All things pregnancy.

This is a long one, so here's a little background music for the read: It's Gwyneth Paltrow (who knew she could sing?!?!?!) and Baby Face. (apparently something's going on with Blogger as the only thing that will post is the 30sec snipet, where as you used to be able to put the whole song... oh well, it's a good 30secs...)


I make a point of not overwhelming this blog will all things pregnancy/baby. Not that we're not uber excited on this end, just that I'm a strong believe in not drowning people in just one aspect of my life. I'm multidimensional and very thankful for that. My brains not just clouded with baby stuff, but also work, marriage, friends, books I want to read, things I want to do, etc. So I try to share across the spectrum. Sometimes this may translate into me not being gung-ho about being pregnant. Don't doubt that I am, but my Monday pregnancy and my Tuesday pregnancy don't have vast differences and when you think of 36 weeks of this non-stop, well let's just say I didn't want to lose those of you who still check in on me.

So anywho, this post is all things pregnancy. I'll try to answer the questions that I've been asked and tell you all the goody goodness and not so goody that I've encountered. I figure one concise post is okay and not enough to qualify me for "womb-brain" which I'm so very afraid of contracting and have forewarned several love ones to knock me out if they see the early onset of me talking, thinking, breathing, ONLY all things baby. ;-) I love the little mini to pieces already, but I want to teach her to be as multifaceted as her momma, isn't that what being a woman is all about?

So here we go:
I'm feeling pretty good. I told myself no complaining from the very beginning. Everything is not perfect as I'm on my 2nd bout of a cold from Hades, my skin has erupted into stages that I don't think it even hit in high school when my acne was at its prime, and my hip has a constant little 'catch' in it that I can't seem to pop into place, but I'm very well aware that this pregnancy has been absolutely breezy and we're blessed.

Today's our 36 week mark and here are me and the little mini:


We had a doctor appt yesterday and I won't even post the ultrasound pics because she's so squished in there with her head down and her face towards my back, that the best pic we could get was of her feet (which aren't looking near as large as they were before... but that may be because her legs are the same length as mine... I digress)
The stats:
Little mini
• She's still a girl. Because of her positioning, the best pics we have are of her girl parts. Relieved b/c I've had several older people tell me that it looks like I'm carrying a boy. Not that we're overly pink with anything, but all's been done with "girl" in mind and a little mini boy would have had to come home in something that might have him questioning himself later.
• weighs in at 5lbs 6oz right now. Dr. says she's right on track with all of her measurements, except
• Her legs are measuring about a week ahead of everything else meaning that they're long. She got that from KJ.
• She's curled up in a fetal position as if you were to change her diaper and hold her legs up toward her head (that's how the doc described it). I'll find a little diagram to show how she's sitting in relation to my belly (which measures 39.5in around as of Tuesday evening)
• She's in position (not breeched, yay) but has not dropped any
• Dr. said I should feel her move some every 2 hours and it's important for me to pay attention to this. So far so good. She likes to put her heel in my side and her elbows are quite pointy. ;-)
• I sing to her on the commute to and from work. 1 song I made up that has her name in it. Jesus is coming soon (aka Troublesome times, my fav. hymn) and Without You Lord. KJ says the hymns I sing are a little depressing about the world coming to an end, but there are few songs that I know all the words to and I find the rhythms of these to be soothing. The themes, maybe not so much to a child, but in time... Come on they're about Jesus. :-)
• Her name is not a secret, but I thought I'd post it on her site once she arrives. If you want to know early just leave a comment with your email and I'll shoot it to you. On this blog I'll continue to refer to her as the little mini. It's got a nice ring to it.
• I'm thinking her blog will be by invite only... just a thought, we'll see. Again shoot me your email and no worries. KJ's always tried to make me aware of how vast the internet really is and that we can't even begin to comprehend who all is doing what with it. Thus why I try to be general in the info I give on us, so I'm thinking, as the parent I should be really protective of the little one. Plus, I told you all about that movie Untraceable... really crazy.

