Sleeping & A Wake Up Call

So a few nights ago, I was snuggled up to S all warm and cuddly and ready to go to bed. I was actually in a comfortable position, spooned up against his back. I say that because one night I have to be turned this way with my right leg splayed out and my left arm above my head to fall asleep and the next night, I have to be on the other side and scrunched up in a ball and the very next night, in order to fall asleep, I get to contort my body into some weird shape just to get comfortable and think about dreamland. Then there are the nights that no matter how I form my massive pillow collection around me, throw a leg out, and position my arms and upper torso, I'm not going to get to sleep easily. Just part of pregnancy, I suppose. Anyways, there I am all scooted up and half asleep when I get assaulted internally. I just have to grin and bear it because, honestly, what else can you do?!

That's when my darling husband's voice comes out of the dark, "Baby, can you scoot over a little bit? She's kicking me and I can't fall asleep, it's distracting....and wow, that one kind of hurt."

Okay, so I get it that it's midnight and he's got to go to work the next morning and his sleep is fairly important to our livelihood but seriously?!

I may or may not have wished him the most sincerest goodnight in the next sentence.

"Welcome to my world, asshole." Then scooted over and tried to fall asleep.

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Christmas Questions!

So my friend Sarah over at Nurse Loves Farmer had this cute little Christmas questionnaire up and y'all know how much I love to join in on things like this that my other bloggy friends are participating in!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg nogg for sure! That stuff is amazing!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? I'm sure Santa will start wrapping things once Vera gets to experience Christmas :) but Santa still wraps things up for us at my parents so there is that...
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I have to agree, the white looks looks so pretty and classy on a tree.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. Horrible allergies won't even let me have a real Christmas tree or anything pine/evergreen scented in the house :(
5. When do you put your decorations up? Any time after Thanksgiving...and it doesn't go down until after the new year
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Sweet potato casserole, hands down!
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? driving around looking at Christmas lights as a family every year :)
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I honestly can't remember. I just remember knowing one day.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We open all our gifts on Christmas Eve and then our Santa presents and stockings on Christmas morning after breakfast at my parents' house.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I usually try to pair silver and another color! I love doing something slightly different every year!
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love/hate. I love it on the ground...it looks so pretty and I need it for Christmas, but I hate the driving conditions that come with it. Texans rarely get anything wintery and when we do, the whole state shuts down...we probably have 1 snow plow for the entire state and NO ONE knows how to use it! ;)
12. Can you ice skate? I can ice skate and make my way around the rink but that's about it.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I think it had to have been the year I woke up to a new bicycle from Santa...us kids and our bikes, we didn't need anything else!
14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family. We see our families a lot already "just because" but my fondest memories growing up centered around my extended family and the laughter when we did get together during the holidays and I want our kids to experience this as well once day!

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pumpkin Pie or my momma's homemade Pecan Pie!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? On Christmas Eve, we never really have a full meal, it's always finger foods and appetizers because there is so much excitement going on! Our actual holiday dinner is always on Christmas night, when things have settled down and the dust has cleared, so to speak!
17. What tops your tree? Last year it was a giant silver bow I had tied (my tree was green, silver, and white)
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I LOVE seeing the looks on others' faces when they open the things I've picked for them and it's something they adore! So giving!
19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? I'm not a big fan...
20. Favorite Christmas show? You mean movie right? Any of the clay-mation ones but Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer was my favorite growing up.
21. Saddest Christmas Song? I'll Be Home For Christmas.
22. What is your favorite Christmas song? Like Sarah, I'm itching to listen to my musical husband's new Christmas CD (Michael Buble`, if you didn't know ;) but one of my favorites has got to be Oh Come All Ye Faithful or Away in a Manger.

(littered throughout is my tree from last year)

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Black Friday Breakdown

So on Thursday night, we left town to go to Dallas around 10:30pm, arriving at the first shopping mall at midnight, when it opened. From there, we hit up Target, Babies R Us, Toys R Us, Kohls, and then the Galleria Mall. I want to say it wasn't tiring, but it was. We didn't get home til *gasp!* Friday afternoon. To say we were all exhausted, is an understatement but hey, the deals and the loot we all brought home? So worth it.

I'll give you a short break down of what I spent vs. what I saved.

