Drowning in a Bottle of Water

I'll say one thing about being pregnant...since I found out, I've consumed more water than I have previously in my whole life combined. And I don't even particularly like water. Unfortunately, the Coca-Cola company has yet to come out with a Caffeine-Free Diet Coke with Splenda. So I either have to have it with the caffeine or with the Nutra-sweet. So I'm forced to only have one a day, which kills me. I'm such a diet soda junkie. At least I get my juice in the morning which makes me happy too. Pretty much anything I can drink that's NOT water makes me happy right now.

As for today, it was lovely. We slept in and did a lot of nothing. I did get one productive thing done though...I finally went through my dresser and closet and got rid of three trash bags worth of clothes that don't fit or that I don't wear. I didn't have any room for my maternity clothes, not that I have a whole lot. But at least I can now hang them up in the closet. Woohoo.

A New Post!

Sorry I've been such a posting slacker this week. I've actually been busy the past couple nights. I decided to play the role of The Supportive Wife and accompanied my husband to softball on Wednesday night and to volleyball last night. Softball was lame (as usual), but they won both games. Volleyball I actually enjoyed. It looked like so much fun that I would even consider joining the team if it wasn't for the whole pregnancy-thing. ;) I'll have to go with him to that one again while I can.

Other that that, it's been work and sleep. My life is so exciting. :) The baby has discovered that kicking my bladder is fun and as such I've been spending a lot of time peeing. Good times. I really noticed it today, but I think she's been doing it noticeably for about a week...I just couldn't figure out what the weird feeling was. Then today at work I really had to pee and she started and I figured it out real quick. Gotta love it. :)

Tomorrow is our nothing day. I love nothing days! Don't have to go anywhere, don't have to work, just get to relax and enjoy each other's company. I'm looking forward to it. I'm even going to make a yummy steak dinner to celebrate. Of course, I don't really need an excuse to make a steak dinner...I just have to control myself enough to do it no more that once a week. Sometimes it's difficult.

Check Out the Ticker

Yup...had my monthly doctor's appointment today and the due date has officially been moved up to October 16th. Apparently, although I'm not getting much in the way of calories myself (down another 3 pounds since the last appointment), my baby is getting plenty. ;) After he came in and we listened to the heartbeat (very, very loud and strong), he had his receptionist call the dumb radiology place because they still hadn't sent the results of my sonogram. Once they finally faxed it over, I went back to his office and he showed me the wonderful report that said everything is normal. Yay! :)

Then he told me about the due date being moved up by the sonogram tech. He thought I would be happy, but then I told him about my early birth = having to go back to work earlier in the Christmas season. At least my manager is actually considering letting me tack my extra week's vacation onto the end of my leave now. He thought that we got ten weeks automatically. I laughed hysterically and then explained how things work in our company. We'll see how that goes. ;)

I'm just happy that she's healthy and normal. She'll get here when she gets here...I'm not going to stress about it. Next appointment is the fun glucose test. Woohoo! He gave me a bottle of the orange stuff that I have to drink an hour before I go in next. Then he'll just draw my blood himself. I'm hoping it's normal, but I won't be surprised if it's not. Again, that's just something I'll have to worry about when the time comes. Next appointment is July 18th.

Baby-Clothes-a-Palooza

Yesterday was a semi-productive day, despite the weird puffy, hurty eye thing (which still hasn't completely gone away, but it's much better than it was yesterday). My mom and I went to Target and bought six large storage bins and then went back to her house and went through all the baby clothes that Claire (and Kaylee) has donated to Abby. I've already said it about a hundred times, but if there's one thing my baby will not be needing for awhile, it's clothes!

As of right now, I have two large trashbags full of 0-3 month stuff. Three large bins of 3-6 month stuff, 2 bins of 6-9 (with more on the way) and even some 9+ stuff in there. There are plenty of Christmas outfits (including a reindeer costume), Ravens stuff (a really cute cheerleader outfit and two sleepers), jackets and even a Halloween costume (an elephant). The only thing I seem to be lacking are tights and socks. Gotta love having a niece who's seasons match up pretty well with my baby's and whose mommy (and various relatives and friends) loves to buy baby clothes. :)

Most of the stuff mom and I went through we've never even seen Claire in. So it will be new to us. ;) Actually, since several things still had tags, they're still new period! Even a couple of the things that my sister-in-law gave me still had tags, either because Kaylee was too big for it or because they were cool-weather outfits that she would only fit in during hot-weather months. There were some really cute things too. Score for me, I guess. ;)

As for today, we're having dinner at Ed's parents' house at 3. Gotta love it...his mom is making his dad cook. He makes pasta that Ed and Wendi just love. At least it's not a chunky sauce, so I can handle it as well. And the homemade meatballs are really good, so that's worth it to me. :) We bought him a large crabtrap for the other house...as did Wendi. Apparently they were using a neighbor's traps for the past couple years, but the neighbor needs them this year. Gotta make sure we get our crabs when we go over there in a couple weeks. Anyone know the rules about steamed crabs and pregnancy? Is it like any other seafood where you can eat it, just in moderation? Oh well, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, hopefully I'll remember to ask him about it (although I won't hold my breath).

Bored...

How sad am I that I'm sitting here playing on the computer and watching The Price is Right on prime time? Especially since I never watch The Price is Right since my dad died (he used to watch it every morning, so it's just one of those things). But it's slightly interesting since it's Bob Barker's last show...not that I'm even that crazy about Bob Barker. Whatever...I'm just bored, as usual.

In other news, my eye hurts and I don't know why. It's only the outside corner of my right eye. Hopefully it's just a random thing and I'm not going to wake up in the morning with something growing there. Gross.

****UPDATED****
Well, there's nothing growing there, but I woke up this morning and the eye still hurts and it's now very swollen. I look like Rocky after a fight. Not very attractive. I seem to remember this happening to me a year or so ago...the swelling went down by the next morning. Hopefully that's the case this time too or else I'll be heading to Patient First tomorrow morning. Good times.

Working Late

Had an event tonight, so I just got home (it's 9:45). Tonight was fun because my friend Carrie was the only closing manager. Woohoo! And Ed had to umpire (as usual) anyway, so I would have been bored at home by myself. This is the last time I have to work late for awhile though. Bookfair season is pretty much over until October and I don't have a lot of author signings planned (I've been going for quality, not quantity). I'm pretty sure the next time I work late is for Harry Potter (can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!). Of course, that just means that I have to wake up early a lot. Boo!

Wiggle Worm

I'm starting to feel the baby more and more nowadays. It's definitely a strange feeling, like having a alien inside of you. I've been feeling the "flutters" for awhile now, but now it's definitely stronger then just a "flutter." It's still not hard, but much more noticeable than it was. She does get a good one in every once in awhile though. Ed actually felt a kick a few nights ago. I was lying on my back so he could feel better and she did a decent kick. Right away he asked if that was the baby or me, so I know he felt it. Now he keeps putting his hand on my stomach whenever we're lying down together, but he hasn't felt anything since. I told him to wait a couple of months, then he'll feel all kinds of kicks.

And speaking of kicks, I don't know if it's her or if I'm just having a weird day, but I swear I've had to pee more today than I ever have in my life. It felt like every 20 minutes I was running to the bathroom, which isn't fun at work since two of our four stalls are currently "out of order." That doesn't leave much hope for the remaining two to be very clean. I wasn't drinking any more than usual, so it was very weird. I thought the peeing thing wasn't supposed to start until the third trimester. I still have 5 or so weeks to go before I reach that milestone. Dangit!

Blah

So I guess my crazy busy weekend finally caught up with me. Today I was just exhausted. I was lucky I made it through the work day without falling asleep at my desk. I got plenty of sleep too...I was in bed and dozing off by 9:30 last night, which is pretty darned early for me. I took a short nap after I got home and I'm feeling much better now. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Other than that, nothing much is going on. Work is work. Ed has been umpiring, so I've been bored. Although the second season of Big Love started last night, so I just watched the new episode On Demand. I love On Demand. And I love that show. It sounds creepy, but it's really good and interesting. Some of our other "summer nonsense" shows have started too (hello, America's Got Talent), but we haven't had a lot of time for television recently. I don't think we're doing too much this weekend, so we'll be able to catch up a little then. We're going to his parents' house for Father's Day but that's about it. Thank goodness...I need some rest!

