Closer Everyday

I'm feeling almost 100 percent better, aside from being tired which is a constant and a little stuffy. This weekend I had dinner with a friend and her eight month old little boy and she gave me the cutest pair of knit booties that she had a co-worker make for my baby. It was so thoughtful and I love them. I also spent my weekend returning duplicated gifts and getting more items off of our registry. I've organized pretty much everything in the nursery and all that's left is to finish decorating. I'm still having a hard time making decisions. Still no bedding or curtains but I have just about everything else. Everyone has been so kind and giving and I appreciate every gift, big or small. Time is ticking away and everyday is one step closer to mommyhood. I have yet to pack my hospital bag but I did purchase some pajama pants and a comfy shirt along with warm fuzzy socks to take with me to the hospital. Other than that and some baby clothes I am kind of lost as to what else I may need. Anyone have some tips? What did you find helpful and what was unnecessary?

WTF?! Friday

 Happy Friday. Enjoy your weekend.




Guess who's sick again? Me. I promise I'm not going around licking handrails to invite germs in. My immune system is so fragile now that I'm carrying a little one. You would think your body would try harder to fight off harmful bacteria now that there's such precious cargo it's carrying but apparently it has to let down it's guard so it doesn't see the baby as a virus. The best part is there isn't much I can do to aid in feeling better. Two weeks ago I was in this exact state. I wish I at least had a little time in between. WTF?!

It takes a special kind of woman to be as domestically challenged as I am. I tried making rice and failed. Not just any old rice either. Instant rice. The kind that takes five minutes to cook and any child that knows how to read could make. Not just once but twice. It came out all kinds of mushy and had such a weird texture. I couldn't eat it. There must be some invisible force in the universe that just doesn't want me to succeed in the kitchen. Trust me, it has nothing to do with the fact that I don't really pay attention to even the simplest of directions. Still, it always amazes me how awful a cook I am.WTF?!

Family portraits are a great way of capturing memories of relatives in a photo studio posing and smiling for no reason. There are plenty of ways photographers get creative and spice things up from the standard sessions. Sometimes photographers step a little too far out of the box though. I don't know who came up with this idea or why the family agreed to it but seriously, WTF?!

Random Topic Tuesday

Today’s topic is: your favorite vacation.

As you can expect I had a great time on my honeymoon. This isn’t my favorite though as I don’t really consider it a vacation. It’s more of a rite of passage as we transitioned from “single” life into marriage. My trip to Italy was definitely memorable but I was young when I went and definitely didn’t appreciate it to its fullest. But my favorite vacation is a very simple, somewhat impromptu little getaway that my husband and I took in December of 2009. Work was really stressing me out that year and I was ready for a break. Matt suggested going someplace warm since we had just gotten hammered with snow from the infamous Snowmagedon and desperately wanted to escape. Florida seemed like the perfect place to go. Instead of heading to the beach we opted for going to Tampa to visit Busch Gardens.  The reason we decided to go there is because there's an animal safari you can go on and you get to feed giraffes. I thought that was the neatest thing ever and definitely have never even been close to a giraffe. I know that seems like such a lame place for a childless couple to visit when they could be anywhere else but it sounded like the perfect choice for us. Our trip had a rocky start to because the airline lost our luggage. We were both pretty pissed the first day but decided not to let it ruin our trip and ended up going to the ever faithful Target to buy some clothes and toiletries. The next day is when we headed to the theme park to get our adventure on and once we were there we could care less about our belongings.  We walked around the zoo looking at the different animals, most of which I don’t remember. I know there was a large white tiger that got up really close to the plexiglas where we were standing and I felt like he was going to tear through there at any moment. We paid our additional $30 bucks and it was time for the most exciting part! The giraffes were really sweet, gentle creatures that reminded me of over sized puppy dogs. Their tongues were long and black and they loved taking the food right out of your hand. We also saw rhinos but did not feed or even get close to them. A mama rhinoceros and her baby were running through the field and the baby accidentally got trampled by the mama! He was fine though and got right back up. We didn’t go on any rides since neither of us are big on getting motion sickness but I didn’t feel like we missed out on anything. The rest of the trip was relaxing and the airline found our bags after all. It was my favorite vacation because the weather was perfect, I badly needed it and it was a great experience. I can't explain it but I felt so much happiness while we were down there. I look forward to when my daughter is old enough so we can take her down there and she can be just as amazed as mommy was.