I really like what Lowe's did for Black Friday, instead of having to go and fight for stuff, you could order it online and have the option of picking it up at the store or having it shipped straight to you. For free, either way. So of course, I'm having my dad's Christmas present shipped straight to my house!
I spent (with taxes) $63.97 on a regularly priced $99 air compressor, saving about $35 plus the $15 I saved with free shipping. Can't beat that with a stick!

Bath & Body Works. Oh how I love thee!

don't mind the purple box of shoes behind stuff

All these things, if I was to pay ticket price, I would have spent close to $146.00, not to mention the price of the actual bag and make-up bags included. Thanks to the Buy 3, Get 3 Free on select items and other various deals and coupons PLUS the Black Friday Promo of spend $40 or more and get the black bag full of goodies for only $20 more (bag valued at $103, items inside bag valued at $61 so I am assuming the bag and mini bags inside it cost around $42?), I somehow got out of the store spending around $50. I actually think the poor guy rang my stuff up wrong because I should have been charged closer to $70 upon investigation but I didn't realize it til I was looking at my receipts for this blog post, so what can you do? I hope he didn't get into trouble!

Old Navy. I didn't find much I was in want or need of but I did get S a pair of jeans for $15.00. Regular price? $29.50. I also got me a new pair of cheap little slippers for when Vera decides to make an appearance and I won't ruin my nice house shoes for $5, regular price of $14.94.

With taxes added in, I spent $21.65 with a savings of $24.44. Not bad.

Toys R Us. I bought a boppy slipcover so I would have an extra on hand for around $6, regularly priced around $11 and some Philips Avent Soothies because they are impossible to find in my area at full price (2 pack) for around $5. So I didn't save a whole lot here, just a measly $5.

Now Babies R Us. That's another story. I didn't need any of the big ticket, huge savings items they were advertising but I was in the area and decided to go anyways. I am so glad I did. We saw the Summer Infant Slim and Secure Video Baby Monitor with a special little tag on it above the case. Curious, my mom and I went to go look at the prices. The tag read out something along the lines of Regular Price, $79.99. Save $50 and pay only $22.49. First off, that math isn't right so we knew something was up. Second of all, that particular monitor runs full price at $200. We call an employee over to inquire and he snatches the tag off and runs to his manager! The serial numbers and everything match up to the $200 monitor so my mom, bless her heart is the most non-assertive woman I've ever met but I suppose when it comes to her grandchildren, she will fight the good fight one way or another!!!
She tells the manager that he better not even think about not giving us that monitor for the ticketed price. It's not our fault that it was marked wrong and she wants it for what it was marked. Oh my.
Y'all, this is NOT my mom speaking. Long story short? Immediate savings of $177.50 on that monitor.
With that kind of savings, we go spend another $57 on a silicone cover for the baby monitor's parent unit, a nursing bra, and baby girl's baby book. Yes, we paid full price for those things since they weren't on sale but with a savings of $177.50, I think we were okay! We got out of there only $86 poorer after taxes.

the super cheap baby monitor. I feel like we dang near stole it!

Victoria's Secret. Y'all don't get a picture of that particular loot, y'all don't need to know what my panties look like. I did grab the $5 for $25 deal spending $28.14 after taxes with a total savings of $15.51.

Target. I went for the entertainment, no! Not the entertainment and electronics section though. I did find a new awesome, plushy bathrobe for $15, regular price of $25. Knee Socks at 2 pair for $5, so I bought 4 pair. Another nursing bra for $10.06, $29.93 off the regular price of $39.99. And a other few odds and ends I saw and needed/wanted while I was out and about. I spend $43.35 with a total savings of $39.92.

Champs. It's a sporting goods store. My husband loves his basketball shorts. They were having a sale of buy 1, get 1 free so I bought him 2 pair for $25.00 end price, saving $25. I also found him some socks for buy one package, get the 2nd for 50% off. I spend a total of $40.03 after taxes with a savings of $29. Not too shabby.

Earthbounds Trading Co. I like this store for it's unique items. I got 20% off my total purchase plus on the earrings, buy 2 get a 3rd pair free. I spent $27.50 here with a savings of $8.20. Could have been worse, right?