Me
• I've gained 24lbs so far.
• As previously mentioned, if I had to gripe about anything it'd be that my skin has gone bonkers. I so thought I was finished with acne, but whoo-hoo for hormones.
• No stretch marks, which I've learned are a genetic thing, but I still rub coco butter on the belly every morning and night.
• Nothing on me is swollen, yet. Rings still fit, shoes still a size 8 - 8.5. I have cut back on wearing heels only b/c I plan to walk around the outside of the building more and more while at work.
• I need to start trying to walk this baby down, I've considered just hanging out at Walmart every evening, but fear that I would come home with tons of unneeded items...
• One of my coworkers has fifth's disease. Dr. said it shouldn't affect the baby this late in the game, but she had blood drown just to test me for it.
• My pregnancy ailments have been: 1 car accident, 2 colds, 1 UTI (which I didn't even realize I had, but apparently the bacteria is always present in the body, but mine just went haywire and over produced, creating the UTI. She said some women are just like that and I'll be hooked up to antibiotics during labor for the little mini just as a precaution). Not too bad considering all the junk that's gone thru this office. I can't even start to name the germies that I come in contact with between Mon and Fri.
• Also this cold has me snoring!! KJ's a light sleeper and after 2 or 3 days of him not resting well and me telling him that he probably needed to go to bed earlier, he confessed the real reason he's so tired. Last night he slept on the couch and I feel beyond horrible, so I'm really focusing on knocking this cold out once and for all.
• We finished up lamaze and I'm so glad we took the course. I just feel really informed. I'm no where near against a medicated birth, but plan on doing what I can/ going for a bit without the epidural if I can help it.
• Plan on being the milk maker for the little mini. Formula costs money and I love the benefits of the alternative, plus again, I'm cheap. Hello, if we have left overs at home, we do not eat out. This rule will apply to all under our roof. ;-) I do realize that this depends on the little mini, so I hope she's on board with the plan, if not, my main job is to make sure she gets her nourishment by all means necessary. I'm realistic people.
• I don't mind people touching my belly.
• I don't mind hearing other people's birth stories. Kind of gives me a few things to be aware of. Plus I always think how we're all carrying different babies and no two labor and deliveries are the same, but if I have symptoms like someone's mentioned to me before than I'll at least know to mention it to my dr.
• I'm most nervous about the iv and the epidural. go figure.

We've been extremely blessed and almost everything we need has been gifted to us thus far. There are a few big things that I'm still debating on and we're going to figure out and pick up this weekend.
• Diapers - I'm so against plain disposables and didn't really realize until I started doing my research. I'm not even that "green" but something about filling a landfill with tons and tons of my kid's poopy diapers doesn't set well with me. I also don't like all I'm discovering about the chemicals that have been put in disposables. A lot has changed since we were little. Plus I'm cheap and figure there are more economical ways to go about this. My top three options now are 1) bumGenius cloth diapers 2) 7th Generation disposables 3) flushable diapers. I'm still looking into all of these and taking into account that I will have to come back to work, so what system we'll be able to continue with successfully.
• Car seat - I love the infant carrier systems, but not so happy about having to buy a whole new car seat once she's over 20 something pounds. Still looking into options here.
• The Nursery - I've gotten my wall decals, my coworker did a beautiful painting to go over the changing table, and the material for the bedding is just waiting on me. I'm hoping to make some progress in there this weekend. Although we have a bassinet for her to sleep in our room when she first gets here, I want to get these things knocked out now b/c I know that I won't do it once I've added her into the mix
• My Dr. wants me to stop working in 10 days. She doesn't like my commute. I'm hoping that I can convince her to let me go until Good Friday which is the week before our due date. Not b/c I love this job so much that I want to give them every bit of myself, uh no, more so that I've only got 6 dog-gone weeks for maternity leave and I want to use them wisely. This is all stuff that I've got to work out with my supervisor. Shoot, if the doc tells me to be out for 8 - 12 weeks then so be it, they'll just have to deal, or let me go. I'll keep you posted.

I think that's about it. Like I said, all things pregnancy. Whoa.

Happy Thursday!

Today's 10

1) I woke up feeling tired. That's a bad feeling.

2) I'm trying to figure out the whole maternity leave thing. Our HR woman made the mistake of telling me I got 12 weeks b/c of FL law, but opps, she was wrong our company is shy a few employees to qualify. I only get 6 weeks. I don't do well with change like this. Ask anybody.

