Week 30

 They say the third trimester begins to feel more and more like the first trimester the further you get into it. But, who are they? And, what do they know?! 

Well, they're people who have done it and they know everything. Everything. *finger wag, head swivel*

Let's talk about no appetite, feeling like I'm gonna puke whenever I get in the car, and when I am hungry, I am incredibly uncomfortable for at least an hour afterward. What happened to feeling like super girl? Super girl's cape got caught in the spoke of one of her stroller wheels and she was trampled beneath its center wheel. Youch.

This past week I did my super awesome workout DVD 3 times. I'm taking this moment to share the name of the DVD in case you want snatch a copy up for yourself. 

Super corny at times? Yes. Taught by a beast of a woman with 0% body fat who talks the whole time through and barely sweats? Yeahbsolutely. 

But after watching it enough, I have memorized every word she says. So I mute it and turn on my Justin Timberlake Pandora station. It's a good workout for me now that my non-pregnant jogging partners are tired of walking with me. I guess I understand. But I'm still going to pout about it. 

Here are a few things I have noticed this week about my body. Maybe I would have noticed them sooner, but my head is pretty foggy these days. 

~At one point this week, I was getting ready to go to town, and after I had completed my adorable ensemble--I love dressing my basketball-smuggling body--I stepped back to look at myself in the mirror, and realized that I looked like a blur. I had been standing so close to the mirror while doing my makeup that I hadn't noticed my eyesight changing until I stepped back. I put on my glasses to no avail. When I got into the car I realized I couldn't see any signs or even read the license plate of the car in front of me at the red light. Called my Dr's office and spoke to a nurse. She said to check my blood pressure and as long as it was 128/80 or lower, it was probably nothing. I came out at something like 120/67, so I guess it was nothing. But weird.

~Fingers are a little swollen. It's hard (sometimes impossible) to get my wedding rings off. But thankfully my fingers are mostly swollen in the middle, so my rings are cutting into my finger yet. 

~Do you know the feeling when you've just run as hard as possible and you get that sharp cramp that makes it impossible to take a deep breath. KNIFE STAB, knife stab, knife stab!! (If you don't know the feeling, you need to go run somewhere). Well, now I get them totally randomly. I got one while doing my donkey kicks in my workout DVD the other day, then last night while watching  a movie at home . I have a Dr's appointment next week, where I plan to ask him about those. Hmmm...

~Super uncomfortable gas bubbles in my tummy associated with burping and hiccuping, among other things. Oh, the pain. I seriously dialed my Dr's office because I didn't know what the pain was about...until I figured it out. 

~I can no longer see over my bump. I mean, I can get to my feet, but Texan has taken to inspecting my belly for stretch marks for me since I can't. (None yet, jiggity-jig).

~The arch of my foot was tingly and numb this morning when I woke up for about an hour. It was so weird. 

~This one isn't about my body, but Tums give me the WORST aftertaste. And the worst part is, I alway get heartburn as soon as I'm done brushing my teeth and get nestled all snug in my bed. So then I have this nasty fruit taste that is followed by bitterness that lasts until I wake up. Bleh.

I am looking forward to this weekend because despite the fact that Texan is going out of town to hunt for the weekend with his stepdad, my parents are coming into town to keep me company. I hate the idea of being alone at night. So they'll spend one night and I'll have to suck it up the rest of the time...

Suzy Homemaker update: I just scrubbed walls and base boards. We have textured walls which are really hard to get clean. But I came out triumphant. This is nesting, I guess. Also, I am now the official host of Thanksgiving 2013. I am planning my tablesscape and turkey-bake presently. I am quite nervous.

I am not posting a picture with this week's post. (Other than the one of my workout DVD). Or, wait! How about this one. Saturday night was actually the last night that I wore real clothes and left the house for a good reason. So here it is:

Week 29

This has been a big week for milestones and new developments. If we could start with today and work our way back, that'd be great. After having nine hours of sleep, I woke up and ate breakfast with every intention of beginning my day after watching one 45 minute episode of my show. However, by the end of the episode I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, and retired to bed. THREE HOURS LATER, it was 1:45 and Texan called to ask about some plans we have tonight. I guess SJ is having a growth spurt or something, because I have cut back on napping lately. And that's not the only time this week my body has brought a normal day to an ear-shattering, screeching halt.