Rack Room Shoes. They had a Buy 1 Pair, Get 2nd Pair Half Off. Evil, evil people, preying on my love of shoes!!! My new lovely boots were originally $64.99, minus $5 for their Black Friday, coming up at $59.99. My flats? Original price of $34.99, minus $5 for Black Friday plus 50% off on top of that taking off another $15 left me paying only $81.17 for 2 pairs of shoes. An approximate savings of $25.

I do have to admit that I did pay full price for everything at one store. Motherhood Maternity. Damn them, but hey, I needed and wanted the things I bought. I got a hooter hiders nursing cover for $35 and 4 pairs of washable nursing pads for $10 (just to see if I like them over disposables in the future.)

And of course, Starbucks, the donut shop on the way home, and McDonalds at 4am isn't going to be handing out Black Friday specials!

Overall with (food, drinks, and gas included,) I spent $516.62, with an estimated savings of about $475.

Another successful Black Friday, in my book! And? My husband isn't in the hospital from heart failure :) WIN!

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Favorite Thing Friday 11/25/11- Shopping

Once again, I'm joining Jenny from Sippy Cup Chronicles in her Favorite Thing Friday Blog Hop!

Well, my lovelies. This one isn't too hard to figure out: Black Friday Shopping. As the more sane of us are still all nestled in their warm beds in a blissful turkey and pie coma from the day before, I am out with the rest of the crazies battling the crowds (aka each other!) for the best deals of the Christmas shopping season. 

It's actually kind of crazy how much work I put into this...starting weeks before, I am busy scouring the internet for "leaked" Black Friday ads. I talk with S about a budget...He will figure up what bills need to be paid and other necessities (like groceries and gas for the car, etc) and take that out of the ledger... then out of the surplus, we will deduct a couple hundred as "just in case" money for the pay period, and what's left is mine to blow spend judiciously. From there, I jot down on a spiral notebook the stores I want to visit, what deals they have, what time they open, and any good coupons they have that I can use in conjunction with Black Friday.

I'll be getting back home sometime this afternoon and sleeping for the rest of the day (and probably night, too!) So I will get back to all comments and other things come Saturday! Y'all have fun and stay safe regardless of what you do today! I can't wait to tell you about some of the amazing savings, swag, and people I will surely run into!

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I Feel Like A ButterBall

...turkey that is. Or as the nickname for a chunker. Whatever. Here's the weekly check in, Thanksgiving Edition.

How far along?

34 weeks down. Not too much longer huh?

Maternity clothes?

Oh yes.

Symptoms: 

I think this kid is a ninja, seriously. She round house kicks my spine frequently! How come no one told me THAT was possible?

Stretch marks?: 

They just keep growing.

Sleep: 

It comes and goes.

Movement: 

she is very adept at movement. we will leave it at that this week.

Food cravings:

oh my goodness, you better believe that by the time you are reading this, I'm either a) eating, b) giving my stomach time to rest between another helping or c) sleeping off all the food before I go shopping!

Gender: 

still a sweet baby girl

Belly Button in or out?

definitely out. and stretched all the heck. The skin is SUPER translucent. It's kinda creepy. And tender. No touchy, please! It's definitely gone past that point of turkey timer belly button.

What I miss: 

breathing freely when laying down at night and not waking up choking on acid reflux. That really sucks!

 Best moment of the week: 

There is a good chance I'm living it right now ;) if you aren't sure, refer to the cravings question!

What I am looking forward to:

all the money I'm going to spend tonight/early in the morning. I do about 85% of my Christmas shopping on Black Friday. Yes, I am THAT crazy one.

 Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

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Wordless Wednesday- Happy Tails Edition

This is my Bug. My Ruby girl. Roo-roo. Baby Puppy. And any other little name I come up with. I just say one and her little stubby tail wags like there is no tomorrow! She is also the perfect nap companion and a champion bed hog.

She is Tibetian Terrier. I rescued her from the dog shelter April/May 2009 and she's been my little side-kick ever since!

Miss Ruby loves to snuggle in blankets.

And sleep belly up. She naps away over half the day, every day. She will follow me from room to room and if I'm there longer than 5 minutes? She finds a place to sprawl out and snooze.

