Still preggers!

Just thought I'd let y'all know. :-)

Seriously, though, this child ought to consider speeding things up a bit, if only for Daddy's sake (he'll start two weeks of vacation once he comes). I've resigned myself to the fact that his arrival is COMPLETELY out of my hands, regardless of how much I want it. He's gonna come when he wants to come, when he's ready to come, and when we're ready for him to come. So I'll use this extra time at home to run some errands, rest, relax, and continue to prepare!

Katharine and I are heading to the store this afternoon. Gotta return some things (none of them gifts!) and see if anyone's got any good post-Christmas deals (wrapping paper's the big one for me... and ribbon! My presents looked so pretty this year, all under the tree... they actually looked kinda fake, because the wrapping paper matched the color scheme of the tree...) Hope to get some really good deals!

Jeremy Jr's been pretty active, still, which means he's in good shape. He's actually been a pretty good baby in utero--with the exception of a few weeks in the 2nd trimester, he hasn't actually done anything himself to make me uncomfortable (no kicking my ribs, or continuously laying on my bladder--occasionally, but that's to be expected!) I've been very blessed thus far--hope he behaves this well during his exit and afterwards! :-)

And that's all I've got for ya'z today. Have a great week!

No More Christmas...

Whew. What a weekend! It was fun, but I'm glad it's over--now I get to relax, finally! Hopefully, that will encourage Jeremy Jr to make his grand appearance in the world. Would be pretty nice. :-)

So yesterday was Christmas day, and it was a whirlwind of activities. I woke up shortly before 8 to make sure the turkey got in the oven on time (it did, but took longer than it should have, probably because we were trying to cook 5 other things at once!) and was pretty non-stop until my parents finally left around 8:30/9 pm last night. But I would say it was pretty successful. We had the turkey, baked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, stuffing and roasted butternut squash for dinner (I had also meant to make zucchini casserole, but forgot about it). It was yummy. Nothing fancy, weird or over the top. Just good "traditional" (for me at least) Christmas dinner.

Made out pretty well, present wise, too. Jeremy got me a laptop (couldn't believe that! They're not cheap, but I believe him when he says he got a good deal), which is pretty sweet (it's bigger than I'm used to, but I'm getting the hang of it... and it has Windows Media Center, which is pretty neat, too). My grandmother sent us a check that was wayyyyyyyy generous, as we will be having her first Great-grandchild soon. My parents got us a Tassimo hot beverage maker type thingie... it's neat, but requires the purchase of these special "T-Disc"s to use. Once I find somewhere reasonable to buy these things, I'll probably be more excited about it (otherwise, it's about $1/cup for a cappuccino... cheaper than Starbucks, I guess... We'll see...) Ted & Charity got me a tea kettle, which will come in handy, as I've been trying to drink more tea (Red Raspberry Leaf tea to help be in 'better shape' for labor). I haven't opened it up yet, but will probably do so later today. Ben & Emilia got me some bath stuff, which is always welcomed. :-) All in all, pretty good haul. :-)

Jeremy made out pretty well, too. He got a Harmony remote so we can go from 4 or 5 remotes down to 1 or 2, a garmet bag for his fancy business trips, some Steelers glasses from James, a 3-d etched glass picture thing (will take a picture once it's done), and some other do-daddy type things (I didn't keep track of everything he got...)

Even Jeremy Jr got a bunch of stuff, and he's not even here yet! A Baby Einstein activity center type thingie, a breastpump ('kay, I guess I'm the one that'll be using that, but it's for him/Jeremy... After all, I can feed Jeremy Jr perfectly fine without it. :-) We registered for it so that Jeremy would have a chance to share that bonding time with the baby, and down the road, when we need to go out, Jeremy Jr will have a way to eat. :) But that won't be for at least two months [any earlier, you risk nipple confusion, which is not helpful when breastfeeding exclusively]), a caterpillar thing that laughs and moves around from his Uncle James, Legos from the Wilcox side, Baby Einstein DVD's (for down the road) from his Great-Uncle Paul, and a few other random things that have yet to arrive.

Wow. We were truly blessed this year, huh? :-)

And I would have traded all of it to have Jeremy Jr here by now! :-) At this point, all we can do is wait. I'll be sad if I make it to my 38 week appointment. Unfortunately, the whole waiting thing is making me very.... irritable? I guess that's the best way to describe it. I'm just kinda bitter right now. Uncomfortable, big, tired, and just feelin' whiny, whimpery, blah-ish. I think some of my family (and Jeremy's) have felt the brunt of that lately. It's nothing personal, I'm just kinda miserable right now, and so I'm not myself. Stupid stuff is making me cry, and sad (like this robe that Jeremy got me for Christmas--it's super soft, which is very nice, but when I saw that the tag said "2x", I wanted to cry.... Right now, that's great, but after Jeremy Jr comes, I really don't want to be wearing anything 2x.... I'll just feel fat and frumpy, like some old lady in a mu-mu. But otherwise, it's very nice... Jeremy Jr will appreciate the softness. Just an example of how silly I'm feeling right now.) So for my own sanity, please, JEREMY JR, SHOW UP ALREADY!

And don't worry! We will post on here/send out an email/make phone calls once we know what's going on! Everyone who needs to know will know (may take a bit longer for those who want to know, but don't necessarily need to know, but rest assured, we'll get the word out in some way/shape/form.)

At least we've got lots of leftovers! Always a plus to hosting Christmas dinner.

Uh huh.... Uh huh... Oh yeah? That's nice...

I guess I should be used to this by now: the endless offerings of parenting information. And I'm sure it will only get worse, as the years go by. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate being told the "what no one told me"'s, but what I don't want is the, "Oh you think you're tired now???" (Yeah, no duh I'm gonna be tired when the baby comes... I've already been told by the midwives I'll hafta wake him up every two hours to nurse for at least the first week or two...) or the, "You're going to need this, and you're going to need that, and you HAVE to get this..." (most of these things require extra space in the house, which we don't really have, and I've known plenty of people who have raised their children perfectly well without them.) Stuff like that.

Anyways, just had to vent a bit. :-) I just don't enjoy being told what my child will be like when he hasn't even been born yet (Jeremy and I were similar, but pretty opposite, personality wise, as children, so it's a mixed bag when it comes to assuming what Jeremy Jr will be like--and assuming he will be exactly like Jeremy simply because he's a boy doesn't hold well in my book. I have three VERY different brothers who are all like my father in some ways, but none EXACTLY like him.)

/rant

Tomorrow's Christmas. I kinda wish I could still get excited about Christmas the way I used to when I was a kid. But that's okay. It's easier for me to fall asleep these days, not anxiously waiting to wake the next morning and tear into gifts. I'm hoping the day goes well (we're hosting Christmas lunch), and everyone enjoys their gifts. :-)

Merry Christmas!

No news is not necessarily good news...

So, last night, I had yet another "hopeful" experience. I fell asleep on the couch while Jeremy and Stephin played the vi-day-yo games, and woke up really crampy. They felt like they could have been contractions, and I was really uncomfortable, so I thought, "This is it! It's about time!"

Well, I went to bed because it was really late, and I certainly didn't want to be starting my labor off half asleep and exhausted. After snoozin' for a few hours, I woke up, again feeling crampy, and decided to try and time them. A few of them managed to make themselves apparent as 5 minutes apart, but they were so mild, I had a feeling that wouldn't hold.

Sure enough, they kinda went away. I was wide awake by then, and remembered from my Bradley class that you need to "keep busy!" during early labor--try to do stuff, walk, nap, shower, whatever. Just do something!

I needed to do something, so I got dressed and went to the mall. Maybe walking around there will help get things going? Well, wouldn't you know that the stupid mall doesn't open until 9?!?! It's the busiest shopping day of the year, and they don't open 'til 9?!?!?!?!

I was not happy. :-(

Got myself a Starbucks, went to CVS, went to Best Buy (they had opened at 8), chatted with one of the guys I knew there (from my Sony days), and then returned to the mall at 8:50. Wouldn't you know that the ONE store I had really wanted to go to had been open since 8?! Grrr.... I could have stayed at the mall instead of having to go back. Oh well.

So anyways, I returned home at 9:30-ish, and it doesn't look like Jeremy Jr's comin' my way today. :-( Oh well. Ohhhhhhhhhh well. I guess now I will have to take it easy, because my Birth Assistant has forbidden me to go into labor until after 3 pm on Christmas day--she's worked the past two Christmas Eves/Christmases, and would like to be able to spend this one with her family. I don't blame her. You hear that, Jeremy Jr????? You can either come today, or forever (until Monday evening) hold your peace! No funny business!

I guess I will take it easy the next day and a half.

The Jeremy Jr. Game is now LOCKED!

I hope you had a chance to cast your vote! As our due date approaches, and we have already passed several guesses on the poll, we thought it only fair to remove duplicate votes and lock the game. So if you didn't get a chance to vote, SORRY! But you've had plenty of time. :-)

So now we wait and see who was right, who was wrong, and who was wayyyyyy off (I'd be very surprised if we went 5 days past our due date and ended up with a 7lb-er who was only 18 inches long.... Especially since everyone thinks I'm having twins as it is! Nope... we're pretty sure there's only one....)