Long Weekend

As predicted, there was not much rest and relaxation to be had this weekend. It was a good couple days, just busy. Yesterday we went to Dover, DE for Ed's cousin's high school graduation party. It was at a pretty winery in an outdoor pavilion. We met Ed's mom, grandmother and niece there. We didn't tell his aunt or cousin that we were coming so we could surprise them. And it worked...they were very happy to see us all there. The weather was nice and the food was good. It was just the hour and 45 minutes drive each way that was a little annoying. Actually, it was longer to come home because we stopped at Kohl's in DE so Ed could get some clothes (no sales tax...woohoo!) and then we found a Rita's for me. :)

Today Becky and I took mom out for her Mother's Day gift. We went to the Walters Art Museum, which my mom and I enjoyed. Becky prefers more contemporary art. Then we went to the harbor and visited the Power Plant B&N, where I saw my friend Jen who is now the cafe manager there. So that made me happy. $80 worth of books later (discounted price), we went to Flemings for dinner. It was as yummy as I remembered from the last time I went with the girls...even if I couldn't get the Coconut Kiss drink that I loved, loved, loved the last time. I got fillet, my mom got scallops and Becky got chicken. Everything was good and my mom really enjoyed it once she got past the prices. So today was a good day.

Now I'm pretty tired and I have to go back to work tomorrow. Suck. I keep reminding myself that I'm on vacation in three more weeks. Not that we're doing anything exciting (we're going to his parents' vacation home on the Eastern Shore for a few days), but at least it's not work. Of course, I'll have a much longer "vacation" coming up in the fall, but I still have a little ways to go before that. :)

Registering is Fun!

Had a lovely day at the BRU with Becky, Claire, my mom and Ed. Despite the fact that Becky and Claire are giving us a lot of their stuff, my registry still wound up being pretty darned big. It was fun to pick out baby stuff...and then come home and switch out some of the things I had originally registered for. If the reviews were 99% horrible, it's probably a good idea to avoid the product. But I think I have it finalized now. Yay! :) Ed was exceptionally easy to get along with (unlike when we were registering for the wedding). He just let me get what I wanted...gotta like that. And my mom bought us our crib (which is currently being stored at her house until we paint the nursery). So all-in-all a good day.

After we finished at BRU Ed and I had lunch then went to my mom's house so we could drop off the crib and so Ed could do some furniture moving that my mom wanted done. She has my younger cousins' old crib in her family room for Claire and Abby and wanted it against a wall. So Ed had to move her couch, love seat and chairs to accommodate that request. Then he talked to her about an insurance plan that she wants (long-term care...so she doesn't spend our inheritance on her care in case she ever winds up in a nursing home...she's very concerned about that). I had fun playing with Claire, who my mom was babysitting. Then we finally went home (after a quick stop at Rita's) and I've been resting ever since.

The rest of the weekend isn't shaping up to be much more relaxing than today was. Tomorrow we have to go to Delaware for Ed's cousin's graduation party and then Sunday Becky and I are taking mom out for her mother's day excursion. We're going to the Walter's and then for dinner at Flemings. Yum!

Lovely Day (except, of course, for work)

I had my pre-registry BRU day with Val, Erin and (surprise!) my sister today. That was fun. Erin, I know you were getting very frustrated with Ben, but I kind of found him amusing (sorry...I know I don't have to deal with him on a daily basis). I was trying to distract him by asking him questions, but they only seemed to work for the time it took him to answer me. Oh well. Simon is a cutie...I'm glad I got to meet him before his third birthday! ;) Val's newborn, Jordan, was cute as could be too. Her eyes were open almost the whole time and she was just staring around checking things out. She only started to cry at the end because she was hungry (really, really hungry). Becky and Claire joined us unexpectedly because the lady who put a contract in on her house wanted to stop by to look at her stove. So she had to leave the house and had nothing better to do than to join us. But it was nice to see her and the Bear. :) I'll get double the fun tomorrow when we register for real. Hooray!

Work was work, but I'm now on a three-day weekend! I love extended weekends. :)
Yay for me.

Halfway There!

I am twenty weeks along today! Technically, I'm halfway through my pregnancy! Hooray for me (and Abby)! :) It seems like it's dragging, but I know that once she's born it will feel like time just flew by. At least now I feel ready to really start getting into the babyness. I can't wait to register on Friday...and then to start the nursery.

We saw Knocked Up tonight. I loved it (just like I thought I would). It wasn't as riotously funny as 40-Year-Old Virgin, but I definitely laughed through the whole thing. And cried at the end when the baby was born like the pregnant sap I am. But I will definitely see it again...tomorrow as the case may be. Kathy, it's a date! :)

Working on a Sunday

I'm so spoiled to have a retail job that hardly ever involves having to work on the weekend. Today, however, not only did I have to work during the weekend, but I had to work on a Sunday. Double suck! I had a semi-important event today that C-SPAN came in to record for BookTV. I was scared to death that nobody was going to show up for the thing, but we wound up with over 20 people in the audience, so I was quite relieved.

The only good thing about having to work today is that I now have Friday off. Three day weekend, plus we're going to go register with my mom and Becky during the day. Hooray! It was then or never because that's my only weekday off for the whole month. Since my mom's going to try to go, we'll even get to order our crib and glider. Exciting stuff. I'm available Thursday morning if anyway wants to meet me at BRU for a preliminary shop and/or lunch. I have to be at work by 12:30, so it would have to be a late-morning lunch. Just let me know. :)

Mmmmmmmm...

We had steak for dinner. It made me happy...and apparently made Abby happy too. I actually felt her wiggling around a little while I was eating. That is all.

I Love Summer Movies

It's a good thing that I've received a fair amount of movie gift cards since Christmas, because there are a lot of movies out that I want to see. As I said, Ed and I might as well take advantage of our last months of freedom to do what we want when we want. Today we went and saw a matinee of Pirates of the Carribbean 3. If you liked the other two Pirates movies, you'll like this one. I liked it better than the second, but neither could quite recapture the magic of the first. Overall, very enjoyable though (although I found the end quite depressing). I'll have to get the DVD when it comes out.

Tuesday we're going to go see Knocked Up, which I've been dying to see since I first read about it in Entertainment Weekly. If it's as good as I've heard, I'll have to go see it again with Kathy. As she pointed out to me, I seem to enjoy going on the same dates with her as I do with my husband. They're both fun, but in different ways. ;)

Then next week, Ocean's 13 comes out. That one may not be everyone's cup of tea, but we're looking forward to it. The previews have been hysterical. And it has some hot men, so I win no matter what. ;) There are some other ones coming out that I want to see too, but not as urgently. At least not until Harry Potter comes out in July. :) That one I will definitely see twice...especially if I can't talk Ed into going to the midnight show with Carrie and my work friends and me. I know I'm a geek...but you love me anyway! :P

Cleaning Out the Nursery

Ever since we bought our house almost six years ago, our second bedroom has been a sort of "catch-all" room for the stuff we didn't have anywhere else to put. Most recently, it's been home to my Pampered Chef goodies. Ed got a lot of the junk cleared out a couple months ago, but there's still plenty to get rid of in there. I actually did something productive tonight while Ed was umpiring and got my P.C. stuff cleared out of there. Hooray me! Since (very sadly) I have no scheduled shows coming up, I put everything I could in the kitchen, stored most of my stoneware under the couch in the living room and everything else is going downstairs in the utility room.

At least I feel like I've started on the nursery. I have no idea what we're going to do with some of the other crap-ola in there, but we'll figure it out. I'd like to start with the painting and stuff around July...when hopefully we'll have a little more money coming in to pay for the redecorating. In the meantime, at least I have Ed's sander so if I feel the need to start a project, I can begin on the armour. I got the e-mail today that my pretty drawer pulls are on their way to me. Woohoo! I can't wait to see them...even if I can't do anything with them for awhile. It will all get done before October though, if it kills me (and Ed).

