a plethora of tidbits about our life lately – and a giveaway winner

 

Okay – so this little blog post is about to be fast and furious. My Pepsi buzz is about to run out, which means the little bit of brain function I have left is about to skidoodle out of here as well.

{and don’t judge the pregnant woman drinking Pepsi, K? I could not have made it home from work, cleaned up, cooked dinner, ran to church, taught a class of energetic 4-year-olds, come home, eat the dinner I cooked earlier but didn’t get to taste, walk the dog and NOW blog… so yes, every now and then, I need my caffeine jolt – pregnant or not.}

 

 

Speaking of the 4 year old bible class I’m teaching – I’m learning  a lot about kids from this class, including the fact that I know much more about dogs than children. Do they mind when I make the same funny noises to get their attention that I do to call my dog? I don’t think so. And hey – it works. Though I still can’t get them to sit as well as I can with the dog…

 

 

So what’s new, you say?

 

A few things:

 

Last Friday, Houston and I began our journey into the 6 month of this pregnancy. Which officially sounds somewhat far along to me. Which officially started my “OhMyGosh I haven’t been reading the baby books and the nursery is still a guest bedroom/junk room and I have nothing even remotely ready for this child!!!”

Join me in my anxious panic, will you? I have to say it’s a fun one because even in the swirl of chaos that is getting ready for this baby and the unknown, I am so full of joy and excitement.

 

A quick pic of the little field goal kicker and I at 24 weeks:

 

 

Livin’ large from the front these days too:

 

 

 

New to the pregnancy journey this month: absolute brain farts and carpal tunnel.

My brain has officially left the building, folks. If it were still here, I could reminisce with you over all the stupid things I’ve done lately, but I can’t quite remember all of them. One that’s still fresh in my memory… changing clothes after work to go walk the dog and realizing just before stepping out that I forgot to put on any pants.

True story.

As for the carpal tunnel, my hands decided to swell a bit last week which apparently puts some pressure on that carpal tunnel thingy making my hands and wrists ache and tingle – does that happen to let me off the hook for not blogging much lately?

 

 

I also had my “first Mother’s Day” this week which I was pleasantly surprised with since foolish me thought I wouldn’t have a first Mother’s Day till my child arrived on the scene. Go figure?!

Let me tell you ladies, my husband set the bar high for all Mother’s Days to come. I’m not sure he thought it through to that point, but I was one happy woman! Breakfast in bed, then lunch brought to my work, the exact dinner I asked for when I got home followed with frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf. It was perfection.

{BTW – Nick wanted to take me out to dinner, but I told him I was dying for a bowl of Lucky Charms. This is why I said “exact dinner I asked for” even though he thought I was insane!}

I may have even been lavished with orchids, my favorite double doozie cookie from the American Cookie Company, AND a diamond necklace.

 

Get back, ladies – HE’S MINE!! ;)

 

 

And to wrap up this crazy post, WE HAVE A GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!!

Thanks to all of you sweet people who voted, I won runner-up in the competition. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP and I’m sure the March of Dimes truly appreciates it too. Together we raised $450!!!!

 

and the winner is…

Sonya – from “A Day in the Life”

Congrats, Sonya! Please email me your street address to

robertslove {at} live {dot} com

and I’ll get your $50 VISA gift card right out to you ASAP!

 

Now time to hit the sack with my hubby who’s already been snoozing since 7:00! Poor tired man – should’ve had a Pepsi…. =)

23 weeks of belly love

 

 

Please accept this blurry picture from our baby-moon in Vegas as our 23 week picture…

 

I must say, I am truly starting to feel pregnant.

It only took almost 6 months to get to that point – go figure!

 

Up until now, I’ve had only 4 strangers actually acknowledge my pregnancy. It may seem weird to you that I would care to keep track of that, but it’s my only real measuring stick to know if I’m “showing” or just ambiguously fat looking ;)

 

I will never forget the very first stranger to ever ask if I was pregnant. Over a month ago, I was at work typing a patient’s information into the computer as she was telling it to me. I wasn’t very big yet and even if I were, the shirt I was wearing that day had a ton of ruffles and disguised any belly extremely well. Add my white lab coat on top of that and there was NO WAY you would ever imagine I was pregnant without knowing.

But just when I thought I was incognito, she asked… and I was stunned! I think she could tell I was surprised even though I confirmed that I indeed was ‘with child’. She said she thought I might be because – get this – I scratched my stomach?!

HOLY COW!!! She should be a DETECTIVE!!!

She said she had 4 kids and with each of them her belly was always itchy from the stretching. So not only did she sniff out I was preggers, she answered my unspoken question – was everyone else’s belly as itchy as mine was?

She went on to say she didn’t think I would be offended if it turned out I wasn’t pregnant since she said I was “thin”. {WRONG assumption, detective!} I told her she was one brave woman and we had a good laugh as she went on to recommend some products that helped her itchiness. I was stunned and amused by her detective work the rest of the day!

