Pies, Udders, and Planes

What a great Thanksgiving! I know, everyday we should give thanks, but it was especially great this past week. Chase and I were fortunate enough to have some great visitors! Meghan (Chase's sister) and her future hubby, Chris, arrived Thursday morning, after driving from Indiana the whole night. Want to know what the first thing unloaded from their vehicle was? A Raspberry Cream Pie that Mom H. made for me! : ) A few minutes later, there was a slice missing from it. This all happened around 0500. What a great way to start the day!
After we let Chris and Meghan rest for awhile, we headed to Surf City to celebrate and feast with some friends from church. Our friends laughed when they saw someone had already dug into that pie. What can I say, the pregnant lady was hungry!
Relaxation was in order for Friday. We played Risk and watched a couple of movies. By the way, I love my husband, but when it comes to board games, he lets a very aggressive, competitive side come out and it's funny to watch him dominate the game, even though it gets annoying when you are the one losing. Take my word on that.
Chris and Meghan had decided to take off Saturday morning so they could rest up prior to starting the work week. Chase and I fixed them some French Toast and waved them off, after the car was loaded. I also washed and sent the pie plates back home with them, so that way there was no excuse for being pie-less the next time visitors came, hehe!
It was great to have them visit! It was also great for the Meghan massages. She's a professional on making your aches go away!
Saturday was a big day for us. Not only did we have Meghan and Chris over earlier in the morning, but my parents were due to arrive in the afternoon.
My poor parents, I was so excited to see them, and I think I called almost every hour to see how far away they were. Boy were we surprised when they arrived.

Mom and I after getting our drunk bird out of the oven on 11/27/10

At one point, I called and Dad said they “were” in Myrtle Beach, the next time I called, they “were” some place (I never heard of) in North Carolina, but Dad said they spent a few hours in Myrtle Beach so they were just taking their time on arriving in Jacksonville. A while later, I called again, and dad said they “were” in Wilmington. I started getting REALLY excited and was hollering all over the house "They're in Wilmington! They're in Wilmington." - which is only about 45 minutes to an hour from us. Well, in an hour or so, I called again (good thing for unlimited minutes, huh?), and he said they were on the other side of Jacksonville, headed our way. Chase and I decided we'd wait for them outside our housing entrance in a nearby parking lot. We waited, and waited, then waited some more....
Here to find out, my parents had been in Jacksonville for some time (since the "Wilmington" phone call). They went to Sam's Club, bought us a deep freezer, and all sorts of food to fill it up so that way Chase and I won't starve after Slater gets here, if I am not up for cooking! It was so thoughtful of them.
It reminds me of Jon M. Huntsman, a very wealthy millionaire (or billionaire?). He says when he dies, he wants to die broke. Not from having material goods (what good is that, when you can’t take them with you?), but by helping others. He has funded numerous people through college, founded the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, and continually donates to worthy causes and people. I want to be like that, thinking of others, helping others, instead of spending money or time on myself.
Oh, don’t let me forget the U-Haul full of stuff that mom and dad brought too! Chase was very excited for my parents to arrive, they brought him RC planes that my Gpa B flew twenty years ago. They also brought us some more dressers, some items from my Gma W, and the baby shower gifts and baby clothes from home. While mom and I were excited to go through all the baby items, the guys were in the “Man Cave” looking and learning about the planes. I sure have one happy husband!
Now, you may wonder, what does udders have to do with this post? Well, let me tell you. As most of you know (or should know by now), I’m not one to censor myself or be politically correct, and honestly I make no apologies for that. So, I’m going to lay it straight out there for you.
When a lady gets pregnant, it seems like a perfectly fine, coherent female specimen is soon replaced by a hormonal cow with huge udders that complains of back aches and not remembering what her toes/hooves once looked like. This isn’t including the emotional roller coaster she rides.

Since peeing on those 3 pregnancy tests, I have laughed more, gotten angry more often, and ate like there was no tomorrow. I thought I was doing really well on not crying though, as long as I wasn’t watching some sappy movie or reading some heartfelt blog or book. Nevertheless, when my parents pulled out of the driveway for their trek back home yesterday, I was lost. As soon as I turned my back on the red Dodge, the waterworks started. Chase tried to console me when we got inside. I knew how bad he wanted to be with his planes, so I suggested he go work on those instead of worrying about his emotional wife. I went upstairs and changed into more comfy clothes. Instead of listening to me, Chase came up stairs, too. He took the time to make me laugh, relax, and when I came back downstairs, he even had the Christmas music playing for me. I admit, I am one severely spoiled wife, but I am so thankful for a loving husband that goes out of his way to try to help me feel better and takes care of me. When I was dating, I had this saying, “The more guys I meet, the more I love my dog.” Since day one, Chase had Bubba beat. I love you, Handsome, thank you for EVERYTHING you do.

Hayley and Chase at The Oceanic on 11/28/10