Monday, April 28, 2008

23...Almost 24 Weeks

I'm giving into familial and friendly pressure. :) I've had multiple requests from out-of-towners who want to see my belly grow. So, here it is. My first picture.

I'm still feeling pretty good, but the number of trips to the bathroom and to the freezer for some nightcap ice cream are increasing at a rapid rate. I'm having a bit more difficulty sleeping at night, but that might be more due to the fact that Joel has been sleeping so soundly (not soundlessly, though).

I think right now I'm just in the "Is she just fat or is she really pregnant?" stage. Oh well, I guess it's better than being large for the remaining 17 weeks! My time will come.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

High School Prom

I am getting older. It's just a reality. I actually called 911 the other day because a bunch of kids were riding down the middle of our busy street in an off-road vehicle with no helmets and holding on to the back. What really bothered me is that the school was just letting out and the speed limit was only 20 mph. They were going well over that and there were lots of kids & parents around, so I called the cops. Yikes. I never would have done that 5 years ago!

I also find myself weighing whether or not I would like to attend an event simply based on the start time. Anything after 8pm is out, for sure. 7:30 is questionable and 7:00pm is prime, if it ends before 9. I just need my rest, people. And, I really do enjoy being at home. Playing a game or watching a movie and eating some pizza sounds like the best deal on a Friday night to me. (Although I will say I love spending time with friends & family--that's more appealing than going "out" late--like to the movies.)

However, this past Friday night, I really extended myself and did something "old". We attended Joel's school's Prom. Not to attend for real, but to attend as chaperones. What a mature thing to do.

Joel & I got all dressed up--that was really fun. However, finding a maternity "prom" dress is not so easy. Thankfully, my friend Julie is awesome and let me borrow this great dress. My friend Krista & I went for pedicures yesterday morning and my friend, Briony came over and did my hair & make up which was a great treat. I'm not a real fancy type of gal. We left early and went for a great dinner at Macaroni Grill. There were lots of kids there dressed up for their own proms--tis the season.

Joel and I had fun reminiscing about our own prom exper- iences-- from 10+ years ago-- YIKES, we're old! We enjoyed the food and each other's company and then in typical high school fashion, promptly realized we had no idea what time the dance actually started!

Here's what I learned while attending the dance (which was really close to home--a short trip home at the end of the evening, which is nice for us old people). Nothing about high school has changed. OK, so they text message now and actually know what the internet is (it was still being invented when I started high school). But, all of the drama and hype is still exactly the same. Who cam with who, who got a limo & who did not, who came stag, who wore the same dresses and whose hair looked the best, who left with a different date than they came with and who spent the entire time in the bathroom upset that their date is lame...it's all the same. I'm sorry to disappoint you, high schoolers, but none of that is new.

I will say that I was surprised by the level of care the administrators took to look over kids as they entered to see if they had been drinking or doing drugs. That was probably going on when I was in high school, but I wasn't aware of it.

Times have changed in some ways, but mostly for me. I've gotten older since high school, that's for sure. I actually had a great date that I could legally go home with at the end of the evening--and a great looking one at that. :) And although we didn't, we could have legally enjoyed a glass of wine with dinner (obviously, I wouldn't have anyway, but the idea is we could have). I also own the car that we drove (thanks mom & dad) and I wasn't worried that my date would see me without my make up on at the end of the night.

I used to enjoy staying out late and spending time with large groups of people. Getting all dressed up and going out used to be appealing. But, I'll leave that for those young whipper-snappers. As for me and my old body, I was at home, in bed, before the dance was even over.

Friday, April 25, 2008

A Shoe Extravaganza!

This article is in defense of women everywhere. I admit that women do have a tendency to have an over-abundance of items when it comes to clothes and accessories. I do own my fair share. I had to put about 3 tubs of winter clothes + clothes that don't fit away to make room for maternity clothes. And, I do have quite a few pair of cute socks ("teacher socks" as one friend calls them), and I do enjoy fun necklaces--especially now that I'm pregnant. They are the one item that always fits right. :)

However, I do not own many shoes. I am not a shoe snob. Typically I buy a pair of sandals for the summer and wear them out. Then I buy a pair of black and brown shoes for fall/winter and wear them out. I did buy a couple of new pair of slip-on shoes for this summer because requiring a pregnant woman in the heat of the summer to put on shoes, let alone tie them is just ridiculous.

