Sometimes You Just Need to Write in Bullet Points (or dashes, in this case)

My life right now:

- I bought a new body pillow yesterday. It's huge! And it's wonderful. I was using a smaller body pillow I got in high school. But all the fluff was falling out, so it was time for an upgrade. Since I've been sleeping with a body pillow for a few months now, I can no longer remember how or why I used to sleep without one. I think I've made a new permanent life change. :) Plus, another shopper at Target told me that the body pillow (only $10!) was a wonderful investment both for pregnancy, and for blocking your child into their bed later on. I love meeting friendly shoppers!

- We met with a trainer today about dog training classes/sessions. Poor Sabre has been identified as our "problem" dog. Hah. Our conversation went something like this:
Trainer: Do they have any problems with jumping?
Me/Travis: Yeah, Sabre does.
Trainer: Do they have any separation anxiety?
Me/Travis: Yeah, Sabre does.
Trainer: Do they have a tendency to bark a lot?
Me/Travis: If there are kids playing outside and he wants to join in, Sabre does.
This particular company we met with today charges a bit too much for our liking. In fact, it's kind of crazy. I'm a bit sad because I really want to have really well-behaved dogs. We need them to be better on leash (I hate taking them on leash because they pull so much!), to sit and stay where I tell them when someone comes to the door (in other words, not try to greet said person and run out into the yard for playtime), stop barking when told to stop, and always always always "come" when told to do so. With such specific needs, we really need more specified lessons (not just sit, down, stay, etc.) so it's a challenge. Plus, so many group lessons are either early in the morning (when Travis is sleeping) or in the evening (when Travis is working), and I have no interest in going by myself. Sigh. I'm sure we could train these things ourselves if we just set our minds to it... but they're hard. ;)

- I've been going to a new chiropractor for the last month or so. It has been absolutely amazing!! I go in for an adjustment and can immediately feel a difference--and it lasts! I've had neck/shoulder pain for years and years and years. Pregnancy wasn't helping a whole lot. And my husband has been super wonderful and doesn't mind my going for an adjustment when I need it. Plus, it makes me super happy and he really likes it when I'm happy. ;) hah!

- I've developed a new love for peanut M&Ms. So good.

- We made it till today without going to the grocery store. I made a detailed list of foods to buy and managed to buy all the ingredients for at least eight meals (most of which will include lots of leftovers) plus some basics (milk, bread, ham, cereal, fruit, etc.) for $100.04. I was very proud of myself! I don't know the exact breakdown for each meal, but I think we should be able to make it till nearly the end of the month without any major shopping. We'll probably have to stock up on some more basics, but that's not a big deal. Ah, to be responsible and careful with money. Feels pretty good, actually.

- I took my glucose tolerance test and had more blood work done at my last OB appointment. I do not have gestational diabetes (yay!), but I am anemic. I have to take an iron supplement now. I'm concerned it's because I've been taking the gummy prenatals instead of the pill version, but the prescription kind were insanely expensive and the over-the-counter pills made me vomit each time I took them (three times! I gave them three chances and they completely failed me!), so I switched to gummies. But the gummies have no iron in them. I guess I'm getting enough iron now though... (On a side note, I'm getting much better at handling needles. Only took 24 years to get there, but better late than never!)

- I'm growing exponentially, it seems. After no weight gain in the first three months, to have gained so much in the second three months, it feels like it's never going to stop! And at this point (27 weeks along), Baby only weighs about two pounds. I know I have to account for the amniotic fluid and placenta and extra blood and other such things, but still. It's pretty crazy. On the upside though, my skin is either very elastic or my weight gain has been surprisingly gradual enough that I don't have any stretch marks on my belly. (Yet!) It's a small thing really. I'm not the bikini-wearing type, so no one would ever see my belly anyways. I figure if I never showed off my belly before having a baby, I'm not going to start afterwards. :)

I'm sleepy. It is, after all, almost 9:30. The dogs are already sleeping. Sabre is even in his crate. (His way of letting me know it's past time for bed.) And Baby is kicking and moving around lots (a sure sign it's time for me to try to fall asleep, hah!). Therefore, I bid you farewell as I make my way to a nice hot shower and cozy pajamas.

Sometimes Titles Are Too Hard.