One night early this week, I laid down on my back in bed to read. (I know what all the books say about laying on your back after a few months of pregnancy. You'll cut off blood flow to the baby! You'll suffocate yourself!) But my doctor says those are phooey, and I digress. Well, reader, for the first time ever, I could not take a deep breath to save my life--pun intended. I sat up gasping, yawning, and doing whatever else I could to fill my lungs. It really wasn't all that dramatic, but I tried my hardest to figure out what position would allow me to breath comfortably. The answer? NO POSITION. But eventually those precious little body parts that were shoving my lungs up into my throat and making it impossible for me to inhale more than 60% moved back down, and all was well--until the next day. And now I notice that first thing in the morning is the best time for breathing. When I first wake up SJ is still and nestled all snug in her bed sack far away from my lungs. But she always finds a way to stretch back out and leave me breathless yet again. Oh, and forget about eating a full meal without going from, this is delicious, I think I'll have another helping. Straight to I think I may have to lie still until Thursday. There is no room in there for my stomach to be comfortably full. I'm either hungry, or comatose.

Despite the love/hate relationship with food, I think about it an awful lot. An inordinate amount of the time, actually. Today I have been thinking about those chocolate caramel Rolo candies. The ones wrapped in fall-colored foil sitting in a bowl on my coffee table in a leaf-shaped dish. Nothing like that exists in my house, but I'm imagining, wishing, dreaming that it did. I am not foolish enough to have a bowl of chocolate ANYTHING in my house. Or a bag, box, or any receptacle of chocolate. Sweets are my weakness, and so I do not keep them near me. This newfound strong-willedness will serve me well after giving birth. But for now it basically sucks. Oh, but at Christmas you can bet I will indulge myself. (Insert Homer Simpson "MMMMMmmmMMM" sound here. The one he makes when he finds a fuzzy lollipop in the couch cushion). Or just watch the first 30 seconds of the video below, and that's basically me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwv_mW8kIc

Have you ever met someone who is naturally clumsy? They trip over the most obvious of curbs, run into everything, and fall flat on their face because their own feet get in their way? I have. And non-pregnant Cara is not one of these people. Pregnant Cara, on the other hand? I have run into more door ways this week than I care to divulge. I can't go through the center of a doorway anymore. It's, like, impossible. The worst part is that I am both clumsy and emotional. So when I break something, I also break my heart in the process and can't stop crying over how angry I am that I broke something. And example? A plate that had been in the fridge (you know how it get's all cold and covered in condensation?) slipped out of my hand and broke into two perfect pieces. But my heart broke into A MILLION pieces and I cried for half an hour. The clumsiness is the absolute WORST part of my pregnancy. I will take it ALL and give back the clumsiness. So, I guess I'm pretty lucky.

In fun news, this week we had our maternity photo shoot and party planning for my baby shower is in full swing. We haven't seen any photos yet, since they were just taken on Saturday. So I am really hoping I don't look like a lard in any (half) of them. I would be happy if I look decent in half of them, yes. Texan thought that we should wait until my belly is bigger to take them, but I didn't want to risk looking behemoth. Speaking of Texan, he doesn't think this pregnancy is going fast enough at all. Twice or thrice this week he has said in his best dejected third-grader way, "I just want her to BE here already." And last night he even added, "If she were here right now, you would be skinny again and I would be holding her all the time." I laughed at that. I know Texan loves my belly. And I'm not talking feelings here. He actually loves (verb) loves it. He talks to it, rests his hand on it in church, tells me how good I look and how fast he thinks I'm going to bounce back after SJ's born. In fact, he has never paid me so many compliments in our whole relationship as he has in the past 30 weeks. But I also know that he loved the way I looked before, and would love to have that version of me back too. Don't worry, I would love that even more that he knows. Can't you just see it? Me standing around being skinny, unclumsy, taking deep and uninhibited breaths, and SJ sleeping in Texan's arms? It sounds like a fairy tale.

With only 11 weeks to go, I am already starting to feel nostalgic. I love being pregnant despite the few hangups. And it's pretty scary to think how much things are going to change in the new year.  Babysitters, pediatricians, diaper explosions, sleepless nights, and all of the unknowns have got my mind on overdrive. So I'm taking things one day at a time and enjoying all the little things along the way.