I can just ask her if she wants to go for a ride and she goes absolutely crazy! Her favorite place to go? Grandma's (my mom's) cause she has my mom's dog Snickers to play with, acres to roam free on, baby cows to play with, and baby kittens to love on. She's got a serious mothering complex with kittens, as in likes to clean them and carry them around and the Momma Kitty usually doesn't mind, strangely enough.

Oh and she goes absolutely NUTS over squirrels. Like will break out of any inclosure to get to one. I don't know if it's because could look like kittens to her and she wants to play or because she likes to chase things and the neighborhood squirrels know my little fatty fat girl isn't getting her behind up a tree anytime soon/can't run as fast as they can so it's a game to them as well? All I know is when she isn't napping away the time or chewing all the fuzz off tennis balls, she sits at one of the back doors and stares out the window at birds and squirrels.

She's my crazy puppy (puppy! ha! at 3 and a half years old!) and I love her to pieces.
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Toddle Along Tuesday- Thankful

I'm linking up today with Mama G at Growing Up Geeky on her Toddle Along Tuesday blog hop.

This week is what we are thankful for, in the spirit of Thanksgiving (for us Americans!)

I've said time and time that I'm thankful for being pregnant and for the chance to become a mommy :)

I'm thankful for such an amazing husband.

For his job and how hard he works every day to support us and to be able to allow me to stay at home.

I'm thankful for both our families and how much they love and support us in every thing we do.

I'm thankful for pumpkin pies! :)

And all the other goodies I'm going to eat this Thursday.

I'm thankful for each morning I wake up to greet a new day.

I'm thankful to have a roof over my head, shoes on my feet, and food in my pantry.

I'm thankful for all the luxuries I take advantage of every day and have come to consider necessities (they aren't, and I realize this!)

I'm thankful for all the friends I've made in real life and online!

I'm thankful for all you lovelies that want to read the things I write, y'all are the best!

This really makes me think of the church sign I saw on the way to the coffee shop just the other day:
"We don't need more to be thankful for, we need to be more thankful for what we have"

And I'm pretty sure I just butchered that saying all to pieces, so I'm going to stop and take a picture of it soon before they change it and add it to this post.

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And Like That, My Heart Grew

Every once in a while I'll get all introspective upon myself and just wonder, "Wow, how did I get so darn lucky?!"

This happened last night as S and I were laying on the bed just talking, he had his head in on my lap and was just watching Vera do her crazy acrobatics in my stomach. I took one look at the man I decided to marry and start a family with and my heart threatened to burst wide open with love! It's moments like that that really make it all worth it! He ticks me off and annoys me more than any one person has ever been able to and yet? Here we are, still together and going strong, with my heart aching from fullness and ready to spill over like no other!

I wonder and worry sometimes that because my heart is so full of love, is there going to be any space for the baby in there? (I also wonder about my body, is there any more space in there for her to grow as well?!) And then I realize, at one point, my heart was as full as can be with love for my family until S came along... and like the Grinch, my heart grew. As I'm sure it will again (and again, and again!)

source: Photobucket

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Favorite Thing Friday 11/18/11- Pregnancy

Once again, I'm joining Jenny from Sippy Cup Chronicles in her Favorite Thing Friday Blog Hop!
 

Every time I look through my pregnancy pictures, I am just so amazed at what I used to think was "oh my! I am so showing! I look so big!" and then laugh at myself cause compared to now, it was nothing!

but I was very proud of my "bump" at 11 weeks, let me tell you!!! If you want to see other pictures of my growing belly, feel free to check out my Pregnancy Pictures page!

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33 Weeks In Trouble!

How far along?

33 weeks already

Maternity clothes?

I'm still waiting on my muu-muu!

Symptoms: 

Bruised ribs ;P 

Epic heartburn

Pee breaks a-plenty

Stretch marks?: 

I has 'em

Sleep: 

Is interrupted by pee breaks usually at 1:30 am, 4 am, 5:30 or 6am, 7:45am, and another one around 8:30am but I'm usually up and going around then anyways. And no, those aren't wild guesses, those are legit time estimates.

Movement: 

has gone from kicks and jabs to rolls and dragging across my stomach

Food cravings:

saltines. yea, weird, I know.

