Tuesday's Ten

1. Today is my husband's birthday. I adore him so much - what a beautiful day to celebrate his existance.

2. I'm having an U/S today - I can't wait to see Maddy again!!! I hope she's filled out more and we get a good face shot.

3. The only disapointment I've had thus far with this pregnancy is that I can't feel her kick on the outside of me yet. It's a silly worry - but I worry that because I was heavy to begin with, I never will feel it on the outside - and that means Jim won't get to either.

4. I had gooooood Korean food at a party my girlfriend had last weekend. And OMG - it's been TOO long. I seriously could have eaten the entire tray of Chop Chay. I even looked to see if I had the recipe in my Korean cookbook I've never used. I might have to try my hand at making some (minus the mushrooms for my DH).

5. I *hate* it when I take my wedding ring off (when I'm working on a project that's nasty) and then forget to put it back on before I go to work. A. I *adore* that physical link to my wedding day and B. I feel naked without it.

6. I cry when I break a nail. It is such hard work for me to keep them long, naturally.

7. I have a REALLY BIG SECRET about a family member and I can't wait till the news breaks so I can share it publically.

8. I miss my little sister alot - and that's new for us - and it feels good, but doesn't make me feel any better for the missing part.

9. I'm nervous for that time, after Maddy is born, when Jim goes back to work and my Mom is gone, that I will be a basket case. I hope I'm able to take a shower every day and look decent.

10. This financial meltdown our country is in scares me. Big time. I do not do well with financial insecurity.... But it makes me feel so much better to know that no matter what happens, if we had to sell our house and move into a smaller one, if we had to do whatever, that I'd have my husband with me to weather the storm.

Jamba Jonesin...

After a little bit of a blogging break, I'm back :) I've been working pretty hard on the dresser I'm refinishing for Maddy. I hope, one day, when she's an adult, she knows what a freakin labor of love this is... Just when I thought I would be done, I screwed up one side of it - and now I'm going to have to re-strip that side, sand it back down and paint it again.

Ugh....

BUT - on to something entirely more interesting....

I wouldn't say I've had any *weird* cravings. I certainly have foods I've been more drawn to - bananas at first, eggs, milk (which I guess is weird for me - I've never been a milk drinker), anything liquid - I'm always thirsty... But I haven't had any foods that made me think, "if I don't get this, I'm going to die. Right here, on the spot. Die."

That's finally happened - and it's in the form of some good ole Jamba Juice.

It's all I can think about!!!

I've scanned their website looking at the different lovely conconctions and for local locations.

I'd eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner - which actually wouldn't be *all* that unhealthy if I added a salad in with lunch a dinner. I mean, they have protein "blasts" to add to it so you're getting your protein. That's good enough, right? Seriously though, I had one on Saturday and my mouth is watering as I type thinking about it. I hear the words repeated in my head, like a tribal drum, "Jambaaaa Juuuuice, Jambaaaaaa Juuuuuice".

My husband isn't a big fan of us eating out - I pack my lunch 90% of the time and we don't visit restaurants often....but I'm telling you, in the name of all that is holy, I think I might have to give in to this craving for the duration of my pregnancy or I might go insane.

Wordless Wednesday

Your baby weighs about as much as a large mango -- just over a pound. (Length: more than 11 inches.)

Tuesday's Ten

1. I'd like to learn to crochet, but I don't have enough time these days.
2. I still haven't printed up a single wedding photo :(
3. I can't wait to start making fall soups and eating lots of sweet potatoes. Foodwise, fall is my favorite!
4. I often daydream I'm that little girl from Out of this World. I'd love to be able to stop time, do my thing, and then restart it. I think I'd nap for a week - at least. Oh, and organize my recipes, clean the house, put together our wedding album, and hang everything on the walls I've been meaning to hang forever. And maybe rob a bank. Well...I really shouldn't do that.
5. My biggest craving these days is Orange sherbert.
6. I'm often tempted to eat sweets just to make Maddy start kicking.
7. I've had the same hotmail address for 17 years. 17 years!!!!!
8. If I could have any job in the world and money weren't an issue, I'd teach 3rd grade.
9. I have gift certificates from our wedding that I still haven't used. Thank goodness there's no expiration date!!
10. I write down snazzy phrases I hear in business meetings so I can use them at a later date. My latest is..."this is the information/idea that has been socialized".