So, what was your favorite vacation? Something exotic or simple?

If you want to join in on your own blog then feel free to just snag the little picture and write your post! Let your readers know you're linking up with me so they can join in too! :)

Baby Shower Number 2!

Today was my non "surprise" baby shower and it went great! My mother in law and future sister in law were the one's who planned and hosted it and they did a wonderful job. It was a lot of fun and everyone once again was so generous with the presents. Unfortunately the gift registry at Target wasn't working properly and we ended up with double and even triples of certain gifts. Luckily people saved the receipts and there is still stuff we need that we can purchase with store credit. Along with shoving our faces most the time, we played three games for prizes. One where my crafty mother in law made a diaper cake and everyone had to guess how many diapers were in it. The second was an awesome baby food tasting where we had to guess what flavor of baby food was in the jar. (I always wanted to know what turkey and pea mush tasted like.) The third was a "guess how fat mommy is" ego boosting game where everyone cut a piece of ribbon that they thought was close to the size of my belly around. Most people were off by two or three inches and one person got it spot on. My darling husband, however, cut about eight feet of ribbon. I'll never forgive him for thinking I'm that big. I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked to but here are a few that I thought I'd share. For some reason I looked disgusted in all the ones of me opening presents, so I left those out. (I assure you I wasn't grossed out or offended by any gifts given!) Hope everyone enjoyed their Sunday as much as I did!

Adorable cupcakes

69 diapers were in the cake! I guessed 45.

Delicious baby food! Mmm...

Reserved for mama and papa

Group shot

 

Me and the two lovely hostesses 

Okay, you can't tell how many presents are there but they're stacked and people put a LOT in just one bag.

Happy 21 weeks of marriage!

My now husband proposed to me in May 2010 and it took me a few months to get motivated to plan a wedding. I was enjoying my new status (and new ring) and loved how excited everyone was for us. All that excitement wore off once I started to make decisions and get down to business though. I realized I was unsure about what I wanted because, quite frankly, it didn’t matter all that much to me. Don’t get me wrong- marriage seemed ideal. I was blissfully in love and couldn’t wait for the world to know just how committed and dedicated I was to my relationship. I just knew in the long run that at the end of the big day we would still be married and happy despite the minor details that some brides go ape shit crazy over. We found a venue and set a date of May 28th, 2011. I got a dress, decided on sage green and black as colors, booked a caterer, DJ, videographer, photographer and florist and anxiously awaited. My nerves made me feel uncertain about having a wedding as I began to dread how it would all come together and realized just how frightened I was of being a bride. Again there was no commitment issue, I was just scared to have all this attention on me and wasn't sure it was necessary. I kept thinking, "Why didn't we just elope?" It would have been a much simpler process. Matt kept telling me it was important to his family and I knew in retrospect it would be important to me too. 21 weeks ago today we were married and even though it pales in comparison to everything that's happened in between and everything that's to come, I am grateful that we did have a wedding but even more I am grateful for my husband and everything our marriage symbolizes.

I know, I look thrilled.

WTF?! Friday

 I think this is going to be a great weekend! Already I'm off to a good start. My co-worker brought me a bagel sandwich and frozen orange juice from Dunkin' Donuts and I'm so glad she did because I was starving. The cereal and muffin I ate just didn't satisfy. So nice of her! Plus, this Sunday is my baby shower hosted by my mother in law and brother in laws girlfriend! Can't wait! I hope everyone has a great weekend. :)

I was sick in bed all last weekend and all of Monday. No, no, don't feel sorry for me. It was an educating experience. Trash T.V. can teach you so much. I learned that  none of the three men tested for Keisha's baby on the Maury show were actually the father but if it wasn't any of them then she knew who it was. Then DR. Drew came on and the subject of the show was fetishes. I don't care what weird, kinky things people do in the bedroom but this was particularly fascinating. Men would pay a 550 lb. woman who goes by "Massive Mocha" to "squash" them. Squashing is when Mocha puts all 550 lbs of her loveliness on their chest or face and suffocates them until they signal her to stop. One man broke his ribs and still went back for more. They would also pay her to do things like stomp on food or sit on and pop balloons. And I thought people into sucking toes were strange. WTF?!