Week 28

Here we are at week 28, and each of the past couple of weeks has proven to make our baby SJ's arrival all the more imminent. In fact, for some odd reason, having a stroller in the living room (while I tried to figure out how to collapse it after Texan set it up) was the big moment where Texan said, "I feel like she's really coming now." I have on good authority--from watching Juno--that a woman becomes a mother when she becomes pregnant, but a man becomes a father when he sees his child. So, I thought it was kind of funny that the stroller really took him to the next level. Because, reader, there were about three weeks where we had a bassinet and a swing in our living room. But no, it's just the stroller.

At my most recent doctor's appointment I began tracking SJ's movements. My goal is to choose one hour of every day, and make sure that I can feel her kick 10 times before the hour is up. It can be any hour day-to-day, so long as there are 10 kicks to show that she's getting enough oxygen. I usually do it after eating lunch, but lately I feel like SJ's sleeping patterns are changing so much that I can never be absolutely sure when she's going to be jumping around. I put the hour and the number of kicks in my phone. But, the best part of this new exercise is that I always get to 15 before losing count, usually in under 20 minutes. When she's active, she's really active. Tonight, I got to 9 and let Texan track the last one. Instead, he tracked to 17 before stopping. I loved the look on his face while he was counting kicks. It's become my favorite part of each day.

I always get kind of irked when I read about someone saying, "I was nesting..." Not because I don't believe that as pregnant women we get in super-clean, hyper-organization mode. I guess I just don't care for the word. I wish there was a different way of saying it that didn't make me sound like an avian woman. Anyway, I spent all day yesterday working on our spare bedroom and came out with a trash bag full of donation clothes, one full of yard sale stuff, and one full of trash. I guess some would call it nesting. Tweet, tweet, chirp. The hardest thing for me with all this organizing and cleaning is the fact that we (Texan, ahem) haven't decided if we're going to stay in our current house or move into somewhere closer to town before baby arrives. I really want to start doing the nursery, but I know it can wait, especially since she'll be sleeping next to our bed for the first few months until she is sleeping long enough between feedings to make it worth putting her far away from me in her crib.

One of my favorite moments this week was when I was "getting my kicks," which sound way dirtier when I type it out, before bed. After I got to around 15, I got out my i Pad to do some surfing, and all of a sudden my belly started making waves like I couldn't believe. And the best part was that Texan got to see it all. It was like SJ was showing off for us. So, we decided to get out the nursery rhyme book that Mimi (Texan's mom) got for SJ and read her some of our favorite rhymes. Texan has a very quiet reading voice, so I always have to say, "louder!" while he's reading. And it cracks me up the way he starts almost yelling and always goes right back to almost mumbling within seconds. I just want our baby to be able to hear him...but it's enjoyable to hear him. That's for sure.

Here I am at 28 weeks and 5 days. It was so cold today that I got to wear my favorite scarf! I also spent all day mopping, dusting and making white lasagna and pumpkin balls for my Texan. They were a hit. As far as the clean floors, Texan loved tramping across them in his muddy boots.

Week 27

 Hey there, readers! I have been feeling EXCELLENT this week--is it weird to say that I have been feeling as pre-pregnant as ever? So excellent, in fact, that tonight at approximately 10:20 I decided to do my workout dvd that has been catching dust since a couple weeks ago. DON'T freak out! I have worked out since then. But since the weather has cooled down, my friends and I have been out jog/walking at least 3 times a week. Exceeeeept for last week. (Sad Face) I planned on working out with mi madre while we were at their house for the weekend, but Saturday morning when I woke up my dad said, "How about you skip the workout and we go to the state fair?!" So, you can guess that I ate a couple deep-fried nothings instead of working out...making that one whole workout last week. 

 

Today, I had a doctor's appointment, where my doctor was added to my NICE list when he told me that my glucose levels came back nice and low, my weight is PERFECT (really, his words) and I am measuring right on track. I also got to hear my sweet girl's heartbeat, nice and strong. And just to drive home to point about me feeling excellent, I took my car to my favorite drive-thru car wash--it's only $3 and offers unlimited use of the car vacuums. But afterwards, I was unhappy with the amount of bug juice on my bumper and the unshiny-ness of my tires. So I drove straight to the self-serve carwash where I spent $2 and left with a 100% beautiful car. The funniest part was the fact that I only put in enough quarters to get 4 minutes to do everything, so I had to clean pretty frantically while screaming most of the time. But it was fun. And I got a little sweaty. I really like the questionnaire thing because it gets me thinking. So, here goes.