3) An "internet" friend of mine is going thru a storm and I wish I were closer so we could just hang out. I know the feeling all too well.

4) I have officially lost my mind and stocked us up with enough Pillisbury place and bake cookies to last us thru the summer. Nows the time go to get some, as they've pulled out the Easter decor ones and it's no where near close to Easter.

5) This past weekend was wonderful. Saturday night I ate dinner with apprx. 13 of the people I'm closest to in Bham, and it made me remember that the distance doesn't kill the blessings.

6) My work shower on Friday was really good. I work with some very generous people and in the back of my mind I thought, "Come on peeps, I don't work hard enough to deserve all of this". Besides sweating during the present opening like I had danced to 7 straight booty songs in a muggy club, I'd said the event went off perfectly. ( fyi- I don't know what it is about me opening presents in front of people, it's a given that my whole body will feel hot and I'll sweat like nobody's business. Happens every time... crazy but I think it's the pressure to let everyone know how much their gift is appreciated)


7) I am definitely whipping out the sewing machine this weekend as I've got baby bedding to create and I ripped the elastic off the back of my fav. pair of maternity jeans about 15 mins ago. Don't ask, I don't even think I could explain. :-)

8) I'm just about feed up with the tv show Lost. I don't know if I like this whole "only 6 people survived the crash" thing that they keep doing in the flash forwards.

9) I need to figure out some meals that I can cook now and freeze for later. Any suggestions?

10) I'm trying to figure out how to teach my church kids about respect (one in particular). I can't quite figure out how to do this one right now in a way that will really hit home, other than the whole putting my foot on one's neck to demonstrate how serious I am. hehehe I talked with Connie who's a elementary counselor and has the patience of 10 saints, she's all Hillary Swank in Freedom Writers with inspiration and encouragement and I'm feeling more like Samuel L. Jackson in 187. Her method is probably better as Samuel L died in 187 (after he took out a few of the bad apples mind you...) Both are good movies if you've never seen them, I suggest them as weekend renters.

It's Tuesday, hope it's Happy.

It's raining, it's pouring...

This is the scene out of my office window at the moment. So lovely. I opened the window so I could hear the rain, but then a large thunder clap startled the mess out of me, so I closed the window (and the blinds). ;-) Am I the only one who thinks that lightening can get you if the blinds are open? hehehe


Here are a few of my favs that Colleen shot. She's so good. She's got an awesome eye and was able to work with me (the most spastic model EVER) on taking my randome suggestions and making them look good. Plus she captured a bunch of "tender" moments that just blew me away.



The little mini and I are at 35 weeks today and KJ and I going to meet (interview) her potential pediatrician this afternoon. Makes me feel very "mom" like.

My little bad apple at church told everyone he was going to "boom-boom" me. I have no idea what this means (threat? something nasty?), but when I confronted him with his mother, he thought it was hilarious and she could have cared less. It made KJ furious, the lack of respect both showed, so he called and had a talk with the little boy. Yep, I'm working on making him a workbook about respect so that he can sit outside my class and when he starts to show me some, he can join the class again. If his momma doesn't like it, she can teach him.

Little Reagan is 2 months old and I have yet to get Tricey her birth announcements. They will be emailed TODAY girlie, I PROMISE.

My work baby shower is tomorrow, but this week several people have been out sick. I'm thinking it might just be me and a few other people, but I'm cool with that b/c it will be an "early" workday b/c we all get to leave the office at 2:00. That's enough Yay for me, opps, us!

My left contact split in half after I got to work. I started to leave it in and then remembered the horrible ulcer I got on my eye last time I played around with contacts. They won. So I'm now blind as I promptly threw them both in the trash. I should keep my glasses in my purse...

Headed to Bham this weekend for Connie's baby shower and I'm really excited to see everybody. It feels like it's been too long. (Oh and Colleen I'm going to drop Dash's mirror package off by OT's so that John can bring it home to you.)

This is my last road trip as KJ is officially putting me on house arrest and I'm okay with that b/c I need to slow down and get some things finished on this end.

Tericka's b-day is tomorrow (22nd) and Kendi's b-day is on Tuesday (26th). I've known both of these women thru several stages of life and I'm proud of the spot that we all ended up in. They are fantastic, each in her own way.