This month is going to be a month of very intentional frugality. You see, last month was not. Back in November, I took the never-to-be-had-again opportunity to convince Travis that we should go on a "babymoon" since all the articles and books about pregnancy recommend it. Essentially, it's your "final" honeymoon before the baby arrives. (That's not to say that you'll never get a weekend away again, but it's far more complicated to make happen once you have babies.) I also happened to know that Wicked on Tour was going to be in Austin in February. So I asked my dear husband if he would be willing to go to Austin for a weekend in February so we could watch Wicked and enjoy a nice, clean hotel room, and the joys of not having to cook, and all such things. He was very sweet and agreed. :) Then some family stuff came up and we ended up needing to go to New Jersey the weekend before our "babymoon" which involved driving to Dallas, flying (not my favorite thing to do pregnant, I found) to New Jersey, staying in another hotel room, and, essentially, spending a tad bit more money than we'd originally planned. It was a wonderful time with Travis's family, and I have no regrets that we went. However, two weekends of traveling and hotels coupled with extra eating out (because what else are you going to do while you're traveling?) made for a very expensive month. And ironically, it was the shortest month of the year so Travis's paycheck was slightly less than usual. Go figure.

So this month we need to play catch-up! I don't know when or if we've ever played catch-up before, but I'm almost looking forward to the challenge. I had originally planned to go grocery shopping yesterday, but didn't. Then I was going to go today... but here's the thing: we're playing catch up! And in so doing, I think it would be an excellent time to eat the food we have. In terms of meat, we don't have much. But I think we'll be able to manage. I've been craving pancakes and we have some frozen sausage and bacon in the freezer and plenty of ingredients for pancakes! We have leftover spaghetti sauce in the fridge, spaghetti in the pantry, and frozen bread in the freezer! We have two boxes of macaroni and cheese in the pantry and two loaves (because we prefer different kinds) of bread for sandwiches! We have ham and cheese and lettuce... and we have LOTS of indomie! I'm almost tempted to see how long we can make it before we absolutely need to go to the store. I'm interested to see how resourceful we become with what we have when we don't have the option of just "running to the store" whenever we so please. (But then I do have a man to feed... so meat might be more of a necessity than I think it is.)

I've also been reading up on home-buying and saving money in small ways and all that incredibly exciting stuff. Unfortunately we don't have a whole lot we can cut out (which I guess is also a good thing, depending on how you look at it). I would cut out my data plan on my phone, but I'm stuck in a contract for another year or so. Too bad. We don't have a TV, so we don't have cable. (Travis broke our TV... I'm sure I've told you THAT story!) We try to keep our electricity bill down by never running the heat (and by "we" I mean Travis in this particular example). The dogs make things expensive at times (like when Sabre keeps breaking his nails), but they're not going anywhere. :) And you know what's incredibly amazing? We already have so much "baby stuff" that my aunt and uncle gave us! We have a crib, changing table/dresser, pack n' play, a heavy-duty and a lightweight stroller (for poor weak me when Travis isn't out with us!), a swing, two bouncers, two baby bathtubs, and about fifteen trunks of boy clothes from newborn size to at least 5T! We even have bibs and hooded towels and washcloths and adorable little baby shoes! God has provided us with wonderful family that help us manage something that, at one point in time, seemed utterly impossible! I'm dying to start setting up (I think they call it "nesting") the nursery, but since we might be moving, I'm holding off till we figure that out.

This was, perhaps, not the most exciting post in the world. But talking about managing money and preparing for baby makes me feel responsible and grown up. :) My belly is growing quite fast it seems. Yesterday I noticed that my bellybutton is starting to pop out. Travis is thoroughly fascinated by my stomach. It's cute. :) Baby kicks a lot! The dogs don't seem to have noticed anything different going on. Some people say their dog(s) acted completely different (more protective/clingy/etc.) while they were pregnant... my dogs haven't done that. This morning, Baby was kicking pretty hard while Tatum had her head on my belly and she didn't even notice. It's going to be very interesting how they handle our new addition in just about three months! Wow, time sure is flying by now!

My newest and most persistent craving is for ice cream with dark chocolate fudge sauce and strawberries. And we're almost out. It's going to be an interesting month. ;)

Sometimes A Bunch of Random Nothing Becomes A Blog Post

I'm starting to wonder if I blog when I have a big basket of laundry to fold/hang up. Interesting.