 

How far along? 27 weeks, five days. I know, I'm late posting.

Total weight gain: 20 lbs as of today. Gosh, yuck. Today my doc said, "Soon you'll weigh more than you've ever weighed in your life." My reply? "I ALREAY DO! Sorry for screaming at you, doctor."

Maternity clothes? This one still hasn't changed...For the most part. If I'm just lounging around the house I wear my normal workout clothes.

Stretch marks?  Nope! I have become more vigilant with my slathering of belly rub stuff, too.

Best moment this week: Shopping with my mom, pedicures with my sister, watching a cow getting milked at the fair with my dad, spending a whole 3-day weekend with my very relaxed Texan.

Miss anything? Being balanced and agile. I'm telling you, I pick something up and it FLIES out of my hand. I take a step, and my foot slides out from where i was about to put it. 

Movement: Still lots of that. The new thing is my doctor has me taking one hour of each day where I track SJ's movements. The hour can start whenever I first feel a kick. So at 12:15 I started and lost count at 15 kicks and punches by 1:15. It was awesome.

Food cravings: Nothing really comes to mind. Gosh, that's boring.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!

Gender: Girl

Labor signs: No

Symptoms: Well, I am sleeping so much better now, so that's wonderful. In fact, it's a little after midnight and I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open. But, I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Wait! does that count as a craving? No, I'm just hungry from my workout.

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: OhMYLanta. I have been very moody lately--understatement. I cried in Target this weekend because I was mad at Texan for not going to Target for me. So I had to go. And so I cried the whole time. I won't say anything more because it's embarrassing. Except last night after my speed walking hour, I was starving and came home to a batch of homemade tomato soup that I had made before leaving. I made mozzarella balls, grilled cheese sandwiches and garlic cheesy bay biscuits. When I sat down next to Texan, he felt like teasing me. Wrong move. I was very hungry and ANGRY about how hungry I was. So when he picked up one of my garlic bisucuits to get a reaction out of me, he got one--a reaction, not a biscuit. Because I squeezed the life out of his hand.  I went to the kitchen table and in order to keep myself from crying I said, "I'm going to cry because I am so hungry and you're teasing me." Sometimes, reader, it helps if I tell myself how I ridiculous I am acting. It worked. And Texan also stopped teasing me about my biscuits. Stop it. Don't laugh.

Looking forward to: Sleeping and eating. Or eating, then sleeping. But in the long term, I'm excited about starting my next project. It's a new cover for the car seat my sister gave me this weekend! Pictures to come!

 

And, here I am.

Texan was off his game with the picture-taking tonight. Grr. Every picture was either blurry or washed out by the flash. Blah. This was the best I could do. Oh, and, I have been having a hard time not hating every picture of myself where I'm not posing exactly like this. ^ But that has nothing to do with it. I think Texan's arms were just feeling wobbly from his workout.

 

 

Week 26

It's Monday morning! And, how blessed am I? I actually look forward to this time. I like to make sure the house is all spic and span before I go to bed, so that when I wake up I can take my time getting around to whatever it is I have on the docket for the day. Today, it's paying rent, doing some sewing, doing some research on dentists, and making dinner on the few scraps I have left in my cabinets. Tomorrow is grocery shopping day--which I usually dread. But with the fall weather having arrived, I may just get myself a fall-infused decaf latte from Starbucks and take my time mulling around town. Can you tell I've been a little cooped up this weekend? I accidentally married a homebody. How did that happen? He was so cute and charming and I totally missed the part where he loved staying in on weekends. Oh! Wait! He didn't like staying in on the weekends before we were married. It was all bull-riding, candy everywhere, Christmas trees, and motorcycle rides. Just kidding, those are just the pictures I chose...and in chronological order, too!

 Gosh, he sure did trick me. Well, at least he's still cute when he's lounging around dozing off in front of the tv all weekend. Here is the return of the Q & A because it's been a month since I did it last.

How far along? 26 weeks and 1 days.

Total weight gain: I haven't weighed myself today because I hurried to eat breakfast...