Surgery Soldier

My husband really is a trooper....we went through his second experience with rotator cuff surgery last Wednesday. It went much better than the surgeon had given us hope for - so that's excellent news! It turns out the tear was MUCH smaller than they thought - the issues were stemming from a huge build up of scar tissue that they were able to remove. We're hoping with this removal and intense therapy, he'll be good as new.

So, while he's not as sore as last time, he's still in a lot of pain - and bored out of his gourd. I feel so bad for him....I just want to snuggle him constantly to take away the pain and frustration.

Needless to say, I was doing some around the clock care last Wenesday, Thursday, and Friday. Waking up every three hours is so no fun.....oiy....and I know it's just a small taste of what I'm in for. Thank GOODNESS I'll have a few months off. I tried to work on Thursday - but it just wasn't happening.

On Friday - I was able to slip away to the Journey concert I had ticket for....it was a blast!!!! But lordy, I cannot stomach cigarette smoke anymore. It gave me a HUGE headache I have yet to get rid of. That was the only downer...wonderful venue, I love open air ampitheaters - but the smoke was terrible.

Saturday, we ordered our glider - yeah!!! It'll be here in 6 - 8 weeks, and I think I may start sleeping in it if Jim doesn't - I keep waking up flat on my back, and I know that's not good.

I also started work on refinishing the dresser we bought Maddy. FIL Ron let me borrow his painting mask. It makes me look like a cross between The Fly and a thermal nuclear war survivor....but it keeps the fumes out, which is what I need. I got almost everything stripped before I needed to use a new bottle of stripper - which neither Jim or I could open, darn it anyway. So, tonight, I'm taking it back to Lowe's and if they can't open it, I'm exchanging it for a bottle I CAN open.

So that's the quick (for me) update of the last several days....yeah for Monday's :

Wordless Wednesday

Your baby has stretched to the size of a spaghetti squash and weighs almost a pound

Tuesday's Ten

This Tuesday, I'm going to tell you 10 things you may or may not know about me:

1. Every season we have, I think, "this is my favorite season!". I love them all, for various reasons, it seems.

2. I'm consider voting for a Republican govenor for the first time in my life ::::gasp::::

3. Sometimes I sleep better when my husband works nights. I've slept in a Queen size bed by myself for too long. We seriously need a super king! (But I always go to sleep missing him and wake up missing him :( )

4. I'm going to make an eggplant recipe for my husband someday and not tell him it's got eggplant in it. He falsely believes he doesn't like eggplant.

5. Ironing clothes is my least favorite chore.

6. I don't really want to run for anything on my Homeowner's Association board of directors, but my husband wants me to, so I'm giving in :

7. Now that I have a husband and a house, I realize how lazy I was when I was single living in an apartment.

8. I thought I was a good gardener, but I'm not.

9. I'm a closet easy jazz lover....it's so calming to me!!

10. I love to daydream about remodeling our house.

Busy Beavers

This weekend we were busy little beavers! I've been a little nervous and a little stressed about Jim's impending surgery and not having him to help me around the house... so after a hormonal breakdown or two, we spent the majority of Saturday moving Jordan's "little girl" furniture into the garage, moving the adult furniture (smaller desk, bigger bed) from the spare bedroom into the skiddo's room and clearing out the spare bedroom.

It was a lot of hard work and I was glad we were able to get some help from one of my husband's dear friends, Aldo, and his step-dad (along with offers to mow the yard after this week...yea!).

I was really pleased with how the skiddo's bedroom shaped up. It's still hers, but we're set up now such that other people can use it as they need to. In fact, I think right now it might be my favorite room in the house. I'm to a place where everything left are things I can safely lift, the furniture I need to paint is positioned such that I can do that, and I just need figure out when Jody (my step mother in law) and I are going to paint. The room is actually taking shape! YIPEEEE!!!

