The Thing About Carrots...

So, I have a major pregnancy symptom! Or something like that. And it involves of all things, carrots.

I only realized it today, when it happened for a second time. The first time, I just thought something was off that day.

At lunch, I brought some carrot sticks to eat with my meal. I love carrots. They're one of my favorite veggies to snack on. I had eaten one or two sticks when all the sudden I began to have terrible heartburn. It was heartburn that was so bad that I could barely breathe.

I stood up to try to let it go down the hatch, only it just sat there in my throat. And the burn got worse with every swallow. Then I realized I was going to throw up...just like last time. So I ran to the bathroom and did just that. And only the carrots came up.

Weird, isn't it? This happened a few weeks ago as well, but it was long enough ago for me to have forgotten about it. I also thought for sure that time it was a fluke incident. I mean, carrots? Of all things?? But now that it's happened twice, there must be something about carrots that I cannot digest them right now.

Just wanted to share this random pregnancy side effect that has me all confused. Pregnancy is such a weird state to be in. So for now, I guess no more carrots. Hope my vision doesn't get worse....

The Rug of All Rugs!

It has happened.

THE RUG IS FINISHED!!!!

This rug has been the bane of my existence since shortly after it began. I hate it when my husband is right, but he put it best when he said, "Sometimes projects you take on are just a little too much for what you can handle." I also have to mention, the only reason that rug is finished is because of that statement.

Hmph. Don't you tell me I can't finish something!

But whatever the case, it's finished! It is definitely not as big as I had hoped for. I just couldn't take it anymore. I did use up the last of the fabric I had ordered, so nothing went to waste. I can't even imagine how long it actually took me to make, but I know I put in a few 9 hour days. In the end, was it worth it? No. Definitely not. But, is it soft? Yes. Is it cute? Yes. So, it'll do until our wee one starts crawling around and I want to give her more of a plush space to crawl on.

So, here it is. The Rug. In all its finished glory.

Nice and soft.  

Sneak Peek! Fits perfectly under our rocker/glider. 

Advice for future moms/rug enthusiasts: go out and buy one. In the end, I spent roughly around what I would have for a rug this size. Two orders of fabric cost around $80, with the rug mat and binding tape the total came to around $95. Yes, there's the personalized factor, but that can come from other places in the room, if you ask me. If you're crazy enough to attempt it, good luck to you, you crafty maven you!

A Dresser Fit for a Princess

With the weather finally turning spring-like, I had to take advantage of it and make a final push to get the dresser finished for the nursery.

A few weeks back, Emily and I got the drawers painted. Since then, the weather turned back towards winter so that out a kibosh on finishing it off. This weekend, she agreed to come back over and tackle painting the main part of the dresser. The weather outlook was gloriously sunny and warm so it was perfect timing.

We spent the majority of Saturday afternoon priming and painting layer after layer on the side and top of the dresser. Here is the one snapshot I remembered to take as we went:

Primed and ready for layer one of paint. 

The annoying thing about this dresser is that its very well made. Very sturdy. But also very heavy. Therefore I've been banned from lifting the thing in any way, which makes for a very frustrated preggo who can't ever sit still. Once Emily left, I got a call from Adam saying it was supposed to rain that night. 

WHAT!?!?! No. The weather channel said no rain all weekend. Thats why I chose this weekend. Of course, I ran inside to check the weather and sure enough, as usual, the weather channel lied. So very frustrating. 

Thankfully it wasn't coming until the middle of the night so I could wait to drag it to cover until husband came home. So when Adam arrived, we moved the dresser under some tarp our landlord has on the porch. I figured it would do, at best. At the very least it would keep it dry. 

Then I went outside to check it the next morning. Ground was wet...humidity was high. Ohhhh no was all I could think. As I peeked under the tarp, this is what I saw. 

Major sad face. Why, water?!? Whhhyyyyy!?!

This is the top of the dresser. I'm guessing buildup of rain soaked into the paint, as the sides are fine. So I started off this day, bright and early with sandpaper in hand to re-do the top of the dresser.  