Maternity clothes? This one hasn't changed in a month...For the most part. If I'm just lounging around the house I wear my normal workout clothes.

Stretch marks?  Nope! I need to buy more Bio Oil  tomorrow on my shopping trek.

Sleep: I'm sleeping better than I was just last week. I'm finally to the point where if I lay down at 11:30, I fall asleep soon after instead of lying awake for 3 hours.

Best moment this week: Probably being able to sleep with our bedroom window open. Nightly lows in the 60's and 50's have left us finally able to be what we call "snuggle bunnies" instead of sleeping at arms lengths through the summer months.

Miss anything? Laying on my belly, my skinny jeans, being able to lean over without being out of breath. You should've seen me huffing and puffing putting my boots on for church yesterday. (And then complaining about how they hurt my feet for alllll of church)

Movement: Tons! I love to watch the waves in my tummy, especially when she's most active at night.

Food cravings: I was never a huge fan of these:

But the other day I was looking for Indian corn, which I haven't had ANY of yet, and October starts tomorrow. And I found these. And, that was it. I had to have one. I have had one every day since I bought them. So weird, but so good.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!

Gender: Girl

Labor signs: No

Symptoms: Aching in the lower extremities when I stand in the same place or sit curled up on the couch. Church is the hardest time during praise and worship. Ouch!

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: I've been pretty moody all week. I can't exactly handle any playful teasing from Texan. But when he bought me a milkshake to make me feel better the other day when my moodiness got the best of me, and gave me the cherry off of his milkshake, and I knew that I could handle another day.

Looking forward to: Spending the weekend with my family. Celebrating my mom's and my niece's 2nd birthday. Shopping with my mom for an outfit to wear in my maternity photo shoot in a couple weeks. Yay!

 

 I guess I should add a picture here soon. I love this new fall weather because it has allowed me to break out the other half of my maternity clothes that I have had tucked away for just such an occasion. Sweater sets and long-sleeved tees, yippee! Although, I am still getting used to maternity jeans constricting my leg movement. The days of summer dresses and shorts are coming to a close. And I had better get off the couch and go hand in my rent check and get started on my copious amounts of sewing I have ahead of me. So, here it is.

Week 25

The 25th week of my daughter's pre-life life can be characterized by bouts of extreme energy, intense dizziness, and exciting new experiences. While Monday through Thursday were less than exhilarating*, the weekend proved memorable and exhausting. Friday evening was the evening of the first part of Women of Faith. At 4:30 I arrived promptly at the front door of the lovely lady who elected to drive the caravan of five lovely ladies to The Big D for the conference. We had dinner at a restaurant adjacent to our hotel before hitting the conference, for which we had pretty good seats near the stage. There was one speaker, a comedian, and plenty of singing.

The best part of the night, honestly, was when the comedian came up. Let me point out that I had no idea who any of the people on stage were until they started doing whatever it was that they were doing. (Note the cluelessness here). So, when the funny lady got on stage and started her stand up routine, I thought, "She's really funny! When is she going to talk about Jesus?" Then, she started singing a remake of Beyoncé's "All The Single Ladies" but changed it to "All The Wrinkled Ladies."  She also remade Taylor Swift's "Mean" with "Clean," a cute song about how annoying that clean freak friend we all have can be.* Honestly, she made a lot of funny older-women jokes that I found HILARIOUS. And, of course, after the conference ended around 10:30 that night, there was lots of laughter in the hotel room. Aaaaaand I'm pretty sure I only slept about 3 hours.

Why?

Because my sleeping patterns are always controlled by my hunger. Having dinner at 6 o'clock, then water and crackers around midnight left me STARVING all night long. So, the moment the morning alarm went off, I got ready and went downstairs to dine at the breakfast in the lobby. I used to be horrified at the prospect of eating alone, but readers, as far as I was concerned in this moment, it was just me and the food and somewhere to sit. (I think I'll turn that into a song). By the time my cohorts joined me I was on course #2 of 3. I stuck with fruit, whole grains, and plenty of peanut butter to keep me held over until lunch. This was one of the best parts of my weekend. (Sad). Following the awesome breakfast hour was an all-day conference with about five speakers, a MercyMe concert, praise and worship by Kari Jobe, and lunch in downtown Dallas with these ladies!