As an update, we had our 37 week appt yesterday. No news to report. The midwives think he's a LITTLE further down than before, but not much--definitely not enough to be considered "ready". I, on the other hand, am getting more and more uncomfortable. Between back aches, pelvic aches, and swollen hands and feet, I'm soooooo ready for him to make his appearance already!

Anyways.

We're gonna go brave Target now... I'm hoping it's not too crazy (wishful thinking, I know...) Wish us luck!

Epidurals Linked to Breastfeeding Problems

See? Yet another reason to go "AU NATURAL!" :-) It's not very surprising, though, considering that babies are born with a 'sucking' reflex that peaks at usually 30 minutes old. If the baby's drugged up (yes, when you have an epidural, it drugs the baby, too) then the baby's natural ability to suck may become impeded, and create problems down the road.

Of course, if you don't plan on breastfeeding, drug on! :-) Not all women will experience problems, though. Looks like they do, however, want to consider this "an adverse side effect".

Something to think about.

Finally!

Last night, I went to bed around 11:30, and didn't wake up until almost 10 am today.

YAY!!!

Aw, it felt sooooo good to sleep. And sleep I did! Hopefully that trend continues.

Just wanted to tell someone! :-)

Can't Sleep...

Seriously, this is kind of annoying... I've been up for a good hour now, just thinking about things, and it's keeping me up. So long days of 14 hour 'naps'. Booooo... Stupid brain can't shut down. It did for a bit there, and then I had weird dreams, and so now I'm up.

I think I'm just really anxious... It's like subconsciously I think I'm gonna go into labor at any second, like if I fall asleep I'll miss it or something, or my water will break, and so on and so forth. I just can't 'be still'. Grrr... very annoying.

So, I'm trying to tire myself out by blogging (not working), checking slickdeals for last minute Christmas gifts (don't need 'em), email (done), whatever I can do to try to fall back asleep. Jeremy gave me the dead laptop, though.. I've only got a few minutes left on the charge, so that's not gonna help. I may just give in and get up, go to the grocery store, and just hope I crash late enough in the day that I'm not missing anything (like lunch with friends).

And that's that. I'll let ya know how it goes.

He (the baby) represents the feelings of 60% of Americans.

At least I know there are many Democrats (and probably some Republicans) that can relate to the baby. I'm not saying I'm one of those (I love Bush... Don't agree with everything he's done, but y'know what? We, the US of A, voted him into office, not once, but twice... there's a reason for that, so to wander around now wearing pins and bumper stickers that say, "Impeach Him" is just ridiculous... He's done nothing 'wrong'. We may not agree with everything he does, but he's still Commander in Chief, and unless that's the title you hold yourself, he deserves your respect, whether you want to give it or not. /rant) :-)

I don't know what's more funny... the fact that the baby's crying (lots of babies don't like strangers, even if they are the President of the United States), or the expression on Bush's face.

I just thought it was a cute pic. :-)

Any day now!

Today, we are 37 weeks, which means, Jeremy Jr is now considered "full term" and could come at anytime.

Woah.

I'm excited/nervous/impatient/restless/hoping he comes soon/hoping he waits 'til after Christmas. :-) As much as I want to meet this child o mine, I don't really want to spend Christmas held up in my bed. Now that I'm not working, it's easier for me to wait a little longer (before I was so anxious for him to come, I was trying to rationalize pre-term labor... not that you can just turn labor on and off, but I was tellin' myself, "Well, he's probably fine, if we went into labor tonight, he'd be okay..." and stuff, but God knows what He's doing!) This week, I'm kinda busy getting ready for the holidays, along with numerous appointments throughout. Next week, though, the craziness will be over, and I'll be able to just relax and..... wait. Hopefully he doesn't make me wait TOO long (like, he'd better stay away from January.... Stay away, Jeremy jr! It's baaaaaad.... don't do it!!!)

Oh, and we still don't have a name picked out. I guarantee you, this child will be born, and we won't have a name for him for a couple of days... Eventually, we'll figure it out, but right now, he's still "Jeremy Jr". I think I'm starting to regret calling him that for the past 9 months. Now, everything just doesn't sound right.... Uh oh...

On a different note, we went to Laurence and Katharine's Christmas party last night, and had a great time! Met some folks from their trip to Israel (how cool is that, huh? Maybe someday we'll go) that were really neat (Dave & Judy, and Judy is ranked 28th in the world on XB Live for Zuma! Wow... that's pretty impressive... If you're not impressed, you should be.)

Katharine had lots of great food there, too! I was very impressed with the spread she put out (she had told me bits and pieces of it, but once it was actually all out.... yum!) Luckily (for me) she still had a bunch of stuff leftover, so hopefully she'll be bringing that along to our Mom's lunch tomorrow!

Oh, I almost forgot! Big Fella's leaving today!!! Woot! :-) He's gonna go hang out with Laurence and Katharine for a few weeks (until Jeremy Jr is two weeks old, about...) That'll be a nice break. :-) And I know Laurence is really looking forward to it--he loves Big Fella (I really don't know what people see in this animal... whatever... to each his own, I guess... :) They'd better not spoil him too much, or he won't want to come back (aww, darn...) ;) I guess I say that more for Jeremy than for me.

Okay, time to wake Jeremy up so we can start our day! Need to head to Home Depot and get a hose to fill up the Aqua Doula (this thing is pretty big... takes up almost as much space in our room as our bed!) and try to get the stupid paint out of the carpet before we pick up Charity at the airport. Enjoy your last Sunday before Christmas!

Just an observation...

I'm one of those people who will open the fridge to find something to eat, find nothing, close it, only to return shortly thereafter to open it again, even though I know the results will be the same. "Well, maybe something else will catch my eye this time..." Usually, the answer is no. Though yesterday, i was disappointed because I actually did finally see something I wanted (cottage cheese and fruit) but then couldn't find any fruit in the pantry (I do the same thing with the pantry after I leave the fridge...) Grr...

I just mention this because I'm the same way about looking at peoples' blogs... I'll click on it during the day, then again at night, then again first thing in the morning, expecting/hoping for something to be different, only to find it usually isn't. Eventually, folks'll post new stuff, but it's usually not between the hours of 12 a.m. and 8 a.m. Most people don't randomly blog in the middle of the night (like I do, I guess). What's wrong with you people?! I need fresh content everytime I click on the link for your blog!! :-)

Just thought I'd throw that out there, in case anyone is getting ready for work right now, and needs to see some fresh content on my blog. :-)

Thursday

Why Thursday sucked:

~Stupid cat knocked blue paint over onto our white carpet.
~Spent an hour scrubbing said carpet.
~Paint is still there.
~Had to do blood work at my appointment today (don't.... like... needles....)
~Didn't have time to get real food for lunch, so I ate leftover pizza, and now have massive heartburn--no more tums in the house....

Why Thursday was GREAT!:

~Had my 36 week appointment, at which the midwives said they would fill out the paperwork so I don't have to work anymore while pregnant (yay!)
~Cleaning crew showed up and CLEANED MY HOUSE! (double YAY!)
~Called Aqua Doula rental gal, and she said she could drop it off tomorrow! (Triple YAY!!)
~I didn't have to work. (Always a good thing)

Just thought I'd share. :-)

Play our game!

As most of you know, we are approaching the end of our pregnancy (yay!) but still have anywhere from 2 days to 5 weeks left (booo...) However, there is still plenty of time for you to cast your vote on when you think Jeremy Jr will arrive, how long he'll be and how much he'll weigh. The winner gets a prize from us, and a pat on the back for their excellent divining skills.

So cast your vote, and have fun! We'll be sure to let everyone know when he actually comes, and the site will automatically calculate your score, based on what you got right (so even if you don't get the date right, you could get the weight and length correct...)

Couple of clues for you:
~We're 99.9% sure he's a boy (unless our daughter's growing a third leg.... unlikely...)
~At my appt. today, we were a fingertip dilated, about 50% effaced, and he is waaaaaay high up there (doesn't really mean much, but normally babies settle into a better position before Mom goes into labor...)
~I was born about 10 days early.
~My brother (next after me) was about 10 days late.
~Stephin (the youngest in the family) almost made it to his due date (scheduled c-section changed that).
~I've been having some mild contractions, though sporadically (again, doesn't really mean anything, but if it helps you, go for it!)
~I don't normally eat a lot of spicy food, but plan on starting to learn to like it this weekend (I'm done bein' pregnant... want to meet this child of mine already!)
~Ultrasound at 21 weeks showed him growing about 9 days ahead of schedule.
~Original due date (based on ultrasound at 9 weeks) was Jan. 3rd.
~Due date based on LMP is Jan. 5th.

Let's have some fun! I already put in my $.02. :-)

P.S. Use the ticker on this blog to help figure out how far along we are at any given time. So if you think he'll be born at 39 weeks and 5 days, you would know that that would be three weeks from tomorrow (if you're reading this on 12/14, that is...) and so on...

All Done!

Yesterday, I had my annual review with my boss at the super-posh Sheraton Premiere hotel here in Tyson's. It went pretty well... I was actually quite surprised on how I did. And not only did I manage to max out the "merit increase" %, I also maxed out my bonus (which I was not expecting...) Both very good things! Guess I was doin' alright after all.

