New Furniture for the Nursery and 26 Week Belly Pics!

We have received the final pieces of furniture for the baby's nursery! We were waiting on the changing table to be shipped from overstock, along with a little white night stand that I had shipped site-to-store at Walmart. I was so excited to get them and I had already prepared myself to be patient and give my husband time to put them together without too much harrassment (I have a tendancy to get very excited and impatient over these sort of things) ... but bless his heart he put both of them together the day they arrived! He really does love me.

Below is the changing table. It is actually even better then I had expected. The drawers are made of a canvas material and simply slide in and out. The clothing hamper to the left is HUGE and will hold alot of clothes which was a very pleasant surprise. It seems very sturdy and well made.

Here comes Daisy to check out the baby's room. You can see the new little night stand I have set up next to the glider.


Now if only the bedding would come in! It is suppsed to arrive at their store (or warehouse or whatever) late May, early June, and then should take a few days for them to ship it and arrive to our home. Basically any day between now and the next few weeks it could show up. I am very anxious for it to get here, as we are waiting to see the colors to pick out paint for the walls.

Last night I realized I hadn't taken a belly picture in way too long... and it has definitely grown! Today I am 26 weeks!



I also got the results back from my 1 hour glucose test and unfortunately... I failed. Now I have to do a three hour test. Everything could be totally fine, but since I failed the first test I have to do this one now. I am going next Tuesday and I am really not looking forward to it. I can't eat for 8 hours prior and then have to sit through the three hour test. I am really hoping the results come back better from this test though. My sister was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during her pregnancy and I really hope to not have to go through that.

Other then that, I am still hanging in there and doing pretty good. My acid reflux still gets pretty bad sometimes even with the new meds the doc gave me that have been helping alot. The weather hasn't been too bad lately, so I have been fairly comfortable... but there is some heat on the way according to the forecast... I will probably be staying indoors most of the time. I can already see I am going to be a big baby about being pregnant during the hot summer months. I am going to try to be a good sport though... I really am!

Our Camping Adventure

We made it back! The trip was an overall success. Although I had a pretty good time, I will NEVER go camping again while I am pregnant. As nice as it was during the day, it just wasn't worth getting through the night. I literally got up to pee 8 times Friday night! I am not exaggerating. I counted. I didn't get much sleep, so there wasn't anything better to do. By the time I started to drift off to sleep, I had to pee again. I would roll myself out of the air mattress, unzip the tent door, re-zip it behind me, then find a place off in the woods to pee, come back to unzip the tent door, re-zip it behind me, and crawl back into the air mattress. It's not easy getting this big 'ol pregnant belly in and out of an air mattress that is so low to the ground. The "bathrooms" (I use this term loosely here, as it is a wooden shack with a toilet sitting over a deep dark, incredibly stinky hole.) were too far away to venture off to by myself in the middle of the night. Saturday night, I cut off all liquids 3 hours before bed time, which did get me down to 5 pee trips.

We were planning on staying until Monday, along with one other couple, but by Saturday morning, I knew I wasn't going to make it that long. I decided that it would be better to leave on Sunday morning with everyone else. I felt bad, I knew the other couple wanted to stay another night, but they understood. It was just too much for a pregnant chick.

Other then the early morning rain on Saturday, the weather actually turned out pretty great. The sun was shining for the majority of our stay, and it was even nice enough to do a little swimming in the lake. I didn't swim, but I did stick my feet in the water, which I kinda thought was freezing, but it didn't seem to bother those with alcohol in their system. The boys brought their softball gloves and bat and there were washers.

I hate to say it, but camping just isn't the same when you are completely sober the entire time. Not only does it give you something to do at night when its dark and you are mostly just sitting around the campfire, but it makes getting through the night easier as well. I had never really thought about it before, I guess because I have never stayed sober for an evening while camping. But being completely sober, gives a whole new meaning to the dark when you are out in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere.

First of all wondering off to pee is a little more difficult when sober. I never had any problems with this task before. Never even thought twice about it. You just go off somewhere, behind a tree or a bush, you squat down, ya pee, ya come back. When I am sober, I am suddenly really concerned about all of the bugs that might jump up and bite my ass or my cooter. Or the poison ivy that I might be squatting a little too close too. Or the ticks that are jumping out of the trees and landing on me. This has never been a concern before. I have no choice but to blame it on being sober. Also when you have a good buzz going, you can just crawl into the tent and pass out. When I am sober, it is suddenly more important to complete all of those bed time tasks, like brushing my teeth, washing my face, taking out my contacts. Then there are all those creepy noises during the night that I had never really noticed before. At one point, I could have sworn I heard someone off in the woods sharpening their knife! I was so grateful when I started to hear the deep, loud "jug-o-rums" from the chorus of the bullfrogs, which finally would drown out everything else.