Gender: 

still a sweet baby girl

Belly Button in or out?

definitely out

What I miss: 

breathing freely when laying down at night.

 Best moment of the week: 

My friend Megan welcomed her sweet baby girl this morning around 6am after 37 weeks gestation!

ohhh & my mommy and myself have put together Miss Vera's coming home outfit!

What I am looking forward to:

2 words: Thanksgiving Dinner.

 

 

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A Life Full of Laughter

Today, I watched as a man I've known since I was 8 years old was laid to rest. It's amazing to think how only a week and a half ago, I saw him at the grocery store and he was the picture of good spirits and health. He had just gotten out of a hospital stint but was doing amazing afterwards. And today, we buried him. Sickness hit him out of nowhere, and in his own true style, he didn't wait around long. I think he knew it was his time.

We hugged on friends' necks, so grateful that it wasn't us, so grateful that it isn't them, so sad that it was him. We shared comfort in the time of sadness, passed the tissues, looked at photos, and heard people talk about his life and love for his family, blood and adopted.

There were tears but there was also laughter.

The "family" he had brought together of misfits and other interesting people sat together where you could always find him when he wasn't working, at his favorite 24 hour, greasy spoon diner that we called his "office" and shared memories. As a man said during the eulogy, "I had the pleasure of knowing _____, well, it might not have always been a pleasure but it was an adventure!" Regardless of the memory shared, good or not in such a good light (cause let's be honest, he was shit-head, evil genius, joker, "brother" and "uncle", and just one heck of man!) there was always laughter. We all laughed so hard, there were tears of mirth running down so many of our faces. Like the time he danced with the cardboard cut-out Miller Beer Girl at the bar, the time he asked Amber for a mock lap dance for his birthday and when she ended it with a kiss on the cheek, he thanked her and told her he'd remember it for his birthday in 2 weeks! He adopted a baby raccoon and set her loose in my house once and we couldn't get her down from the tops of my curtains! He may not have lived a saint's life and we refuse to remember him as a saint because that wasn't him but we will remember him as the source of entertainment, mirth, and most importantly, support. Like the countless times he had any one of our backs whether it was a flat tire, a week where ends couldn't be met, or just standing up for our character.

I only hope that when I leave this world behind, that I will be remembered with as much laughter and memories as well.

I just ask all of you one thing: The next time you think about a friend, let them know. The next time you are scrolling through your phone and see a person you haven't talked to for a while, call them. The next time you pass a diner and see your friends' cars out front, stop in to have that cup of coffee. You would be grateful that you did.

You can't laugh and talk about the memories you've never made and sometimes, it's too late to make even more.


Rest In Peace, dear friend.

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Saturday Laughs- Embarrassing Situation

I  didn't think I'd ever be really brave enough to share this story but after telling it to my girlfriends and their reactions, I think we've all been in a similar (or not even remotely similar) situation at least once in our lives. So, I'll let you have a laugh at my expense today. I'm linking up with The Mommyhood Chronicles Saturday Laughs for this post.

Warning: Not for the faint of heart or those without a sense of humor. The word and reference to "vagina" take place along with other idiotic actions. 

Let me set the scene for you: it is a normal weekday night. Nothing too terribly exciting going on in our household. I am 31, going on 32 weeks pregnant. I think I'm going to take a shower. Whilst in the shower, I figure, ya know, I haven't shaved anything other than my armpits in like a month. Maybe it's time I broke out the razor and actually got to work. The water is at the perfect temperature, I have a new bottle of shaving cream, life is good. At the time, I didn't feel any nicks or cuts and for you that haven't blocked out your later months of pregnancy, you know how difficult it is to shave your private region. You have to do it by feel or smuggle a hand mirror in with you. I don't have a hand mirror suitable for the job so I do the risky blind shave.

And you can already tell where this is heading. Or so you think... stick with me. I promise. It gets better.