Primer times two.

Thankfully, the weather cleared up in the afternoon, so I was able to spend the rest of the day finishing the layers of paint and sealer for the entire dresser. Now the dresser is completely painted and ready to be filled with pretty little outfits for Ms. Adly. Pictures of the finished product to come soon.

The last step I have for the dresser is to add knobs to each drawer. But that will be left for another day when I'm feeling like nesting and running around like crazy all day working on projects.

Here are a list of things this nesting mother-to-be accomplished this weekend:
-Paint Dresser
-Purchase and hang bookshelves in nursery (involving manhandling IKEA)
-Organize picture frames for collage on wall of nursery
-Purchase and hang darkening curtains/curtain rods in the master bedroom
-Rearrange master bedroom
-Cut and iron fabric for crib ruffle skirt

Phew...and with that, I received a stern talking to by my dear husband that I need to start acting like I'm 29 weeks pregnant and take it easy. So now I'm going to kick my feet up and relax. After I get all my other projects done, of course.....

Give me Space!

I'll tell you what really chaps my ass- pregnant or not. When stupid people park their cars so close to you in a parking lot that you can barely open your car door. What are these people thinking?!? You're just asking to have your car dented my my forceful opening of the door.

But now that I have a giant belly, it's even more annoying to try to squeeze my way in and out of the car in tight spaces. After work today, I found myself at Trader Joe's picking up some dinner items. I can't stand Trader Joe's parking lot as it is. It's always overcrowded and the spaces are too small for even small vehicles. So I parked my SUV in between the lines with plenty of space for the car on my right. There was no car on my left, the drivers side.

I go in, do my shopping and come out with 2 heavy bags of grocery. I could not believe what I saw when I walked out. If I hadn't have been so shocked, I would've snapped a picture. Some jerk parked his car literally 6 inches from my car on the drivers side. So close, that I couldn't even attempt to squeeze my way in to slam the car door into his car. JERK! I have never had this happen to me to this extent. Not even able to squeeze in and open the door?!? WTF?

I stood there, dumbfounded for a minute. Then I realized the only way my pregnant ass was going to be able to get in the car was to climb in through the passenger door. Thats right. Climb across the vehicle. Because I'm so limber these days, why the hell not!?

So, with steam coming out of my ears I climbed in and across. Once I settled in the drivers seat, I noticed some dipshit walking over towards the car with headphones in. I knew it had to be his car, so I sat, watching him. Hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman who's just had to CLIMB across the passenger seat in order to enter her damn car. The rage was sitting, waiting to come out of the cage.

I rolled down my window and yelled, "Nice park job you jackass! I'm 8 months pregnant and just had to climb across my car in order to get in. What the hell were you thinking parking so close to my car!?!?"

Now, I'm never an eloquent speaker in these situations. In fact, there were a few more choice words I screamed, but since this is a public forum, I'm not sure who reads it, so I'm attempting to keep it clean.

The lovely man responded with, "Oh, I'm sorry. I parked in between the lines, didn't I?" And swiftly got in his car.

It took all of my might not to jump out of the damn car and strangle the man. Instead, I peeled off, foaming at the mouth, enraged at the possibility that some human beings are so stupid and ignorant. It's just another case and point why I hate that parking lot. No matter how you park, you're squeezed in far too tight.

That, my friends, will be the last time I ever use a parking space at that place. From now on, it's back to making my own spot, wherever the hell I feel like making one....away from other cars.

And now, on to much bigger and brighter things. IT FEELS LIKE SPRING OUT!!!

Hallelujah!!!

Belly Up

I'm growing. A lot. Only, I have yet to fully accept just how much.

While I'm still requiring the amount of sleep I needed in the first trimester, my body is now suddenly 3x the size of what it used to be. Not to mention there is now a rather heavy bulge in front of me that is quite awkward.