I was watching a civil rights documentary on APT and there was KJ's dad being interviewed. I've always known that he was a huge activist during that time, but boy did my heart swell up with pride. I married into good people. ;-)

Just a few random things going on this way.

Hope you all are doing well! Happy Thursday!

Ten

1) Colleen came this past weekend and took some of the most amazing pregnancy pics for me. Every time I look thru them I see more that she captured in the random shots and I love them even more. And no, there were no nudie pics, that's not my style. I'll try to post my favs later.

2) We watched the movie Gone Baby Gone last night and it will make you question which of the two evils you would decide: To do the right thing for the wrong reasons or to do the wrong thing for all the right reasons.

3) My search for a glider rocker is still going on. Apparently no one on Craigslist wants to sell theirs to me and I now refuse to pay over $50 for one which means every retailer is out.

4) Speaking of out, I was a little sad to see that Sweet P was the only one to be eliminated in the last episode of Project runway. I really like Remi's design style, but come on man, all you do is drape this and drape that. Atleast Sweet P ventured outside of her safe zone...

5) Speaking of tv, I'm so glad to have new episodes of Girlfriends and The Game that I savor them to watch 2 or 3 times... that's a bit obsessive i know...

6) Last tv thing, Just watched my recorded version of the Grammy's and I LOVED Alicia Keys' performance. Love that she can not dance, hehehe, and love that she gets so into her music. I think if I had to perform live, that's what I'd look like. Definitely not what I'd sound like. :-)

7) My belly sometimes looks like Gizmo's in gremlins when they pour water on her and she sprouts the evil ones. You know that whole misshapen bubbling effect. Guess the little mini is running out of space.

8) I eat 2 chicken tacos with sour cream atleast 2 - 3 times a week. I'd call it a craving, but ummm, my love for Mexican food has always been intense.

9) Kj's really into golfing more lately. I like the way he looks when he comes in the house after putting around in his polo shirt. Yum.

10) We're interviewing a pediatrician on Thursday. For some reason this kind of makes me feel like we're trying to be all upity, but it's apparently normal to interview your future kid's future doctor. We've got so much to learn...

Happy Tuesday! Where are you all??

Love is in the air...

literally. ;-)

Happy Day of Looovvveee! Last night I stopped by Walmart for a can of navy beans (to make more refried beans to finish off the leftover chicken), and it was jam pack full of people getting candy, flowers, large stuffed animals, balloons filled with goodies, etc. KJ and I don't do V-day that way, and I'm so thankful. We try to keep it small being that we just had an anniversary and the day of love is more about thoughtfulness to us. His gift: Turkey and dressing for dinner and some much needed pairs of jeans (which he still needs to order...) My gift: Yankee Candles! I'm a candle phen an go thru them like nobody's business. I seriously have a candle budget. So I've been down to 1 big candle and a few smaller ones, but KJ saw fit to surprise me and replenish my stash. Couldn't have picked a more perfect gift myself.

Oh and last night at church a little boy came up to me on our way into class (he's 6, so not in my class) and handed me a handmade valentine. Then he smiled his little gap tooth grin and said, "I spelled your name wrong..." hehehe He's too cute and for him, I'll be Sis Roe on the day of lovin.

So hope you're feeling the general kindness that's floating around today!

Happy Thursday!

Back in the kitchen again

This is what I made for dinner last night:

Scrumptious looking don't you think? Well let me give you my brief review.
The refried beans were EXCELLENT. So yum I can't even begin to describe their utter goodness. Liz, you'll love them as you love refried beans as much as I do and this is a healthy and delish take and almost as simple as just taking the ones out of the can and sprucing them up.

The chicken... I'm all about spices and flavor and I felt like the seasonings didn't go all the way thru the meat. Was kind of disappointed until I had the bright idea to cut the chicken into chunks and mix it into the beans. Oh wow. That did it. So the dish as a whole was really good. Not pretty in the least as mine looked like beans with chicken chunks, but both KJ and I were disappointed that we didn't have more left over for today. I'd call it a keeper.

Here's the link for the recipe.
And here's the recipe if you just want to glance at it before heading over to the link.


Happy Wednesday all!

Happy Tuesday!