Maternity Clothes

I still don't need them, but I got the stuff I ordered from Penny's today. Yay! The only problem is that I think I'm going to have to exchange the pants. They fit, but they don't feel like there's a lot of extra room for the yet-to-arrive baby belly. I was guessing with the size, but I guess I need the next one up. The shirts should be fine though.

I do feel like I'm finally starting to show. It's hard to tell with me since I'm big to begin with...and then with the weight loss. But my usual work pants are definitely not as loose as they were a month or so ago. Hooray! I'm actually excited about looking pregnant. I am pregnant and I feel pregnant, I might as well look pregnant too. Of course, I'll be cursing the maternity clothes in about five months, but I'll deal with that then.

And to add to the fun, I also got my shipment from Amazon. The valence and blanket are so cute! I can't wait to get started on the nursery. At least I now have something to use to pick out a paint color. Fun!

Boo!

Mini-vacation is officially over. I had to go back to work today. Boo! It was fine though...I went through the many e-mails that were waiting for me and ran some errands. Then I met Becky, my mom and Claire at the mall to watch Claire have her 9-month portraits done. Too cute! :) The photographer got some really great shots. Just think, next year we'll be trying to get Claire and Abby to both smile (and coordinate). I can't wait!

For the few of you who care, they apparently moved up the date of the new Harry Potter movie from Friday, July 13th to Wednesday, July 11th. I'm still going to the midnight show though. They are the only movies in my mind worth staying up and battling the crowds for. It's really fun when people dress up and get way too into the movie. Good times.

Moment of Cuteness

Claire in my pool yesterday. Just bask in the cuteness. :)

Taking it Easy

It's nice to have a day to just relax. And today is that day. It's 3:00 in the afternoon and I just changed out of my nightgown. Good times. I'm off tomorrow too and I'm not planning on doing anything then either. Tomorrow was the day I originally wanted to schedule my ultrasound (it's the 11th anniversary of the day my dad died, so I wanted to have something happy for my mom to do), but we decided to do it before our party. I had already taken off and just never adjusted my schedule. So a five-day weekend it is. :)

I already picked out the bedding set for Abby's nursery. I've actually had it picked out since I found out I was pregnant. I had my favorite for a girl and my favorite for a boy. This is the winner for the girl. I love it because it's girly without being totally pink (although, judging from my current blog design, I have no problem with pink). Plus, I love purple. :) I want to paint the nursery walls bright yellow...which my mother-in-law actually volunteered to do for us yesterday. She doesn't want me painting and she knows how my husband paints. I'm not going to argue!

I was on e-bay today checking out some of the matching switch plate and outlet covers that Becky found in the bedding design (which she is now including in my shower gift). I guess these home crafters buy licencing rights to the design and create all these different things to match. I even found a ceiling fan that someone painted to go with the theme. I also found these drawer pulls that I bought to put on the old armour that's currently in the room. I was going to get rid of it, but we need more storage space since the closets in my house are tiny. It's an ugly wood laminate right now which I'm going to sand off (yay for Ed's electric sander) and repaint white with purple detailing to match the bedding. Then I'll use the new drawer pulls and voila, a pretty new piece for the nursery. I'll just have to get a tension rod for the top part and then we'll have a little more space to hang clothes.

It's so exciting to know what I'm having. I can't wait to get started on everything. Hopefully we'll get to BRU soon to register. Becky's definitely going with us (since she's giving us a lot of stuff that Claire's outgrown and knows what we'll still need) and Meg would like to go to. Anyone's welcome, as long as Ed gets to play with the scanner. ;) I guess it all depends on when we decide to go. I would definitely prefer to do it during the week to avoid the weekend crowds. I already started the registry online so I could put the bedding accessories on there, since they're not available in-store. D'oh. Oh well, if nobody else gets them for me, my mom already offered to buy them. That's in addition to the crib and glider that she's already told us she's getting. But, that's my mom.

Baby-Palooza 07!

We had our annual Memorial Day Weekend BBQ today. Sooooooooooo many babies (even without poor sickie-poo Simon). I finally got to meet Jordan. Val, she is just too cute for words! I can't even tell you how happy I am for you! :) Claire got to go swimming in our pool for the first time and she absolutely loved it. She was kicking around like a pro...she definitely takes after her Aunt Mandy in that aspect. And my other niece Kaylee was eating, eating, eating. Pretty soon Meg and I will add our own babies to the mix and then everyone's really in trouble. These parties have definitely changed a bit in the past few years!

I'm exhausted now though. Spent the past few days cooking and cleaning and spent today entertaining. Tomorrow I'm not doing anything productive (except put the last load or two of dishes in the dishwasher). It was fun though...I hope everyone else had a good time too. :)

It's a...

Erin...stop reading now! ;)

So it seems that the Barnes & Noble curse is finally broken. Yup...it's a girl! :) We're very happy and excited. And the best part is that I'll never have to buy the kid clothes! Of course (as the tech made sure to tell us), it's not 100%, but she saw the three lines. I don't see anything, but I'm not a trained professional.

And just for fun, here's her profile.

Yay Abby! :) I'm so not going to be the one to tell my grandmother that she's getting yet another granddaughter. I'll leave that to my mom! ;)

Other than being a girl, she looks great and is measuring right on for 18 weeks. Which is good because the later into October I go, the further into Christmas I can go with my maternity leave. When you work retail, that's a very good thing. :)

We almost didn't get to find out the sex because she didn't want to move. Apparently my very full bladder was quite comfortable for her. So the tech had me go to the bathroom to see if that would get her moving. Apparently it did the trick because she was kicking up a storm after that. My question is, if they can see without the full bladder, why did I have to suffer in the first place? Oh well...it was worth it. :)

I Hate Being Sick

Well, the good news is that Ed just slept downstairs from the start last night. The bad news is that I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat (which is how Ed's sickness started). The sore throat is now gone, but my nose has been leaking like a faucet all day. It already hurts from me blowing it constantly. Not fun. I'm hoping that all the Vitamin C I've been getting from the prenatals will keep it from getting too bad...especially since I have to do a lot of cooking and cleaning for my party over the next few days. And I was going to go visit Val and Jordan tomorrow, but now I don't want to risk getting them sick. Boo. At least I will be over the contagious period by Sunday, so it will be safe to come over.

Maybe it was from being sick or maybe it's pregnancy weirdness, but I had the strangest dream last night. It involved me and my mom going to a Def Leppard concert. Can anyone tell me the meaning of that one?

I Thought This Was When I Was Supposed to Sleep....

But unfortunately, my sick husband has other plans for me. He has some horrible congestion thing going on right now and kept me up half the night blowing his nose, coughing, hacking, and spitting out flem. Gross. At 5:30 this morning he asked me, "Do you just want me to go downstairs?"

Ummmmm...that would have been nice about five hours ago! At that point I was just like, "It's almost morning now, what's the point?" But he knew I was annoyed. I feel bad that he's sick, but when I'm sick like that, I automatically go downstairs so that I don't disturb his sleep. Men.

So now I'm going to be sleepy and cranky all day. Good times. I have a decent-sized event tonight too, so I'm going to be running around like mad. Just like last night. I can't wait till Friday. Not only do I get my ultrasound (yay!), but it's my first of five days off in a row! Woohoo!

Congratulations Val and Don!

Jordan Hallie was finally born at 4:32 this morning! She weighs in at 7 lbs and 3 oz and is doing great. Plus she's cute as can be judging from the picture on Val's blog. Congratulations! :) I can't wait to see her...although I'm not sure if it's going to be at the hospital at this point. I have to work late today and tomorrow. I guess it depends on the visiting hours at that "other" hospital that you chose and on how early is okay for me to drop by for you.

Check it Out...

My counter totally moved up another picture! Yay, Baby!

Happy Thoughts for Val

Val is having some super-painful contractions over in her neck of the woods. Apparently she made a middle-of-the-night trip to the hospital only to be sent home. Suck! Hope the active labor starts soon so you can go back to stay!