When it comes to sleep, as I've mentioned, I'm now mostly on my sides. My Snoogle has made its debut again and is soooo incredibly comfortable. The only downside is that it too, is awkward. So while most people flip from side to side with ease in their sleep, I'm a bumbling giant trying to unwrap my legs from the Snoogle contraption then hoist myself over to the other side. None of this is an easy feat, let alone when you're comatose from your deep sleep. I've been waking myself up as I grunt and lose my breath trying to get from one side to another. And as I type this I think...there's still 2-1/2 more months to go...it's only going to get worse!

Another new hinderance my belly has been causing is putting on shoes. Who knew? It's nearly impossible to put on my shoes standing up anymore!

The other day I was in the bedroom grunting my way into a pair of boots. Or should I say, grunting as I attempted to even get my leg high enough to get into the boot. Adam finally came in to see what the hell I was doing only to find his lovely wife, just attempting to put on her shoes. Of course he recommended I have a seat and give it a try. But please, who has time for such things!?!

It's amazing how quickly the belly grows and how unaware the rest of your body and mind are of the growth. A big part of me still wants to think I'm still in the glorious second trimester. I swear, if pregnancy ended there, I'd happily be knocked up over and over again. I can fully appreciate now why they call it the honeymoon period of pregnancy.

Then there's my clothes. I was pretty excited for maternity clothes (once I found the cute ones). I'm sorry but jeans with elastic at the top are the most genius invention ever. How they've managed to stay hidden in only the maternity section of stores is beyond me. I've been wearing maternity pants since December, so believe me, I love them. But yet I still find myself trying with all my might to squeeze into my normal clothes...and pants.

The pants are the best. I have two pairs of skinny pants that still fit....in the legs. So I wear them completely unzipped with my trusty belly band to cover up the zipper area. I know, its terrible. But I just can't stop!

Then today I had a student tell me, "I like your shirt."

Only, it's not a shirt. It was a dress (don't worry I had leggings on!) from my pre-preggo days. Only then did I stop to think...maybe it's time to fully make the switch to the dark side of only maternity?

But lets be honest. I'm going to keep squeezing into my normal clothes until the last minute. It's just too hard to kiss your whole closet goodbye for so long. Besides, I can't wait to get compliments on all my v-necks turned baby T's with my exposed burgeoning belly this summer!

28 Weeks

In the ever changing world of pregnancy, not much has changed for me in the last 3 weeks, thankfully. Besides my burgeoning belly growing and causing more and more mobility issues, I'm not feeling any different. Please don't strike me down for saying that. I'm trying not to jinx myself...but its true!

I'm still feeling really tired and sleeping through the night. I'm still hungry every waking hour. I'm trying my best to eat healthier, but it doesn't always happen. Still love me some sweets. And anything chewy is still my best friend.

Here's what has changed. Adly's movements have gotten a lot stronger as she has grown and her living space has gotten smaller. These days I can actually see her "crawling" across my belly as she moves from one side to another. If I'm sitting down and bend forward, she clearly doesn't like her even more cramped space so she starts kicking and clawing. At those times, I can actually feel her little limbs! Now THAT is a weird feeling.

Sleeping on my back, something I worried about at 14 weeks but never stopped doing, is rapidly becoming next to impossible. I wake up dizzy or out of breath whenever I end up on my back (although I have no clue how long that takes to happen). For the most part I'm adjusting to being on either side at night. And when I flip from side to side, she wakes up and moves around, readjusting with gravity. Its funny, now I can't imagine not having something living in my belly.

I'm also getting more and more awkward compliments. You know, the "Oh, you look bigger!" or "I'm not sure how to say this but ummm....you look really pregnant now!" I'm not sure there is a polite way to say someone is looking much larger around the middle. But I don't care either way. I've longed to look like I'm knocked up so my feelings can finally match my body. Now people won't think I'm a crazed lunatic when I'm yelling about nonsense or crying over next to nothing. They'll just look away and say, "don't worry. She's just a hormonal psychopathic pregnant lady. She'll be back to normal in a few months."