My lovely husband bought some new RAM for my laptop a few days ago. I won't bore you with the really boring details, but my laptop now runs like a true champion. There are still cracks in the laptop itself and it still shocks me on occasion (because of said cracks), but I can now do two things at once on my computer (eg: skype with my sister AND read said article she mentioned) without the entire thing rebelling and freezing up and causing me over-dramatic frustration. We're going on five and a half years together, you see. There have certainly been some ups and downs, but overall, I love this little guy. Of course, the day after upgrading my RAM, my power cord bit the dust. I'm sharing power with the husband for now, though I'm pretty sure he bought me a new cord. Someday I will upgrade to a new computer, but that day no longer has to be now. Yay for the durability of Macbooks!

I had a doctor's appointment a couple days ago. Despite my initial "all-food-is-awful-I-hate-eating" for the first couple of months of pregnancy, those days have passed (praise the Lord!!) and I am officially gaining weight. I'm trying really hard to be upbeat about it. :) But honestly though, I'll take a gradual weight gain over feeling sick 24/7. My dear little boy only weighs a bit over a pound at this point. Though I gotta say, he's got some strong little limbs in there. I can now see my belly poke out when he kicks me, and I'm far too fascinated by it. We're flying up to New Jersey next weekend, and my main concern is that they're going to deny me adequate water supply on the flight. I really love water. Lots and lots of water. I'm also worried about the possible swelling I keep hearing about, because it sounds rather unpleasant and my vanity doesn't want me to be swollen. True confessions here, folks. But overall, things are going well. Prenatal gummies are the way to go. I have not had a single person ask me if I'm pregnant, randomly touch my belly, ask me what I'm having, etc. I don't know if I just live around people that mind their own business, or if I don't look pregnant to the outside world. My little boy likes to kick me the most when I'm trying to sleep. I've eaten way too many flamin' hot cheetos over the last few weeks. Body pillows really are a pregnant woman's best friend.

We left the dogs out of their crates while we went grocery shopping yesterday. We were gone for about an hour and a half or so. Travis set up his laptop to record them while we were gone, just to see what they would do. Sabre freaked out for the first ten minutes or so while Tatum watched him, remaining completely calm. Sabre moved around restlessly for the next twenty minutes, but then they both slept. At one point, they both moved onto the couch and cuddled with each other. Cutie pies. So we basically discovered that whether they're out of their crates or in their crates while we're gone, they just sleep.

I napped for two and a half hours today. Already sleepy again.

Goodbye, Curls; Hello, Sleeplessness (Sorta)

For those of you that are already sick of hearing me rattle on about pregnancy, I apologize in advance because this post is not going to excite you much.

I've found that each week I learn something new about pregnancy. And you know what makes it all so great and wonderful (sarcastically speaking) is that no one warned me about so many of these things. Or maybe they did, but I had it in my naive little head that I was going to be one of those women that had a problem-free, vacation-like pregnancy. Oh little child. Here are some of my more recent discoveries:

1. You will read something somewhere that tells you something "wonderful" you can look forward to about pregnancy...and you will experience the complete opposite.

Today!

     Exhibit A: "During pregnancy, less of your hair will fall out. In exchange, you'll be blessed with thick, luscious locks!" LIES. Since getting pregnant, my hair has gradually gotten thinner (not to the point that I'm worried about balding or anything, but still) and, the biggest surprise of all, I'm losing my curls! I spent the better part of my teenage years despising my curls. I frequently considered chemically straightening my hair and just being done with it. However, thanks to the pleadings of my mother, I kept the curls and eventually grew to like them. (Most days...) Once I mastered the art of styling curly hair, I no longer had a hate-hate relationship with my hair. Now I'm the first to admit that my hair was never ringlet, springy curly. It had a more wavy-curly combo thing going on. But either way, I knew how it worked. Now? Now my hair is oddly straight (with a slight little wave to it) and always seems to be full of static... though I don't know if the two are related. To help you understand my plight a bit more, I posted pictures for you.

Back when things used to be normal. ;)

Perhaps I'm making too big a deal of this. But now that I'm faced with the possibility of losing my curly hair forever, I feel a true sense of loss. Sigh. I suppose I just need to learn how to handle straight hair now. I still secretly have a plan to sneak out the curls by putting mousse in my damp hair in the morning, and then diffusing it. If that doesn't work.... I may shed a tear or two, but then it will be time to be a grown up and move on.