In other news, I'm exhausted. I've been sleeping like crap. I think the forcing myself to sleep on my side has caused me to do something rather painful to the ligament between my hip and thigh on my left side. It's usually fine when I'm sitting or standing, but if I'm lying down and I move the wrong way, it hurts like hell. I tried using the big-ass pillow that Becky gave me last night. It helped with the pain, but I was very uncomfortable with using it as my head pillow too. I think I'm just going to get a regular body pillow so I can still get the support between my legs and under my soon-to-be baby belly, but also so I can use my regular pillows too.

Work was work...it's Monday. The only interesting part was learning that one of our Department Managers has been promoted to ASM, but in a different store. I liked him, but I didn't want him promoted in our store. He doesn't have the greatest people-skills in the world. I hope it works out for him though.

I had an early dinner tonight because I didn't have time for lunch at work. I know, I know...bad preggo! I've been dying for some tacos, so I stopped at the store and got the fixin's and made myself some yummy tacos. I didn't put enough seasoning in the meat though...that was the only bummer. I didn't buy a packet of seasoning since I have the huge BJ's container of it that I use for Taco Dip...I just didn't sprinkle enough on. Oh well...it was still yummy and satisfying. :)

Okay, I'm going to try to take a nap now before I clean the living room. Fun!

It's a Tie

Not that it really matters, but my baby poll seems to have resulted in a tie (so far). Interesting. There are a couple schools of thought:
1. Everyone is having a boy, so I probably am too
2. Everyone is having a boy, so someone has to have a girl

There is also the two "curse" consideration. At my store, ever since my evil ex-manager had a girl many years ago, everyone who's been pregnant while working there or who's wife has been pregnant while they were working there has had a boy. Working against that "curse" however, is the fact that my grandmother (on my mom's side) now has five granddaughters and one great-granddaughter. No boys in sight. Which "curse" will win out? That will be interesting.

I'll be happy either way, as long as the baby is healthy (blah, blah, blah), but I am slightly rooting for a boy. I want a little mama's boy...plus there is the fact that he'd be the only little boy in the family. Ed, however, is slightly rooting for a girl. I want a mama's boy and he wants a daddy's girl. But, really, it doesn't really matter. At least if I have a girl, I'll never have to worry about buying her clothes...especially with my sister's love of shopping for Claire. I guess we'll see on Friday. :) I can't wait!

To My Fellow Office Fans

I was just checking out the NBC website in hopes that they decided to be awesome and put a downloadable "Schrute Buck" online. No such luck, but they did post "Creed Thoughts." Funny stuff. Just wanted to share. :)

Poor Val

40 weeks today and still no end in sight. :( I feel for ya! I guess you won't be making it to my cookout, huh? I'm sending you all kinds of baby-evicting thoughts.

Other than that, it's been a blah day. Work was blah and now I'm home and blah. Blah. The bright spot of my day was Ed meeting me at work for lunch. Then we went to the movies to buy tickets to see Shrek on Sunday morning. That's the best part of the Loews switching over to AMC...all shows before noon on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are only $5. Woohoo! And I still have plenty of gift card money to get me through the next couple months and the plethora of movies they're promising. I love the movies...better get my fill now while I can still get out of the house whenever I want.

Just Curious

In honor of my sonogram appointment being officially set, it's time for the gender poll. Just wondering what the general consensus is. :)

http://www.polldaddy.com/p.asp?p=40766

Argh!

Damn you, Lost!!! That is all.

Yet Another Doctor's Appointment

I'm starting to get used to this whole going to the doctor's office every month thing. It hasn't been too bad...yet. Today was the usual....got weighed (down 2 1/2 pounds), blood pressure taken (no problems this time...holding steady), listened to the heartbeat (still strong and easy to find). He took blood for some test and found a vein again with no problem. AND (most exciting of all) he gave me my referral slip for my big ultrasound. Hooray! I called the place as soon as I got back to work and my appointment is for next Friday at 11:15. I'm off, Ed's not working and my mom's off that day, plus we'll know the gender (if baby cooperates) in time for our cookout. All is good with the world. :)

The birthday evening was very nice, thank you. I re-used the last date I had with Kathy. We went to the Outback in Canton (they're never busy) and then walked to the yummy Italian pastry place in Canton Square and got gelatto. Yum all around!!! All in all, it was a pretty good birthday. :)

30

It's still weird, but it is what it is. I feel the same as yesterday, so there you go. The only bummer is I can't drink in the new decade. Oh well...I'll make up for it when Val and Kathy turn the big 3-0. :)

I had a lovely day at work. Carrie bought me a cake and gave me a way cool present (a movie gift card to help pay for all those summer blockbusters I must see). She also took me out to the Chinese Buffet yesterday, so that was awesome too. :) Today my mom took me to Red Brick for lunch then bought me some maternity tops from Old Navy. They looked big enough when I held them against me, but I'll have to try them on to make sure. Most of them are stretchy material, so they should be okay.

Ed and I are going to dinner tonight. It's time for another edition of "Mandy Needs a Steak NOW!!!" Just waiting for him to get home so we can leave. Thanks to everyone for their birthday thoughts and well wishes (and even those who made fun of me). Love you all! :)

33 Minutes

until my 20's are over. Weird.

Happy Early Birthday to Me!

Last night turned out to be very fun. Our random trip to Becky's house turned out to be a surprise get-together for my 30th birthday. Nothing big, nothing fancy, but the kind of evening I most enjoy. Val even bought me a birthday cake! And I didn't have to make it myself! You have no idea how exciting that is to me. I'm sorry Kathy couldn't make it, but I'm sure we'll see you soon (after Val pushes out that kid...hehehe). Ed even thought of it all by himself...he was very proud. Thanks for having it at your house, Becky. You rock too.

I even got presents. Becky and Scott (and Claire) gave me a gift card to J.C. Penny's to go towards maternity clothes and the girls (Kathy, Meg and Val) gave me one to Motherhood Maternity. I asked my in-laws for the same thing, so I should have a decent amount of $$ to go towards preggo clothes once I finally need them. Right now I'm still fitting in my old clothes fine, but you never know when I'll finally pop.

Today we're doing the two-family thing. First to my grandma number one, then to my grandma number two, then to Ed's mom's house. Good times. It's always a triple celebration at Ed's family's...Mother's Day, my birthday and his sister's anniversary. And more bad food for me to eat so I look like I gained too much weight when I go to the doctor's on Wednesday. Between last night (taco dip and pizza), today (more pizza at his mom's house...don't ask, I don't know why), tomorrow (Carrie and I are doing the Chinese Buffet for my birthday) and Tuesday (my birthday complete with yummy steak dinner), I might just be up a few pounds from last time. We'll see.

Happy Mother's Day (again)! :)

Geez, People!

You get so testy when I'm too lazy to update! ;) Not much going on today. Yesterday, however, was exciting. Erin had her baby!!! And it was a boy!!! I was shocked by that one, I tell you. I had poor Simon pegged as a girl all the way. But he's cute as can be and I'm very happy for Erin. It won't be too much longer, Val!

Last night I actually went to a party that a friend from work was throwing. I know, I was shocked too! But Ed was umpiring (again) and I'm tired of being bored by myself at night. So I went and had a lot of fun. I left around 10:30...because I told Ed I'd be home by then and because I was exhausted. So exhausted that I almost felt like I was drunk driving home. I made it alive though and went right to sleep.

Today we braved the world of the Home Depot to get some flowers and tomato plants. We also picked up his mom's Mother's Day present. Now I'm thinking about making dinner, but I really don't feel like it. And apparently we're going over my sister's at 7 to do something involving Ed and Scott loading stuff into the SUV. Whatever...at least I'll get to see Claire for the third time this week. Yay!

That's it for now. Happy Mother's Day to all! :)

I Hate Mondays

I'm always about 300x more tired tired when I get home on Monday then any other night of the week. I just took a 3 hour nap and I still feel like I want to be sleeping. I have to be at work at 7:00 on Monday mornings for our manager meeting, so I have to wake up at 6. Anybody who knows me is aware that I am not exactly a morning person, so when my alarm goes off that early, I practically start to cry. At least tonight is my good television night.