Sunday, Jim worked in the garage (and did a fantastic job of cleaning more things out, it looks great!) and I went with my BFF (Sue, the bow hating wench) and my sister in law Jessica to Babies R Us to register. Wheeeeeeeeeee...what fun! I was a little overwhelmed at times (hello...the wall of bottles - what the heck do you get when you're going to try to breastfeed, but know you'll have to use your breastmilk in a bottle when you go back to work...the options are endless!), but that's why I brought two experienced moms with me. So now I'm all registered...Babies R Us for the majority of things, Amazon.com for the things (like the rest of my bedding!) that I can't get at BRU.

The day was great, until we finished our late lunch, at which point I started experiencing my first go round with Braxton Hicks contractions along with some pretty severe intestinal rebellion. Here's where pregnancy gets really fun....severe gas pain and BH is not fun when experienced at the same time. In fact, it's downright painful....and it was during this experience that I realized that if I can't handle gas pain and BH without medication (which I was sorely wishing I had something...ANYTHING...to make it stop), then perhaps natural childbirth was not for me.

Not that I was planning on going all natural. But I'm pretty darn sure at this point I don't wanna.

By the time we got home, I was feeling downright miserable and had to cancel my evening plans...our annual summer movie with my beloved "Bookies". I felt especially terrible because I was the person that was supposed to pick up the Thai food we'd all been craving. But 45 minutes before I was supposed to be there, I was still extremely uncomfortable and not really wanting to be anywhere but my own little house.

That was a bit of a downer :( but, the right thing to do for Maddy and me (and poor Jimmy who wanted me to stay home with him anyway, since I'd been gone all day).

So...here it is Monday and the week has started again....I'm nervous for Jim's surgery on Wednesday. I want to know that he's going to come out with a repaired shoulder that's going to stay repaired so he can recover and go on with life without feeling so much pain. Keep us in your thoughts :)

Big Bucks

I just saw an interesting challenge on a friend Lisa's blog (one of my very alltime FAVORITE blogs to read- she's such an amazing person and so insightful, so funny, so adventurous, I just adore her). It got me to thinking - especially today in rememberance of all those folks who died 7 years ago and would trade places with us willingly (big bucks or no big bucks)...what would I do?

So here's the challenge:

If you had a million bucks and you had to allocate it immediately - how would you spend it?

Here's mine:


$200,000.00 Pay off the House

$150,000.00 Help family with their debt

$16,000.00 Pay off Line of Credit

$150,000.00 Remodel the house

$400,000.00 Retirement Investments

$10,000.00 Trip through Europe

$15,000.00 Save for Jordan's College

$15,000.00 Invest for Maddy's College

$15,000.00 Save for Baby #2's College

$9,000.00 Take "honeymoon" to Bonaire

$20,000.00 Pay for my honey to go back to college and finish his degree in whatever he'd like so he doesn't have to drive for UPS any more

Book Worm

Carrot Top

I keep hoping that our little one ends up with curly red hair and green eyes. The green eyes from me, the curly red hair and freckles from her daddy. My grandfather had brilliant, beautiful red hair when he was young - and the day he met my Mister he said, "there's hope for a red-headed grandbaby, yet!".

My husband had serious red hair when he was a kid. He was a look alike for Opie from Mayberry RFD. No lie. Those were the first words out of my mouth when I saw pictures of him.

That being the case, today's 21 week picture made me chuckle....whether she ends up with red hair or not, at one point, I did have a carrot top ;)

Your baby -- currently the length of a carrot -- weighs about 3/4 of a pound. (Length: 10 1/2 inches, head to heel.)

Family Relations

I miss my dad and brother today. I miss them most days - but today, I'm really feeling it. There are so many things I'm going to need the "heavy muscle" for once my husband has his surgery....and his family is fantastic and would pitch in anytime we needed them...without a doubt.

But it's just not the same as having my daddy and my big brother around. Whenever I'm with them, they make me feel safe - to sound like my (still) teenage stepdaughter - "they've got my back". And I don't feel as awkward asking... They're my dad and brother, they'd be there the instant I called - just as I would for them.

I guess that's more a me thing. I just don't like asking for help. I want to be able to do everything on my own....and when I can't, I'm really uncomfortable asking. When the shoe is on the other foot and a friend needs help, I'm honored when they ask. But for some reason, I just don't like asking for myself. I guess I feel more comfortable asking my family because they've known me forever...and despite our normal fights and troubles along the way, I'm sure of their unconditional love. This is not to say that my husband's family doesn't love me...we're just not there in our relationship yet. It's still sort of new. I don't want to trouble them with things...