On that note, I can also see my hormones raging more than they have in a while. I've decided to keep the drama and rants from the last two days of my life off of this blog. I enjoy it as an outlet for happy thoughts and the hilarity of my every day life. But if you want to hear a real pregnant woman rant, talk to me about maternity leave in the U.S. and our lovely mayors' new health plan roll out. That'll really bring out the pregnant woman hormonal psychosis.

Here's the belly, 28 weeks:

Sweet Dreams

I'm thoroughly enjoying the pregnancy dreams I've been having. Through each of them, I get a quick glimpse into who my mind seems to think our little precious will be one day.

Adam and I were very different newborns, looks wise. I was delightfully bald until I was almost two. And when my hair did come in, I was a toe-headed blonde. Unfortunately, my blonde genes didn't want to stick around too long and they disappeared by the time I was 6. (Although, thanks to my sister-in-law hair stylist, I still enjoy life as a blonde). Adam was born with a thick tuft of dark brown hair. Enough hair that he could've had a haircut right from birth.

Because of the differences, we've spent quite some time imagining what little Adly will come out looking like. I can't tell you how difficult pregnancy is for impatient people. So many nights we both sit here just wishing she'd be here already. Since she can't be, you spend all this time imagining what your little offspring is going to look like, be like, act like, etc. In some ways, pregnancy flies by. In other ways, it draaaaags on.

In my latest dream, she was around 9 months old...although she was able to have a conversation with me. She's totally going to be a baby genius. She had light brown hair with little curl-like flips and the cutest little pink hair pretty in her hair with big brown eyes. She was wearing a cute little dress and we were somewhere with stairs. I was carrying her to wherever we were headed on my hip and we were walking down stairs.

Those of you who know me, know my fatal flaw of terrible knees. My beloved knee brace has become my best friend throughout this pregnancy. I also walk down stairs like I am a crippled 88 year old.

As I carried Adly, we were talking about something I can't remember. I just kept looking at her. She was so sweet and innocent looking. Here's what I do remember of the conversation. She asked me, "Mama, why do you walk down the stairs so funny? Is it because of your knees? They hurt you, don't they?" I replied to her, "Yes, they do. But not enough to not carry you."

There was a lot of white light around us, sort of like we were in a dream you have of people who are no longer here. Usually I forget my dreams before I wake up, but this one I just can't stop thinking about. I can't get that picture of her out of my mind, nor the sound of her voice.

I can't wait until the moment she's old enough to have a conversation with me. And better yet, until she's old enough to call me "mama".

Dear Aunt Cait & Uncle Pete

Some of you may have children. But I bet none of you have had a child who writes letters from the womb. Yes, my daughter is just like me. A hilarious writer, even before she's officially entered this world. She's so funny, I thought I'd share some of her pieces of work through this blog. My first moments of mommy bragging.

Prepare to be amazed.

Music to her Ears

Our little girl can now hear a lot of what is around her, including our voices. This has made her daddy especially excited when he talks to her in my belly and she kicks back.

If you read, party time? then you know that I have a little dancer living inside me. I know, I realize she's no different than any other baby in the womb, I just like to imagine my child as a wild dancing queen with terrible dance moves. I may have issues, but thats besides the point. Anyways, in the last week she's gotten stronger every day. This also means her kicks have begun packing a punch. In addition, I can now feel her little body squirming its way around her apartment. It is truly the strangest, yet coolest feeling. 

So strong are her moves sometimes that we're starting to see them from the outside. Yesterday, while watching Notting Hill, she was having a blast in there. I was finally able to catch some of her movement on video. (She has a knack for stopping any time theres a camera or hand on her belly). 

The TV was pretty loud (I'm deaf) so I thought maybe it had something to do with the music. Last week I was driving out the the suburbs, blaring the radio and testing out my American Idol voice, when a techno song came on. Immediately, our wild child started kicking like crazy in my belly. 