Then there were the ticks. I pulled two out of myself. One in the crevice between my thigh and hoo-ha, and one from my right butt cheek. Amy found 8-10 on her, and almost everyone else got atleast 2. So far Amy has pulled 50+ out of their dog Louie since they got back. They had to take him to their groomer for a tick bath. Poor guy. After we got home, before getting in the shower, Joe found one on each of his butt cheeks. He didn't get the head out of one of them, when he pulled them out, so I had to go in after it with some tweezers. That had to hurt!

Other then during the night, and the ticks, I did have a really good time during the day. The lake was beautiful and it felt good to spend so much time outside enjoying nature. We made some pretty awesome food too. We had huge community breakfasts in the mornings and some yummy lunches and dinners. Saturday night, Joe grilled up some porterhouse steaks he had brought along for us. They were so good, they just melted in your mouth. Everyone brought sides to share, oriental salad, beans and twice baked potato salad. And of course, you can't go camping without s'mores.

Here is Matt standing on the "stage" playing some guitar for us.

Jeremy and Louie:

Dakota, guarding me and Joe's tent:

Slugger and Louie:

We had all 5 of our tents all lined up in a row.

Part of the 25 acre lake:

My sister Erin, sun bathing near the lake:

The Campfire:


Louie had to have his own chair too:

On our way to the campgrounds, we drove through the wreckage from a recent storm that came through the town. The damage was devastating. We were really worried about what the campgrounds were going to look like once we got there, and if it was going to be safe for camping. Somehow the campsites were still in tact, but it seemed all of the forest around it was covered with fallen trees and debris. If you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you can see far off into the background, all of the trees that were down everywhere. They were ripped out of the ground exposing their huge root balls. These pictures do not do justice for how much damage had taken place. I had never seen anything like it before.





I was so glad to get back on Sunday, to take a shower and sleep in my own bed. And since we came back a day early, it was nice to have the entire day on Monday to just hang out and relax. I hope everyone else had a great weekend! Now it's back to work. Boo.

Lets Go Camping!! (oh and a Tag! Your It!)

I am so excited for this holiday weekend. I have taken off work Friday and we are leaving in the morning to go camping!

I have never been camping while pregnant before, so this should be interesting. I absolutely love camping, but I have to admit, I haven't been sober for a whole camping trip since I was about 15. I know I will still have fun, but I am pretty sure I am going to be wishing I could have a little alcohol too. I am also a little concerned about the sleeping situation (and I am definitely bringing the Beast along!). Its going to be rough leaving the tent a gazillion times to pee. I have been seriously considering picking up one of those portable toilets at Walmart. Ya know, one of these:
Then I could get a little mini tent for it and put it right next to our main tent. Too bad they are $100 +, other wise I would get one fo sho. But then again if I did, everyone else would want to use it too and that would just be really gross. But then I would sound like a bitch when I told everyone else they couldn't use it. And I would get stuck cleaning it all by myself. Having to deal with my own waste is one thing, but other peoples? Yuck. So its probably better that I don't. Oh well.

Alcohol free and unrelenting bladder aside, I am really looking forward to getting outdoors and enjoying some nature. We will be camping next to a beautiful 25 acre lake. There are hiking trails around the lake and they keep up with the grounds very nicely. The park is run by the state, but the campground is in the middle of nowhere, in a tiny little town of about 420 residents and there are only about 14 camping sites total and hardly any one else ever camps there. There will be other people there this weekend, but mainly because its a holiday weekend and most likely the majority of the campers will be from the local town. There are no amenities here, no electricity, no running water, no showers. There is a bathroom, but the toilets don't flush, just a deep, dark hole. For me, this is the only way to camp. Otherwise what is the point? (Now having a big fancy RV to travel the county and see the sites is a totally different story - thats okay in my book.)