Here is your unsolicited (except by Val) movie review for Spiderman 3. I thought it was entertaining enough and I would watch it again, but it can't touch the first two. There is just way too much going on...3 villains, 1 "other girl," 1 annoying girlfriend, "black Spidey," etc. They did tie it together in the end, but unless you're a huge comic book fanboy, it wasn't necessary to jam so much into it. The previews were excellent though. Harry Potter (looks oh so awesome), Shrek 3, Pirates 3...we're going to go broke going to the movies this summer. And Knocked Up comes out June 1st...I'm really looking forward to that one!

Happy Snowball Day

Val and I had our Preggo Snowball Day today. It was lovely. She met me at the softball field and then we went off in search of a snowball stand. There's one not too far from the field, but it wasn't yet open at 11:40 when we got there. So we went to Babies R Us for an hour and browsed (which is oddly extremely exciting...how sad is that?). By then the stand was finally open and we got our snowball on. Val kept to her Egg Custard with marshmallow and I got Dreamsickle with marshmallow. Very yummy...although it was a little too chilly with the wind for a cold treat. We sucked it up and ate them anyway.

We went back and watched the rest of the second softball game. Ed's team was rocking and the slaughter rule went into effect after the 5th, so it didn't last too long. They had lost the first game, but hit well so they were all in good moods.

Now I'm resting up before making dinner and then heading out to the movies to see Spiderman. Looking forward to it.

The Orioles Tried to Kill Me

The baseball game was really good tonight. We won 8-2! Woohoo! The only poopy part came in the 1st when Hernandez hit that 3-run homerun off of the foul pole. What you didn't see on television, was the the ball came within a foot of hitting me after it ricocheted off the pole. I didn't even see it coming. Luckily, it missed, but I told Ed I'm never sitting that close to the field again. I like the seats under the overhang where it's safe (and I don't get wet if it rains)!

Oh, and we had some really annoying Cleveland fans sitting directly behind us. The one girl kept talking about how she knew one of the Indians players. I'm fairly certain that she considers herself his best friend. If I had a completely different personality, I would have turned around and smacked her. That's how irritating I found her.

Other than that, it was a pleasant evening. Work was fine too. My event I was running in the morning was a bust, but I was expecting that. Carrie and I had fun, so it was all good. Except for my lunch. We ordered carryout from Red Brick. I asked for a Portabello Sandwich and told him to hold everything but the cheese. When I got the order back to the store, I bite into my sandwich to find nothing but cheese. Seriously. No mushroom. The old guy who took my order took it a little too literally. I had to call and walk back to get a replacement sandwich. That annoyed me, but at least it was a nice day for a walk.

Grocery Shopping is Dangerous

But at least I now have a pro-craving kitchen. I made Ed buy me whole pickles (and pickle spears for that matter), hummus, marshmallows, watermelon, 2% cheddar cheese snacks, Right Bites Grasshoppers, pistachio nuts, canned asparagus, low-fat ice cream treats, and V-8 juice (with calcium). Yes, I know exactly how strange some of those items make me look but I don't care. Yum! Now to decide what to eat first...

Productive Day

Today was a good day off. Despite sleeping in until almost 11, I still managed to get some stuff done. Ed and I dropped my car off at the shop last night and they called around 11:30 to say that the part they put on last time went bad, which is why my engine light came back on. They fixed it for free. Woohoo!

On our way to pick my car up, we stopped at Lab Corp to get Ed's blood test done. That took less than ten minutes from the time we walked in to the time we left. Can't complain about that! Then we had lunch, stopped at the theater and bought our tickets to see Spiderman on Sunday night and then picked up my car.

We figured since we had a free afternoon, we might as well get the emissions test done and out of the way, so we left his car at the Toys R Us parking lot and drove to the stupid emissions place. As usual, it was busy, but I actually picked a quick lane for once. The car passed (again I say: Woohoo!), we got Ed's car and went home where I've been doing nothing ever since.

Ed's now on his way to go play softball so I have another lovely evening alone. At least I felt like we accomplished something today. I think I'll go watch the three episodes of Little People, Big World that are driving Ed crazy sitting in our DVR. Becky got me hooked on that show...darn her!

Round Ligament Pain

That is the technical term for the uterus pain I've been experiencing for the past week or so. It's just my uterus stretching and thickening (ew...) to accommodate the baby. Good times. Remember, it's not a uter-you, it's a uter-us! It's especially painful when you first stand up. It dulls to a mild ache while I'm walking and it disappears when I'm sitting or lying down. So I try to stay on my dupa as much as possible. ;)

Other than that (and my current headache), everything's pretty much a-okay. I've been rather sleepy today, but that's Ed's fault for deciding to wake up at 6 today. At least I'm off tomorrow, so I get to sleep as late as I darned well please. Unfortunately, my happiness tomorrow means I have to work on Saturday. Blah. But we get to go to the Orioles game on Saturday night, so that will be fun. Friends of ours got tickets they couldn't use, so they gave them to us. Yay us!

What's in a Name?

As Meg reminded me in her comment, I haven't written about our latest name change. The girl's name is still Abigail Margaret (Abby). I've had the name Abigail picked out since I was in the second grade and received my first Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas who's name was Abigail. I don't even care that the name has become so horribly popular in recent years. I thought of it first!

The boy's name was a little more tricky. Ed is a III, and although his mother is insistent that we should name our first-born son Edward Joseph IV, Ed is dead set against it. I wouldn't mind too much, but it's up to my husband whether or not he wants to continue that particular tradition. Since he really doesn't, we thought we'd be smart and reverse the name, hoping that it would satisfy his mother. I've always liked the name Joseph, so I was fine with Joseph Edward.

Then we told his mother. Apparently she hates the name Joey because of some creepy little kid that used to live across the street from her. Since the name was mostly for her sake anyway, we scrapped it and decided to go for something different. Ed actually did want to keep the name Edward...he just didn't want the whole thing. So we're going with Edward Ronald...which actually makes me very happy. I had always hoped to get my dad's name in there somewhere and now I get my wish. The best part was that it was Ed's idea...I never even mentioned my wish to him. So I'm happy, my husband's happy, and my mom's thrilled. I'm sure his mom will get over it someday, but hey...it's our kid.

Not that we know what we're having yet, but most people (including myself) seem to be of the opinion that I'm having a boy. Except for Ed and Claire (who told me through Becky that "boys are yucky"). I guess we'll see in about a month when I have my big sonogram. I can't wait!

Oh the Pain

I've apparently traded in the exhaustion and nausea of the first trimester for the aches and pains of the second trimester. My hips have been hurting me for about a week, but it hasn't been too bad. Then there was yesterday. It was my fault because we had a bookfair at the store the night before and I was running around like a crazy person for a couple of hours. They started to hurt by the end of the event, but when I woke up yesterday, it was agony.

It didn't help that my driveway was wet when I left for work and I (being the clumsy dope that I am) managed to slip on the down slope and landed on my dupa. Luckily I kind of slid down along my leg, so I didn't go down hard (plus there's plenty of padding where I landed), but it definitely didn't help my already existing pain. I was shuffling around like a little old lady throughout the day. My manager finally insisted that I go home early, which I finally agreed to.

Oh, it wasn't just my hips though. I was also sore as hell in the front too. I was starting to worry about it, so I called my sister/nurse advisor/recent preggo who's pregnancy was pretty much like mine. She said that it's perfectly normal and even gave me the medical term for it (once she remembered what it was). My body is just making room for the baby.

Once I rested up at home a bit, I went to see my Claire Bear (who's still the prettiest baby in the world...until mine's born). See picture for proof:


Becky wanted to go get some things done, so I stayed with the baby and played for awhile. It was quite amusing. Then Becky came home and I made my yummy salad dressing for her to take to a party tonight. Then I went home and cried to Ed that I was in pain, so he took me out for dinner (not that we can afford it, but oh well). It was good and it made me happy.

This morning I am feeling much better. The hip pain has gone back to minor annoyance...at least for the time being. I'm still sore in front, but I can deal with that. Now I'm getting ready for my Pampered Chef show. I'm just happy I'll be able to stand for the whole thing. Woohoo!