We also talked about my pregnancy, and how increasingly difficult it is to complete quality store calls right now. Let's face it, stores are BUSY, I'm BIG, and in PAIN (though the Chiropractor has definitely been helping... right now, it sucks, but I'm hoping the same thing that happened earlier in the week will happen now, and this afternoon, I'll see significant improvement). It's not a very good combination for getting people to pay attention to Playstation products. So he decided that it doesn't sound like I should be working anymore.

Sounds good to me!

Seriously, though, working quality shifts has been tough... It takes me longer to manuever through the stores, wears me out, and puts me in a sour mood. So now, I just need to get the midwives to sign off on me not working anymore, and I can start my maternity leave on Monday. Yay!

I'm very glad, although it is definitely getting more difficult to "relax" and "take it easy" right now. I just can't get comfortable! And last night, I got up FOUR TIMES! to go to the bathroom.... That's like every two hours. Guess it's my body's way of saying, "Get used to it."

How to Interact with Preggers

Borrowed from Laurence & Katharine's blog. Thought it had some good information that warranted repeating. :-)

Dear Non-Pregnant Person,

I hope you find these guidelines helpful in your interactions with pregnant women as failing to follow them may result in serious physical harm. If you are thinking, surely she doesn't mean me- then you should probably read this twice.

1) The appropriate response to a couple telling you they are having a baby is "Congratulations!" with enthusiasm. Any other response makes you an a$$.

2) Through the wonders of science, we now know that babies are made ONLY by the mother and father- not grandparents. Unless the baby is in your uterus or you are the man that helped put it there, you may not ever use the phrase "my baby".

3) On the same note, unless you made the baby as defined in ..2, the pregnancy, birth and raising of the child are not about you. You do not have input. No one wants to hear your opinion unless they ask for it.

4) The body of a pregnant women should be treated the same as any other body. You would not randomly touch someone's stomach if they were not pregnant, nor would you inquire into the condition of their uterus, cervix or how they plan to use their breasts. Pregnancy does not remove all traces of privacy from a woman.

5) Likewise, no women wants to hear comments on her weight- ever. A pregnant woman does not find it flattering that you think she is about to pop, must be having twins, looks swollen or has gained weight in her face. Telling her she looks too small only makes her worry that she is somehow starving her baby. Making such comments invite her to critique your physical appearance and you may not act offended. The only acceptable comment on appearance is "You look fabulous!".

6) By the time we are 20-30 years old, most of us have picked up on the fact that the summer is hot. We are hot every summer when we are not pregnant. We don't need you to point out that we will be miserably hot before the baby comes.

7) There is a reason that tickets to L&D are not yet sold on Ticketmaster. Childbirth is actually not a public event. It may sound crazy, but some women really do not relish the idea of their mother, mother in law, or a host of other family members seeing their bare butt and genitals. Also, some people simply feel like the birth of their child is a private and emotional
moment to be shared only by the parents.

8) Like everything else is life, unless you receive an invitation, you are NOT invited. This includes doctor appointments, ultrasounds, labor, delivery, the hospital and the parents home. You do not decide if you will be there for the birth or if you will move in with the new parents to "help out". If your assistance is desired, rest assured that you will be
asked for it.

9) If you are asked to help after the birth, this means you should clean up the house, help with cooking meals, and generally stay out of the way. Holding the baby more than the parents, interfering with breastfeeding and sleeping schedules and making a woman who is still leaking fluid from multiple locations lift a finger in housework is not helping.

10) The only people entitled to time with the baby are the parents. Whether they choose to have you at the hospital for the birth or ask for you to wait three weeks to visit, appreciate that you are are being given the privilege of seeing their child. Complaining or showing disappointment only encourages the parents to include you less.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

We'll start with the Ugly:

And then the Bad:

I went to the chiropractor yesterday. I'm so glad I did! She had this special table just for preggers--Jeremy Jr really liked just being able to hang and move. And she was able to help my back so that I don't have so much back pain all the time. Ohhhh, very nice. However, my biggest complaint was the pelvic pain I've been experiencing for a couple of months. Apparently, it is normal in pregnant women, especially those on their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc child. Chiropractic care can help about 50% of them. I must be in the other 50% because when I came out of there, I was in more pain (down there) than I was going in. I have to walk reeeeeeeally slooooooooowly now.

It was kinda funny, because Katharine and I were gonna get together and make goodies for her party yesterday, and we both decided against it, so got lunch instead. Well, everytime we had to walk somewhere, Katharine would "run" on ahead and I'd be stuck shuffling along behind. Normally, she'll try to pick up the pace, since she's shorter than me, but yesterday, she had to keep waiting for me to catch up. So even though the chiropractor helped my back, the main reason I went to see her is unresolved, and making it nearly impossible for me to work. Add to that I've been having contractions for the past couple of days, and yeah, work isn't really happening for me right now.

And now the Good.

We got to hang out with Laurence & Katharine (and Katharine's Mom) last night. It was a nice, relaxing time. I sat on the couch the whole time (which I haven't been able to do comfortably for some time now!) and talked with Katharine and her Mom. The boys joined us later in the evening, and we ate yummy pizza and talked some more. Eventually, it was dueling laptops on the loveseat (ooooooooo..... ;) Aren't they cute?!

36/28

Wow... We're getting closer! 36 weeks! This is the last week where it'd be bad for Jeremy Jr to try to make an appearance (although I'm sure at this point, he'd be fine and wouldn't require any kind of extensive hospitalization). Starting this coming weekend, we can move into the "any day now!" phase of our pregnancy.

Scary...

We still have quite a bit to do. Nothing major--we have a little co-sleeper crib for him (Thanks Andie!), plenty of clothes, diapers (Thanks Uncles!), etc. I am definitely ready for his arrival. Well, in the "I've had enough fun being pregnant" sense. I don't think I will ever reach the point where I'm truly "ready". I still have rooms to clean, thank you cards to write, meals to cook and freeze, curtains to put up, goody baskets to prepare, so on and so forth. Luckily, Jeremy's Mom is comin' down in a week, so as long as Jeremy Jr doesn't get overly excited to meet his grandmother and decide to arrive the first day she's here (none of that, now, Jeremy Jr... be a good boy and let Grandma get settled in first...), she'll be helping get a lot of those things done.

Wow.

This week should go by fairly quickly--busy weeks usually do. Tomorrow, (Monday) I have an appointment with a Chiropractor first thing in the morning. I'm hoping she can 'realign' me so I don't have so much pain when I walk and do simple things like getting dressed, and putting shoes on (that's a complicated enough process nowadays... certainly don't need the added stress of pain to make it even moreso...). Tuesday is work day, and then small group Tuesday night; Wednesday is work day and a Christmas party at night; Thursday is mid-wife appt day, I don't think anything at night (except for homework from the midwives); Friday we have a home visit with our birth assistant (she's gonna make sure everything is set up correctly, all the supplies are in one place, etc); Saturday is a work day (blaaaaaaaaaah....) and another party day (woot! Katharine & Laurence's party!) and then Sunday, brunch with Andie & Ruben mid-morning, then Jeremy's Mom comes in the afternoon...

Phew. I'm tired just thinkin' about it all.

And all through this, I get to deal with contractions (some of them can get pretty painful, but they're sporadic so nothing comes from them... yet....) and a very active baby who just LOVES to move around WHILE I'm having a contraction (he's such a sweetie already, isn't he... taking after his daddy, even in the womb... ;-) He's alredy getting me ready for sleepless nights, too. While I do manage to get my sleep in, it's usually very uncomfortable, and interrupted multiple times by bathroom runs or... who knows?!

To be able to roll over painlessly with little effort again... That's what I want for Christmas!

I'll be glad when it's Christmas! At least I've completed almost all of my Christmas shopping. Families are pretty much done, just need to get a few friendly presents and I'm DONE! Oh, and I bought it all online. Woo hoo! It's cheaper and it comes right to my door--no fighting mall traffic, crazy customers, long lines, disgruntled employees, and haulin' it all back in. Ah yes, it's a beautiful thing.

Well, be checking here for updates! I will be posting SOMETHING (if I can) once we are in labor, just to let you know the ball is in motion.

Have a great week!

Nine months?!

Holy crap... I just checked on our blog, and was NOT expecting to see our ticker move us into the 9th month window.... But, it looks like we are! Only 31 days to go (hopefully less!)

So... it really seems like this is gonna happen then... In a few weeks, Jeremy and I are gonna be parents... We're going to be responsible for another human being's... everything!

Wow... it's so surreal.

Tonight we have our "Birthday Planning Meeting" at Birthcare. We get to meet our birth assistant, probably all the midwives, and, I guess, plan for the big day!

I'm gonna cry.. :`)

Anyways, what that really does is make me even less motivated to work. Heck, I'm NINE MONTHS PREGNANT after all! Do I really need to be running around busy stores during Christmas time, trying to sell people Playstation stuff, when I just form obstacles for people to manuever around?! I think not!

Okay... time to get ready for work. :-P

NY BANS most trans fats from restaurants.

Wow.... That's all I can say.

