July in Review and Life Update

Pregnancy has been a long and exhausting road so far and I've had to put a lot of things on the back burner for my own health and state of mind. This blog has definitely fallen to the wayside and I know that will be a continuing trend after baby's arrival Some how I've been both seemingly doing nothing and constantly busy at the same time. So far our summer has been pretty uneventful but July has been a particularly difficult and busy month for us.

We began July with an epic "100 year flood". Our entire town was underwater in the span of 9 hours. We were lucky enough to live uphill from the worst of it and our home was spared  but many were not. We were without power for a week and without usable water for 3 weeks. My husbands job was damaged and he was unemployed for 3 full weeks before the building was repaired enough for him to return. It started with flood warnings on our phones and then the pictures started to pop up on facebook; people on top of their homes, houses on fire and underwater at the same time, entire cars up in trees. The devastation was clear once the water finally receded but nothing could have prepared us for the aftermath. Because of the power being out for so long we lost all of our food. We held on to it as long as we could in coolers with ice but a lot of it had to be thrown out. We are lucky enough to own a charcoal grill and were able to grill some of our food for ourselves and our neighbors. It was days before we could leave town as the roads were so badly damaged and once we could we had to make 45 minute trips to the store in another town because ours were all still closed down. We also couldn't use our water, wash our hands, or flush our toilets. This left us with having to do all of our business in a bucket in the yard. This fact might be a little gross to some of you but it's a sad truth of a natural disaster. The only way to charge our phones was with our car and we had no a/c or forms of entertainment. This was all very hard on us but we were so extremely lucky as many people lost their homes, cars, and lives.

After the first week of the flood we decided to wait out the flood recovery in a more comfortable environment and we drove 12 hours to visit our hometown and family in Iowa. Luckily we were able to stay with family the 2 weeks we were gone so our trip didn't cost us much with Hubby being unemployed. We had a wonderful trip and were able to see lots of family and friends while we were there. It was also a nice break from the stress of dealing with the flood. It turned out to be such a good thing that we made the trip even though it was such short notice. Keeping up with everyone back home we would have been without water and Hubby would have been out of work the entire two weeks. We were also gifted so many amazing things for our baby girl. we have some of the most generous friends and family and I was happy they now didn't have to pay for shipping on their gifts. We tried to visit as many people as possible but as with any trip we weren't able to see everyone. We had so much delicious food in our hometown and we were able to leave with full bellies, full hearts, and a full car.

While we were in Iowa we stayed with my mother-in-law who breeds cats. This little guy kept trying to get into the room we were staying in and eventually we let him in to sleep and play with us. He was incredibly curious and playful and when he climbs on you to fall asleep he sucks his thumb! By our last day of the visit we had fallen in love with him and decided to take him home. He did very well on the drive and is fitting in nicely here at home. We named him Ghost and he is a Ragdoll/Munchkin/Scottish Fold hybrid with shaded seal point lynx markings.

July was a difficult month for me with my pregnancy as well. The humidity in both states was extremely high and it was difficult for me to relax or stay cool. I also caught a cold during the flood and spent our entire Iowa trip sick. I had a terrible cough that would get so bad it would make me get physically sick and I lost my voice. I had my Preeclampsia and Gestational Diabetes tests and both came back negative but my belly is measuring ahead of schedule. Everything otherwise is going well with my pregnancy although I am very uncomfortable.

Book: With Everything going on this month I wasn't able to read much but I did get to buy a new book called Alice by Christina Henry.

TV Show: We started Stranger Things when we got home from our trip and managed to binge watch it in just two days. Eight episodes was not enough!

Movie: I honestly can't think of a single movie I watched this month.

Drink: I don't know if it's pregnancy or living in West Virginia for nearly two years now but I cannot get enough Sweet Tea.

Food:  For some reason all of July all I seemed to want and eat was Mexican Food. Our hometown has a ton of Mexican restaurants and I'm pretty sure I hit every single one.

Clothing: I was lucky enough to be gifted a couple of Target's Maternity dresses while I was gone and I have literally been living in them. They are comfortable, effortless, flattering, and keep me cool in the heat.

Beauty:  I grabbed some Nyx products while shopping for baby at Target and am really loving the Nyx Liquid Suede Lipstick.

Song: My husband recently started listening to Twenty One Pilots so they were pretty much the soundtrack to our trip.

Scent: I've been having a hard time with scents while pregnant but Hubby picked up a new cologne called Alpine Suede from Bath and Body Works that I'm loving on him right now.

Purchase: Speaking of Bath and Body works I recently purchased their Mentha lip tints on a buy 2 get 1 deal and I love them so much! I got two shaded and one regular and they are a life saver for pregnancy. They help me feel somewhat put together without a full face of makeup and the strong mint scent is great while out and about to cover all the distracting and nauseating smells.

Project: We finished setting up the babies room with what supplies we have but it's no where near done.

Gift: I received so many wonderful gifts from friends and family on our trip but if I had to pick one it would be a hand made quilt with our baby's name stitched on it, made by my wonderful aunt.

Video Game: Pokemon Go came out on our 2nd or 3rd day being in Iowa. We've been playing it every chance ever since!

I hope July was a great month for everyone else and I am really hoping August is much better for us. Let me know what you did in July down in the comments!

As always you can find me on instagram and be sure to take a look at our baby registry!