Stupid Dumb Car

My car failed the emissions test way back in January. I had a feeling that it was going to because the engine light had been on for awhile, but since it was right around the holidays we never got around to getting it looked at. So, it failed. We took my car in a couple months ago and got it fixed. Today I was leaving to get it re-tested at the stupid emission place (which I absolutely hate going to btw), when the engine light goes on again. What kind of crappy luck is that? So we're going to have to take it back in and pray that it's something under warranty from the last time we went. At least I have until the day after my birthday to get it re-tested. Suckity suck suck suck! That is all.

Randomness

Geez people...harass me a little more about updating why doncha? I thought I was doing pretty good too. Sheesh!

Anyway, nothing much going on right now. Ed's either been umpiring or playing softball every night this week, so I've been bored. Went to dinner with my mom tonight...that was good (fattening, but good). Then we went to Safeway and she bought me a few groceries. She said not to write that on my blog, but I just did anyway. I'm a rebel like that.

Here's more randomness...to answer Val's last question on the comments of my last post, Ed and I do have a television in our bedroom. I have trouble falling asleep unless it's on. The best thing we ever bought was a tv with a sleep function on the remote so I can set it to turn itself off. Love, love, love it!

Saturday is my first Pampered Chef show since the one at Becky's house. I was hoping to have three this month, but one had to cancel and one never set a date (yes, that means YOU, ERIN!!!). I seriously need to get some more booked or I'll never be able to make the payments on the credit card that got pretty well used once Ed left his last job. Plus some before that. Blah.

In happy news (for me and Meg anyway) the new Harry Potter trailer is now online. It's awesome. If you don't think so, you're an asshat!

Sleeping On My Side

I've been trying to get myself used to sleeping mostly on my left side so that when I absolutely have to, it won't be too difficult an adjustment. So far, it's not going so good. I start off fine, but then my back starts to kill me and I have to roll over. Or I'll fall asleep the right way, but every time I wake up, I'm either on my back (my preferred position) or my right side (my second favorite position). I can't seem to make myself stay where I need to be. Plus, when I'm on my left side, I'm facing Ed. I hate sleeping face-to-face with him...it's just uncomfortable (and he like to sleep on his right side). Did anyone else have issues with this or is it just my weirdness?

Go Baby!

My ticker moved up a picture when I wasn't looking! That's exciting. Now my little jelly bean is really starting to look like a baby. Yay!

I begged off going to softball with Ed today, even though it's beautiful out. It was mostly because I knew I was going to get roped into babysitting our neighbor's 4-year-old daughter while he played and I didn't feel like dealing with it. I love kids, but I hardly know this little girl (my total interaction with her has consisted of a few brief "conversations" while I was grilling on the back porch and she was playing with her daddy in their backyard) and I hate babysitting when I don't know the kid. So I stayed home, finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the 168th time, and even cleaned the kitchen.

I'm even happier that I didn't go because Ed's still not home. It's the first day of the season, so I knew that he would want to hang around and watch some of the other teams for awhile. I don't care how long he stays, as long as I'm not there waiting impatiently to go home. So, it's better all around this way. Boys and their sports!

Fun Saturday

I had a lovely day today, thanks to my wonderful friend Kathy. Apparently she rocks at work and was thus rewarded with two free tickets to see Molly Ringwald in Sweet Charity at the Hippodrome this afternoon. And lucky me got to go with her. Oh how I do love the theater...especially when I don't have to pay for it. The show was very good...there were even a couple of highly recognizable songs in there that have been stuck in my head ever since.

Then, after the show we went out for dinner. She said the "S" word (steak), so once that was in my head, it was all over. We went to the Outback in Canton and then walked to a really good Italian gelato shop for dessert. Yumminess all around. I'll have to be good for a couple of days to make up for it, but it was worth it. Thanks, Kathy! :)

On the pregnancy front, my uterus has been sore for the past few days. I'm assuming this is normal because it should be expanding this week. Confirmation anyone?

Happy Heart

My baby has a strong, healthy heartbeat. Hooray! I feel much better now after hearing that as I'm going into the second trimester. The doctor found it immediately too, so I didn't have to have that second of worry while he searched. Too bad I can't say the same of my blood pressure. The nurse tried to take it, but was getting a really high reading and she said that she was having trouble hearing my pulse. Weird. Even the doctor had to try twice before he got it. After all that, my blood pressure was fine. Thank goodness for that.

It turns out that I am a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis (just like Becky). So that means that Ed has to have blood-work done to make sure he's not a carrier. I'm not too worried about it since his sister just had her baby and she didn't test positive for it. It usually runs in families. No sense making myself crazy over it unless I have to. If Ed tests negative, then all's fine. If he's positive, then there's a 25% chance that my baby will have it. But again, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. Other than that, my blood work looked great. I go back in 4 weeks to have more blood drawn and he'll give me the go-ahead to have the big sonogram done. Then I can start thinking about registering. Good times all around. :)

Doing Nothing

I'm currently enjoying my third day off in a row and am celebrating by doing absolutely nothing. Actually, I celebrated yesterday by doing the exact same thing. I figure that I might as well enjoy some lazy days now, because in a little over six months, it will be a long time before I get another one.

Speaking of which, I am 13 weeks along today! Hooray! Am I in my second trimester yet or is that next week? Either way, I'm feeling good right now. The tiredness has slackened off and despite a brief comeback early last week, the nausea is holding off as well. I have my second doctor's appointment tomorrow, so Ed and I will finally get to hear the heartbeat. Exciting stuff.

The eating thing is still a pain. I'm starving all the time, but when I sit down to eat a meal, I'm stuffed about halfway through. Then I'm starving again a couple of hours later. I should probably just resign myself to eating several smaller meals throughout the day. The weight is still coming off a little too. I got on the scale this morning and I am 7 pounds down from my weight at my last doctor's appointment. D'oh.

Holy Crap, Am I Tired!

Had my HUGE signing today. It started at 2 and didn't end until 6 (and that was with us turning many people away). Good times all around. I was at the front of the line collecting books and cameras to hand off and letting people go through one group at a time. It went really well until we hit the time snafu at the end, but what can you do. The man's a god around here and everyone wants to meet him.

I, however, am exhausted. Luckily my nice-guy manager had someone go to one of the bars to get me a bar stool so I could sit down most of the time. I still wound up running around a lot though. I was just trying not to kill myself or hurt my baby. But now my feet, legs, back and head are all killing me...plus I'm starving!!! Ed's going to splurge and take me to Bateman's to get dinner soon though. Cause I'm way too tired to cook!

I have to run into work for about 15 minutes tomorrow to report my weekly sales. I didn't want to do it before I left today because I want every book sold today to be reflected in my numbers. But after I leave, I'm on a mini-vacation until Thursday. And I need it! So if anyone wants to do lunch or something Monday or Tuesday, just let me know. :)

Frickin' Orioles

I watch the whole darned scoreless game, just to see them give up a grand slam in the 20th inning (at least it feels like the 20th inning). I'm not holding my breath that they'll come back. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

Anyway, I'm having a boring night. The hubby is off at softball (still). They had the late games tonight, which apparently are going extremely late. It's the first night of the season though, so I'll cut him some slack. He also started umpiring this week (we need the extra $$). He wound up with games on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He played tonight. I'm not getting to see him much right now. Hopefully it will get better soon.

On the bright side, I was off today since I have to be in on Saturday for my big event. Ed had an easy day, so we went out for an early dinner at Carrabba's (with the $$ my momma gave us for Easter). I love the place. I got my Sirloin Marsala and it was good. Plus it satisfied my steak craving for a couple of weeks, so that was a bonus. With Ed not being home nights, I haven't been making dinner which means I'm not getting enough protein. So it was good we got to go out tonight.

For now I'm having fun playing Pogo. I'm hooked on the bowling game tonight. I'm determined to get to the next rank before I quit for the night. I'm only three spins away. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you must try the Pogo. Way fun, mindless games that you can play for hours on end. Let me know and I'll send you a pass.

That's all for now. Hopefully the hubby will get home soon so we can watch Lost before bed. Actually, I refuse to go to bed until we watch Lost, but I'm getting sleepy so it better be soon.