My sisters and I have been camping with our families since we were babies and we love it! We have been camping at this particular place since I was about 16. My sister Amy and I worked at McDonalds for years while we were in highschool and we became pretty close with some of the other kids that worked there. One guy's dad used to take him camping at this place when he was a kid and he started taking all of us. We camped there alot for a few years with all of our McDonalds buddies and other friends. We don't hang out with that crew much anymore, but we still go camping there and now take our husbands and other friends. Its a bit of a drive for a weekend camping trip (4 hours), but its worth it to have all of the privacy and beauty that this place offers. You really feel like you are out in nature and you don't have other campers you don't know camping 10 feet from you (like all of the places that are closer to home).

So wish my pregnant ass some luck... hopefully I will still be able to have lots of fun! Luckily Amy is pregnant too, so I won't be totally alone. That will definitely help to have a partner in crime. I will report back next week on all of our adventures and some pictures!

In the meantime... I've been tagged!


Bridget, over at Living in the Moment, has tagged me for a game of Tag! I'm it! Here's the rules:

Rule A. Mention the person who nominated you.
Rule B. List six unimportant things that make you happy.

I think I can handle that. Here goes... you've paid for the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge! Woo Hoo! (okay I might be a little excited that in a couple of hours I am off work for a 4 day weekend!!!) And on a side note, I think that saying "unimportant things that make you happy", is a little contradictory. If it makes me happy, I consider it to be pretty important.

1. Flip-Flops or Sandals. As soon as the weather gets warm enough, I rarely have anything else on my feet. One good thing about being pregnant during the summer is, atleast I can put my fat, swollen feet in some flip-flops.

2. Maternity Underwear. I seriously thought it was ridiculous to buy special underwear just because you were pregnant. And they looked so big - like Granny Panties! But then my little thongs started digging into my belly in the front right underneath my baby bump and I thought I would try out a pair. I haven't gone back since, and I have purchased enough to survive not doing laundry for 2 weeks.

3. Sleeping with the windows open. There is something really special to me about being able to sleep with the windows open. It only happens for two short periods of time, in the spring and in the fall, but when it does I seem to sleep so much better.

4. Twix Candy Bars. Mmmmm.

5. My new Pineapple Cutter. Seriously, this thing is amazing. I can have a fresh pineapple cut up and ready to serve, along with an in tact shell that could be used for a drink holder or to serve the fruit in, and all in less then a minute. I love having fresh pineapple, but always hated cutting them up. Now that I have this hand dandy contraption, we have alot more fresh pineapple around the house.
6. Resale Shops. I love shopping second hand. I really like coming across random resale shops in other towns and checking out what they got. I am a sucker for a good bargain.

Now I guess I am supposed to tag other readers. Well I am going to tag Everyone! I am running out of time and have to finish up some things at work before I can leave for my weekend get-a-way, so tagging everyone will have to suffice. Besides, its fun and I know everyone wants to do it!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I look forward to catching up with everyone when I return from our camping trip!

An Update on the Joys of Pregnancy

Joe finally felt the little munchkin move inside for the first time on Saturday night! I have been attempting for weeks to have him feel her move. Apparantly, the placenta is sitting on my front side, making it harder to feel her movements from the outside. So after weeks of grabbing his hand and placing it where I felt her moving, he finally felt her. It was pretty exciting actually. You could see the look of wonder and amazement spread over his face, and I was so happy he was finally able to experience it.

I have been feeling her so much more in the last week or so. All day long she is moving around and kicking and punching. Since she is breech right now (standing upright, feet first), all of her big movements feel like she is kicking me directly in my vajayjay. Sometimes I am sure that I will look down and see a little foot sticking out between my legs.

Although all of this has been absolutely wonderful and I wouldn't give it up for anything, that isn't to say, it hasn't come with some not-so-great stuff as well.

Once I hit about 15 to 16 weeks, I really started to get my energy back. I was able to accomplish lots of things around the house. I cleaned and organized my entire basement, computer room and all of my closets. I have all of the nursery furniture set up and ready to go (aside from the changing table and a night stand which are in route with the delivery service). I finished registering everything for our baby showers and I even have a tentative plan of action in place for once the little munchkin is here (this is the biggest weight off my shoulders of all). I was feeling great and getting everything done, hoping that this level of energy would hold out at least throughout the 2nd trimester, which depending on your source, ends at 27 or 28 weeks. Maybe its a temporary set back, but at 23 weeks, I started to feel things changing.