I'm toweling off and realize, ouch, that kind of stings. I take a look and OMG I am bleeding like crazy!!! All the online articles tell you how you've got increased blood flow and so on to your nether regions but you don't really believe them. Until you cut yourself shaving. 2-3 tiny little cuts has made an awful mess. So I'm blotting up with a towel, hoping and praying it will stop soon. Then my mind flashes back to the many episodes of 1,000 Ways To Die (on Spike TV.) At least THREE episodes of the entirety of the show has featured a person cutting themselves on the leg or face with their razor and getting either A.) a staph infection or B.) (and even worse!) a necrotizing disease/infection. Neither are my cup of tea. I mean, that would put a SERIOUS damper on my day, to wake up and find that happening to my vagina, of all places.

So I do what anyone not thinking would do. I grab an alcohol prep pad and dab at the area.

Go on, I know what you are saying: Moron.
Yes, it was a stupid move.

So I am jumping and screaming around in my bathroom but give me a break! I didn't want that chance of stuff going on down there! So I attempt to do what anyone else would do when they put rubbing alcohol on a cut...blow on it to "cure" the sting.

Y'all, I don't know what possessed me to even try to contort myself to blow on the area. I can't pick up a magazine off the floor, I sure as heck can't get past my belly to cure the sting on my cuts. And it burns. Like fire. Worse than the pansy-like pain from the initial little nicks of skin I took off shaving. I am regretting even owning a razor at this point.

In a fit of genius, I grab my hair dryer and put it on the low & cold setting. I am standing in the bathroom in a towel with one foot on the ground, the other on the toilet lid, with my hair dryer aimed at my vagina. Relief is instantaneous. I give out a giant sigh of relief...at the same moment my husband walks in the door. Remember, I am standing with one foot on the toilet with a hair dryer aimed at my privates.

Poor man, he takes one look at the scene laid out before him and without even raising an eyebrow or saying a single word, turns around and shuts the door after him. I can only imagine what he thought was going on...

Funnily enough, he still hasn't asked me about what was going on when he walked in. Should I keep him in suspense or admit to my own stupid mistake?

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Favorite Thing Friday 11/11/11- Seasons

Once again, I'm joining Jenny from Sippy Cup Chronicles in her Favorite Thing Friday Blog Hop!

As much as I am a child of summer, winter has a special place in my heart. I say winter but most anyone else from other places would call it fall or autumn. Winter doesn't really hit us Texans til January and February and then by March, it's a short lived spring cause by May? It's summer again. With hot, humid weather all the way until the end of October (and sometimes the first of November.) So maybe I should say fall has a special place in my heart? Haha!

Source (Lake Bob Sandlin State Park)

but seriously, what's not to love? The awesome comfort foods that are too heavy for the most of the year, awesome boots, I finally get to wear jeans and pants without dying from heat stroke, fun sweaters, silly winter hats, and all the pretty scarves my mama makes for me every year! Just the past 2 weeks I have made 3 different fall appropriate foods, dug out a real jacket instead of a thin cotton one AND wore it!, used a scarf TWICE, and dug out my knee socks to wear with everything. I am too excited about this! I might have to share the chili recipe next week! :)

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Approximately 56 Days To Go

How far along?

32 weeks or technically 224 days of being considered pregnant

Maternity clothes?

I prefer nakedness lately. Clothes have been irritating me. Someone buy me a freaking muu-muu

Symptoms: 

I still love being pregnant, I just have my days of general discomfort and being achy.

Stretch marks?: 

I have come to the conclusion that I could rub my skin with every sort of lotion and grease/oil and still get to watch my stretch marks grow.

Sleep: 

I like to sleep. a lot.

Movement: 

I beg her daily to get her feet out of my ribs/breathing space. I'm serious when I say "beg"

Food cravings:

Horchata! And Pumpkin Pie (I may or may not have eaten a whole one by myself in 2 days...it took 2 days because I wanted to "ration it out")

Gender: 

still a sweet baby girl

Belly Button in or out?

definitely out

What I miss: 

my tolerance for the general public and patience. Lack of both is going to have me getting into serious trouble, I can tell already.

 Best moment of the week: 

I had a really fantastic breastfeeding class/instructor!

What I am looking forward to:

all the yummy goodies and food coming up with these holidays...oh and Black Friday shopping!

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Wordless Wednesday- Stolen

Not only has my tv been hi-jacked (goodbye, recordings from the night before, we will have to catch up later!) but also my birthing ball has been stolen. And I am left a widow for the next month thanks to video game releases. sigh. Oh well, it could be worse! He could be bugging the shizz out of me about this or that and being generally annoying...I'm going to hit up the tv in the guest bedroom and see if I can't get some Hulu going or something.

evidence of stolen property.