My First Strange Craving

Is it weird that I'm craving yellow mustard? Seriously...of all things. Although it's still not as strange as Erin's beer craving. That takes the cake.

I was starving at lunch time today, but just didn't feel like eating anything. I went through all the menus for all the restaurants on the Avenue, but nothing was appealing to me. Then all of a sudden, I decided that I needed an Asiago Pretzel from the cafe, but only if I could get it with mustard. I hardly ever have mustard with my soft pretzels, but in my mind, I had to have it. So I got my pretzel and four pouches of yellow mustard. The mustard was gone before the pretzel. Then I kept thinking of the mustard. My mouth is actually watering now thinking about it some more.

It's just weird, I tell you!

Hoppy Easter!

As is tradition with most holidays, Ed and I spent most of today running around. Can't wait to try it with a baby. At least I didn't wind up in the emergency room this time, so that's a bonus!

First we went to my mom's mom for about an hour. She had Polish sausage, so that was worth the trip. Then we went to my other grandma's for our first dinner of the day. Ate too much, but it was good. Then Ed and I (Becky and Scott had already bolted with Claire) tried to ignore my crazy uncle as he went on one of his tirades. When we couldn't take it anymore, we got the heck out of dodge and came home so I could take a quick (20 minute) nap. Then we went to Ed's parents' house for dinner number two. Again, good stuff. And we got to see both nieces today, so that was like a bonus. Now I'm tired (shocker, I know) and I'm dreading going to work tomorrow. If for no other reason, just because it's work and schools are out this week. Blah.

Yesterday was good too. We had Val's baby shower. Yay! It turned out very nice. It was mostly Meghan and Don's mom coordinating the thing from here and Florida. But somehow it all came together in the end. Val and Don got lots of stuff for the baby...just don't know where they're going to put it all. Good luck with that, Val! ;)

All-in-all, a good (yet extremely tiring) weekend. Now back to the grind.

Same Old, Same Old

Wow, am I boring. Just nothing much going on right now. Work is work. I'm still tired all the time. I'm still hungry all the time. I'm still losing a little bit of weight (although, thankfully, it's slowed down). I'm still waiting for Ed to make his first million (heh).

Speaking of Ed, he's been sick with a terrible cold all week. It was really bad yesterday. He decided to take a nap with me, which he never does, and then proceeded to toss and turn so much that I couldn't sleep. How rude. I had to run to Target during my lunch to buy him some Clariton D. We went to the store on Tuesday, but we got there after the pharmacy closed and that's one of the medicines that you now have to go to the pharmacy to buy. They scan your license and everything. But I was tired of listening to him whine about his nose. Men. At least Lost was good last night. Yay. :)

Not Much Happening

Life's been blah the past few days. Friday Ed and I went back to the hospital to see Kaylee again. She's still a cutie. They released her and Wendi on Saturday, so they're happily at home now. Yay!

My mom and I spent most of Saturday together. We went to see my grandmother and I had to sit through some fun crazy family drama. Whatever. At least she took me to Ze Mean Bean for lunch and I got my pirogis. Yum! And mom gave me her kielbasa from her meal, so that was like a bonus. Nothing like a good ethnic meal. We went to Walmart after that and she bought me some stuff I needed since she's currently worried about my financial well-being. Things are definitely tight right now, but they should get better soon.

Yesterday I did nothing and I liked it. Ed was gone most of the day between softball practice and an umpire meeting in the evening. So that gave me an excuse to do nothing but watch tv, play on the computer and finish my book. I read Laura Lippman's new one, "What the Dead Know." Very good if anybody is interested. She had a signing at my store on Thursday, which did very well. She always comes to us for every new book and we always get a nice crowd. My mom and her friend Juanita showed up for this one and they both had a good time. My next signing is with Cal Ripken a week from Saturday. May the force be with me!

Today is a crappy day...pretty much the worst of both worlds. I have a bookfair tonight, so I had to be in the store at 7:00 this morning (which, in my opinion, is the butt-crack of dawn) for our weekly manager's meeting. I'm home now, but have to go back at 3 until 9:30 for the bookfair. Good times. At least I'll have time for a nap, so I won't be too exhausted tonight. Maybe I'll even feel feisty today and get some things done around the house. I was reduced to eating my cereal out of a tupperware this morning because we ran out of clean bowls. Oops.

For now though, I think I'm going to go back to bed for a little while. I'll be happy when this first trimester exhaustion is over and done with.

Hi Kaylee!

My new niece is here! Hooray! Kaylee was born by planned Cesarean this afternoon at 1:57. The little chubber weighs in at 9 lbs and 1.3 oz. At least Wendi didn't have to push her out! Ouch! But she's a cutie and mommy and baby are both doing good.

Here's a shot of Uncle Ed holding her. It's not the greatest shot of her face, but it's the best I have for right now. I'll try to get a better one when we go back to the hospital to visit on Friday.

10 Weeks!

My baby is officially a fetus today! Way to go, Jelly Bean! It feels nice to be in the double digits. Like I'm finally making some headway in the pregnancy. I'm well aware that I have a long way to go though. 210 days to be exact. One day at a time...

Ed and I just went for a walk. It's sooooooooo nice out. Now there's a nice cool breeze blowing, but the air is still warm. I wish it could stay like this. Alas, tomorrow's only supposed to go up to about 65*. We should still be able to get a walk in. I'm not trying to lose weight, I'm just trying to keep my blood sugar down so I can try to avoid gestational diabetes. We'll see how well it works.

In other news, I've been feeling a little less tired, although I still need my daily nap after work. The nausea is pretty much gone. Things are coming along nicely. Yay me!

Happy Day

Carrie and I went to the Chinese Buffet for lunch today. It made me happy. That is all.

Out All Night

Or at least that's what it felt like. Ed and Dave (his best friend, for anyone who doesn't know) had another stupid-dumb fantasy baseball draft last night. So they decided that Ed and I were going to hang out with Dave and Deb (his wife, duh) all day. We didn't realize that they meant ALL DAY!

We met them at the movies around 2:45 and we saw The Last Mimzy. The movie was good...cute but different. Plus I got to see Dwight Schrute in his underwear, so that was worth the price of admission right there. ;)

After the movie we went over their house, since they have a two-year-old and Dave's allergic to cats, which makes our house a death trap for him. Deb made us a yummy dinner and then at 6:30 the boys got on the computer for the draft. Apparently, the draft was taking place in Chicago and involved about 16 guys and over 30 rounds of drafting. We now know that all of that equals seven and a half hours worth of drafting time. Seriously. We were there until after 1, and the draft still wasn't over. Dave called Ed when his turn came up to find out what he wanted to do.

Luckily Deb and I had fun until we both pretty much fell asleep downstairs watching tv. So today, I'm very sleepy. Stupid dumb boys and their stupid dumb fantasy sports. At least Deb and I can take solace in the fact that we suffer together. Good times all around.

Holy Crap, I Miss My Nap!

So I had a bookfair at work today. That means I had to be in at 1:30...which means that my usual 5:30 nap had to be canceled for today. Wow...by the time the bookfair started at 7, I was completely drained. My boss kept telling me I looked like the walking dead. It was good times. Plus, it was a middle school bookfair, and middle school kids are just as obnoxious today as they were when we were there. So a fun night all around. At least my boss felt sorry for me and let me go home a half-hour early. It helps that he has two kids, so he's familiar with just how fun pregnancy can be. He's very sympathetic, so you gotta take advantage of that! ;)

I Really Am Pregnant!

Here's the picture to prove it!

Hooray! The doctor said that the baby is measuring perfectly for nine weeks. The heart looked strong and he/she was wiggling all around. I feel much better now knowing that everything looks great so far. :)

I love my doctor too. Becky was right, he is really laid back. My kind of doctor. :)

By the Way...

Did you know that tomorrow is the first day of spring? You know what that means? Free Italian Ice at Ritas! That will be my reward for dealing with the indignity of the yucky doctor! :)

Random Thing to Do

My friend Carrie put this on her journal and I thought it was fun, so here you go:

Ten Things I Love That Start With the Letter M (in no particular order)

Comment and I'll give you a letter. Using that letter, you have to list 10 things you love that begin with the letter.

