Week 34--Oh, and 33 and 32.

I took a hiatus from blogging the past two weeks because I have been THAT busy! Last weekend my mom came on Friday to prep for my shower that was on Sunday. So we spent the weekend shopping, baking, and being your typical mother-daughter duo. Oh, did I say typical? Well, at one point I was driving us to dinner after she got in on Friday afternoon and I heard her new iPhone make that camera shutter sound, so I asked, "What are you doing over there?" Her reply? "I'm sending your dad a selfie." Yeah, we're typical I guess.

We ate fried pickles as an appetizer and enjoyed dinner and a little shopping followed by Christmas movie and an early bedtime that night. But despite being early to bed on Friday night, I awoke completely unrested do to the lack of oxygen in my lungs. I think my little long-legged babykins was stretching her gams, which left me completely wide awake at 4:45 after waking up every 2 hours to pee and try to breath. I finally had given up and decided to mop the floors and clean out my fridge. At least the rest of the weekend I slept great and haven't had such a horrible night since.

My baby shower was awesome. My sister and her family came into town at 12:45 and we had tacos for lunch then rushed off to my sweet friend, Carrie's house for the festivities. Here's something funny--Carrie put balloons up at every turn so that people would be able to find her house easily. So smart! Well, it turns out that there was another shower in her neighborhood. Same day, same time. So some poor, sweet lady showed up to the wrong party and quickly exclaimed, "I'm at the wrong party!" And silly me, I had just said "hi" to her like nothing was wrong. It wasn't until we had all laughed about her mistake that I realized, I guess this is my shower, so I should have realized that there's this random lady I've never seen before. But I just didn't want to go up to her and ask her what she was doing at my shower. I'm too nice, I guess. Yeah, that's it...

All of the décor was exactly what I wanted at my shower. I wanted it to be country chic with mason jars and lots of homemade cookies and milk and sweet tea. My friends did such a good job with everything, and even stressed themselves out over a few small details. There's something so humbling when people go out of their way to make you happy! Don't worry, I was (sarcastically) told to quit having such high expectations at one point during planning. But they definitely blew me away with how sweet and perfect everything was, all in all. Here are a few pics taken by my sweet sister.
(Disclaimer: I hate every picture of my 8.5 month pregnant self, so I'll mostly stick with ones that don't include me).

Texan's Mom and my Mom

 I drank so much milk at this thing, as you probably could've guessed.

 

 The banner says, "Welcome Baby SJ." I Hung it in her nursery.

My sister did such a good job with the cupcakes. And she even made the little toppers with the help of Mom's Crickut. (That's really how you spell it, I guess. Google it).

Here are some updates on my pregnancy:
~I have started having appointments every 2 weeks now.
~I have two new moles--yikes. My doc says increased estrogen makes them typical in pregnancy. They are normal and regular-looking. So, I can be thankful for that.
~I can no longer wear my wedding rings without fear of having to get them sawed off. I force them on when I'm leaving the house and have to use lotion to take them off. I just hate not wearing them.
~Texan has officially requested that we take a tour of the maternity ward where we will be delivering. I think he's trying to prepare. I signed us up for Thursday's tour/class. Yay!
~I have slowed down on my workouts these past two weeks due to serious cramping in my abdomen when I work out. My doctor says it's normal to have CONTRACTIONS while working out. No thanks.
~My feet swell and ache if I'm on them for more than two hours.
~My hips are killing me lately.
~I actually broke down crying because I was so overtired and my feet hurt so bad on Saturday after not sleeping the night before and shopping the whole day. Texan didn't seem amused. Ha!
~Baby's nursery is only missing wall-treatments, curtains, and a changing table. But, basically, it's ready for a little one any time now. I even washed all of her clothes and jammies.

And, finally, here are some of the things I have been doing these past two weeks that have kept me so busy!
~I volunteered as a server at our local food pantry/"soup" kitchen twice last week. I put soup in quotes because we actually serve real meals with choice of drink, salad, meat, starch, veggie, and dessert. Our church is in charge of all food and volunteers for one week every three months. It was great fun, but exhausting.
~I had to turn our guest room into a nursery, and our weight room into a guest/weight room. There were a few days where all I did was rearrange closets, fill bags for yard sale, trash, and donation. Again, exhausting.
~I am in charge (am I?) of planning our group yard sale this weekend because it was my idea (was it?) Plus, I can't remember anything anymore.
~My sister surprised me and came into town to spend the day with me a couple weeks ago, and it was so nice! She even helped me clean my house and rearranged my living room for me to give me a nice change. I love what she's done with the place!