Maybe the worriers should call up their restaurant friends in Europe, where many countries already outlaw trans fats. They seem to have adjusted well.

And I hope this spreads to the rest of the country! It certainly can't hurt--if it makes foods more expensive, then we won't buy them.... Or maybe we still will, and then just complain about it, like the whole gas thing...

"Meh, stupid government is letting the oil companies make millions of dollars while I have to pay $2.50/gallon of gas in my fancy new SUV. MEEEEEHHHHH! WAAAAAHHHHH! It's a conspiracy, a conspiracy, I say!"

Guess it's just a different kind of oil that's under scrutiny now.

Flatulence forces plane to land

Maybe it's a good idea "the boyz" (my two younger brothers) aren't getting on a plane this holiday season.

Then again, they've always been pretty proud of their gas, and would probably start clapping for each other, rather than trying to cover it up with a match......

.......much to the horror of my parents......

..............and the other passengers........

Eh... Se la vie.

35/35

35 weeks/35 days to go... That's pretty cool.

He could be here in as little as two weeks! Omigosh, we still have so much to do....

On a related sad/kinda good note, my parents have cancelled their trip to Portugal over the holidays, due to silly people at the Portuguese Consulate's office who haven't processed my Mom's paper work for a new passport or green card or something... Whatever it is, she wouldn't be able to re-enter the country with what she has now, if she left. So they've decided to postpone the trip until next summer, maybe. It stinks for them, but it's not a terrible thing--now we don't have to hope Jeremy Jr comes too early, or has to wait too long after the new year! Not that he would listen to "Pawpa" and "Grandma?" anyways... He's gonna do what he wants to do when he wants to do it!

That's my boy...

Okay, there's more...

So I was looking around that church's website to see what else they had on there, and found some more amusing articles.

For your enjoyment:

Accpt Jesus as your Lord and Savior, get a free PS2! (Updated now for free PS3!)

What Would Jesus Do? Thongs

Kwanzaa: Ghetto slang for Murder!

So... I'm confused... Apparently this site is not meant for readers under the age of 18... This site is www.landoverbaptist.org... I dunno. Proceed at your own risk. Seems kinda... shady.

I'm not sure what it is, but it does make for some amusing reads (stay away from the lewd ones... there are plenty...)

Ah! I found something!

The Landover Baptist Church is a complete work of fiction. It is a satire/parody.

So there ya have it.

This is kinda scary....

I'm pretty sure it's a joke... But you never know with those crazy Baptists! :-)

Some exerpts:

A number of panicked Christian ladies across America are scheduled to give birth on June 6th, 2006. This date raises concern among church members since the numbers of that day also identify the son of Satan, the "Beast" from the book of Revelation. No decent, Christian family wants the little red bottom of the devil's spawn perched on a limb of their family tree, taking a dump on the branches below, much less sitting in a high-chair at the dinner table listening in on family prayers while quietly finalizing plans to sodomize mommy with the family vacuum. As such, Landover Baptist Creation Scientists have put together a checklist of recommended actions one should take if their baby is being born or was born on 06-06-06.

It then proceeds to explain what mothers-to-be should do, should their due date fall dangerously close to the dreaded 6-6-06 date.

Luckily, the most we'd have to worry about are two sixes, like 12-06-06, or 12-16-06 or 12-26-06, none of which are very scary... So, I think we're safe. :-)

I just thought I'd share. :-)

Ahead of schedule or just a big baby?

We had our 34 week appt yesterday with the midwives. It went just fine, though I'm still measuring big (your 'fundal height' should roughly correspond with the number of weeks you are--34 weeks should measure about 34 cm, etc.) I measured around 39 weeks, which means he's either big, ahead of schedule, sitting high, or our dates are off (like, maybe we're 36 or 37 weeks, instead of 34). I'm pretty sure my math is right, as far as when we got preggers, so I think he's just a big boy. Hopefully not too big... That won't make for good times when it comes time to push. But, eh, whatever.

What got me thinkin' a bit about this more than what I usually do was when another midwife asked when we were due. I told her Jan 7, and her eyes got pretty big... I guess I'm, as my Dad would say, 'Yuge!' :-) Hey, as long as he's happy and healthy in there... I guess I'll endure. I have a feelin', though, if I were to go into labor sometime around 36 weeks, they would let me go with it.

Should be an interesting next couple of weeks.... :-)

James is my hero.

After my last store call yesterday, I got back into my car only to discover that it wouldn't start....

.......

Why the heck it didn't start is beyond me, but it's been having some issues lately... Just doesn't want to turn over right away, sometimes. So I first called Jeremy, who called our insurance company (we have roadside assistance through them, though they make ya call a tow truck, and then reimburse you for the fees), and then I called James.

I think James leaps at any opportunity to "save the day", so he came on out all the way to Manassas, with his buddies Matt and Eric, and jumped my car. He then proudly proclaimed, "I saved your day." :-)

Thank you, James, for saving my day! (And saving Jeremy a trip all the way out to Manassas!) I give you two snaps. **snap snap**

Nintendo's first commercial

Wow... this is old school... I don't remember my system coming with all that. And do ya know how much it cost when the NES launched back in '85--for this bundle, $250. In 2005 dollars, that's $470! Or about the price of a 20 gig PS3... (or a premium 360 with an extra controller and platinum hit game)

Colbert and the Wii

Hee hee hee...

Seriously... this is getting out of control...

First the stupid cat is straddling my husband and now this...

I don't know what's worse... the fact that the stupid cat was licking my husband's head, or the fact that Jeremy let him do it!

Sick...

It's our Christmas tree!

Awww... so pretty.... Doncha luv it! :-)

Couldn't get a good shot with no flash on... Don't know what the camera was thinkin', but you get the idea.

Pregger's Pics

Okay! Here they are! I know they're a bit late, but hey, better late then never... And I must say, looking back, there are some, ahem, BIG differences in the pics.

So, without further ado....

The original pic I posted back in September, at about 20 weeks, in Las Vegas.

About a month later, 24-25 weeks.

At my 'surprise' shower! About 28 weeks.

At our shower, about 33 weeks.

And it just keeps on getting bigger! Personally, I've had enough, but Jeremy Jr seems to be content right where he is... Hopefully, that grows old for him, too, in a few weeks (only need 2.5 more to be in the clear! Crazy, huh?)

Is it just me, or does my belly make my butt look smaller?? Or is it that my butt makes my belly look bigger????? Hmm....

Pictures!

Okay, so we FINALLY downloaded all the pics from our camera... So this post is gonna be a mish-mash of sorts, but that's okay.

Mmmmm.... Jeremy's eating apple pie with caramel... Smells sooo good, but no room for me. Oh well. :-)



So, these were from this past summer.... The above pics have Jeremy's "Victory" over Cape Cod potato chips. The first week he was with his new job, he was training in Boston, and opened a bag of chips during his lunch, only to find a wet, moldy clump of chips waiting for him... Gross. So he wrote to Cape Cod chips, expressing his unhappiness, and embarrassment... They responded by asking what they could do to "make things right". Well, the above was the answer to that question. Needless to say, I'm a bit sick of Cape Cod chips now (we actually gave most of them away, or brought them with us to various parties and social events).


Aww... it's Todd and Paige! Check out that hunker of a beast Paige caught (the fish, that is....)! Thing was HUGE! And quite tasty, I might add. Mmmm.... I forget what it's called... I think it's in my post about our Independence Day trip down to FL. Will hafta look it up. But we had a great time! Oh what I wouldn't give to be back in that warm FL coast water, just bobbin' around, right now... Oh well.

Christmas time.... is here...

I love Christmas... It's my favorite time of year, followed only by Spring/Summer. :-) It's the only time of year I'm okay with cold and snow. If it snows on Christmas Eve, ohmigosh, PERFECTION!

I'm such a romantic when it comes to the holidays. Working retail for 5 years made it really tough to be as gung ho about it, knowing that my wonderful time of the year would be plagued by long hours, long lines, and scores of angry people demanding your one-on-one attention at all times. I remember running the Tyson's Corner EB Games two years ago (now the 3rd largest mall in America, at the time was the 9th) and just being utterly exhausted every single day. Basically, I'd come in to open, have 2 or 3 associates come in by 11 or 12, and I wouldn't stop "working the line" 'til I left at 6 or 7 pm (finding out what games people were getting, fetching them from the back or from the case so that by the time they got to the register, they'd be out in 30 seconds. I would always hope that the next person I helped would require me to go in the back room, just so I could get a few seconds of peace and a chance to breathe.... On the floor, I was upbeat, perky and boundless... In the back room, I was my real self, exhausted and dazed. Oh those were hellish times. Thankfully, this was before I married Jeremy, and he saw how tough it was, and didn't make me endure it again the following year. :-)

Anyways, I'm looking forward to this Christmas. With only 3-8 weeks to go 'til Jeremy Jr's arrival, work will be light, and I will be heavy! :-) Jeremy's parents will be in town, we're gonna have a nice big Christmas day dinner (we'll probably try to get most of the cooking done the week Jeremy's Mom gets in town, so that all we'll need to do is re-heat while the turkey roasts) and it will just be a peaceful, relaxing time (unless we're in labor...)