 

SIDE NOTE: This was actually a Muslim woman I was talking to who was in a full burqa. I have always thought this way of dressing was oppressive {still do…}, but that day it struck me that it may give this woman the courage to ask what no one else would who’s face you may later identify. She was extremely talkative and a real hoot, I must say =) Rock on, burqa momma!

 

At 23 weeks, I’m still feeling pretty darn good. I’m not so huge that my belly is in the way though a few things are changing because of the loss of use of my abdominals. I find just a tiny bit more difficulty in doing the following – though they aren’t even close to being out of the question yet:

• Putting on my shoes and socks – getting dressed in general isn’t such a cake walk anymore
• Bending all the way to the ground or squatting down
• Sitting up from a lying position
• Turning over – but only on the couch. I think it gives me more trouble than the bed seeing that it’s cushier and gives me less support

 

The few food cravings I had have subsided, though I still go through gallons of milk like a beast! No food aversions either leaving the food front feeling rather normal to when I was a non-preggo. I do eat more often and never hold back from eating whatever I want {not so great with the junk food!} but it seems my weight gain is right on target.

I just looked up how much you should gain by 23 weeks and the answer was approximately 15 pounds. A+ student here! Though I have to admit it’s difficult sometimes to see a number on the scale I’ve never laid eyes on and wonder if I’ll ever get back to the lighter me one day. Oh well – C’est la vie!

 

Houston’s movement lately has been nothing short of AMAZING. Within just a couple of weeks, he’s gone from a kick here and there to periods of time where he does nothing but non-stop gymnastics in there. Just last night, after an hour of being a busy little bee, I started wondering if he would ever calm down for the night. Nick has felt him move plenty since my mom felt a kick on Easter Sunday and last night, he even got to SEE him move. It is so much fun to share these things I’ve been feeling with him!

His movements have yet to cause me any pain what-so-ever, just pure fun. They aren’t keeping me up at night or waking me up yet, which I am thankful for! {Getting up to pee several times in the middle of the night does enough damage to my REM cycle, thank you very much.}

 

It’s still hard for me to imagine there’s an actual human baby in there instead of just a little wiggle worm I love dearly who will someday be our sweet baby – so I Googled to help the image in my head, and this is what I found:

 

This is Amillia, the world’s youngest surviving baby, born at 22 weeks 6 days! This picture really put our baby into perspective for me. This is an extremely short article written about her birth, but profound. I recommend it!

 

If you haven’t yet entered our $50 VISA gift card giveaway which helps to raise money for the March of Dimes, there’s still time. The giveaway ends this Saturday evening. Thanks to everyone who has already joined in and helped the cause!

 

VISA gift card GIVEAWAY!

 

We’re celebrating here on our little blog! Against all odds, more than just my mom has decided to take an interest and read my ramblings and look at the random pictures I share here – and by the complete and utter bewilderment of me, we reached over 1000 followers this month.

How on earth is that possible?

 

It’s because I’m a train wreck isn’t it… The kind of accident no one wants to see and tries to look away from but you just have to stare a second longer to see just how bad it really is.

That’s cool. I’ve come to grips with my train wrecky-ness. I’m glad my awkward personality and almost complete lack of any cool factor has won me a few friends along the way. {Even if they are just internet friends.} They’re internet friends I love! That’s why the giveaway. I’ll stop my derailment and get back to that now…

 

 

I really thought about this one... what y'all would like, what’s something that most anyone could use, what's easy and inexpensive to ship... and this is what I came up with:

Yep, a $50 VISA gift card!

I just don’t know a soul who couldn’t find some way to use this…

Also, I’m a bad gift giver. That would constitute making a decision and decisions boggle my mind. I’m a gift card kind of a gal, but I couldn’t even choose a place to purchase a gift card from for you… thus, the VISA. Genius for this indecisive train wreck of a gift giver!

 

{PS – while we didn’t get lucky at the casinos while we were in Vegas, I was personally lucky enough to win Sherri’s giveaway on her realty blog. Thanks, Sherri, for consequently funding this giveaway as well!! You should check out this HILARIOUS girl who’s posts on motherhood always leave me tickled. I consider her a very dear internet friend ;)}

 

 

Interested? Wanna win 50 bucks?

Here’s the very simple terms:

Houston and I need your vote on Facebook.  All we ask is that you “Like” Baby Belly Spa’s page first, then find our picture in their photo album labeled Beautiful Belly Contest and “Like” us as well.

 

Hopefully you recognize us, if not, here’s the mug you’re looking for:

 

 

and what to do, one more time for clarity’s sake, with a picture this time!:

 

Did you catch the part where they’re donating $1 dollar to the March of Dimes for every vote? Pretty cool I must say. Hopefully, my internet friends can blow them away with their support for a great cause!

 

*If you’ve already voted or once you do, just leave a comment here telling me about it to be entered to win.

**For 2 additional chances to win, blog about this giveaway and leave me the link to the post in your comment here.

***Get your friends/family/significant others to vote – if they aren’t entering this giveaway themselves, let me know about them for additional chances to win!

The giveaway ends Saturday, May 7th and the winner will be announced Monday, May 9th.

Good luck and thanks for all your support!!

~Houston’s Momma~