To test her tastes in music last night, Adam and I played a few different tunes. I know some people like to play only classical music to make sure their child is smart. But I, for one, want to make sure our child is awesome. So we started with the song "Ain't No Sunshine", which was playing when I caught her moving in the video. I would love it if she were into the old stuff. But, no movement. Then we played some Bob Marley. Maybe she's the type to be chill, laid back, and all "heeeeey everybody". Nope. No movement. Then, we put on the techno song "Heaven Has a Plan for You". Its all over the radio right now and I'm pretty sure that's the song that was playing in the car last Sunday. 

What do you know, she went crazy kicking. Both of us looked at each other in fear. What are we in for!?!

Sleep.

The first trimester hit me hard. In fact, my sudden incessant need for sleep was one of the main things that clued me into something not being right (even though it took 2 months for me to do something about it).

In the first trimester and even into the second, it became my pattern to fall asleep around 7 or 8 on the couch, then have Adam wake me up around 10pm to drag myself into bed. I would then sleep through the entire night, no problem. On a real good day, there'd even be an after school nap on top of that. I just couldn't get enough sleep.

Then suddenly somewhere in the 2nd trimester, my old sleeping patterns came back to life. No more napping, no more falling asleep early. But then there was my trusty bladder. Suddenly I was waking up throughout the night to go pee. Even then, I could still get a good night's sleep relatively easy.

Certainly there have been nights of insomnia or odd sleeping times, but for the most part, I've been sleeping more soundly than ever before.

Now enter the 3rd trimester. I've been mentally preparing for more sleepless nights, random waking times, facebooking at 3am, no comfortable sleeping positions, etc. That's what I've witnessed all the other preggo's I'm friends with on FB go through. Of course, as I've learned, everyone is different in pregnancy. For now, I'm reverting back to the 1st trimester! I just can't get enough sleep these days. The last few nights I've even gone back to falling asleep on the couch at an unholy hour only to be groggily woken up and stumble into bed.

And my bladder. My poor, poor bladder. I've been sleeping so deeply I haven't even been waking up to pee. (No, I'm not reverting back to childhood and college days of peeing the bed, thankfully). Instead, I wake up in pain to the sound of my alarm completely out of it.

Who knows if this will last. Any day now I could enter into the world of mommy insomnia, never to sleep soundly again. But for now, I'm going to enjoy the ride for as long as its willing to stick around.

What's in a Name?

Like a lot of things in our relationship, picking our baby girl's name came very easily to Adam and I. In fact, it actually happened by accident. Kind of.

It dawned on me recently that I've never shared her name on the blog. I'm not sure why, there wasn't any intention behind it. I just never did I guess. Before we found out she was a girl, an overwhelming number of people had warned me to keep the name a secret--mostly due to people's opinions. We thought about doing that, but lets be honest, we're both big mouths. Plus, I honestly don't care if people don't like her name.

When Adam and I discussed children before we were married, we both agreed that their names would have to be personal in some way. We wanted them to either be carried on from another generation or have a meaning behind it that meant something to us. We also wanted them to be unique.

When we first moved in together a few years ago, I was setting up our internet name. It's the name that is visible to other people when they are looking for internet access, so obviously I didn't want it to be our real names. Being the clever gal that I am, I took our names and "celebritized" them. You know, like "Benifer" or "Brangelina". So totes orig.

Anyways, our celebrity mashup internet name became Adly Brockson (a combo of our first and last names). We're like, totally just like the celebs. Over the next year, we'd obviously always see the name pop up when we were on our computers. At one point, Adam mentioned the name "Adly" would be really cute for a little girl one day. And just like that, the name stuck.

Of course when we found out we were pregnant, we knew if it was a girl, her name had to be Adly. At that point, I researched the name, and it turns out it actually is a name. Although, it's known more as a boys name than a girls name. Even better- makes it more unique!

As for her middle name, again, we wanted it to be personal and have meaning. This one we struggled with for a while. For our next child, we intend to carry on Adam's middle name (his mothers' maiden name). That was the plan if this one was a boy, but now it will be that, regardless of the sex. Therefore, we decided to pull the middle name for our baby girl from my family.