Jeremy Jr. really likes the Christmas music. I was listening to clips online last night, trying to find something new for this year (I try to get at least one or two new Christmas CD's a season... I love Christmas music... And not that Santy Claus crap ['Santa Baby' has got to be one of the WORST Christmas songs EVER!]. My favorite songs are 'What Child is This (Greensleeves)', 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', 'Oh Holy Night', so on and so forth...) and he was just moving around to no end while it was on! It was so cute! So we'll see if he makes it out in time to enjoy that. :-)

And that's all for now. We've got our Christmas tree, I'm going through decorations now, and after the Steelers game, we'll try to get some decorating done. I'll try to post pics when we're done.

Revenge on the Telemarketers!

Luckily, having Sunrocket, we rarely have to deal with telemarketers... It's just not a listed number like when you have a land line. I almost wish I did have telemarketers call, though, after hearing the clip below... I probably don't have the guts to do something like that (or the self control from laughing....) but I think it's pretty funny, nonetheless.

Enjoy!

Where exactly were you last night between 8 and 10?

If the Microsoft Paperclip could talk back...

Woo-hoo!

The work week is OVA!

I love holidays... more time off, good food, good times... Tomorrow, we will make the journey to Chantilly to have Thanksgiving Dinner at my Uncle's house. Should be quite tasty.

Did I mention it's a 4 day weekend?!?!?! Love it!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you have much to be thankful for--I know I do, and will have even more in 4-9 weeks. :-)

I'm famous!

I was on the news this morning. Not kidding, I really was.

It was awesome.

No, it wasn't, really. But it was kinda neat. Jeremy recorded it. I can't watch it myself... I'm bashful.

That's what I get for representing Sony on probably THE biggest launch day in video game history! XB360 was big, but I don't think it tops this, in terms of hype, and expectations (and ebay prices...)

Just so happens I chose to hang out at just the right Best Buy in Alexandria, VA. Who knew?

She tried to put me on the spot, though, on live TV.... I put her in her place though: "No Comment."

:)

And now it's time to sleep, as I've been up since 4:40 am (which is FREAKING EARLY for me! I usually get up at 8:30... And we went to bed at midnight... makes it even worse.)

Mental download....

I have heartburn... it's pretty bad tonight, and I just ordered pizza... :-( Please, God, only 5 more weeks!!!

It's quiet here at home.... I hear the fan running, and some slushy cars on the street outside... Jeremy's at church.... I all awone...

PS3 launches tomorrow and I'm indifferent. I just want my system... That's all. I just want to play Marvel Ultimate Alliance in full 1080p glory... Is that asking too much (apparently, not enough, as they are going for $3000 on ebay right now.... sick....)

Had a midwive's (Dr's) appt today... Gal was nice, but rough hands... She was really pressing and prodding looking for Jeremy Jr... But good news is it seems he's heading in the right direction. Makes my job just a bit easier (s'long as he stays that way.)

Our Baby Shower on Saturday should be fun. I was worried it was just going to be my Mom's friends, but it looks like we'll have about 7 of our own friends there (yay!) Even the enigmatic Juanaldo Valdez Barbados the Second will be there (or, John, as his birth certificate states).

I'm getting really tired of my house always looking like we're moving... Stupid boxes...

I really need to send out some PSP's for repair... I've got two stores with busted systems... Shoot, gotta do that soon. Grrr... I hate the fact I'm a procrastinator. Oh well.

Oh! Pizza just got here! And my phone's ringing.... Gotta go.

First post

First post.. Woot. ;)

-- Jeremy --

Free Breakfast!

For those of you who live/work near a Chick-Fil-A, click here to enter to win a free Breakfast entree. I got one for Jeremy and myself--their Chicken, Egg, & Cheese on a Sunflower Multigrain Bagel has 30-odd grams of Protein! And they have biscuits and gravy... mmmm...

They also send you a coupon for a free milkshake, with the purchase of a Dasani water and Chicken sandwich................. Not sure the cross promo on that one, but whatever! It's free (and I love milkshakes!)

Free breakfast is limited to first 1 million entries, so act fast! The Million Nugget Give-a-way is already over (so soon??) so this is your only chance at free food. :-)

Oh, and if you're not in the mood for breakfast, how 'bout buy one, get one free from Coldstone???

Just thought I'd share the wealth.

We're 32 weeks!

We're 32 weeks! Oh, I said that already.

Sorry, just a bit excited there. It's funny because throughout my pregnancy, I've always said stuff like, "Wow, it'll be really cool to be at XX weeks..." and then I'd get there and be like, "Wow, it'll be really cool to be at XX weeks..." and then I get there and realize, wow, it's almost over! Woot! Not that I hate being pregnant--I never want to be known as the 'miserable pregnant woman'. I don't wanna be remembered for how much I complained about the amount of weight I'm gaining, or the aches and pains (they're there in abundance... but it's "pain with a purpose!") and I never want to say, "SOMEONE JUST GET THIS CHILD OUT OF ME!!" I am anxious to meet this little blessing that God is giving us, but am trying to enjoy the time I have now to rest and prepare before our lives completely change forever!

In other (related) news, we finished our Bradley class today. It was kinda sad, but now we get to sleep in again on Sundays! Woot! :-) But it is kinda sad... It does signal the beginning of the end to our pregnancy, though! That's exciting! And our instructor was great, and very knowledgable, and we'll definitely let her know when we're in labor! If she wants to come for extra support, I certainly wouldn't tell her no! :-) Of course, we'll have lots of support of our own already, with Jeremy's parents probably being in town at that time (we're gonna cross our fingers that he's not late... EARLY! EARLY! EARLY!) and Katharine will probably be here (she's gonna be our pregnant camera woman!) and of course, Jeremy and when the time is right, a midwife and birth assistant, so it's gonna be a full house! But I'm looking forward to it! I know it sounds crazy, but I'm excited about labor. Yeah, I know I'll probably be singing a different tune when I'm actually in the moment, but I've got a great support person (my wonderful husband) and I'm confident in my God-given ability as a woman to give birth! After all, women have been doing it for thousands of years without the help of drugs. To think that we need them now to be successful is ridiculous! I'm not saying that women who get drugs are weak--I think they're just not properly prepared (Lamaze spends a good chunk of time telling you about all your pain killer choices, after all... they set women up for needing drugs before they ever make it to the delivery room! My Dr, before we switched to a midwife, asked me at our first appt, "So, are you going to get an epidural?" *shakes head*). And there are definitely times when a woman needs a break, and the only way she'll get it is with an epidural (like, really long labor, or longer labor that starts before bed, so Mom is tired, etc...) I just don't want to "give in" before I even have a chance to try.

That, and I hate the after effects of an epidural. I've had one before, and I was groggy for days afterwards, my teeth chattered, I shivered... yeah, it was bad. So I'm determined to let my child come into the world un-drugged! I wanna see if he has the "kicking/latching" reflex. Supposedly, non-medicated babies (babies born to non-medicated mothers) have this kicking reflex where, if place on Mom's abdomen immediately after birth, will, with no assistance, make his way up to Mom's breast, and latch on, within the hour! We saw videos of this in our class, and it was really neat! I wanna try it. And see, unlike hospital births, the midwives won't remove the baby to do their assessments and tests--ultimate bonding time for Mom and baby!

SOOO EXCITING! I can't wait! And afterwards, when I've had my baby without the aid of drugs, and at home in my own bed (don't worry, we've got special instructions on how to make it... we won't have to replace it afterwards!) I can tell the naysayers with confidence, "Yup, I did it, and I wouldn't do it any other way..." :-)

Okay, that's enough of that. We're comin' down to the wire! PS3 launches Friday, Thanksgiving is next week, and then 3 weeks later, we could be parents! If not, we'll have Jeremy's parents in town, Christmas, New Years, and then hopefully baby! woo hoo!

Anyways... that's all I've got for ya today. I'm planning on posting some preggers pics soon. Will try to get that up before my next post. Have a great week!

Ah ha!

I've got the comparison shot for Big Fella's "Separated at Birth" post. Now, it's not the best, but hopefully you'll understand where I'm comin' from with his Brak look-a-likeness.

The link to the original post can be found...... here!

We're bad Americans...

We didn't vote.... Not that it would have mattered from a House of Representatives stand point... But it looks like it might for the Senate! Oh well. We were going to, but it would have required going to Arlington to do so, as we've not updated our address with the voter registration people. Next time, we will definitely be ready to go!

I know, no excuse, but, hey, as of right now (8:48 pm) everything we would have wanted to happen is (minus the House, but we would have needed more than us for that one.)

It's so exciting, though! Like watching a really close football game (only more personal, and a little more important...) Should be an interesting night.

Isn't he cute!

He's so sharp, eh?? He has to 'dress up' at least once a week, now! :-)

This picture doesn't do him justice, though... I took it while sitting down, but you get the idea.

Awww... my handsome man... :-D

Oh my gosh!

Britney Spears has filed for divorce from Kevin Federline!

Okay... now, this shouldn't make me happy, because I'm a firm believer in keeping your marriage vows, but.... well, I'm happy for her.