By 4 o'clock we were all exhausted and decided not to stay for the last hour of the conference. I slept for two hours when I got home, then slept seven straight hours that night--a record for me lately. The scariest part of Sunday was imagining how I would survive early morning nursery followed by a day spent on the lake in my friend's parents' boat. Not because I get sea sick (lake sick?) but because I was still exhausted. However, Texan was really looking forward to it, and I wanted to spend the day with him. So, I bucked up and donned my swim suit. Of course once I got out there I didn't remember how tired I was, and I really enjoyed watching Texan wakeboard like a pro, as always, and slalom for the first time.  He's amazing. I got in the water once because I couldn't hold my bladder anymore despite the fact that I had rationed my water intake. (Shouldn't have had that Dr. Pepper. But seriously, I was falling asleep once 5 o'clock came around). The water was too cold for my liking thanks to the five inches of rain we got the days before. But I thoroughly enjoyed feeling SJ kick whenever a loud boat whizzed by, or whenever I would squeal and cheer at Texan's excellent water-sporting form. SJ loved boat day almost as much as her daddy. Also, here's my first attempt at instagram video.

Monday, I felt very sick. Also, I was a little afraid that I was going into preterm labor because my symptoms reminded me of the ones I read about in one of my books. However, since I didn't have any bleeding or scary symptoms, I decided to calm down and stop worrying. It turned out I just needed a nap and some protein and to go to bed early. Tuesday, however, I felt so very super energized that in the middle of my workout I decided to clean my bedroom ceiling fan. It had been bothering me for a couple weeks, but I always forgot about it as soon as I stopped looking at it. Also, all I could imagine was the copious amounts of dust that would inevitable end up in my mouth during said cleaning. I think the sounds I made while cleaning it went something like, "Pleh! Pew! Ahem! EEEk!"

 In more "exciting new experience" news, I went to my first consignment thingy (I really don't know what it's called) in my church gym last night. Baby clothes and toys EVERYWHERE.  That's what I'm going to call it. I kept my spending to around $20 because I was just there to have a little fun, but I was excited to find something that I really want off my registry there for only $2!

So cute, right? I happen to hate washing dishes by hand because I hate having them sitting on a towel on my countertops to dry. But when I have to wash SJ's bottles, they will look so cute sitting on this little grass square. Also, there are cute trees as accessories for hanging things on to create more space. Totally a splurge item, but they go for $20 at Target! Come on, people who are judging me. Two Dollars.

Here's one with the cute little trees. Oh, love! Also, I found a package of 50 diapers for $6. I have been very against buying diapers because I know I will get them in droves from my Sunday school's Dinner and Diapers thing they do, but these are size 2, and Huggies, so I figure she will have a few months to grow into them. (Did I mention I am going to attempt cloth diapering whenever we're at home, and do disposables when we're out? I've already had people try to talk me out of it. But I want to try.)

Alas, here I am at 25 weeks (plus 2 days). I looked cute on Sunday, but had to hurry into my swim gear right after church. No time for picture. And I never got out of my PJ's on Monday. Sue me.

 

This is my first time ever wearing maternity jeans. It was around 70 degrees outside yesterday evening when I went to the baby consignment, so I decided to haul out the jeans. However, I am loving the tank top/sweater combo. They are not maternity at all, but they so work, right? With my pearls, of course. My mother raised me right.

 

Lastly, the maternity book says that SJ will gain half a pound this week. That is crazy considering my appetite has been pretty small the past two days. But, I just ate at least a pound of pancakes to make up for it, so, there you go. I'm going to go work out now. 

 (I felt very bored with myself while reading and writing this post. I hope it wasn't to factoid-ish. I think my allergies are causing me to feel foggy and less whitty. What a shame...)

 

(Does anyone else feel like around the six-months mark your self-assurance plummets? Oh, me neither...)

 

 

*By "less than exhilarating," I do not mean to imply that I did not enjoy these days for what they were. They were perfectly pleasant (for all I know--I can't actually remember) and I am in no position to comment on the boringness in my present life.
*Her name is Anita Renfroe if you want to look her up on YouTube. And her song "Why You Gotta Be So Clean" inspired me to clean my ceiling fan.

Six Months Already, and More on Week 24.