Newborn babies have to sleep with little mittens similar to socks on their hands to keep their sharp, demon like claws from scratching their precious little faces. This is usually only for the first month or so.When I was visiting my sister and her kids, my 29 month old niece was napping. With socks on her hands. Because she put them there and then fell asleep. I don't need to say more.

My giant belly has finally forced me into buying maternity jeans. I was excited when I saw a coupon for $10 off your purchase at a maternity store in my October/November pregnancy magazine. Then I looked at the expiration date. September 30th. Now, I'm no genius but when I think about it hard September is not October or November. Freaking cheapskates. WTF?!

It’s not only crazy girlfriends that try and kill their significant others but crazy wives will too. A Washington state woman took a power saw to her husbands neck while he was asleep. Like any man who wasn’t drugged or knocked out prior, he awoke and went bizerk. (I really hope I’m not co-conspirating to any future murders by throwing in there that he wasn’t drugged or knocked out.) She denied the proof and evidence that she tried to harm her husband and says she only had the saw because there was an intruder trying to escape through her daughters window. All evidence says otherwise and police aren’t buying her story. She is under investigation for domestic violence charges. Why it's not attempted murder is beyond me.  So, ladies, if there is ever a trespasser in your house, first and foremost, try and cut off your husbands head. Seems like the logical thing to do. WTF?!

34 weeks

I don't like being lied to. The world has been dishonest about this pregnancy thing. It is not nine months long. I know not every month is four weeks exactly but if you ask someone how long one month is then they'll tell you it's four weeks. Forty weeks is ten months in my eyes. Since doctors count from your LMP my pregnancy isn't even going to be nine calender months more than likely. LMP was February 15th. Due date is November 30th. Chances are she will be born in December since due dates are not always accurate and only a small percent of babies are born on theirs and on top of that the first child is usually a little late. I assume she won't be earlier than that but we'll see. Not that I'm just figuring this all out but I am starting to get impatient. I'm 34 weeks along though and know I'm getting close. It just seems like it will be a long six or seven more weeks. Anyway, I don't want to complain anymore. I am so lucky and so happy about this. Plus once she's here there are so many things I won't be able to do or that will be much more difficult with a baby. I am just going to try and soak up the next few weeks of alone time with my husband and enjoy the sleep I do get. This has been a great experience so far and I would gladly do it all over again for this baby that I haven't even met yet!

Random Topic Tuesdays

Today's topic: What kind of child were you?

To me the most memorable part of my personality as a child was that I was weird. I'm not going to go into grave detail because I'd like people not to think my parents laced my Wheaties with LSD but to give you an example: I drew faces on eggs and talked to them. A little bit out of the ordinary. All children have imaginations though and I turned out okay, right? Right?! I was also independent. This may have been influenced by having three siblings and not a whole lot of space and privacy but I liked to spend time alone with my thoughts. I felt the most creative then and didn’t have the hassle of trying to agree on what to play next. I just did what I wanted. I was a little bit rebellious and didn’t like being told what to do. This is probably where my nightmarish adolescence began but we won’t get into that horror story today.

Another strong trait was that I was shy for a long time. In school teachers would always tell my mom how quiet and reserved I was. I made friends okay, I wasn't the creepy kid lurking in the corner at recess or anything, but I wasn't outgoing. As I got older I became more secure and opened up at school more and more. I wasn’t super popular but I was well liked with the exception of my first bullying experience. When I was in third grade one of my close friends turned on me for no apparent reason and started being a bitch.(Yes, eight year olds can be bitches. Trust me.) She would tell me I wasn’t as pretty as her and that she was by far better than me. I hated her and would cry a lot. Every day I dreaded going to school and had a sinking feeling in my stomach. After that I always wanted to be friends with the less accepted kids and hated seeing them get picked on. I don’t vividly remember standing up for them but I know I discourage those harassing them from doing it. I was very opinionated and grew to become more and more outspoken.