1) My work spa day was great. Apparently a pregnancy massage is different than a regular massage b/c there are pressure points hit in a reg. massage on the inside of your ankle and in your hands that can send you into labor. Go figure. There was not a hole in the massage table as I was thinking...

2) I scored big time at the thrift store run after my spa treatments. 2 pairs of maternity jeans - $5 a piece, My favorite book (The Secret Life of Bees) and a book I've been wanting to read for a while (Lessons Before Dying) for $3 a piece and a pair of brand new sneakers for KJ's grandma for $5. YAY me!!!

3) My co-worker/other designer is not the best in keeping me in the loop. Yea, that stinks. I don't like being out of the loop. Maybe this is the root of why I'm not completely comfortable leaving everything in someone else's hand when I go out on maternity leave. I'm still waiting on a word of what when on in the meeting in NY concerning my packaging line. And yes, I admit that I may be thinking a little irrational as everyone just got back into the office this morning. ;-) So I'm patiently waiting. If the update never comes, I'll ask about it and adopt the same mentality that had kept me running in this place. If I need to know it, God always brings it to the forefront, if I don't know it, I'm not suppose to. Done.

4) I think we've decided not to have a 4-d sonogram. I didn't think I cared one way or the other, but I'm a little sad, but the financial part of my brain knows that the extra money can be put towards so many other things. And also the little mini will be here in 6 weeks and counting {hopefully}.

5) I may be the worst person ever to be in charge of getting the class reunion together. I've heard from a few classmates now and sometimes I feel like I've got a firm grasp on things and other times not so much. The class of 99 president has established committees and agendas, and venues and blah, blah, blah and I'm thinking I should just email her and tell her to toss out a great plan for our 98 class.

6) Colleen's coming this weekend!!!! Yay!!! Any ideas of what we can do for a really cute pregnancy pic? She's got some great ones and I've gotten a few suggestions, but I'm opening the floor for more.

7) There's a lot of great internet discussion going around about cloth diapering. I felt really knowledgeable last night as I relayed some of the info to my lamaze class. Hop over to Erin's blog at Princess Pigbear and follow some of her links and the comment section if interested. Also Colleen did a great post at her blog in regards to what she's been doing. I'm definitely on the band wagon and have looked into also using Seventh Generation for if/when I'm going to need disposables.

8) Sunday was a fabulous day with great church service, KJ washing the cars between morning and evening service, fantastic weather, me outside talking with neighbors, barefoot in the grass, while the kids ran to catch up with the ice cream truck. Seriously, I paused and evaluated how much of a storybook setting it was. It was a nice FL moment.

9) It's always the little bittiest things about people and what they do that carve a space in your heart isn't it? Like folding the laundry when you've both been avoiding the basket in the corner or stopping by Walmart on the way home when you're dead tired to battle the masses for a little cold medicine and some toothpaste that's not even for you. That's my KJ, he's constantly weaving himself into the fibers of my heart with the little things.

10) hehehe After reading #9 I must admit that I have the tendency to run on two extremes lately, either extremely mushy, or very irate. Unfortunately the later has been more frequent as I've had to do more counting down and slow breaths in the car than I'd like to admit. Atleast I'm aware and try to handle the situation internally, but I don't think there's anything wrong with pinching off a few heads (coworkers, other drivers, target store employees, etc) when people turn their backs.

11) Bonus: I'm completely blown away by women who cook every day. I'm always looking for a few new things to try out occasionally and this blog A Year In The Kitchen has given some outstanding recipes for consideration. Seriously, I wonder if I could talk her and her husband into moving into my neighbor's house that's for sale. I think she'd be a great neighbor... the kind that pops over and says "Hey I made wayyyy too much chicken parmesan and thought I'd bring you some..."

The Ten

1) Talked to an old friend this morn on the way to work. I don't really understand why keeping in touch is so hard for me, but I'm glad I listened to the little voice this morning that said to call and just say hi.

2) I still have a highschool reunion to put together. I'm thinking a Saturday event in late June with an afternoon picnic for families and an evening dinner for adults only. Is the adult only thing bad? One of my old classmates emailed me and said I should just tell everyone to meet at a downtown bar/hangout. Maybe I'm thinking to formal...