Today I am six months pregnant. To me, that sounds very pregnant. Every week before this, mind you, I was as pregnant as I am now. But there's something about saying, "Oh, me? Six months. Yeah. Oh and, yes, this is my natural hair color."  (Kidding)

Here are some things that have changed this week, thanks to my super-pregnant status:
~I now park in the "Mommy-to-be/New Mommy" spot at church. Today was my first Sunday of doing such. There are about six or eight of these spots, and they are the absolute prime real estate of the parking lot. In fact, they're not even in the lot. They're at the curb! It's glorious* 
~I upped my workouts to four times a week. This is actually due to my recent doctor's appointment where I had my glucose test. I told my doctor that I was upset about my weight increase in the last month, but he said, "Well, it's nothing to be upset about. It's about time you had a growth spurt. Haven't you noticed some growth?" YES! In fact, I told you, dear readers, last time that I couldn't believe how my belly had grown. And I'm always marveling at how much higher (and somehow, lower) I am feeling SJ's kicks. That means she's growing too. So I will dry my eyes about the *ahem.cough.plem.* pounds and power on. But I will also add another day of cardio just to ease my brain.
~Another development is my radiating desire, yearning--nay--BURNING for cocoa pebbles. In the past couple weeks I have dreamt about them on at least two separate occasions. But I abstained from purchasing them. In one dream, I was calculating a plot as to how I could get them into the house without Texan knowing. That way I wouldn't have to share or explain why the Multi-Grain Cheerios weren't tickling my fancy enough. In the dream, I searched the shelves for that multi-pack of mini boxes of cereal but could not find one that included a mini-box of the pebs. In another dream I was...well, eating them. I don't know. But it was a great dream. So, on Saturday, after a very satisfying workout at the park with a fellow pregger, I ventured to Walmart, the land of suffering, to purchase fixings for strawberry shortcake to be served at my friend's birthday party that evening. In the milk section as I searched for whipped cream, I saw them. Three bins marked with signs that read, "$1 THEY'RE WORTH A TRY! $1" And in the first bin, lo and behold, cocoa pebbles (dyno rocks, or whatever the Malto Meal equivalent is) in a bag that probably contained about 10-15 servings. Not many, but certainly worth a try as the sign suggested. Needless to say I had chocolate gravel for breakfast, lunch, midnight snack and lunch again the next day.
~Here's something to boggle your minds. This week I wrote to our nursery director at church to let her know that September is the last month that Texan and I will be volunteering two weeks out of the month for nursery. We are dropping down to one because we feel like missing two services is quite a lot each month. As I was typing up the email I realized that I needed to let her know something else. October and November will be our last months doing nursery for a while because since our designated week is the fourth Sunday, there is a huge possibility that SJ will be in our arms by the last Sunday in December. (And if not, be serious. I will be in no position to sit on the floor and play with 8 one-year-olds.) Basically I simply can't believe that we only have three more nursery duties before the baby arrives. Mind. Boggled. \
Have You Noticed that if someone slaps "Baby" or "Infant" onto a product, it's suddenly $39.99. Me too. Like an ugly utility tote is on display at Babies R Us and it's called an Infant Sachel or something fruity, and we're like, "OoOOOOOoooOoo! So fancy!" Not. We're not like that. Not us, readers.

Here's my photo. In the interest of posting on-time, I decided to have my photo taken in my lounging outfit and fresh out of shower. I should've taken it last night when I looked all snazzy for the hibachi dinner and birthday party. But, alas, I spent all day in bed after being up all night with sick doggies. But this is good. It's like seeing the Begal Tiger in her natural habitat. No frills or fake trees. Just the tiger. (I'm the tiger in this scenario, and I'm pregnant, so be nice.)

*Don't ask me why I never parked in the special spot before. Ok, ask. Because Texan said I didn't look pregnant enough. And who am I to argue? (The pregnant lady, that's who.) But, honestly, pregnancy is not a disease! (There's a direct quote from my OB. He doesn't like for women to treat themselves like patients in a nursing home just because they're pregnant.) I probably exercise more than a lot of these non-preggers, so maybe I could give up the spot to an old lady one day, or a diabetic with sore feet. Maybe I'll use this new-found power (parking spot) to touch people with my feelings! Or maybe I'll just park in it for the next 6-9 months and enjoy it quietly and remain dignified.