Some of those characteristics from childhood are still embedded in me and I am happy about that. I don't talk to eggs anymore, which is a good thing, but there are a few eccentric features that I'm happy make up who I am today. I'm a little nervous to see what is passed on to my daughter but I think she will turn out just fine.

So, what kind of child were you? Shy? A bully? Popular? Loner? Stubborn?

WTF?! Friday

 I hope everyone had a good week! I woke up this morning feeling a little bit under the weather. Luckily I don't have to work tomorrow so I can take it easy and get some rest. If I feel up to it then I think I will try and shop for a new light fixture for the nursery this weekend. Exciting, I know. I also need some drawer knobs for her dresser because the ones it came with aren't decorative enough. Have a great weekend everyone!

One of the many downsides to being poor is that I have to settle for a crappy phone. It’s a touch screen that doesn’t like to be touched. I try and make a phone call or send a text message and the screen remains unaffected, mocking the fact that it doesn’t have to obey me. It does this frequently. One day I’m going to be in a dire situation where making a call is vital to my life and this stupid phone will be too damn stubborn to do it. If you guys ever find my body in a gutter then sue Cricket for me. That's the piece of crap phone company I'm with and the corporation who will be responsible for my demise. WTF?!

Elevators are practical. Doctors are practical. Elevators at my doctors are not practical. I went in on Wednesday for a 10:45 appointment, arrived at the medical building about 10:40 and checked in on the ninth floor at 10:55. I still don’t understand how that was possible. The whole time I was waiting for an elevator. The one’s going up were coming from the parking garage and packed with people. The one’s coming down were heading to the garage and when they came back up they were jammed again. I should have just gotten on anyway but my brain doesn’t work when I’m highly annoyed. This was an endless cycle. There are four elevators and twelve floors. There are stairs too. People would take the elevator to the first and second floors. I contemplated walking but remembered it’s a struggle for me to even put my shoes on in the morning. On top of that people were so rude and would push past me to get on. I don’t except people to go out of their way for me because I’m pregnant but I also wouldn’t expect them to shove past me if I weren’t. WTF?!

All women have at least a little bit of crazy in them. Undoubtedly our significant others can bring this crazy out of us even more. One woman took crazy to a new level when she ran over her boyfriend with her car. You might think that her psychotic episode was related to something that is somewhat justifiable, like infidelity, but you’d be wrong. Okay, maybe I’m a little crazy since I think running someone over with a car is ever somewhat justifiable in any situation other than a life threatening one. Her reason was that she called her boyfriend, who was out jogging, and asked him for some money. She met him where he was and he gave her what he had on him. She was apparently very unhappy with the amount he gave her (cause people jogging carry tons of cash on them) and as he jogged off she hit the accelerator and rammed into him. He hit the hood, she backed up; he fell off and then she ran over his legs. I don't know if gold diggers around the world are extremely proud of her or shaking their heads at this? WTF?!

I tend to over react to things, I know. Luckily my husband usually calms me down and talks some sense into me. One family apparently doesn’t have a rational thinker as they called 911 because they were lost in a corn maze. Now, at first I wasn’t so outraged by this story. I thought, “What are you suppose to do when you’re lost?” Then I remembered it’s freaking corn and not a cement wall. You can walk through corn and at the very least if you are stranded for days then you can eat the corn. They were found 25 feet from the entrance.WTF?!

Seven More Weeks to Go!

Today I had a doctor’s appointment for a routine checkup. I am 33 weeks and getting close! I was excited to hear that my little girl has already turned head down even though some babies do this as early as 28 weeks. (Plus I’m not sure when exactly she did turn.) This surprised me to hear even though I sometimes feel her kick near my ribs (I thought she was just doing somersaults) because I feel her body parts all over and thought she was positioned sideways. I am happy to hear she is getting ready for her big debut! My body is ready for her arrival too. I feel all the extra weight that I’m carrying around. My back aches a lot and there’s a lot of stress put on my hips and spine when I’m lying down. This makes it especially hard to get up and pee which happens all too frequently. Everyone keeps commenting on how big I’m getting and I don’t really know how to respond to that. I know I’m getting big but I see myself everyday and it is a gradual change for me. It does seem like my stretch marks got progressively worse overnight. They’re horrible. I’m not just being my own worst critic either. They really do look like an animal with giant claws tore into me. They’re really deep, thick and red. In other gross news, my breasts have started leaking a small amount of colostrum. It’s amazing to see how your body works in preparation for a baby, even if it is rough and takes its toll on you.