The size of the baby doubles between 20 and 24 weeks. My doctor warned me that I would probably have a jump in weight gain during this time period. I had an appointment yesterday and I about fell off the scale when I realized just how much weight I had gained. In a matter of only 4 weeks, I had packed on a little over 11 pounds. Holy f*ing crap! Now I am not completely innocent. I do not claim to not have contributed to this somewhat by over indulging and giving in to my cravings here and there, but good grief! I have not been doing anything that out of the ordinary, and I am just not sure how I managed to achieve this. Last night, I went to the grocery store and bought only healthy, low calorie items. Joe was disappointed when he started looking through what I had brought home and realized there weren't any of his favorite yummy snacks. Sorry buddy, but unless you want to see your wife turn into a whale, you're just gonna have to deal with it.

It doesn't help that I have been starting to feel extremely tired here in the last week or two. I have started taking naps again after work. And I am sure that with the extra sleeping and less moving around and getting things done, I am burning alot less calories. On my usual walks at the park, my right hip has started to hurt pretty badly after only going a couple miles. Once this happens I begin limping and struggling along. Yesterday, I stopped short the last 1/4 mile or so, while Joe went on ahead and came back to pick me up in the car. I went to the grocery store shortly after our walk and without letting myself recoup first, my hip started bothering me in the grocery store as well. I am sure this is due to the extra weight I am carrying around, and long walks are only going to agitate it, but giving up the walks will only make me gain more weight then necessary, and I am really not wanting to do that either.

I have been wearing my wedding ring on a necklace full time now. As soon as even the slightest amount of humidity becomes present, my ankles disappear under puffy skin and my fingers swell up. I am so scared of getting my ring stuck on my finger, I just decided to start wearing it around my neck and quit worrying about it.

I have also been wearing panty liners full time. One false move (e.g. unexpected cough or burst of laughter), can lead to the little munchkin squishing down on my bladder just a little too much. After asking around, this is apparently pretty common.

I am starting to realize there are so many uncomfortable side affects and things that happen that no one really talks openly about (e.g. the horrible gas, constipation, pee leakage, etc.). I wish they would. It would be nice to be more prepared for these things. I don't see why not. We're pregnant... we can't help all this strange crap happening to us. Why be embarrassed about it?! Screw that. I'm not going to be embarrassed about things I can't help. And if reading about it happening to me embarrasses you, you probably shouldn't read my blog.

I would also like to take a moment to thank the Beast. For without him, I would not be getting much sleep. He has been a saving grace through all of this. I can't even imagine how sore I would be each morning when I wake up if I didn't have him in my life. I am not sure I will be able to give him up after the baby is here. I guess we'll just wait to worry about that.

I am currently 24.5 weeks pregnant. I still have 15.5 more to go! I can't wait to see what strange things my body is going to start doing next.

The Queen of Awesome and The (anticlimactic) Return of the Craigslist Underwear Model

I received a pretty snazzy award from my good buddy Gina over at Namaste By Day. Woo Hoo! Thanks Gina! I am tired today and wanted to blog, but my head is feeling a little fuzzy and I haven't been functioning at the top of my game (I am saving this topic for a whole other blog in itself). So I am grateful for the award... now I have a topic to focus on this Monday morning. This award is called the Queen of Awesome... err or rather the Queen of Awe-Summm?


My new role of Queen of Awe-Summm requires me to do the following:

1. List 7 things that make me Awe-Summm
2. Pass the award onto 7 bloggers that I love
3. Tag those bloggers to let them know they are now Queens too (and link back to the Queen who tagged you)

7 Things That Make Me Awe-Summm:

1. I am a pretty good cook. I'm no Wolfgang Puck, but I can hold my own.
   
2. I can throw a hoppin party.
3. I try really hard to be a good wife.
   
4. I try really hard to be a good daughter, sister and friend.
5. I am the queen of bargain shopping and seeking out really good deals and hard to find items.
6. I am a pretty talented graphic artist. I like to think so anyway.
7. I can shake my rump.
   

That wasn't that easy. Not that I don't think that I am awesome, but bragging on yourself isn't usually a recommended action. It feels kinda wierd really.