2. Women that choose to wear regular bras during pregnancy have my utmost confusion. (I apologize to any male readers out there for my candidness, but I'm just beyond some things now.) Regular bras are not comfortable. They're hardly comfortable when you're not pregnant, much less when you are. Sports bras are either too tight or offer no support. I have found that the only option that has kept me from bawling my eyes out on a daily basis is the "grow-with-you" nursing bras. I ordered them online (because the nursing bras in the store aren't big enough AND make the assumption that you will stay the same size--LIES!) and the day they arrived was a joyous day indeed.

3. The inability to stay full is a real thing. I cannot recall a time in my life where I needed to eat quite so frequently. Now, I am not of the group that feels hungry all day, every day. However, I have had a couple days where every hour and a half, my stomach started growling again and again and again. Back in my former life, I wasn't much of a snacker. I learned a while back that my downfall in terms of weight management is snacking. More often than not, whenever I snacked, it had far less to do with hunger and a lot to do with, "Mmm.. that sounds delicious!" Thus, I refrained from snacking. Or if I did snack, it was only when I knew for certain I was actually hungry. Now, however, I pretty much have to snack in between all my meals. If my stomach starts growling and I don't get ahold of some food pretty quickly, my gag reflex gets a bit out of hand and I instantly regret my hesitation to acquire some food. So far my snacks of choice are oranges, chips and salsa, or colby jack cheese.

4. I am completely incapable of sleeping through the night. I have to take a potty break at least once each night, but that's fairly minor at this point. I just wake up sporadically throughout the night, typically to adjust my sleeping position. If I don't sleep with a body pillow between my legs, I wake up because my back and hips hurt. If I do sleep with the body pillow, I have to move it back and forth as I switch sides during the night. It turns out I'm much more of a back-sleeper than I realized, so I often end up on my back and then I wake up because it's not all that comfortable for long periods of time. I've been able to go back to sleep pretty quickly so far, so here's to hoping that continues. And what worries me the most is that, from what I've heard, this isn't going to get any better.

5. Second trimester does not always mean ample energy. I waited for this supposed wave of energy to hit me. It never did. I occasionally get a sudden urge to clean the kitchen or living room, but I think that's fairly normal once the house gets a bit messy. I haven't been setting up the nursery or constantly moving or incessantly cleaning the house. I've still been tired every afternoon and I don't move as quickly (...which is something my husband pointed out to me. I used to be a pretty fast walker... not anymore!). However, I'm grateful the nausea/vomiting went away this trimester, so the burst of energy is completely second fiddle.

And that's that. It's past my bedtime. My puppies are on my sleeping schedule and they fell asleep a while ago, if that tells you anything. Hah. :) Tomorrow morning I have some laundry to fold (it seems like that's always the case, doesn't it?) and some homemade biscuits to eat.

Baby Kicks and A Lot of Girls

January has already been quite an eventful month. On the first day of the year, I was finally able to feel little baby kicks. It was a very exciting and somewhat emotional experience for me. My overall pregnancy experience has been filled with a lot more "downs" than "ups," so it was a big moment for me to come to terms with the little human life I'm nourishing and protecting inside my body, and how much of a gift and blessing and miracle it really is. There's definitely something about feeling movement that makes everything seem more real and amazing. Travis was able to feel a kick a few days later. He has to be patient, because not all the kicks are strong enough to feel from the outside. But I think he was pretty awed once he felt an actual kick. And even though I was told that the kicking can come and go at first, I have consistently felt kicks all throughout the day (whenever I'm sitting or lying down) everyday since January 1st. We have an active little one! Quite a way to welcome in the new year, huh?