Random Topic Tuesdays

 Todays topic is: why you love your hometown.

Where you grow up is going to shape the person you become. I was born in Colorado and lived there in a very small town for a short period of my childhood before my family headed out east to Virginia. Since Colorado was all I knew, naturally I was reluctant to leave it behind. Boy, am I glad we did. The small town I was living in would have inevitability shaped me into a different person then I am today. I’m not trash talking anyone from a small town but judging from the friends/family that remained there the quality of life just wouldn’t be so great. There isn’t much to do so people turn to drugs and alcohol and this becomes a lifestyle for them. I definitely wouldn’t be with my husband but would probably still be pregnant (possibly with my fifth or sixth child). There aren’t as many job opportunities as there are here so people obviously have less money which can lead to more crime. Even though the school systems have the same grade levels as everywhere else, people just seem less educated. When people think of Virginia they think of the south. When you think of the south you think of small towns. Northern Virginia is so much different from other parts of Virginia. There are different viewpoints of someone living in a big city verses someone from a small town and living outside of a major city definitely influences the people around me.

I love my hometown because it is rich in history with ties to George Washington and the Civil War. There are charming little neighborhoods that are perfect for raising a family. We’re close enough to DC that a social nightlife is only ten minutes away. (Bars are plentiful here, but people prefer the clubs and trendiness of the District). Museums, monuments and other tourist attractions are only a few metro stops away. We’re not DC though so people are friendlier and we don’t have to deal with a lot of the downsides to living there. I love the community where I live despite the high cost of living and limited space. I feel safe here. (As safe as someone with my paranoid personality is ever going to feel, anyway.) We’re walking distance to some great restaurants and shops. I love my hometown because this is where I’ve grown up and have made my little nest. I'm happy that this is where my daughter is going to be raised. I love it for the life it has created for me and who I’ve become.

So what makes you love your hometown?

October Outing

Today we headed out to a farm about an hour and a half away from home for a nice family get together. We met up with my parents, sister Brittany, her two children Sienna and Bridget (ages five and two and a half), sister Courtney, her boys Drew and Colin (ages eight and four) and her fiancee Derek. There was a hay maze that the kids loved running through and climbing all over, animals to pet, a haunted house (which we didn't do unfortunately), and we went on our first hay ride where we picked pumpkins and apples. (Okay, we didn't so much pick the apples as we did pick them out because they just had them in a wooden crate for us to take.) It was a good time, new experience and a lot of fun. I do wish it would have been cooler and felt more like fall (it was 80 degrees) to add to the theme of the festivities and keep us all from sweating but oh well. My niece Bridget really loves Matt and followed him around everywhere. When it was time to go, her mom tried to get her down from this tractor she was sitting on and Bridget started to throw a fit and told her no. Matt comes over and puts his arms out and she not only willingly goes to him but she does it with a smile on her face! Seeing them interact together really makes me look forward to the way things will be with our own little girl- minus the temper tantrums. After the farm we went out to dinner and then went shopping at the Dollar Store. I know that sounds weird but it was right next to the restaurant and I love cheap shit so thought we should at least browse and made everyone tag along. Like my husband said, this should be a yearly event for us. It's always nice to spend time with them. Even though we live in the same city, everyone has their own thing going on and we don't do things together as often as we should. I guess that's a good thing though because sometimes they drive me nuts and it makes me appreciate when we are together. It's crazy to think that we'll have an addition to the family in just a few more weeks! I am so looking forward to it all.

Matt and Bridget in the maze

Colin

Drew

Sienna, already posing like a diva

Hay ride time!

On our way to the pumpkin patch

It's damn near impossible to get a picture of the two of them looking happy in the same frame

Little pumpkin for tiny hands

Apple "picking"

Apple eating

Mine and Matt's pumpkins

Ride back

She looks kind of like she's trying to escape but she was just chilling

Little goat

Little cow

Big mama (see how much my belly button sticks out?!)

Nice horse

Driving the tractor