On the flip side, my husband does not own nearly as many clothes as I do--quite a few t-shirts that he lives in for the summer. But, mostly he owns a few pair a pants and nice shirts for work. He doesn't accessorize with sweaters or trendy clothes. He owns two belts--one black, one brown and a few ties.

BUT, he owns an amazing amount of shoes. However, because they are all so "specialized", they hardly ever wear out because he doesn't wear them very often. What does a man do with so many shoes?

Here are a few:














Basketball Shoes
Bowling Shoes
Crocs (2 pair--green & orange)
Sandals (multiple pairs & styles)
Flip Flops (2 pair--brown and black)
Black dress shoes
Black casual shoes
Running Shoes
Old Running Shoes
Winter boots
Red Chucks (low top)
Black Chucks (high top)
Brown Skechers for School

And his newest acquisition: golf shoes.

And honestly, the list does go on. But, I am out of time. We're off to the store. He needs cleats for his softball game tonight...

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Baby Stuff!

I always knew in the back of my mind how stuff babies needed. But, it wasn't until actually going to Babies R Us to see all of the equipment first hand, that I realized it really is a lot of stuff! I'm not sure where all of it will go without taking over the whole house! It seems like a bit of a conspiracy to me--do babies really need all of that stuff? Pioneer children survived with a rattle and a corn husk doll...

We've already started receiving clothes-- they are so cute! The outfit on the left is from my friend Janelle--the shirt says "Thank heaven for little boys". I hope I'm still saying that in a few years! The other two outfits are from my mom--the Swedish shirt was Baby J's first outfit--way back at Christmastime. Joel is convinced the clothes are way too big for our baby (two are 0-3 months). I don't think he realizes how much room the diaper takes up! :)

Well, we both have lots to learn, lots to do and lots of sleep to store up before Baby J arrives!

Monday, April 07, 2008

First Flowers

Last summer I tried my hand at gardening. I started putting in a small garden in May. I worked on it throughout the summer and it was beautiful (for a first year garden).

I neglected it most of the fall and have been hoping all winter that some of the plants would come back.

This last weekend, I thought I better put a little bit of work into it as spring approaches. I weeded a bunch of the dead stuff out and picked the leaves out from the mulch. I haven't had to water it because we've had so much rain/snow. Well, this weekend the plants really started to come back and I have my first flowers of the season! The ones above are phlox I thought for sure were goners! I had to plant 2 sets of plants and I thought they wouldn't survive. But they did! I'm not sure what these pretty bluish-purplish flowers are, but they sure are pretty! Spring is right around the corner!

I'm even considering taking on another garden project because this one was so much fun. I know for sure this fall I want to plant some tulips--I'm sad that everyone else in our neighborhood has some popping up now and I don't! It will be a high priority in the fall (because we have nothing else going on...)!

Thursday, April 03, 2008

And the Results Are In!

We had our ultrasound today and it was awesome! Most of the time I didn't really know what we were looking at, I just knew it was God's mighty hand at work!

The technician asked us if we wanted to know the gender of the baby and we said "Yes!". She put the instrument on my belly and in three seconds we knew it was a boy! We were both very excited. Obviously, we were even more excited to know it looks like we have a healthy baby on the way!

Here are some pictures. I'm sorry they aren't great...but, they sure are amazing!

This first one is a side profile of his head/face, chest & arm. The bright spot at the top is not the moon...it's my flash. :)


The next picture is probably my favorite. The large stomach-looking object in the bottom left is my placenta. Then just above it, in the center of the photo are two white blobs. Those are Baby J's feet. How cute?!