Okay, so now for the 7 other bloggers that I know are Queens:

1. Anrazel at Companion to the Wind
2. Little T at Craw Digger
3. Elle Charlie at Sometimes a Girl Needs a Blog
4. Seraphina
5. Jillian at It All Began With a Man and a Black Jeep
6. Maggie May at Flux Capacitor
7. Petra a.k.a. The Wise (*Young*) Mommy
   

I received an email last Thursday night from the "angry bitch" on craigslist. What a disappointment. It wasn't nearly as exciting as I had hoped, but here it is nonetheless....

From: "E1988Brown@aol.com"
To: xxxxx@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2009 11:39:14 PM
Subject: Re: 4 piece womens bedroom set - $300

well great now you know. Im aware of what I post

Now I know what? That she's an angry bitch? That she knew she was in her underwear? Or that she has the intelligence level of a spoon?

Is that all she's got? Why did she even bother? Boo.

Hill-bully Stand-off

I pull into the QT gas station a couple blocks from my work to get my morning coffee (3/4 decaff, 1/4 caff for the pregnant lady). I drive along the parking spaces until I get to the last spot (I like to be out of the way), and I pause before turning left into my spot to allow someone to pass infront of me.

But then he stopped.

He stopped his Bronco (I think it was a Bronco) right between me and my parking spot, and then he just stared at me. I could tell from 10 feet away that he hadn't showered in quite some time. His gray facial hair was unruly, overgrown and very dirty. He was probably in his late 50's or early 60's and I could only assume he never missed a meal. Or a snack. Or a case of beer. At first I was a little confused, and then I realized he was waiting for me to move. But I couldn't figure out why. Yes, I was in front of a pump, but there were 5 more pumps right past me. All he had to do was move up just a little bit and he could pull into any pump and I could pull into my parking spot. I, on the other hand, could not pull forward any further for a parking spot. He was blocking the last one.

He then proceeded to make angry hand gestures at my. Shooing me along and pointing to the pump behind me. I, in turn, started to similarly gesture towards the parking spot behind him. At this point, cars were starting to back up behind him, as he was sitting in the middle of the parking lot, and some were trying to go around him.

Then he rolls down his window.

So I roll down my window.

"Your in my way!", he barks at me, "What is your problem?!"

What is my problem?!?!

"Why are you being such a jerk?", I yelled back, "I can't go any further, there's no more parking spaces, I'm just trying to park. There are plenty of pumps, just drive forward."

"I'm not moving", he yells.

And we were yelling. Everyone on the property could here us.

"I'm not moving either", I yelled back, "I've got all day." Ofcourse, I didn't. I was already late for work, but I wasn't going to tell him that. I then proceeded to put my car into park, lean back in my chair and lace my arms across my chest. I looked around like I didn't have a care in the world and then I started to just stare at him dead in the face.

We were at an impasse.

A woman, who had just had to work hard to get around this man to park her car, starts walking towards us, "What is the problem here?", she asks.

"I'm not sure", I replied, "I'm just trying to park, and he won't move."

So she starts shouting at the man to move. He starts shouting back to mind her own business.

And this is where it starts to get really fun.

"Why don't you move your car, you hillbilly!? There's plenty of other pumps all along here. You blocking everyone's way!" She was screaming at him.

"I am not moving until she moves", he angrily points at me, "I want that pump, and she is in my way".

"There is a whole row of pumps right behind her", she screams back, "what are you on, crack or something? Move your car!"

"Why don't you go drink another beer!" he yells back.

This was getting good. The woman was obviously sober and thinking the same thing everyone else was... What was wrong with this man? We had drawn quite a crowd at this point of spectators standing around to see what was going to happen next.

The woman turned to me, "I am going to go inside and get one of the guys in there, you sit tight."

She walked off. Me and the man just sat there and continued to stare at each other. You could practically see the anger seething from every pore of his face. Everyone else just stood around watching us. No one was moving. A couple more minutes passed. Now yes, I realize maybe I should have just moved along, wrapped back around the parking lot and found a new spot. Not because I was in the wrong, but because it most likely isn't the best idea for a 6 month pregnant woman to get into a stand-off with an obviously crazed hillbilly. I probably should have been scared. But I have never been very good at backing down from a bully. Its just not in me.

Just as I was thinking this, the woman was returning with one of the QT employees. He started walking towards the man, waving his arm for him to move along. The fucking asshole, giant piece of shit, man looked around, finally realizing he wasn't going to win this battle. With a defeated look upon his face, he stepped on the gas and moved forward, pulling in front of another pump. I turned my wheel to the left and pulled into the parking spot.