Of course, in reality, the most important thing to me in picking the middle name was that you could yell the first and middle name together quickly and smoothly in sequence (you know, for those days when she needs to know she's really in trouble).

We bounced around a number of different names and then one day randomly came up with Danielle. Daniel is my dad's name and after testing it out, (the yell test of course) we decided it was perfect! To help it match his name more, we changed the spelling to Daniele.

So there it is. Our daughters' name is Adly Daniele.

We absolutely love the name and couldn't be more excited to have her here, see her face and call her by her name. Almost seems like it was fate....

party time?

I have a bit of a problem.

Living inside my belly at the moment appears to be a night owl dancing queen. I'm quite positive her moves could give Kirstie Alley a run for her money on DWTS. Her "dance routine" or whatever it is she does, tends to hit its highest levels around midnight. I'm not sure how my little lady does some of the moves she does, but its like a late night dance club inside my body!

She kicks, rolls, twists, jumps, high kicks, flips. Whatever it is six-month-old fetuses are able to do- she does it and more. I swear. This leads to me waking up or being kept up. Sometimes I'm kept up out of amazement she just did such a thing and sometimes out of that, oh I don't know, fantastic feeling of someone beating a drum and kicking you from the inside out.

Then comes the wee morning hours. I'm pretty sure she calms down between 1-4:30am. Catches up on some shut eye and kicks back to enjoy the comfy life she's currently living. She really has no clue how easy she's got it right now. Mom keeps her belly full with lots of ice cream, chocolate, pickles, and bananas. It's always warm in there and she's got the run of the place as she is quickly pushing all of my major organs out of the way to make more room. What a life!

Then, come the early morning, its party time again! Woooo!! (Cue techno music, lasers, fog). Between 5-6:30am, more moves come out. I'm not sure how some of them are even possible. Maybe there's a future contortionist inside me? This morning, I swear, she was doing the worm from one side of her apartment to the other. Her feet were kicking out one side and her arms fist pumping out the other.

While it honestly makes me laugh most of the time, it also makes me want to cry. When she's born, is she going to continue this wild, fast-paced, dancing queen lifestyle? Is she going to run us ragged throughout the night refusing to sleep in the middle of the night?

Who knows. But the the only way I'll truly appreciate it is if she shows me the same moves outside my belly. I want to be the first with a newborn who does the worm. Or, lets be honest, I'd prefer to just be reassured her dance moves are much better than mine, right from birth.

Peculiar Parenting

As I've mentioned before, I like to read. Especially when it is something I'm interested in. But if I'm not interested in the book or the material...good luck to me.

Pregnancy books have enraptured my attention since I found out I was carrying a bundle of joy. Probably due in part to the fact that I had no preparation time for this adventure and well, I don't like to live life on the edge with...surprises per say.

But when it comes to babies and pregnancy there is so much information out there and I want to know it all. Never mind the fact that I can't remember half of it as soon as I read it. Of course, when you read a lot of things, you're bound to come across some information that you agree with and some that you don't. And every so often as I read, something very striking will pop out at me and it will stick in my mind.

That is where the topic of Peculiar Parenting came in. For one, I'm a nerd for alliteration. Second, I want to remember these ideas and share them as well. Who knows, someone may read it and say immediately, "I want to try THAT!" I can't even say that I wouldn't give any of these things a try. It's just that at first glance, it made me do a double take, shake my head and re-read it again. Sometimes even laugh out loud. What I am not aiming to do is offend anyone. So please, just laugh. It my sole purpose in life to laugh at anything and everything I can.

For the first installment, drumroll please.....

Potty Training From Birth!

Yes, thats right. Read it again. Potty training. From birth. Turns out there is a cult following for this practice in our county. In some parts of the world, babies are trained immediately how to go potty on the toilet from birth. There is even literature out there that will teach you how to practice these skills with your infant, if you're interested!