3) KJ is/was a huge Pimp C fan. He's constantly quoting something random. Pimp C died on the same day as his aunt. This morn on the radio they announced the cause of Pimp C's death. Sadly, it's somewhat ironic. Click here if interested.

4) Secret confession: if the opportunity to move back across the stateline presented itself today, I would hesitate b/c of a) my job: it's difficult for me to leave a good situation and b) I like that it's just KJ and I against the world down here. It builds a partnership like no other. Now, this is just saying I would hesitate, not that I wouldn't jump for joy once my delirium passed.

5) I'm wearing an ole' school side ponytail today. Just kind of happened and when I went to the bathroom for the first of my 10 mil bathroom trips, I thought, "humm, I look very early 90's chic" hehehe If only I had my baggy sweater, lace trimmed leggins and white keds...

6) Our lamaze class ends next week and I've decided to take all the ladies lollipops b/c our instructor has commented several times how it will be a nice variation to the ice chips that we're only allowed to have while in labor. Oddly, I just asked most of the other couples last night if they were having a boy or a girl. Shows how unsocial I've been. shame.

7) This month I make my first payment on the Jeep. We're officially a couple. ;-)

8) Work spa day is on Fri and I'm equally excited about my 8:00 massage as I am in having the rest of the day off to go to a thrift store I've been eyeing.

9) Did you all know that the home store Kirklands is closing?!?!?! Or is that just here in FL? I have a gift certificate that I need to use, if only I could find one.

10) Just for the record, I want it to be known that I TOLD KJ the Giants were going to win the Superbowl. I had several reasons for this assumption other than the fact that I mostly pull for the underdog. One of which was that I liked how Peyton was in the skybox behind a pillar cheering for his little bro, but at the same time trying not to jinx him.

Happy Tuesday all. By the way, if it's Fat Tuesday in Mobile, AL is it Fat Tuesday in New Orleans too? I'm wondering where our company king cake might be...

I've been hit...

with a wave of exhaustion around 1:30ish for the past couple of days. I'm so looking forward to the weekend, even though it's shaping up to be semi-busy, I like the thought of just stopping everything and curling up on the couch with my soft blanket. ahhhh. The things that keep us going. ;-) oh, and this song.


I love me some old school Michael Jackson. Not so sure about this whoopla about him making a come-back...but old school... pass me a glittery glove. {side bar: what in the world is "Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa"???)

So, we've got a little girl's b-day part to go to. Her mom said she's into horses right now (she's 3) so I'm sooo buying her a couple of My Little Ponies. I love that my childhood favs have come back full force. She's having a skate party and although KJ refuses to let me strap on the wheels, I think it will be fun to see a bunch of little kids doing their thing on the slick floor.

KJ asked me if I wanted to play golf with him and a coworker tomorrow. Translation - do you want to drive my cart and read a book. His coworker's wife is going but she plays, I on the other hand just can't get into the game if there's not a spinning windmill trying to stop my ball. ;-)

I'm feeling a lot better. Definitely on the last leg of this horrid cold. KJ's been my man nurse and I give him complete kudos for waking up with me at 6am just to drug me (dr. told me I could take Robitussin products so I've been drinking Cold and Cough straight...).

I discovered craigslist today and I think I like it. I found a glider chair w/ ottoman for $40 there and have emailed the seller. It's local so maybe it will work out. Have any of you ever used Craigslist? I'm so done with ebay (never heard back from them)!

I hate when I go somewhere for lunch (ran into a little deli for some chicken salad) and come out smelling like food. That's the main reason I keep Febreeze in my desk drawer. That and the occasional accidental slip of effervescence. hehehe

Has anyone ever heard of a baked grapefruit recipe? I'm all about pink grapefruits and I seem to remember someone once telling me that they sprinkled a little brown sugar on theirs and put it in the over for a few minutes. They claimed it was scrumptious. I like mine straight out of the fridge, no sugar, but I'm up for trying new things.

This weekends "no superbowl plans" have turned into us hosting a few folks over for a celebration of KJ's basketball team championship and the superbowl. He's doing the main stuff (wings, brats, etc) and I'm doing the sides. Any suggestions?

I'm creating a dandelion stencil to use in the nursery. Wanna guess what I'm stenciling??

I think that's about it. All of my randomness. I hope your weekend is full of comfy goodness!!