Then on January 10th we had our big ultrasound to make sure baby is healthy and growing properly and, if we so pleased, to find out our baby's gender. Here's what you need to know about me. I have two little sisters. (I use the term "little" despite the fact that they're both in college and are both taller than me...) On one side of my extended family, my grandparents have ten granddaughters and one grandson. On the other side of my family, my grandparents have seven granddaughters and three grandsons. My husband has two sisters. Needless to say, I've been around far more girls than boys. I've really hardly been around any boys. And I feel that with my rather girly girl tendencies (I'm not a tomboy by any stretch of the imagination), having a baby girl would fit quite well. But see, I also know how much God loves to push me out of my comfort zone. He pushed me to go to college in a state where I didn't know anybody at all. He pushed me to explore theatre from behind the scenes instead of having to be onstage. And then, when I got really comfortable being backstage, He pushed me to take on the most time-consuming, enjoyable, challenging role I've ever done. He pushed me to move to another new city after I got married and start all over again. He pushed me to find a job to support my husband through his last two years of college. He pushed me to trust Him when we went for a month without a home or jobs over the summer. He pushed me to my limits when I battled morning sickness for my entire first trimester, as I wondered what I had gotten myself into and whether I could survive this phase of life. And as our ultrasound tech began looking at the little baby growing inside of me, she said, "I think I see a little boy part." And somehow, I wasn't surprised. God's asking me (though I really have no say in the matter) to once again step out of my comfort zone and learn how to raise a little boy. Nearly everything I know about the male species I've learned in the last two and a half years of marriage--and now it's time for me to learn a whole lot more! And even though it still scares me sometimes, I'm also so excited that God has entrusted me with a precious baby boy. It's going to be a crazy ride!

Despite the fact that I got a two hour nap today, I think it's very nearly time for bed. The dogs have already fallen asleep. My eyes are starting to hurt. And I have to pee (which isn't all that unusual).

God's Faithfulness, Cravings, and Flat Tire Stories

I considered skipping a "last day of the year" post, but also considered how sad that would be. Tatum started my morning just wonderfully by putting her big ol' paw in my bowl of noodles. Thankfully, I was full and not going to finish them anyway AND there was no soup in them. But nonetheless, the noodles were scattered on the couch. Sabre and Tatum got their first (and hopefully last) taste of Indomie, and seemed to rather enjoy it. And I was glad I didn't have as much clean up to do. Hopefully it's not a glimpse of what this last day of 2013 holds for me. You see, on my last day of being twenty-three, we drove to Dallas to be with family. And on this wonderful drive we got a flat tire, so Travis put the spare on and we were on our way. Then the spare went flat, and we don't have multiple spares, so we called our insurance roadside folks and told them the situation. They were going to have to send a tow truck...until they asked how many people were in the car. "Two adults and two German Shepherd dogs." Hm... they won't tow your car with dogs aboard. Anyway, long story short, we just happened to be by a random house and asked if we could borrow their spare tire to drive into Hillsboro to get our tire fixed. They were very kind and allowed us to do so. We got our tire fixed, found out our spare was awful and should never be used again, returned the borrowed spare tire, and finished our trip to Dallas--a drive that usually takes an hour and twenty minutes instead took four hours. Such fun. So, here's to hoping that the last day of 2013 is better than my last day of being twenty-three. If that makes any sense at all. :)

As typical as it may be to "reflect on the year" in a blogpost, I think I'll do it anyway. In bullet form, just to make it easier to get through.

In January...
   -Travis started his final semester of college--a very busy semester, I might add.

In March...
   -We up and decided to get another puppy! Tatum was born March 1st! (Though she didn't come home with us for 7 more weeks.)

In April...
   -Tatum joined the family!!

In May...
   -I left my job at a local elementary school because once our apartment lease was up in the middle of May, we were homeless!
   -Travis graduated from Baylor!
   -As previously stated, we had no home and no jobs (it's difficult to have a job when you have no where to live. hah!), so we moved into my grandparent's house while they traveled for a few weeks in May & June.

In June...
   -Travis heard back from Caterpillar about a full-time position--he got the job! In about a week, we found out about the job, found a house to rent (after discovering that no one wants to rent to you when you have German Shepherds--meanies!), moved back to Waco, and Travis started his new job.

In September...
   -I got a very part-time job watching a little boy four days a week for a couple hours each day. Yay for getting out of the house occasionally!
   -We found out I was pregnant and proceeded to live in relative misery (hah!) while I battled constant morning sickness till sometime in November.

In October...
   -Got to see my mom for the first time in nearly two years!

In November...
   -Got to see my dad for the first time in nearly two years!
   -Spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with everyone on my dad's side of the family.
   -Finally found some much needed relief from the nausea/vomiting. That in and of itself made the end of the year wonderful! :)

In December...
   -We spent Christmas with almost everyone on my mom's side of the family. It was wonderful!
   -It was wonderful having my parents in the states for the holidays this year. A definite highlight!