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A Letter To My Anatomy

Dear Bits,
I am sorry I got cocky (no pun intended) and used the blind shave technique on you. It wasn't fair and is so wrong, the damage I have done. I know that you are a tender, Georgia O'Keeffe kind of flower and the treatment you received by my hand is damn near unforgivable. I could be harsh and say hey, this will be no foul compared to the trauma you should prepare to endure in just 2 short months but that would be salt on the wound. I promise to let you heal in peace and next time either pay someone to groom you or grab a hand mirror and a better razor. I also promise to never take up on the joke of letting S shave you, it's just a joke, never worry. Also, I will try to get you more attention from the husband as well once you heal.

Get Well Soon.


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Nursery Progress Report 2

Well, my awesome Mama found me a glider and ottoman set for the nursery at a yard sale for only $20. SCORE! It didn't even really need to be cleaned up, I just want to re-upholster it because I don't like the fabric it is currently sporting but that should be no big deal. We are making plans to go hit up a Hobby Lobby or JoAnne's Fabric soon anyways and we will just add fabric to our list of goodies to buy. The only downfall to the new addition in the nursery? I didn't like where I had originally planned to put it so time to rearrange. I think I have it in a good spot now and everything is meshing well, so far. Poor kiddo, she's going to have such a neurotic mommy. :) Oh well, another thing off the list for now! This week I also plan on contacting the local carpet steam cleaners and getting an estimate on the spaces I desperately need want done.

Done as of November 1st:
Walls painted
Crib put together
Crib bedding washed and put on crib
Dresser/changing table combo put together
Baby clothes washed and organized (half way done)
Car seat, bouncer, and swing covers washed and air dried
Wall decor (half way done)
Windows measured for new curtains
Floors vacuumed

Needs to be done:
Buy fixtures to hang curtains 
Buy and hang new curtains
Finish baby laundry 
Find night stand/end table to go beside rocker/glider
Get rocker/glider
Floors steam cleaned or shampooed
Baby proof accessible outlets and cords
Finish hanging up wall decor/shelves
Buy LOTS more hangers
Get a 2nd tension rod for closet for all the dang baby clothes


New Additions To The List:
shop for fabric and re-upholster the glider and ottoman
do even more baby laundry because as soon as I get caught up, more finds it's way to my house :)
buy even more hangers due to more baby laundry

 Possible things:
Find book shelf
Small toy box (for clothes and blanket storage now, for toys later on)
Find pretty area rug

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Favorite Thing Friday 11/4/11- Pinterest!

I'm joining Jenny from Sippy Cup Chronicles in her Favorite Thing Friday Blog Hop!

I saw this on Pinterest today:

"A teacher in New York was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the following exercise to perform. She had the children take a piece of paper and told them to crumple it up, stamp on it and really mess it up but do not rip it. Then she had them unfold the paper, smooth it out and look at how scarred and dirty is was. She then told them to tell it they’re sorry. Now even though they said they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, she pointed out all the scars they left behind. And that those scars will never go away no matter how hard they tried to fix it. That is what happens when a child bully’s another child, they may say they’re sorry but the scars are there forever. The looks on the faces of the children in the classroom told her the message hit home. Pass it on or better yet, if you're a parent or a teacher, do it with your child/children."

This is amazing to me. I definitely want to remember this for the future. This is definitely my favorite pin of the week! 

Or if you need an invite, let me know and I'll get you one!

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My Take on the Johnson & Johnson Shizz Storm

Okay, so I'm sure you have heard all about Johnson & Johnson baby wash "Gently Poisoning Babies." If you haven't, time to crawl out from under that rock and google it. Read em, I'll wait. I'd recommend the Forbes and the Jezebel.com articles...

So before you go directly to comment at the bottom on this post and tell me how I am going to be a horrible mother and I should have my baby taken from me the minute she is born, please take the time to read my ENTIRE post and THEN you can judge all you want.