I know, I know, it's bad to be, but gosh, he was terrible for her! She was a saint for putting up with him as long as she did! She can do so much better!

Now, she probably shouldn't have married him in the first place, but it seemed like she was being young and stupid, and she wanted babies.... I'm sure she's not the first gal that settled for "less than best". She definitely deserves better, in my opinion.

Good luck Britney! America's behind you! Kevin, on the other hand... well, he's toast. No one will find it necessary to play his junk on the radio anymore. He can take his handful of fans, few millions from Britney and move to a deserted island for the rest of his life. I'm sure he'll have fun paying child support on 4 kids for the rest of his life ( not that Britney needs it, but seriously, that man should be snipped... no more babies for him! Please!)

Okay, I feel better now.

Awww! Nice people do exist!

On my way home from work, I stopped at Shoppers (local grocery store, for those who don't know...) to pick up a few things. Had to get some fresh veggies, so I grabbed my celery, carrots, mushrooms, etc, and was trying to find the green beans (all they seemed to have was the long chinese kind... didn't want those...)

As I was walking back to the beginning of the aisle, I walked passed this lady, and heard her say, "How pretty you look." I was confused for a second, but when I looked at her, I saw she was looking right at me, and smiling. A bit dumbfounded that a complete stranger would stop just to give me a compliment (really am not used to that!), all I could muster was an, "Oh, thank you," smiled and kept on walking. :-)

Then I had to leave the produce area--it took all I had to fight the tears that were welling up. I was just so touched that someone would do that! Flabbergasted is probably a better word! It really meant a lot to me. The entire way home, everytime I replayed that scene in my head, I couldn't help but smile and start to get emotional. I wish I could go back and tell her how much that meant.... I felt bad that all I could say was "thank you," though I can't think of a different response that would have been more suitable.

Guess I'm 'glowing'. :-)

"MTV hates black people."

So apparently, being the recipient of a Best Hip Hop Artist award at the MTV Europe Music Awards isn't enough for Kanye West.... When his video for Touch the Sky didn't win Best Video, the fool trotted up on stage and starting fuming about his apparent 'dis'.

"In a tirade riddled with expletives, Kanye said he should have won the prize for his video Touch The Sky, because it "cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons."

"If I don't win, the awards show loses credibility," Kanye said."

Riiiiiiight.....

What a baby.

New Ticker?

I'm thinking about changing Jeremy Jr's ticker... But I can't decide if I like the new one or not.

I need a vote! What do you think???

Do I keep this one:


Or use this new one:


Or switch the original one to a more humorous one:


I was trying to find some other choices, but to no avail... Oh well. Let me know what ya think!

Separated at birth???

Big Fella was sitting on the bed, watching me get ready for work the other day (he's a sick ole cat...) I glanced at him, and the face he was making looked just like Brak from The Brak Show! I swear, they coulda been brothers.... Well, I'm guessing most of you don't know who I'm talking about, so I'll put a pic here for ya... Unfortunately, I don't have the comparrison shot of the cat himself, but you'll get the idea...

UPDATE!!! Obviously, I now have a comparison shot of Big Fella. See it??????

30 Weeks!

We're 30 weeks preggers today! Can I get a "woot!"?

Seriously, though, time is going by quickly (thankfully...) I'm not a very patient person, and this is certainly helping me become one a bit more, but my goodness... I just want my baby! 7-12 more weeks to go! Pretty crazy...

I can't believe November is only days away... And November/December are those months that go by even faster than most (with October usually being the 'hump' month) because you've got major holidays in each one--Thanksgiving gives most of us a 3-day work week, and then Christmas??? Forget it. My company shuts down completely from the friday before 'til after New Years. It's like being back in school again, with Christmas break!

I had a bad dream last night... Well, it was more of a frustratingly hint of reality to come, I guess. Basically, Jeremy Jr was here (someone gave him to us as a gift at our baby shower... lol!) and he just would not, for the life of both of us, figure out the whole breast feeding thing! And so he would cry, which would make me cry, which made him cry more, and he CONSTANTLY had a dirty diaper, so I felt like a bad Mom for not always getting it right away (I mean, everytime I held him, it was dirty... NON-STOP!) So then I'd debate back and forth on whether to change the diaper or try feeding him and so on and so forth.... Yuck. I'm praying for a good baby! I know there's a good chance there will be trouble at the beginning--but that's what the midwife is there for. She won't leave until we've got the hang of it. And I bought "the book", The Womanly Art of Breasftfeeding. Supposedly, this is the Bible of breastfeeding. So hopefully, he and I will get it figured out quickly and not get too frustrated.

Anyways, time to go work on Jeremy Jr's room. We're painting it "Allegra Blue".... Oooo...

Oh, and Jeremy wants me to say, "Jeremy's the bestest in the world... I love him, he's the best... I need to go now so I can cook for Jeremy, 'cause he's the best...."

Finally! A solution to our "cat" problems I approve of!

**WARNING** Do NOT read the following if you are a cat lover--you will most likely end up hating me. :-) And I know by saying that, you are even more curious to read than you were before I mentioned it. Just realize.... I DID warn you.

Everyone knows I am not a big fan of "Big Fella", the 16 lb Spawn of Satan that inhabits our home (much to my dismay...) As we approach the birth of our child, I have had concerns about this feline and the frustrations he will cause, especially when I'm trying to do motherly things, such as nurse or coax my child to sleep (I have a feeling this will be "his" cue to act up...)

Well, I found a solution to the problem at Halfbakery's website. A few highlights I found particularly interesting....

"Set up a Tesla Coil in the back yard which is triggered by proximity. Unlike the "invisible pet fence" the coil would send a charge sufficient to render your pet unconscious."

"I originally tested this using a small catapult and a whole chicken and other than the 3rd degree burns at the point of contact it was utterly fool proof."

"The cat has not tried to jump the fence ,but rather spends most of the day hiding under the couch, only appearing long enough to use litter box. I have also notice the cat seems to be less intelligent (not possible for Big Fella), not recognizing its name when called and it drools profusely (could be messy...)."

I'm pretty sure this is a joke.... well, let's hope so. :-) Don't get me wrong, I wish no harm on Big Fella--that's just not right. However.... My child comes first. If Big Fella even sniffs Jeremy Jr. in a way that causes me to worry, he's outta here. I just think it would be for everyone's good if that happened sooner rather than later. Oh well. If anyone has any good suggestions, please let me know!

Wait! I just had an idea! Could this be a possible solution to our immigration problem....??? Why build a fence! They'll learn pretty quick that running cross that border will NOT be a fun trip. Huh? HUH??? Am I on to something or what?! :-) I'm gonna write my congressman a letter.

Happy 100th!

Post, that is. Apparently, the previous post here was the 100th post on our blog... Not too shabby, I guess. :-) We'll have to have a big celebration when we hit 1000. That seems to be a bit more of an accomplishment.

Anyways, just thought I'd give y'all a brief rundown on the week thus far. I'd say overall, it's been a good week. Busy, but good (aren't they all busy at this point?) I've got a special event to do at a Best Buy today, so that's gonna eat up most of it, since it's from 12-3 (I'll get there around 11:30 or so, if all goes according to plan...) But I'll be glad when the week is officially over. We were going to head to my parent's house for the night, but they sound pretty busy this weekend, so we may just stick to the homestead. That's fine with me, there is plenty that can be done around here, that's for sure. Anyone want an apple pie???

Jeremy Jr's been pretty active as of late. He's at that stage in development where if he moves even just a little, his whole tiny body moves and I feel it from the top of my stomach to the bottom. Usually he's awake when I'm trying to fall asleep at night, but it seems that lately, he's been a good boy during the night, and doesn't start moving again until I start moving in the morning. But when he moves, boy, does he move! It's cute, though. :-) We're in the homestretch!

And that's enough for now. Time to get ready for work. Hope everyone has a spiffy weekend!

Glad I wrote this this morning...

...because, just as I thought, moods change. :-) Not that I'm in a bad mood--just too tired to come up with anything like this! Glad the day is over. Enjoy!

I don’t usually blog from my car, but today deserves special attention. I’m just in a good mood, and those usually don’t last ‘til the end of the workday, so better get my thoughts down now while they’re still fresh (and hopefully, I won’t get carpal tunnel as a result of holding my laptop against my steering wheel…)I’ve got this great worship CD that I’ve been listening to a lot, and it always helps start my day off right, even if it can’t keep me there all along the way. One of my favorite tracks is “My Glorious” performed by Delirious?. It’s just a powerful tune to remind us of how God’s in control of everything, and in all things we should praise Him (especially since one day, “Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” or, “My Glorious!” My favorite lines from the chorus really make me tear up everytime, no matter what’s going on my life at that moment:

“God is bigger than the air I breathe, the world we’ll leave. And God will save the day, and all will say, MY GLORIOUS!”

In a world where there is so much chaos, so much hurt, so much destruction, so much fear, it’s comforting to know that God is bigger than all of it, that He is ultimately the one in control, and that He is faithful to His people. Does that mean that we won’t encounter hard times? Hurt? Destruction? Fear? No! Of course not. That’s what Heaven is for—this world is NOT Heaven. This world is where we stay for a short time, to learn and love, and share with others the love of God. Heaven is an un-earned reward—we can’t achieve it on our own merit; It is only through the grace of God that we are saved, after all.