Ha ha! It was a small victory, but I was claiming it. But seriously, what the hell?

As I walked into the gas station, everyone was a buzz. They were all talking about what had just happened. And if they hadn't seen it, someone was relaying it to them. I was also getting a real kick out of the look on their faces as they realized this lunatic had been directing all of his angry, crazy energy towards a poor, defenseless, obviously pregnant woman.

"Are you okay?", the woman who had helped me asked, "I am shaking, I am so mad."

I assured her I was fine and I thanked the wonderfully kind woman, for coming to my aid.

After making my coffee, I headed toward the register. The man had finished pumping his gas and was there checking out. I ducked behind a row of chips, deciding that without the armor of my Santa Fe, I was better off avoiding any more interaction with this nut job. I pretended to continue shopping. I then peeked over the tops of the chips. He was gone. It was safe. I paid for my coffee, and the random crystal light I picked up while "undercover", and walked out the door. I was relieved to not see the bronco anywhere in sight.

What a way to start my morning. Instead of focusing on how crazy and angry this man was, I have decided to take something else away from it instead. Looking back I am so grateful for the woman that stepped up and came to my defense. She didn't have to do that. She could have easily went right into the gas station, minded her own business and went on her way. But she didn't. And for that I am very grateful.

I might just still be sitting in my car having a stair-off at this very moment.

"Free Advice is Worth Every Penny" ~ Richard Denny

While searching for a white nightstand for the nursery, I came across this ad on craigslist:

4 piece womens bedroom set - $300 (south county)

I have a 4 piece womens bedroom set. It is an off white color with one tall dresser, bed head board im not selling the bed frame, one night stand, and long dresser with mirror attached. this set is in good condition I need to sell it because im moving. please contact me by email me at e1988brown@aol.com or my home phone at 314-651-9572 only serious buyers call my phone.

You might notice that the woman selling the furniture has a guest appearance in the mirror in her underwear. I also like how instead of having a headboard, her bed comes with a "bed head" board. Hahahahaha

Moving on.

I have been a little nervous about the creepos on craigslist lately. You may have heard on the news about the "Craigslist Killer". I always make sure that Joe is home too when someone is coming to pick up something I am selling, and I always take him with me if I am picking something up. I for one would not be advertising myself in my undies while trying to sell some furniture. It just doesn't seem safe. I'm just sayin'.

So...... I couldn't help but email her. Really I was just trying to look out for a sista.

My original email:

Hi

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way... but I just wanted to let you know incase you didn't notice that you show up in the mirror in your pictures in your boxer shorts and sports bra. I noticed it right away, so I just wanted to tell you incase you didn't know and would want to.

And if you already knew that, just ignore me :)

Laura

Her Reply:

From: "E1988Brown@aol.com"
To: xxxxxx@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 8:56:08 PM
Subject: Re: 4 piece womens bedroom set - $300

really I did not notice . seeing that my room is full of mirrors I couldn't help but to be in the picture.. so why don't you get a life because I'm aware of what I post.

My Reply:

wow. I am really sorry to have offended you. There has been some scary stuff involving people on craigslist on the news. As a woman, I was just looking out for another woman.

If I had had any idea you were such an angry bitch, I would have never sent you the email.

Okay, so maybe my last reply was a little immature. I probably should have just ignored her last email and went on my merry way. But I just couldn't help it. I mean really... I thought I was being nice. What if she really had no idea she was in the background in her underwear? It is possible. I was kinda thinking she would get my email and then thank me for pointing it out, and would then change her picture.

I was obviously wrong.

I guess I should have just minded my own business. But I got a good laugh out of her anyway. I am still half expecting to get another email from her. We'll see. I'll let you know if I do.

"In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires." ~ Benjamin Franklin

For mother's day, we had my mom's side of the family all over to our house for a celebration! And of course, as usual, my family went completely overboard on the food...


What are those silly apples doing in there?

And aftwards, everyone laid around and took a nap. I thought this was Mother's Day, not Thanksgiving. We didn't even serve any Turkey. The couch was filled with sleeping bodies, and people over flowed onto the floor as well. My sister's husband passed out with their dog Louie. Isn't that special?

I know its late in the game, but I hope all my mommy friends and moms-to-be had a wonderful Mother's day!

"Every dark cloud has a silver lining, but lightning kills hundreds of people each year who are trying to find it.” -Larry Kersten

Yesterday, I made an attempt at shaving my nether regions.

