyone specifically.

P.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the positive and excited comments about our new addition! I am slowly feeling better (both physically and emotionally) and am glad about that! :)

I Might As Well Just Get It Over With...

So... turns out that I am going to have a baby.

Not even kidding.

If you are passed out right now (or vomiting or hyperventilating) then you know exactly how I felt when that little stick turned blue.

(If you are doing a touchdown dance or congratulating your Superman sperm then you know how Justin was feeling...)

We weren't trying.

I have been putting off writing this post because I was SO HOPING that by this point in the pregnancy I would be getting over the shock and be excited.

Turns out I don't really deal well with change/surprises/unplanned major events. Add to that 24-7 nausea and some dry heaving and you've got one pretty annoyed Emily.

Us Bostics... we don't handle stomach illness. We pray to die. And I am not embellishing that at all.

So in between my little chats with the Lord and laying on the couch watching Kardashian and Band of Brothers marathons, I really haven't had much time to be happy about our little addition.

(And I had to miss my girls weekend that I was really looking forward to which made me mad. I am sure Caroline is secretly glad because I would have surely puked in her car.)

So, please, please don't leave any comments about how selfish I am being, or how I should be so happy to be able to conceive, or how there are people out there dealing with xyz, etc. I really do KNOW all of these things. Just pray for me, please.

Here are some logistical details...

I am 11 weeks and due on NEW YEARS DAY.

Really? Poor kid. Never gonna have a party just for him/herself.

Of course Justin is hoping for a 2009 baby to get the tax write-off. Imagine that.

I am taking Zofran every day. It has helped me to sit up and get myself to work. I would trade all my previously loved narcotics for a couple Zofran without a second thought.

Of course I want a girl. That should not surprise.

And I will spare you the pic of the ultrasounds because it really looks like a blob to me. I think ultrasoundographers (did I make that up) have great imaginations.

That is all.

I will write more in a few weeks, when I feel better. My doctor PROMISED. I am holding him to it. (And he is just so cute, I can't not believe him!!)

BOOORING

My life it totally NOTHING.

Seriously.

I have zip to write about because I have done ZIP. And have plans to do zip.

The highlight of last week was paying $14 for a freaking cheeseburger at the hotel while chatting with some friends in the rain.

And that is as dramatic as it gets.

It was a pretty good cheeseburger...and I was very hungry.

So here is a picture of my new/old couch.

Justin found it in one of his tenant's vacated trailers.

Do you know that people get evicted and run off and leave ALL their stuff? I guess they are afraid the police are coming to get them, but they really do it all the time.

That's fine with me, because we just sell it in a yard sale and pocket the $$. Thank you evicted tenant.

Anyway, it was a decent sleeper-sofa in need of recovering. (I made sure the tenants were okay on the cleanliness scale, don't worry)

And now it is beautiful!! We put it in the office:

And here is something fun for you to know...last night on the season finale of One Tree Hill, I saw the same fabric on a chair in Lucas & Peyton's nursery! I knew I had good taste...

Little Isabelle likes to sit on it and look out the window.

Do you know that she is named after Izzie on Grey's? I did love her. What do you think are her chances of coming back next season? I just can't let it go..

And while I am typing this drivel, Justin is hard at work.

I tell him that I HATE those cargo/carpenter pants, but he doesn't seem to care what I think.

I'm going to take a nap or something equally as exciting.

Peace and Love.

Help Me Help Myself

I have a few questions, and I need some answers.

1. How does one get her parents to move from Dothan to Fairhope? I am missing them terribly, and can think of nothing that would make me happier than if Kay & Greg lived here. It's really quite pathetic. (And I've already tried the "I'll have a baby" route. Didn't work.)

2. At what age does is become inappropriate for one to roll out of bed and go to work/errands/etc...? I know this was perfectly acceptable behavior in college, but I seem to have not gotten out of the habit. I'll rush out of the house in terrible clothes, barely fixed hair and no make up. I'll be fine with that until I catch a glance at myself in a mirror, and then I am just embarrassed. Is this okay to be doing at 28? Should I be taking time in the morning to look pretty? I'm really at an impasse here...

3. This is not a question, but I need some new books to read. Suggestions?? I like lazy fiction reads...must be some drama involved (no Mitford series for me).

That's all. Please help me.

P.S. I'm sorry for posting the gross pictures. I hope this will make up for it...There are few things cuter than this little girl...

The Last Post About My Ear, I Swear (I think...)

I haven't died.

But since the ear is all I've been "doing" the past two weeks, it's all I've got to write about.

And I've got these really great pictures...

So...

I had my surgery. Last Wednesday (April 1).

Yes... had surgery on April Fools Day. No joking about that.

I had some pain earlier that week and went immediately to the doc to make sure I didn't have another infection. I've been pretty freaked about infections.

Did I tell you that I have a new doctor? Dr. Norris quit me! I really thought we were making some progress together...Now I am seeing his partner. Dr. Hixon does tympanoplasties.. Dr. N does not. Whatever. I am sure they had a fabulous time discussing my case... and my psychoticness...

So Dr. Hixon said that it was time for the operation. No more waiting.

I had a lateral graft tympanoplasty, and here are some really cool (and somewhat disgusting) pictures from the microscope during the surgery. Don't look if you don't like blood. (I think he took these so that he can write about me in a medical journal!... not really)

The first one (the dark one) is looking down into my ear with an otoscope. The glowing yellow thing is the malleus bone. Notice that you can see the area behind the bone because I HAVE NO EARDRUM.

The second one is after they peeled back the ear. Same picture, just closer.

The third one is after he removed the excess skin from around the malleus.

The last one is after he replaced the eardrum with a graft! And you can't see through it anymore!

I know that is way too much information, but I find it really fascinating. I showed this picture to every person who came to visit me.

The operation took about three hours, and I was asleep for four.

There is nothing like anesthesia sleep, my friends.

Lortab/Phernegen sleep is pretty close. I kept doped up for about five days. It was great. If I talked to you during that time, I apologize.

Here is my incision:

I was really excited when I discovered that they SHAVED MY HAIR.

Thanks for that. It makes wearing a ponytail so very attractive.

I got my stitches out two days ago, and am on the mend (nothing but Advil since Tuesday).

Most of the swelling in my face has subsided, but my ear still sticks out pretty far. Justin keeps calling me an elf. Dr. H swears that it will go back to normal soon.

Oh, and the left side of my tongue is still "numb" to taste. Any food that makes it to that side of my mouth tastes terrible. Very very weird.

I have packing on both sides of the new eardrum, so my hearing is much worse, but should all be peachy in six to eight weeks.

And then I shall write a lovely post about how wonderful it is to hear.

Until then, surely I can find something else to write about. Because I am sure you are sick of reading about it.

I am certainly tired of dealing with it.

Peace and love.