Jeremy and I have seen God’s hand working in our lives in dramatic ways since we met. No small chance that we met the way we did (on eHarmony.com)—we had both been on there before, gotten off, and decided to give it another shot THE SAME EXACT WEEK as each other. And to think that we almost didn’t start talking because I weirded Jeremy out with my secret desires to be a ninja…. God obviously helped Jeremy see past that.

Throughout our relationship, God blessed us, and ultimately we married and were blessed some more! God helped us realize that the best place for me (for a time) was home, and blessed Jeremy at his job while we I quit mine. He then blessed us both again (within weeks of each other) with new jobs that we both love, and now He’s blessing us again with our first child. There are too many “perfect timings”, “coincidences”, “ya don’t say”, “weird” stuff that happens for it to be by chance. I can look back at the past couple of years and clearly see God shaping and molding our lives, ultimately, for His Glory.

It’s exciting to think about what God has in store for us. This morning, before work, Jeremy and I prayed together about Jeremy Jr., our jobs, our day, our week. It was so precious to hear my husband praying for his unborn son, and the “blessing” that he has already been, and I’m sure, will continue to be to us. I can definitely see how God has been working in His life, as he now gets up early for work to put in a good day, wakes up even earlier on Wednesdays to attend First Light, an early morning Bible study for men, just how he leads our family, because it’s the Biblical and Godly thing to do. How could I not be proud of him!

We have some wonderful Christian friends now, which is awesome. It’s so great to be able to say, “Hey, we need help with this or that…” and people actually say, “I’ll help!” We have a wonderful church that has a ministry specifically to help young couples (such as ourselves) grow together in maturity in Christ, to build strong, Christ centered marriages that will ultimately impact the Kingdom. We have loving parents, who are also Christ centered in their lives, who support us, pray for us, and encourage us. Really, we couldn’t ask for more.

The faithfulness that God has shown us is incredible. And even though Thanksgiving is still several weeks away, I can’t help but BE thankful for all He’s done, all He’s given, and all I know He’ll give. I just hope I can live a faithful life in return.

All Good!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I got the thumbs up from the midwives today. They called me during dinner to tell me that the results of my bloodwork came in and everything was a-o-k! My glucose tested at 118 (anything below 140, I believe, is normal), so they were happy with that (I was a bit concerned because I had had an Instant Breakfast for breakfast, and it's a bit high in sugar, but obviously, not a problem!) They were just a little concerned about my iron--it's a little low. Probably because I'm really bad at taking my prenatal vitamins... Haven't taken it in a week or so. I guess I'd better try harder at that.

YAY! I feel better. I wasn't expecting a phone call (thought they'd be like most doctors offices, who only call if there's a problem... So for a sec, I was like, "Aww, crap..."), but am very pleased it was good news.

Only 8-13 weeks to go now!! Woot! It's kinda hard to believe... In as little as 8 weeks, we'll be parents! I know I say that every week, but y'know, it's just so surreal right now... I definitely never doubt that it's going to happen--Jeremy Jr. won't let me forget that he's there for a second! I'm just looking forward to work being done and over with so that I can enjoy just being a wife and a mom... :-)

God is so good! :-)

What's going on...

Just so you know, I have been trying to post about my "Surprise Shower" for some time now, but blogger isn't liking the photos I've been trying to link up, and instead has been replacing them with the same two or three over and over again (too bad they're photos I don't particularly care for...) So I've given up for now, and will try again later. It was a fantastic time, though! I've never had a surprise party of any kind thrown for me before, and I felt SOOOOOO blessed and loved! Every single person there deserves a huge hug and THANK YOU, and I'm so glad to be surrounded by such wonderful people at this time in our lives.

That being said, the awesomeness of that day makes for a very tough week following it, as no day, no matter how good, can compare. Not that it's been a bad week... Just tiring.... Everything is tiring nowadays... And Jeremy Jr. kicked me real good the other day.... I feel like my belly is bruised from the inside out.... Not too happy about that, especially since he continues to kick me there over and over and over.... arga barga! I guess it's kinda cute... although if he continues to kick Mommy after he's born, we'll have some issues to deal with...

Had to do a glucose test today... Basically, it's to see how well your body handles sugar. You're given this super sweet (like syrup, but a liquid consistency) drink, and ya gulp it down, and they draw your blood an hour later. Blaaaaaaah.... needles.... Hopefully I passed, because if not, you have to do a 3 hour version, which requires being stuck with needles 4! times... Not fun... I won't find out for a few days how I did, but hopefully all is well.

Cleaned out Jeremy Jr's room last night... I was upset that it had become "Big Fella's" room, in that his box and food and water were taking up a lot of it, and just looking gross... So I dealt with it--'til 1 am this morning. But now, it's empty, ready to be painted, and much better than it used to be! So I'm happy about that. Amazingly, Jeremy slept through all my banging, and vacuuming, and lights on, etc, etc... Had it been the other way around, I would have woken up as soon as the light turned on in the hallway.... Just not a heavy sleeper. I guess that will come in handy once Jeremy Jr. joins us.

Tomorrow, we leave for Michigan to attend Jeremy's Grandfather's wedding. Luckily, we have direct flights there and back, and it's only about 1.5 hours, so it shouldn't be too bad. Still not happy about being stuck in a tiny seat on an airplane for that long, but it could be worse.... 1.5 hours on a plane is far better than 14 hours in a car. :-)

Much happier!

Mood today: PEACHY!

I feel much better today! My friends... my wonderful friends... threw me a surprise baby shower! I feel so special! They worked so hard on everything, it was just so great! They really went all out!

:-)

This is a serious "feely" booster for me! So THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who helped make it super-special... I really needed a boost.

I'll post more on this later, I just wanted to let everyone know that my sour mood from yesterday is gone. :-)

Thanks especially to Katharine, Layton, Allison, and Sunny! They were the masterminds behind this event. You gals are awesome, and I'm so blessed to have you as friends! Oh, and my wonderful husband Jeremy, who kept the surprise from me since the begining! I'm so impressed! Thank you so much!

Blah

Not happy tonight. The day went well enough... and then I came home... and that went well enough... And then I tried to find something to wear for a party tonight.... That didn't go very well. Nothing looks good, nothing fits right, nothing is comfortable.... And to top it off, the stupid Directv people didn't show up until almost 5, when we were supposed to leave at 5.

1-5 pm window my @$$ (told you I wasn't happy)

So now I still have nothing to wear, no tv to watch, no party to go to, and probably no shoes to wear. My winter coat is in a box somewhere (where, I don't know) and it's chilly outside... I don't really feel like going to any parties, or any socials or anything right now. I just wanna put my pajamas on and go to bed.

But I can't. We did commit to going to this party. And I want to go (does that make sense?). I just don't feel like going.

It's getting cold in here, from the stupid door being open so the stupid directv people can do what they need to do (the guy himself is not stupid... just the fact that they had to send someone out here to fix what should have been done right in the first place! and it sounds like they're going to have to come out again.... grumble grumble...)

Did I mention our house is a mess and that's bugging me?? Stupid work keeps sendin me more stupid junk... We've got boxes EVERYWHERE! And we just threw a bunch out last weekend.

I'm approaching the breaking point...

Does this seem appropriate to you???

See? And everyone thought I was crazy for calling Big Fella "gay". :-)

Goodbye 2nd Trimester....

....hello 3rd!

Am I the onlyone who's a bit freaked out by that??

Don't get me wrong, I'm not 'scared' in the traditional sense.... Just... I dunno, weirded out? I dunno, maybe the realization that Jeremy and I will soon be "parents", responsible for another human beings life (Big Fella is not a human... so the whole "Jeremy's Baby" comparison is a moot point... You might as well compare apples with primordial slime.... that's a better comparison. :-) My parents are going to be grandparents, for the first time... Jeremy's parents are going to be grandparents for the first time.... My GRAND-parents are going to be GREAT-grandparents for the very first time (we're trying to figure out what that makes them, because they're Portuguese, and we call them Avo' [long 'o' sound] and Avo [short 'o' sound] so I don't know if that'll make them Avo-avo' and Avo-avo, or Avo'-gran and Avo-gran or something else... need to look that one up).... Ben (Jeremy's brother) and my brothers, Jason, James and Stephin (who is only 13) are going to be UNCLES for the first time.... My Uncles and Aunts are going to be GREAT-Uncles and GREAT-Aunts (and, as Jason would say, not because they're nice guys...) It's daunting... This kid is bringing a lot of FIRSTS to our families... Pretty crazy.

Anyways, just thought I'd let y'all know that. We're watching the Redskins get roughed up right now... Laurence and Katharine will not be happy.... Steelers don't play 'til tonight, so we'll actually get to go to church and the Union.

The first week of October is officially over! The year continues to fly by...

Update: Found the Portuguese translation for grandparents... they'll be Grande-Avo' and Grande-Avo--this is suitting for my Grandfather, as he's a big guy, but I don't think my Grandmother will appreciate being referred to as "Grande". As someone at dinner last night mentioned, it sounds like a new Starbucks drink or something.