Its a good thing I have a sense of humor and was a able to laugh at myself most of the time. If not, I may have ended up crying (I actually might have just a little). This was not an easy task, as my newly protruding pregnant belly has made it nearly impossible to even see the majority of the area around there.

Joe (bless his heart), had offered to help me out and shave it for me, but if there was a way, I would rather keep this task to something I do on my own. Last night he was gone for a few hours playing softball, so I thought it would be a good idea to make my attempt (I now know it would have been safer to atleast have him in the house).

I decided to just use my "feminine clippers", removing the guard and getting as close as possible. I would forego using my razor all together. I didn't think it would be safe (I now know that it could have been lethal).

So I set up shop and started going at it with the clippers. It was f-ing impossible to do anything when you can't even see what is going on, and I didn't feel very comfortable whacking away blindly. I kept trying different angles, leaning from one side to another, pushing my belly this way and that. This was not working.

Arg.

I then went out into my bedroom to grab my full length mirror. I dragged it into the bathroom and leaned it up against the wall, starting at about 2 feet away on the bottom so I could kind of stand over it with my legs spread apart. This seemed to be working at first, but it was still hard to see what was going on down there. I was doing okay with everything right up front, but the stuff further back was out of reach.

Grunt.

I picked up the mirror and laid it on the ground. I stepped one leg on each side and crouched down. What a site!! From this angle I could see everything. And I now realized just how freaking HUGE my boobs had become. Holy Crap! I have always had pretty decent size breasts, but these were getting out of control. The frontal view I was used to had not been doing them justice. My legs started shaking.

Sigh.

I then decided to try getting down on my knees. Once in this position, on my knees, with my legs spread apart, straddling the full length mirror that was laying on the ground, I was finally able to finish things up, with minimal damage (yes, I did manage to nick myself a few times).

What an ordeal.

I am hopeful that next time will be much easier, as my last position seemed to work pretty well and I think I have it figured out now. With practice I will be a pro in no time.

And today I feel so much better, as I have never been a big fan of the 70's style bush.

On a brighter side, it is easier to shave my legs now that I am so swollen from the humidity that my once bony ankles and knees are now smooth with my new puffy skin.

Ahh, the silver lining.

Happy Friday everyone!

Belly and Party Pics!

I am finally posting the pic I took LAST friday of me at 22 weeks (tomorrow I am at 23 weeks).

My sister and her hubby J had a Cinco Party in their driveway. It was alot of fun! They had all kinds of yummy Mexican food out. The only problem was that the food was so salty, it has made me swell up, and it still hasn't gone down. That, on top of the recent humidity, has given me cankles. Yep, I have cankles. Damnit.



My adorable neice

My sister E with her youngest daughter

Hanging out under the tent

Me and my sisters (my sis on the far left is preggo too!)

Thats all I have for now... Tomorrow is Friday... Yay!!

This Shit Be Funny

I found this video on another wonderful blog that I read. This shit be funny. Curteous of Elle Charlie over at Sometimes a Girl Needs a Blog....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJRzBpFjJS8

Garage Sales, Baby Registering, and an Anniversary Make for a Busy Weekend!

Things have been busy!

I have been wanting to post, but it seems there is always something else to do. I need to catch up on everyone else too, so hopefully I will be able to do that today.

I finally finished cleaning and organizing my basement. You have no idea what a relief this is. Back in December our sump pump broke and our basement flooded. It was a huge mess! Right away Joe got everything cleaned up, mopped the floor with bleach water and wiped everything down that had gotten wet. Luckily most stuff was up off the floor or in some type of plastic container. A few things were ruined, but nothing really important. What was left, however, was a huge mess of boxes and containers that had been moved around to clean the floor and thrown where ever to get the water all dried up. The stack of new plastic tubs for organizing have been sitting there for almost 5 months, just waiting for me to fill them up with the mess of displaced items. So I marked off Thursday and Friday on my calendar and worked diligently until I was finished Friday night. Whew! I can finally check that off my list.

I also had a big new pile of items of things to sell on Craigslist. That's always fun! As of now, I have made $40 and still have some things in the works. Ofcourse, as of now, I have already spent that money too.

Saturday morning the hubs and I got up bright and early to hit the garage sales. My gal Toni met us about 6:30am. We all shoved down some McD's breakfast and left to meet my sis & her husband. The sales started at 7:00am and we were ready to go!

