Things are coming along...

...I will post pictures in a minute, but first. So, it is tax season, and thank goodness it is almost over. The stress of it and the hormones created a "perfect storm" on Saturday. Everything made me cry and upset. It all came to a head when we went to get dessert. First I wanted something from Ingles. So we went there. I did not want anything they had, so I said I would like an ice cream from McDonalds. I asked R if he wanted anything and he said he would get something from McD's. So we get to McD's and he orders my ice cream. Sundae with chocolate and strawberry. (It is absolutely delicious.) And he doesn't order himself anything. Well, for some reason, the sends me to the top, not over the edge, just the top. I start crying. Then he girl hands me my ice cream and it is Caramel and Chocolate. Then I went over the edge. My DDDDDDDSweetH, sweetly says, is it going to be ok, or do want them to fix it. I start thinking, of course I want them to fix it! I then begin to pout and cry more and put the ice cream in the cupholder. Not a word is spoken. I hope I never have to relive that day again. It's amazing people stay together when women (well, me) get pregnant. I guess that just goes to show what a wonderful and understanding husband I have.

Ok, now on to the pictures. These are before and after pictures of the baby's room.

Before...



After...







The colors are yellow, pink, green, and lavender. They match the fan that is in the one picture.

And here is a picture just for fun. We are teaching my nephew, who is almost 2, dumpster diving at an early age. I missed the shot where my DH had him halfway in the garbage can. (And yes, L, it is a new bag with nothing other than Woobie in it.)

I know, I've been lazy!

Here is this weeks picture. 141 lbs and 37 3/4 inches.





Cathleen's room is coming along nicely now. The family painted 99% of it this past weekend. My dad is coming back on Saturday to finish trimming it out. I do have before pictures, and I will wait until we get some curtains or something up before I do after pictures. I know I have 17 weeks left, but I feel like it needs to be done now in case something happens. I am one of those that does not do well under pressure, and I want everything done before hand, no surprises.

I went to the doctor on Wednesday, Cathleen is doing great. Growing just as she should be (as best as someone can tell from measuring fundal height). My next appt will be in late April, and that is when the fun seems to begin. I get to do the glucose test, and have another Rhogam (sp?) shot. I can not begin to tell you how excited I am about that (read VERY sarcastically). Then I begin 2 week appts. Now that's a little scary.

My sister and nephew came over the other night to look at the room. I was watching my nephew and I had to go to the bathroom, so I took him in there with me. He shuts the door for me and then proceeds to go to the bath tub and turn the water on. How quickly they move! So we got that fixed, and he (at 22 mths) decides he wants to use the bathroom. He takes me in there, tries to lift the lid, and then looks at me. So, I decide I will throw him on there. Can't hurt can it? So I put him on there, and he has gas. He is grunting and pushing. I so sweetly ask him, "Is anything coming out?" And he just gives me this look and says, in such an upset voice "No". I think it is crazy to think if he doesn't know when to go yet, he at least knows what the potty is for. He did the same thing again last night. He just gets up there and has gas. But kudos to him for trying. L, he needs his own size potty. I can see my sister spending A LOT of time in the bath room now.

Sorry this was so long, I will try and do better next time!

What do you think?

Its either all or nothing? Did you notice the Due in July picture?

Thanks to Fertilzed for showing me these things.

Anns, the recipe for that macaroni salad. Your local Ingles. I doubt they have one where you are though. Isn't that sad? Its not even a homemade macaroni salad, its a store made, pre-made container. But it sure is good. But so is the Birthday cake ice cream too.

Good thing I like watermelon. And you know what else I have discovered? Prunes. They are the best! I had been buying bags of sun-sweetened prunes. But then my mom got my grandmother to make me her homemade stewed prunes. Well, the bag prunes just will not do anymore. And I ate a jar of them in two days. I am going to have to figure out a way to help my grandmother make mass quantities of these things. And the juice is just as good. I can't figure out what it took me so long to try them.

Oh yeah, I remember. Because people think of them as being an older person thing to help with going to the bathroom. Has anyone met a pregnant lady before? I am SURE I am not the only one who has come across this problem. And yes, I am drinking my water. I am told the problem only gets worse the further you get along. Yippee.

New Picture

This weeks weight 140.2 and 37.5 inches. Yes, that's right, I gained 3 lbs in one week. I guess that is what happens when you figure out you like macaroni salad. I am not sure what it is about that stuff, but it is very good. I did look at the so called "nutritional information" and saw just how bad it was. So, I do limit myself to just a couple of spoonfuls, but I bet that is my downfall. But, back on schedule this week, with better eating. I guess at this point I need to realize, I do not want a 14 lb baby coming out down there, so I better watch what I eat. Plus, I would not eat this stuff if I wasn't pregnant, so why would I do it now.