This is the one Baby J will be embarrassed I published. The little arrow directly in the center points to why we know he's a boy. It's a butt shot and the two wing looking things are his lower legs.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Keep Your Opinions...

coming!

I've learned that having a baby is just like getting married--everyone has their own opinion about it and they aren't afraid to tell you.

So, I thought I would share some of the things I've heard from various people over the last few weeks.

"One kid is like an accessory. 2 makes a family."

"You're finding out the gender of the baby?!?! I always thought you were one of those type of people."

"You're not telling the names you've picked out? How rude."

"Have you started to FREAK OUT about anything yet?" (No, should I? Now I'm kind of freaked out that I wasn't freaked out before!)

"Get ready for the baby-crap invasion" (referring to all of the baby gear you "need" these days)--I think a guy said this one

"You're having a girl."

"You're having a boy."

"I think you should have twins."

"Haven't you started on the nursery yet? You're going to be in trouble!"

"Doesn't the week you're due coincide with the Democratic National Convention (in Denver this summer)?" (which was actually a good comment because we realized that delivering at the downtown hospital was not the best decision ever. We've decided to deliver at a hospital north of the city to avoid any potential rioting, picketing or other mayhem the convention may bring to Denver this summer)

And so on...

There really have been more comments that have made me chuckle a bit. Some more serious than others. I just love hearing people's opinions, most of the time.

What I haven't been prepared for at all is how many people ask how you are feeling when you are pregnant. Everyone asks, which is great--don't get me wrong. I'm just not sure how much I'm supposed to share.

Do you tell people "actually, I'm feeling quite fat today" or "I didn't sleep well last night because I had lots of gas" or "I can't keep anything down and feel like vomiting" or "funny thing, I gagged on a banana this morning and almost threw up all over Joel, wanna come over for dinner?" or some combination of the above.

Mostly I just say "I'm feeling fine", which is the truth 90% of the time.

In all reality, being pregnant for the first 20 weeks hasn't been too bad. Once I got over the not eating part in January and February. Now I'm feeling pretty good--thankful for the chiropractor more than ever--and learning how to adjust to the fact that gaining weight really is a good thing.

So here is my pregnancy information, by the numbers, so you can form your own opinions and then let me know about them!

*Total weight gain: less than 6lbs.
*Total weight gain goal: less than 30, obviously I'm not starving myself--I consume large amounts of food, I'm just hoping for minimal weight gain.
*Due Date: August 21
*Baby Goal: To be born after August 12, when Joel is done with his grad school classes for the summer (he has 3 weeks off between August & Labor Day) and his work school starts then too
*Number of times I've cried unnecessarily: at least 2. Joel can testify to that. He recently asked "What just happened?" after one of these episodes. And I mean episodes.
*Number of nightly trips to the bathroom: at least 1, between 2-3am
*Last day for "regular clothes": Saturday, March 29. I finally broke down and started wearing maternity clothes for real. I had been wearing a few shirts here and there to go down over the top of my pants. But, let's face it, I don't fit into my favorite jeans anymore. My goal was March 15, so I think I did pretty well!
*Number of Jack-In-the-Box Cheeseburgers eaten: 4 in the last 4 weeks. They are sooooo good!
*Number of Strollers now in my possession: 2. One old umbrella stroller--it works great--I already tried it with my friend's 15 month old. One running stroller.
*Number of times I've thought about going to register: about a million and then I think "What a nightmare!" I'm glad to have a couple of friends who are willing to go with me to help. I need it!
*Number of times I've already gone to the doctor: (for regular visits): 5 and 2 more already scheduled for this month
*Number of times I've thought about/said out loud "We aren't going to be able to do that when the baby comes": infinite. Mostly about staying up late, sleeping in late, going out late, laying around watching TV, leaving small pieces from games laying around.....

I think that's about it. Tomorrow (Thursday) is our big ultrasound and I'm super excited. Unfortnately, you can't take any cameras in with you, so I will just have to tell you about it. Our hope is to find out the gender of Baby J. I'll keep you posted, because I'm sure you'll have an opinion about it.