While it's good that this is getting publicity, here's the deal...this has been on-going since 2009 and only recently has the shizz hit the fan. Basically every thing you come into contact these days has possible carcinogens. I would say let's cut to the chase, soap the kids up with dawn dish liquid and throw em out in the rain but...it's said that even rain and drinking water in some areas are possibly contaminated due to external environmental factors and probably have carcinogens in them as well.

I understand the want and need to limit these things, especially for our children but before we all go pouring these bottles of stuff down the drain, you do also realize that your Burt's Bees Tear Free Baby Wash isn't on top of the list of greatest/safest as well, right? Along with Aveeno, Nivea for babies and Boudreaux's brand of baby wash (all popular name brand stuff), it is of MODERATE threat, along with the J&J. Not HIGH, but moderate.

Don't believe me? Here's the linky for baby shampoo products. 

I bet if you searched your favorite moisturizer in the body care categories, you'd be surprised to see the threat level there as well.

In other words, keep calm about all this (as opposed to the rest of the interwebz) and decide what is and isn't acceptable for your family in terms of threat level, budget, and availability. Remember, this has been going on for 2 years...the 2 chemicals involved are POSSIBLE carcinogens, not guaranteed. And sorry to be blunt but if kiddos were dropping like flies from sickness caused from these products, don't you think this would have made headlines sooner?!

My own husband S has a great point: you can't get away from possible carcinogens. They are everywhere. Being paranoid and stressed about it can't be healthy for you either. Pick your poison, literally.

Heck, I saw a report somewhere on-line linking the possibility between alcohol and breast cancer, deodorant and cancer, and breathing air and cancer. (The last one was a joke, my sarcasm font pack hasn't been uploaded yet.)

And call me a hypocrite, but I'm still unsure what I am going to do about the numerous bottles of Johnson & Johnson baby care items I got from my shower. I think I'm going to wait until the storm settles, re-evaluate the situation, and go from there. I've got approximately 9 weeks anyways, right?

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9 Weeks Left Til January 5th

How far along?

31 weeks

Maternity clothes?

Uh huh but mainly pants

Symptoms: 

heartburn! constipation! I can't finish eating a child's portion of anything but yet 40 minutes later, I'm hungry! so many others I don't want to talk about... :)

Stretch marks?: 

hmmm, on the belly, the booty, the boobs, oh and my thighs! Yay! Marks of Motherhood!

Sleep: 

I like to wake up every 2-3 hours at night to go pee. When I say I like I mean I hate it...

Movement: 

all over the place. And she has mastered making my stomach have angles...how, I don't know

Food cravings:

Cornbread. I ate a whole pan of it by myself last night. And milk & wildberry poptarts. Yum!

Gender: 

still a sweet baby girl

Belly Button in or out?

definitely out

What I miss: 

not being so neurotic about things...and sadly, I know I'm being a crazycakes but I can't help myself at the time!

 Best moment of the week: 

finishing up the nursery for sure!

What I am looking forward to:

Monday I go pre-register at the hospital then I have another appointment after I get done there. It's a mere 63 days til my due date so I'm excited and nervous and scared all at the same time! I love it!

Ps, I think it's time to go buy some long sleeved maternity clothes, huh? I don't think last years winter wardrobe is going to cover it, if you see what I mean :)

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Wordless Wednesday- Nursery Edition

her name above the crib and a great close up of her mobile

I LOVE this shade of green!

when you walk in and turn to the left, this is your view for the most part

a bit of the left side of the room and the far wall

the wall is still green, I promise! The lighting just isn't the best

and don't mind that kitchen chair, eventually a glider and night stand will be going in this area

(and we won't even look into that closet door just yet but this is the right side of the room)

 that is the entrance and to your immediate left when walking in. The wall hanging is actually a quilt that will go with the toddler bedding when it's time!

Yes, this is a changing table sans changing pad...we just haven't gotten one yet and keep forgetting!

the cute, matchy diaper stacker. I wonder if my cloth diapers will fit in there?

 a close up of the fitted sheet inside the crib :)

her boppy, one of the blankets made by grandma, her seahorse, and the crib in all it's glory

M is our last initial, in case you were wondering. And that is the start of her flowers and bows collection with her headbands and hats stored in the closet.

So...what do you think of her nursery so far? Yes, I know it's mainly for mama until she's older and that's okay, cause I like it ;)

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