When I look back at all of that, I can't help but see how incredibly faithful God has been to Travis and me this year. There were times when I honestly wasn't sure what He was thinking and how He was going to get us through certain months. But He knows what's best and in the end, it really was a great year of change, growth, and new beginnings.

And now we're embarking into 2014. I can already tell it's going to be a big year. That might have something to do with the baby growing inside of me. :) That in and of itself is going to bring plenty of challenges and excitements. Before I got pregnant, I told God I wanted to start a family in His timing, no matter when that might be. And just a month later, I was pregnant. So I took that as His way of saying, "And that time is now."

Speaking of the baby, if you're interested in baby news, here's what I've got for you:
-I love dill pickles on ham sandwiches with mustard. With plain potato chips on the side.
-My bump is fully visible now... at least I think it is. And I think Travis is enjoying being able to say, "Wow, your belly looks bigger today!" without negative repercussions.
-My family (mostly the sisters and cousins) are casting votes on boy or girl. It's fairly close at this point. There might be a couple more votes for a boy. We'll find out the truth on January 10th. :)
-I love oranges. I can't fully explain it. They just have to be the most refreshing fruit in the world.
-Maternity clothes are surprisingly comfortable.

After mentioning oranges, I now want one. However, the dogs just fell asleep a few minutes ago and if I get up, they'll get up. Especially Tatum. She loves oranges. Travis is still sleeping. And I have some laundry to fold. Ah, to be on vacation.

A Baby Bump to Boot and Trees that Smell Wonderful

Time has flown by, it seems. (A statement I never thought I'd make during the first 10 weeks of my pregnancy...) December has arrived and very nearly passed, and I'm only just now writing. Some wonderful things have happened this month. I convinced my husband to buy a real Christmas tree and discovered that I have a great love for the smell of Evergreen trees. The smell of the tree couldn't fill the vastness of our living room for very long, so I've now gone through one and a half pine scented candles. And I've requested more for Christmas. We bought plastic tree ornaments since we weren't sure how the dogs would handle the glowing tree with sparkly balls all over it. Sabre only stole four ornaments, and only one was destroyed. He especially likes the glittery gold ball at the bottom of the tree, but has refrained from taking it off after the first time. He still smells it on occasion though. He's learning. Tatum doesn't go near the tree. We told her "no" the first time she tried, and she's stayed away since. Such different personalities.

My parents visited for a couple days this week. Sabre loved them! They got quite the morning greeting whenever they woke up. Hah. Sabre even sat on my mom's lap one morning. Her right leg fell asleep. I don't think she's accustomed to 80 pound dogs sitting on her lap. :) We did some Christmas shopping all over town, and I insisted my parents try Schmaltz's Sandwich Shoppe for lunch. It was absolutely delicious! If you've never had it, you need to come here and try it. Now.

This week my baby bump suddenly appeared. Up until now I've looked a tiny bit pregnant to me, but to everyone else I'm fairly certain it just looked like I ate a really big meal. I visited my old work place yesterday (an elementary school). I was surprised by how many kids remembered me. One of the little girls ran up, hugged me, took a look at my belly and said, "Are you gonna have a baby soon?" You can always count on children to say it like it is! :) It's been difficult to consider a growing belly as a good thing, but hopefully once I feel some movement in there, it will feel more purposeful. We find out whether we're having a boy or a girl in January. I can't do the waiting thing. I applaud those that do, but I'm just not one of those people.

My pregnancy diet is not something to brag about. I ate a carrot yesterday though. [Gold star for me.] I've had a difficult time changing my eating habits. I love french fries and fast food a bit too much it seems. But it's gradually getting better. Prenatal vitamins are ridiculous monstrosities! Those pills taste awful and are big enough to get lodged in someone's throat! (Maybe not, but they sure look like it.) I tried to get some prescription pills that are much smaller, but they were going to cost $112 a month. For vitamins. Come on, People! Overall though, my second trimester of pregnancy has been far more enjoyable than the first. Thank goodness!

Today I plan to wrap presents without allowing the dogs to steal all the paper, and resist the overwhelming urge to pick up some fries and wings for lunch today. ;)