1. Ministry of Magic (2 M's! Double points!)
2. Michael Scott
3. Mistletoe
4. Mickey Mouse (2 M's again! I rock!)
5. Midnight Swims
6. Margaritas
7. May 15th
8. Money in my Pocket
9. Movies
10. Mrs. Field's Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Yucky Doctor

Have my first doctor's appointment tomorrow. Not really looking forward to that. I really hate being violated both inside and out. Ewwwww!!! But I gotta do it, so I'll suck it up. Becky said that they'll probably stick the weird camera up my hooha so I can see the baby, so that's exciting. ;) I told Ed I didn't want him to go since it was all icky stuff going on, but Becky seems to think that's weird. Anyone?

In other news, my ticker moved up a picture! My baby is starting to look like a baby! Yay!

What's With the Sleeping?

How come I'm tired all the time, can nap whenever the mood hits, but when I get the chance to sleep in (like today for example), I can't sleep past 8:30? What's up with that? Usually when I get the chance to sleep in, I'm good until at least 9:30...10:00. Often later than that. It's just weird, I tell you! Ed's still in bed right now experiencing the bliss of sleeping late on the weekend. I've been staring at the ceiling for the last half hour. Oh well. I'll just have to take a nap later. ;)

Yay Meg!!!

Funny thing...I got a call on Monday from my friend Meghan. The same friend Meghan that's been my friend Meghan since the first grade. Considering we're turning 30 this year, that's a long time. Guess what...

She's pregnant!!!!

AND

She's due five days after me!!!!

How crazy is that? I'm so excited for her! :) Now we just have to coordinate going into labor (did I mention we're using the same hospital?). Considering she went a week early last time, it just might be doable. Hehehehehehe...just imagine our husbands dealing with that. Congratulations Meg!

He Passed!!!

Hooray! Ed passed the test he needed to take to be licensed to sell insurance. He can finally start making some money! Now all he needs to do is make some sales. Wish us luck! And once again, if you know anyone who owns or works for a local business, let us know. Gotta get started somewhere, ya know?

In other news, if Ed doesn't get back from volleyball soon with my dinner, I'm going to become very unhappy. I'm hungry! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

I have other exciting news too, but I don't know if the person it's about wants me to post about it yet. So I won't. You'll just have to wonder what it is. :P

Fear Not, My Friends!

I have finally made my first doctor's appointment! All may join me in a sigh of relief. The bad timing of Ed's career change at the same time I found out I was pregnant lead to some medical insurance difficulties that lead me to putting off making the appointment. We were basically waiting for his old insurance company to send us the "magic letter" that B&N needed to get us on their policy. We finally got it on Saturday and I faxed all the info to B&N on Monday and they sent it of to United on Monday night. Hooray! So I called my sister's ob and made an appointment for next Wednesday. Only a week later then I really should have gone, so not too tragic. I'll just feel better about everything once I get that appointment out of the way and know for sure that everything's going all right with the baby. I'm prepared for the inevitable lecture on my weight, but it is what it is and it can't be changed at the moment. So there! :P

In other news, it's beautiful outside. Well, it's warm at least...the clouds are definitely out. I hope any possible rain holds off until after Ed and I take a walk when I get home from work. We took one yesterday and it felt good, even though I just wanted to take a nap. I make the mistake of e-mailing Ed my weekly update from Babygaga and there was something in there about taking walks to help battle fatigue. He definitely took it to heart. Not that I'm complaining since I really need to do it anyway to help keep my blood sugar down. I just had a Pampered Chef meeting last night, so I had no time for a nap at all and I was exhausted. I was in bed by 9:30. I'm tired of being tired.

Boy, am I Lazy!

Ed's stupid dumb fantasy baseball draft is tomorrow, at MY house! The same MY house that is a complete mess. Silly me, I've been so busy sleeping the past few weeks, that I haven't done much in the way of cleaning. Luckily (for him anyway), Ed has done most of the cleaning that needed to get done. I still have to clean the kitchen and my bathroom. It's now almost 7:00 and I haven't even started. Plus my bed is covered with my clean clothes that I need to put away. They've been sitting there since about 1:00. I've just been sleeping around them. ;) I did manage to make it to the grocery store at least. I had to pick up the ingredients to make the mac & cheese I promised Meg for Conner's birthday party tomorrow. While I was out, I stopped at the dollar store to get some wrapping paper. There's a Chinese carryout a few stores down...so the temptation was too much and I got a Shrimp Egg Roll. Yum! I'm fairly sure that this baby is going to come out Chinese because that's one of the things I've been craving the most...Chinese food. And grilled cheese. Go figure.

My Usual Weight Issues

So I got on the scale this morning for the first time in a few weeks. I've been afraid to because I'm scared to death of gaining too much weight and I felt like I'd been eating a lot. Which is funny because I'm really not. Half the time just thinking of eating anything makes me want to gag. But the other half of the time I can't eat enough. Weird.

Plus I've been having an extra breakfast most mornings. I usually eat a bowl of cereal in the morning before I go to work. But by about 10:00, I'm starving and I start to feel sick until I eat again. Since I'm dumb and too lazy to pack food to take to work with me, I usually end up at the cafe where I buy a Reduced Calorie Orange Juice (a.k.a. watered down juice) and a plain bagel, toasted, with nothing on it. Not horrible, but it's definitely some extra calories most days.

Anyway, so I finally got brave enough to get on the scale this morning, and I've actually lost another 3 1/2 pounds since the last time I weighed in. Not really want I wanted to do either. Hopefully when I finally get to the doctor, I'll get a better idea of how many calories I should be eating everyday. I'm sure that it's fine for right now, but I just want to do what's healthiest for the baby.

I'm trying a breakfast experiment today. Instead of my regular cereal, I'm choking down a cup of yogurt. It's still healthy, but a lot less calories. That way I won't feel so bad about the bagel that I know I'll wind up getting later. My gag reflex isn't cooperating too well though. I usually love yogurt, but I really have to take my time with it today. I'm almost done though, so hooray!

By the way, Lost was very enjoyable last night. I'm happy that they're getting back to at least having little side stories on the beach. :)

Lazy Day and Happy Birthday Meg!

Gotta love a day so lazy that Ed and I are still in our pajamas at 4:00. Yesterday's party went well, but I was exhausted by the end. Hence, the laziness of today.

Today is Meghan's 30th birthday! Happy birthday Meg! :) So the first of my group of friends has turned the big 3-0. I'm slowly coming to grips with the fact that this is the year. It still seems weird to me though. Just think back to when 30 seemed so ancient. I don't feel ancient. A whole new chapter of my life is about to begin and I couldn't be more excited. At least this gives us an excuse to party a little. I think we're going to have one big blow-out in the summer to commemorate all four of us turning the already-mentioned age. It will be fun, fun, fun. Except, sadly, with no drinking for me. And hopefully no drinking for Meg. At least everyone else can go crazy...I'll just laugh at you.

Party Today, Yay!

Good morning my friends. I'm up bright and early today and raring to go. Well, not really raring. I woke up about 20 minutes ago and decided I couldn't sleep anymore, so here I am. I really need to eat some breakfast, but the mere thought of cereal right now is making me gag. I don't think we have any other breakfast foods right now. Maybe I'll just have some yogurt.

So my first Pampered Chef show is a few months is today. Hooray! I like the Mystery Host shows because I pretty much know everyone there. It will be fun. Becky's friends are a blast. And some of my friends will be there too! Yay! :) But what I'm most excited about it the Chipperella's Salad that I made. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...I love that stuff! I'm also making a Chocolate Chip Cookie Trifle ahead of time to show off my new Trifle Bowl, which I love. And Becky said that she's make Taco Dip. So even without the official "show food," there's some good stuff waiting.

I guess I should go make that Trifle now. I have to be at Becky's between 11:30 and noon, but I still have to shower, pack the car, and stop by B&N to say goodbye to my friend Sam, who's last day is today. Very sad. :( Everybody keeps leaving...except for me.