And.... we're back!

We have returned from the mountains, and I'm happy to report that we have not become "country" despite our extended exposure to such living. Well, there wasn't much about our trip that you would consider country, I guess... We were in a cabin, in the mountains, somewhat secluded (with our own private hot tub--wink wink, nudge nudge ;-) for 3 nights, and I'm very glad to be home. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time... It was just.... 'eventful'. :-) Well, here, I'll explain.

We arrived Tuesday evening, a little later than originally planned (we had wanted to leave at noon or one and take Skyline Dr, but we woke up at 11... So that didn't happen.) Got there around 5:10, checked in, unloaded, and hit the hot tub! Don't worry, we turned it down so as to not hurt Jeremy Jr (we kept it between 96-99 while there). After we'd had enough of that, we started to figure out dinner plans, and then realized, DUH DUH DUHHHHHHNNNNNNNN! We'd forgotten Jeremy's CPAP (if ya don't know what that is, Google it--lots of info there) at home. Now, we realized this shortly before 8 pm... Which meant either him trying to sleep without it (and snoring all night, which would have kept me up= no sleep for either of us) and getting it in the morning, or driving back home that night, picking it up, and driving back. We chose the later. So back in the car we go for another 2 hr drive, picked up his machine, and headed back on the road. We got back to the cabin around midnight, and basically crashed after that point. Thank goodness we had decided to go somewhere semi-close.

The rest of the week wasn't really eventful, but it had it's moments (more on those in a minute). We spent our time mostly relaxing (hot tub-TV-eat-hot tub-TV-eat, repeat), but we did get out Wednesday. Headed to an Amish type market (Yoders Country Store), got some spices and cooking stuff CHEAP, some fresh milk (chocolate, of course, that's why there are brown cows), meats, cheeses, breads, goodies, (seedlings gum for me, much to Jeremy's dismay--I tend to swallow chewing gum, so I've been told to try 'spitting it out', but what's the fun in that?! Seriously, who does that????) etc... Spent uber bucks, but it was worth it. I love those places, they should have them around here for me to shop at.

We headed to Charlottesville Mall to get some shopping done that we'd been putting off (new clothes for Jeremy, girl stuff for me, etc) so on and so forth... Had a nice dinner Thursday at The Lafayette Inn (fried green tomatoes.... mmmmmm.... although theirs was so and so... didn't taste like fried, tasted more like baked, but good enough I guess). And then we left to come home today, around 11 (we did stop at Yoder's on our way out, though). We made it home, through lots of rain, around 2 pm. It's good to be home.

Okay, so back to the 'eventful' side of things.. This may be kind of embarrassing for me, but I don't really care, so here goes. So, I was a bit freaked out by the "remoteness" of our location. It was nice during the day, but at night, I had the toughest time sleeping. I was subconsciously convinced that someone was gonna try to break into our cabin while we slept--or that there was someone watching us while we in the hot tub (but only at night, when you can't see anything 5 ft or more away...) or something! It didn't help that the first night we were there, I had a dream that a cop had chased someone down around the cabin, but that guy shot the cop and then said he was gonna go "shoot those people in the cabin next!" YIKES! Yeah, so I didn't sleep well this week. Last night, I had to get up and pee (like I usually do), but was too afraid to go downstairs to do so by myself (yes, I am an adult, and yes, I'm being serious). I had to wake Jeremy up to come with me (which he did! Awww, he's so sweet...) It didn't help that the bathroom was at the end of the kitchen, the door to it in plain view of the outside door (which was glass and had no curtains on it--pretty stupid if you ask me...)

Yeah... I'm glad to be home.

And that's it. I'm pretty sure Jeremy Jr has flipped and is now head down. Hopefully he stays that way. 10-15 weeks to go!

We are outta here!

Hi all, the precious few who read our blog....

Jeremy and I are leaving today. We're heading to the Blue Ridge Mountains for some much needed R&R. We'll be back on Friday, so don't do anything too exciting while we're gone! :-)

Someone wanna look after Big Fella? Aww, he'll be fine, I guess. We've left him for longer periods before.

Okay, so we'll talk later! Have a fun week!

~us wilcox types

And the blessings keep poureth-ing from Heaven....

Do ya think it's too big????

New Date

:-(

I'm no longer 26 weeks pregnant... I'm now 25 weeks and 4 days.

:-(

We went to Birthcare today for our first appointment with the midwives now that we've decided to go with a homebirth. Well, they way to make sure your due date is as accurate as possible, and the furthest away as possible, so that in case you go late (longer than 42 weeks) you're hitting their cut off date as late as possible (to give your body more time to do things naturally, like begin labor!) So they nixed the whole Jan. 3rd date for Jan. 7th, since that's more accurate (the 3rd date was based on an ultrasound size, which the midwives don't use).

So I'm a little sad... I was enjoying being at 26 weeks... But, it's only a 4 day difference, so now I'll be celebrating my new "weeks" every Monday instead of Wednesday.

In other news, we're pretty close to selling my car. Some gal from MD is coming tonight to put a down payment on it, with the rest coming tomorrow. She's paying what we're asking, which is great, considering it's a little more than the loan payoff amount. However, we did still list it slightly below bluebook, so we feel it's a fair price for everyone. So that's good. Jeremy will definitely be glad when this week is over with, as it's the last week of the month AND the quarter, which makes for very stressful times for him. Needless to say, we'll be enjoying our vacation next week! I'm dubbing it, THE BABYMOON. :-)

And that's all folks.

Just so ya know...

Nothin's really going on here. We had a pretty low-key weekend. It was my Mom's birthday Sunday, so we had lunch-ner with them at Bonefish Grill. Of course, we had to miss the 2nd half of the Steelers game... which is probably why they lost, because they didn't have their #1 fan rootin' for 'em (Jeremy, of course). But that's water under the bridge, or over the dam, or whatever you want. :-)

Now, we're just back to work stuff. :-P I'll be glad when that's over.

Something cool, though, that premeired tonight. Heroes is a new series on NBC that follows the life of seemingly ordinary people, and the extraordinary abilities they come to find. Pretty neat stuff. Being a comic buff, I enjoy shows like this. Hopefully future episodes are as interesting and fulfilling as the season premeire. You should check it out.

And.... that's it. Only 99 days to go 'til Jeremy Jr. makes his grand appearance (or around there... for all we know, it could have 99 days to go for a couple of weeks now....)

Woot.

Date night!

Tonight... we had a date. Which hasn't happened in a while. I mean, we go out, but not with the sole purpose of just being together.

And it was fun. We saw a movie (Little Miss Sunshine--nothing else was playing! But it was actually pretty good...), grabbed some kabobs for dinner, and now we're home.

But all I really wanted to say is.....

Tonight, we had a date. It was fun. Now it's bedtime. Goodnight.

Stuffed.

I ate too much. Well, I didn't eat too much, I ate what I needed to eat--there's just not a lot of room for it to hang out right now. I had a late lunch, and by the time I got home from my Soon-To-Be Mom's class, I was ready for some FOOD. I really wanted chicken kabobs, with the curry rice, and the naan bread with the yogurt mint sauce (yum!), but Jeremy didn't want to put on a real shirt so we could go there.... So I had to come up with something of my own here at home. This is more tricky than usual, because now I'm following the Brewers Diet, which puts a lot of emphasis on protein, and eating well balanced. I actually find it's easier to follow this than just "adding 300 calories" because I have a checklist of things to check off everyday, and a protein goal to hit. So I eat what I need to eat to make sure Jeremy Jr comes out happy and HEALTHY, and also to make sure I'm eating what I need to stay happy and healthy. And I don't mind doing it! You just re-prioritize what you might normally eat.

For example. A quick fix dinner for me would have been leftover lasagna. However, there's no meat in there, and while I might get some protein from the cheese, I would have to eat a lot of it to get what I needed. And I still needed to get another veggie in, some more milk, fruit and an egg (two a day is the goal, 4 servings of milk, 1 fruit, 3 veggies, etc, etc...) So instead of lasagna, I ate an egg salad sandwich (one egg, one grain), fresh broccoli with blue cheese dip (one veggie, I'll count the dip as a fat [which I need 3 of per day]), a chicken chili verde burrito (22g of protein, one "protein" [what they call it instead of meat, since you could also have beans or something similar], and the tortilla counts as a grain) which I topped with some cheese and sour cream (another fat and milk). Washed it all down with some Italian Orange Soda (made with real juice, so I'm counting that as my Vit C [I had other things today that help make that up, too]), and then some Gelati (vanilla soft serve with cherry gelati) and a pluot for dessert.

That's a LOT of food.

But I had to get it all in for Jeremy Jr. The great thing is, I eat what I need to eat, I don't go overboard on what I don't, and I don't feel guilty for being full, because I know I'm eating what I need to eat for BOTH of us.

And I don't care what anyone says, I'm still gonna eat peanut butter during my pregnancy and probably beyond--no one in my family (or Jeremy's, at least that I know of) has a history of peanut allergies, so I'm all good. :-) Hey, it's healthier than regular butter on toast in the morning (and an extra boost of protein to boot!)

Needless to say, we've already gotten a lot out of the Bradley Method class. :-)