I have determined that baby girl LOVES to hear me sing. She seems to be very active in the car when I sing. Poor thing, she doesn't realize it will only get worse once she gets out and there is no liquid barrier to muffle my wonderful singing voice.

I felt her kicking while standing up for the first time on Tuesday night. Normally it is only when I am sitting or lying down that I can feel it, but that night was the exception.

I have before pictures of her room, I hope to have some after pictures this weekend. We are planning to have everyone come help paint the room. For some reason I have a sneaking suspicion this little girl is going to be early. I don't know why. But it is there none the less.

Can anyone tell me how to change the background color of my page? Or tell me where I can find an "It's a girl" avatar?

You just thought I forgot...

...Today is my sister's 25th birthday. She is getting older! HaHaHa! DH and I had great plans to go to their house last night to put balloons on her car and write on the windshields. And ya know what? She decides she is going to work last night. Past my bedtime. Oh well. She will turn 30.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY L!!

In true pregnant woman fashion...

... (at least I assume) I have changed the nursery not once, but twice now. It was going to be rainforest animals, and I changed it to a princess and a castle. Now my sister (who is a FANTASTIC artist to say the least) was going to draw this for us, and she did start. She had already sketched out the rainforest, and when she came over, we changed it to the princess. So, she begins sketching the princess theme on the wall. Complete with road, trees, and a buggy. It was going to look great. Then she left, and we had a plan. We would go buy the paint to start the backdrop, and then she could sketch everything. My mom and I had a plan for the curtains as well.

THen my sister and my mom leave. And I am there with my thoughts. Do you know how much work and coordination this is going to take to pull this off? Everyone is helping and doing their part, and DH's mom and sister are going to come down and help us paint the wonderful mural. STOP EVERYTHING! This is WAY to much work. Not necessarily physical work (everyone else is doing everything). It is just to much mental work for me to handle. So, change of plans.

We now are going with a ceiling fan that has different pastel colored blades. Each wall will be a different color matching the fan. My mom has found some seersucker fabric that I need to go look at now. And maybe, just maybe, someone can come over and paint stuff on the walls at their leisure. (Sister, Nana B, SisterIL)

But it will be a joint effort to get the painting done. So hopefully this weekend, things will get going. Then on to more important stuff, like a somewhere for baby girl to sleep other than a shelf on her bookcase.

I want to say a huge congrats to S, who I race with. She had an absolutely wonderful race this past weekend. She had a PB, more than she even expected. Way to go girl!

Weekly Update

This weeks picture doesn't look any bigger, but I am at 37 inches and 137 lbs.

I have a trainer for my bicycle, so that I can ride it in the winter. Well, it only has clipless pedals, and I am not willing to go outside and ride with those at all right now. So, I have been riding it in the house. It is funny, b/c I used to be able to ride two hours, and not think anything about it. No almost 20 lbs heavier, and it hurts my butt so much after 15 mins, I can't stand it. You would have thought some of that 20 lbs had gone to my butt. And it did, that I am sure of! Apparently just not in the right places for good bike riding padding. I need to get one of those beach cruiser seats for a little while.

The design for the baby's room is in progress. My sister is going to come over this weekend and draw it on the wall for us, so that then we can all get started on the painting. My mom is going to come over and figure out what kind of curtains Cathleen needs for her room. And then, we can move on from there.

I had another dream last night the baby was here. It was a TINY little baby. I kept dropping her when I would try to change her, b/c she was a squirmy little thing. I did notice that I was the only one changing her though. ALthough her daddy tried to comfort her and burp her while he was driving. Huh? Not sure where that fits in.

And I forgot to mention, we are on the down slope of things now, 1 week past the halfway mark. Woohoo!

A new trend...

...So I have noticed lately that I don't have to shave near as much as I used to. What kind of hormonal side effect of pregnancy is this? I have never heard of such. Now don't take me wrong, I am CERTAINLY not complaining. This I can deal with.

Does anyone know if babies can pass gas inside the womb? I would have bet money that is what my child did the other day. It was very funny. I am going to research and find out.

We are hoping to start on Cathleens room soon. We have an idea of what is going to happen, we just need to make it happen. Unfortunately when you have tax season, then race car season, and add to it baby classes season, there aren't many weekends available. Or that by that time, I really feel like doing anything.

My cousins little girl had her birthday party this weekend. She turned three. It was at Par-Tee Time. Sort of like Monkey Joe's so I am told. Cathleen and I had a great time sliding with daddy and playing with the nephew for a little while. Then I got kind of sore, so we stopped, but we will be back there again.