I love going to garage sales.

Especially when the whole neighborhood is in on it and you can just park your car and move from house to house. Garage sales are the epiphany of the old saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure". It seemed like there were less houses involved this year, but we still found some great deals. I was really hoping to find a little white bench for the nursery, but my hopes weren't too high for that. Would you believe it... one of the first houses we went to had a little white bench there with 3 cubby holes underneath to hold baskets! I gave the lady my $20 and Joe loaded it up in the car. Yay!! We also found an infant-to-toddler bath tub (the exact one I wanted - looked almost new), a diaper champ (pretty much brand new), some pregnancy and parenting books, and ofcourse Joe couldn't resist the little Mizzou onesies. I even found some maternity clothes and when I got home and tried them on, they all fit! Everyone else had given up long before us and headed home, but we hung in there, and I'd say it was a pretty successful morning.

After that, me and Joe went home and took a two hour nap. We were exhausted!

After we awoke, grabbed some lunch, and met up with someone from Craigslist who was buying a receiver from me, we headed to the mall to do some shopping and start our registry at Babies r Us. This was almost as exhausting as the garage sales. It was so overwhelming walking around and trying to figure out everything we needed. I kept having to stop and rest in the gliders. I was pooped. We finally decided to concentrate on the bigger items that we really wanted to see and touch in person, like the bedding and the stroller. The rest I could look at online and pick things out with the help of reviews from other parents.

Just because I am having a girl, does that mean her nursery has to be filled to the brim with everything pink or purple and covered in flowers? I was pretty frustrated with our choices of bedding. We finally settled on a pattern that seemed a little less frilly then the rest. But I certainly wasn't excited about it.

We left the store, stopped by my parents house, grabbed some dinner and finally head home. Once we got back to the house, my feet were swollen and I was so worn out, I didn't do much the rest of the night. Pregnancy is exhausting. And I am not even in my third trimester yet!

Sunday was our 1 year wedding anniversary!!

We had decided not to do much, other then have some dinner out and just hang out together. I went to a friend's baby shower in the afternoon, but after that we wanted to just relax and enjoy each other's company. We went out to dinner and then came back home with a movie. I went to get our wedding cake top out of the freezer and realized I probably should have done this much earlier. After unwrapping the cake from the layers of saran wrap and foil, which had been also vacuum sealed, I laid the cake layer on a plate. It was as hard as a rock and weighed twice as much. Right before we went to bed, we were able to cut off part of the edge and managed to get one bite each out of it. It wasn't that bad at all! I was amazed. I doubt we will be eating the rest though. There is something very unappetizing about a year old piece of cake. But keeping to the tradition did have its charms.

We didn't do anything fancy or exchange lavish gifts, but our anniversary was very meaningful none the less. Its hard to ever forget how much I love my husband and how much he means to me. He keeps me grounded, he makes me laugh, and most importantly he makes me happier then I ever thought I could be. I always know how much I am loved and how important I am to him. I really am very lucky.

Seeing him get so excited about our baby and watching the love for her already start to grow has made me love him even more. I can't wait to see him as a father.

Alright... enough mushy stuff!

I spent part of Saturday night and off-and-on Sunday searching on line for nursery bedding. I just couldn't settle on the foo-foo pink stuff we picked out at the store. I finally came across a bedding set that I absolutely loved! We weren't going to be able to register it, but I figured there was no way we were going to receive gifts for everything we needed anyway. It was just what I was looking for. And there was no pink anywhere!

For the record, I do not have a vendetta against pink (or flowers for that matter). I just don't think the entire nursery has to be completely covered in pink just to represent a room for a baby girl. It's a personal preference.

So I ordered it! I went ahead and ordered every accessory too. I'd rather be able to return something I don't need then not be able to order it later. Not only was it exactly what I wanted, but it was considerably cheaper then the original one I had registered for. Here it is:



We were already planning on painting a tree on the wall, so I even ordered the little wall appliques to put all around the tree just like in the picture. Our furniture is white, so I think the bedding will look even better on white. I can't wait until it arrives so we can figure out our paint colors and get to work!

Geez I am such a "new mom".

Okay... I could go on and on... but I better stop, this is already getting to be way too long. If you are still reading thanks for hanging in there and I am going to work on getting caught up on everyone else's blogs now.

Happy Tuesday!