Hopefully the next blog will include pictures of a nursery. I'm no sure if we'll have the changing table yet, since we are still waiting for Amazon to refund the money for the one they sent that was the wrong color. It was a mess, but hopefully we can get a WHITE one soon enough. But, hey! The next blog should include some pictures of my Thanksgiving preparations since Thanksgiving will be my 35 week anniversary (?) I don't know. I feel like 35 weeks is A LOT. I have to be more diligent about blogging, because my days are limited now. To state the obvious, every day is closer and closer to delivery.

Captain Obvious out!

Week 31

Ok, so there's been a lot of activity in the comment section about what I have written on my belly pic board this week. (Just kidding, no one comments on my blog. And no one reads what's on my board. But let me pretend my blog gets a lot of traffic, k?) On my board this week is written: Baby will start making memories this week. Say what? Yeah, I read it in my What to Expect When You're Expecting book. Apparently, this is the week where baby starts retaining things heard in the womb and can recognize things by accessing memory. Could be a load of cat manure, but if it's in the book, I accept it.

My favorite thing to do at night when I am trying to fall asleep is to imagine being with my baby. ~Nursing her in her nursery by the soft glow of the lamp I registered for at Target, ahem, Mom, ahem.
~Dressing her for her first trip to church--outfit courtesy of Grammy and Grampy.
~Starting a bedtime ritual as she starts sleeping through the nights. Hooded towel, lavender baby lotion, footie pajamas, a story.
~And most of all I love to imagine rocking her while I sing to her. As I've written before, I love to sing. In the shower, in a car, in a karaoke bar...ok not anymore. Mostly just at church and around the house. I like to think of songs that will be fun to sing to her while I change her or sooth her cries. When my niece, Gabby was a baby, I visited a lot and got to spend a ton of time with her at that adorable age. She was always so cheery and delightful. I used to sing Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" to her while I got her ready for bed or changed her diapers. I have fond memories of singing to all of my nieces and nephews when they were small, especially the older ones who were babies when I was in college and spent all of my money on plane tickets to visit my sisters. Lately I've had this  song stuck in my head. It has such a beautiful melody, plus it's Disney, so I can't go wrong. I know it's sad, but she won't understand the words, so sue me.

Are you worried that I'm romanticizing the idea of motherhood? Because I'm not. I have plenty of daydreams about poop explosions, my sweet baby throwing a fit during bath time (which I'm SURE she'll love) or changings or any time I try to take a picture of her. She'll have things that she likes and dislikes, I know. Or maybe she'll be really chill and never cry and always smile. Maybe.

My appointment on Tuesday is my last monthly checkup. The following one or two will be bi-monthly and then weekly. I'm so glad, because I have so many things to ask my doc this week. All of my uncomfortable symptoms seemed amplified this weekend by the fact that Texan went on a 4-day and 3-night hunting excursion. My lack of sleep and feeling of vulnerability left me freaking out when my fingers started to tingle and feel numb at 2 a.m. Then my whole left hand. I'M HAVING A HEART ATTACK! Ok, no. Calm down.

The prize in the cracker jack box that was THE WEEKEND FROM HADIES was the fact that my parents came for a visit. Friday night they got in around 9 and then Saturday we spent the day shopping. We went to the military installation to shop for Thanksgiving groceries, which sounds boring but is so much fun! My mom stocked up on fixings for green been casserole and stuffing. We priced turkeys but were unimpressed by the prices...$1.20/lb...not so good. Then we went to the mall where my mom went WILD in bed, bath and beyond. This is the swag I scored on Saturday. It was like Christmas, but then again it's always Christmas when my parents come to town. Disclaimer: This picture does not include the jammies and socks that my mom bought for SJ. Nor does it show the awesome breakfast, Starbucks, and dinner my parents treated me to. They are way too good to me!

I got my British cookies, my favorite Christmas cookie mix, some caffeine-free Shasta, plenty of smell-goods from B&B Works, and oh, laundry detergent they were practically GIVING AWAY for baby SJ's sensitive baby skin.

Here I am at the end of a long day of hauling in loot all about town. My mom gave me a quick re-teach on a double stitch in my crocheting before they left, and that was the end of their visit. It was too quick! I spent the whole evening missing Texan and crocheting a throw for the living room couch.

 Here's something for all of you who swore I was having a girl. At a checkout line this week the cashier was a mid-50's lady who said, "You're having a little girl, aren't you? You're carrying her good and high. That's how I know." Weird how people have their ways of guessing. I've also been getting, "You're almost 8 months? She's going to be small!" Hmm. Healthy Healthy Healthy. That's all that matters. Don't be too small, SJ. You don't have to prove anything to anyone.

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.