Happy Birthday to Nana B! We hope you had a wonderful birthday and we had so much fun sharing it with you! You look fantastic for 35! We love you very much!

Per my sister's request...

...This is todays picture. She would like to see the weeks picture by itself and go to the slide show if she wants. So here you go...



Todays weight: 136.2, 36.25 inches.

Today's random thought: Since my belly button is getting closer and closer to poking out, will everything that has been hiding way down deep in there, make an appearance also? Or will it happen so gradually, that by cleaning it often I will not notice it?

DH's race car is broke. The recently updated transmission is broken. He is very sad, as am I for him. It is going to a lot of work and money to fix everything, but this is the one thing he truly looks forward to (obviously of course other than the baby and myself).

Cathleen was VERY active yesterday morning, holding gymnastics in the belly. I think she was hungry, b/c right after I ate, she went back to sleep it seemed. I felt her do what I assume was a flip, but I felt it more with my hand than just inside me. It was 5 in the morning. Very strange feeling.

One last funny story from my sister: Last night she was giving her son a bath. He will be 2 in May. She was so excited that he has learned to sit in the bath and play by himself, while she plucks her eyebrows, 3 feet away. Then she notices that he is trying to hand her something. So she looks to see what it is he is so enthralled with. To her surprise, he was playing with his poop. I think he just wanted another bath, and that was a sure way to get it.

Random thoughts...

First things first though, DH felt Cathleen kick on Sunday night. She was the most active that night that she had ever been. Continued on thru the morning. Although they are still small enough at this point that they do not keep me awake at night. But she must have worn herself out, b/c she did not move much yesterday.

I know I come up with some things so way out in left field, I scare myself sometimes. But if you are really curious about a person, this is interesting. Now this maybe TMI, but I don't care. Stop reading now if you want to.

Unfortunately as everyone knows, you can not use tampons immediately after you give birth. I am NOT into pads. Gross! So, I was thinking the other day, great, I am going to have to buy all new underwear that can accomodate a pad. Ughhhhh. Ahh, the joys or post pregnancy. It's only just begun....

So, I have decided that I will buy a baby doll that has real hair, and DH and I can practice fixing the baby's hair. (Don't you know he is going to LOVE this!) B/c it may take years to get this right. Now I have naturally curly hair, although some people may think it is pretty, you try doing something with it, especially on a child. I have a school picture from when I was in 5th grade, and I am not sure what my parents were thinking. One, I can't believe they let me leave the house like this. Two, especially on picture day. All I can think, is that I probably was so unruly, they just let it go. That will teach her, they thought. Naturally curly hair is not fun. My sister had stick straight hair. I am hoping Cathleen ends up with straight hair. Or from the time we are able, pony tail it is. I will be the only 50 year old career woman with a pony tail in her hair.

One last thing, I think it is funny when people look at you, and you notice their eyes, move from your face to your stomach, and back and forth. And I politely say, yes, I am pregnant. He says, well you look like you have gotten bigger everywhere. What is that supposed to mean? Yes, I know it, but do you really need to point that out. I can't wait for someone to catch me on a bad day and say that. Good luck to them.

The people called it...

...GIRL!

Nobody appreciated the hardwork that went into making the flower and the turtle (which started out as a car).

We made the cake, greased the pan, poured it into the pan, and then it hit me, I forgot to add food coloring! That was the whole purpose of making the cake. I do not make cakes on a daily basis (or yearly basis for that matter). So we mixed the food coloring in the while it was in the pan. But everyone was very sweet and said how good it tasted.

I got this idea from Baby Twiglet's mom. I thought is was the cutest idea in the world!

I am still not sure if my mom believes it. As I cut the cake, she says, (in a somewhat sounding dissappointing voice) its blue. But the second I said, no its not. , she went NUTS! I wish I could post the video on here, because she is hilarious. Come to think of it, I think we had that same reaction when she found out I passed the CPA exam. Whoever knew that passing that test would bring as much joy as a little granddaughter.

She would have been happy with a boy, but now she can put filly dresses on it. Someone will have to. I need to start applications for someone that can teach my child about makeup and wearing heels. B/c I don't know the FIRST thing about that!

I have already ordered our daughters second gift, a Lolly doll. It was a doll that was made between '76 and '84. I had one. (the first gift is the build-a-bear). I am also wanting to cross stitch the "Night Time Prayer" for her. You know, the Now I lay me down to sleep". My mom says she still has mine from when I was little, so if I can't find one, I will go with it. Who knew I would want to do all these girly things all of a sudden.

Also, I look forward to those days when my daughter will run and do races with me, like I do with my mom. I think those are the best days!