Epic & Cookies; Big Storms

I woke up from my nap this afternoon to Allen walking around the house saying "epic." Epic his how he says ice cream (don't ask me why ... for the same reason that milk was the f-word for awhile, I suppose). So he and dad went out and bought some. For a special treat, he got ice cream sandwiches made with Mrs. Field's cookies. Cookies and ice cream together -- could life get any better? Dad let him feed himself ... thus the picture above.

Late yesterday afternoon, a terrible storm blew through Beaufort. High winds blew probably at least a dozen trees down in our neighborhood (more throughout the town), and we lost power. Mom was working at the shop, and called to tell us that water was leaking in underneath the walls. Once the rain let up a little we drove through our neighborhood surveying the damage, and then all of us went to clean up the shop. It was a mess, but fortunately no real damage was done.

With no power, we set out to find a restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, most of Beaufort's restaurants were in a similar bind. We finally found a restaurant that had power and immediate seating ... but we probably would have been better off going home hungry. The service was awful, and the food mediocre. But of course, we came away with some Allen stories ...

• The poor little guy was so tired and hungry that he cried most of the time. He wanted to sit on my lap, but I haven't been feeling well, and he's awfully squirmy. He got distracted by Anthony for awhile ... an 8-month-old Indian baby who was gorgeous, and also not so happy. Allen and Daddy went to see the "baby crying" and made him feel a little better. Allen almost took off with Anthony's keys though.
• We entertained him with his "giggle bug" (a little bug that giggles when you push his belly) playing hide & seek behind the menu, and with dipping his binky in his water glass (Dad did it once to clean it off, and Allen thought it was great, so he continued to do it). He then decided that Giggle Bug needed a bath too, so into the ice water he went!
• Allen's at the age right now where he's very curious about body parts and going potty. So, he lays Giggle Bug on the table, and pushes its chest and says "Neeples" (nipples), then points lower and says "Peepee, poopy!" Once we got control of our laughter, we explained that we only use bathroom talk in the bathroom.
• Not to be outdone by Allen's hilarious and embarrassing stories, Mom went into the Men's room at the restaurant. I didn't realize it was the Men's room until I left. And no, there was no lock on the door, and YES there was a urinal (that should have been my first clue, eh?). Fortunately, no one used the urinal while I was in there. I was so mortified!

We did finally get power back, but not until 5:30 this morning (oh, and the reason we were at dinner last night and not at meeting is because the Hall had no power either and meeting was cancelled. Wouldn't want you to think we were heathens or anything!). Needless to say, we had mostly a sleepless night ... it was around 80 degrees in the house, and poor Brian was without his breathing machine (for sleep apnea), so we barely slept.

In the meantime, our family is going through our own emotional version of a big storm. Tuesday was our first "Cookie" appointment, and the ultrasound didn't show the development that it should have, based on my gestational calendar (7 weeks). We were faced with two possibilities ... that I wasn't as far along as we originally thought, or that the pregnancy wasn't going well. With no physical symptoms of a miscarriage, our only next step was to monitor my hCG levels. So we took a blood sample on Tuesday and again on Thursday. I found out today, that while my hCG levels did go up slightly, it did not go up at the rate that it should if this were a viable pregnancy. The two scenarios the doctor gave me are that it could be an ectopic pregnancy or that it could be something the medical field calls a "missed abortion". This is basically a miscarriage that my body has not expelled (for lack of a better word). While we won't know anything definitively until Monday morning when I get another ultrasound, we're pretty sure that "Cookie" is gone.

Thanks to all of you for the well wishes and congratulations I received when I announced my pregnancy. Having your support and love is helping to sustain me through this difficult time. I love all you guys and miss you tremendously.