While this topic does intrigue me, I'll admit I have not done a lot of research on it. I don't plan to do it and well, if you read the disclaimer above, if it doesn't interest me, I have a hard time reading about it. What has made it stick in my mind is the image of holding a new baby over a toilet demanding it to pee. Just like my husband learned in load size?, babies don't often have the ability to wink at you and let you know just when they're going to do the deed. Nor can they potty on command- at least from what I know.

But according to what I've read, it really works! As one believer quoted, "Everyone thought I was crazy for trying to potty train my newborn. That was, until my 8 week old was potty trained. Now everyone is jealous!" I'm not sure I can say I'm jealous per say, but what a fun party trick! I'd love to see it just to witness such an act. Come over, look at my newborn! It pees and poops on the toilet already! Come watch it go-no need for diapers here!

So how is it that this can possibly work? The theory goes that we train our infants to become "lazy" from birth by just letting them go in a diaper. Advocates believe they are born with the instincts we have as adults, that they know when they gotta go. Beyond that, my very educational research of asking friends this same question has turned up answers such as maybe you use timing, maybe you use signals with your baby. Infant potty training is not for me. They're babies. However, if its something you might be interested in trying, or just learning more about so you have an interesting topic to talk about at your next gathering, check out this link:

http://www.bornpottytrained.com/get_started/

or this book,

http://ecsimplified.com/

Potty On!

Final Stretch...already!?

My little nugget inside me is now the size of an eggplant. An eggplant! So big! It's crazy how fast time is flying. This weekend, I had the pleasure of peeking into a crystal ball and seeing my future. Actually, I got to see my good friend Laura. But a perk of seeing her right now is getting to see what lies ahead of me in the next four weeks. 

Last time I saw her, I learned I had adorable baby kicks in my future, along with the cutest baby belly.

At the time I was so jealous of her baby bump. This time when I saw Laura, her news wasn't as great. At 7 months, her belly bump is still absolutely adorable. But as she's getting bigger, the pain is setting in and so is the uncomfortableness. As she put it, she's getting to the point of no return....where being comfortable is a rare luxury that is all but disappearing. 

Boo. 

I have to say, if being pregnant consisted of stopping where I'm at right now, I'd happily be pregnant over and over again. This is most definitely the "honeymoon" period so many prior preggo's talk about. I've got my little lady bump, my maternity clothes fit perfectly, my angel moves wildly about inside me, and I'm feeling overall just fab. But this is also the point where I'm sure women who have been pregnant before are laughing at my naivety, thinking, just you wait, you naive little one. Just you wait. While my pregnancy has been quite easy so far, there's always "more" looming ahead. More weight, more back pain, more boobs, more sleep issues, more, more, more. 

Whatever lies ahead, I'm ready. I think. 

Actually, I'm not. Let's be honest. I'm a total baby and any changes freak me out. I'm already having moments of "ohmygosh I can barely get myself up from the couch" and every time it happens I want to cry and do nothing but stay laying there on the couch. So prepare yourselves. If the crystal ball rings true for me, there's going to be plenty of whining ahead in the coming months. 

On another note, I  found out at the doctors last week I have just entered the THIRD TRIMESTER. I don't know where the time as gone! I feel like I'm going to blink and then suddenly I will be in labor, pushing out a baby. I just haven't wrapped my mind around all that yet. I guess it helps to have the first trimester fly by as you're traipsing all over town like a newly married drunken lunatic, only to find out at 8 weeks that "What the...! There's a human inside me!" Not that I condone such a thing. But whatever, to each's own, right?

So here I am, entering the final stage. The Final Countdown is playing in my head right now. May have to add that to the Labor and Delivery playlist.

Just for giggles, when I discovered I was wearing the same shirt for the picture I wore a few weeks ago, I thought I'd put them side by side to show the explosive growth that has happened in the last 8 weeks. Hello, basketball that is quickly preventing me from bending over properly.

Week 25 (& 18):