This tendency of mine has been a hard thing for my husband and I to work through. He has this thing about me doing certain things around the house - anything "manly" like hanging things on the wall, mowing the yard, weed eating. It can drive me nuts. He just doesn't like me doing it. And me, I'm used to doing it all. It may not be how HE does it, but it gets done. I thought for the longest time it was that he didn't trust me (and when it comes to hanging things, he doesn't **rolling my eyes**). But really, the issue was that those were things that he felt like HE should be doing - not his wife. It's part of his "this is my family and I'll care for them" mentality.

Anyway - as I mentally listed the things to do in the coming months this weekend, I thought, "man, I really, really wish I had *my* boys here.

On a lighter note...we had a fantastic weekend with our family. We got to hang out on Saturday night with everyone and on Sunday with my sister in law and her 10 month little one for a photoshoot with Uncle Jimmy. As soon as I have pictures to post of that, I will - they're adorable!

And on a pregnancy note...suddenly and without warning, major heartburn.

Tums...they're my new friend.

My Friends...

Whatever would a girl do without her friends....whether they love baby bows or not....they're priceless.

I think one of the most humbling feelings in the world is to know that you are well and truly loved.

Oh - and Happy Birthday Sue....you bow-hating wenchy wench ;)

Me Tarzan...

For the first trimester of my pregnancy (and then some...really), my best "go to" food were bananas. I knew they wouldn't make me sick and they'd be easy my stomach. They were my cure all, really, as they were the only thing I could eat some days.

So much so, that my family joked I was having a monkey, not a baby. Imagine my sigh of relief at the 11 week ultrasound where there was definately a human shape in there, not a blob or a primate.

So...that having been said, the baby size comparison for this 20th week had me laughing....

Your baby has grown as big as a banana. (Length: about 6 1/2 inches from head to bottom, and 10 inches from head to heel.)

Those measurements sound a little bit smaller than what our doctor told us at the 18 week appointment. She said Madelyn was about 10 inches head to heel then...so I think we've got a tall baby on our hands!

In other news....I went shopping last night. The Carter's Outlet by our house was having a HUGE 50 - 70% off sale - so I just had to go!!! I think I was fairly restrained - I bought two newborn sleeper outfits, a couple of 3 - 6 month sleeper outfits, a couple of 6 - 9 month outfits, and a couple of 9 - 12 month outfits - all for sixty dollars!!!!!

I also *had* to peek my head into Gymboree - and as luck would have it, they were ALSO having a 50% off sale. I bought the CUTEST mini skirt with matching leggings and two different coordinating tops (one an adorable pink sweater to wear over a onsie and one SUPER adorable pink vest with brown cordoroy trim)....I just couldn't pass it up. And as my friend Deborah said, "really, this is part of the fun of being a first time mom!". I couldn't agree more!! ;)

And, I just have to let my husband (though he never reads my blog...) know how much I love him :) As you may or may not have heard, he's torn his rotator cuff in the exact same spot again and will have to have surgery. Our consult with his surgeon to schedule is on September 11th. So, we're starting to cut out some of the extraneous (read: not baby related) expenses in our lives, including our house cleaner. Selfishly, I'm bummed. It's nice to come home to a house that has been cleaned all at once, without my help. My mister, understandably, won't be able to help once he's had the surgery....so I'll be pregnant, having to take on the cleaning, and the chores he normally does. However, ya do what ya gotta do....so for now, it's ixnay on the ousecleanerhay.

I think the mister was feeling a little sorry for me, because when I came home last night....he'd cleaned the bathrooms AND unloaded the dishwasher...what a guy! Of course, he told me that I owed him $100 bucks....but I reminded him that if I'd gotten paid for every time I'd cleaned the entire house, he might not like the total ;)

At any rate - it was a very sweet thing to do and I love him for it...among other reasons I'm keeping him around ;)

And finally - the bow fascination continues - though I've cut down significantly. I did check my growing collection to make sure I had a bow to match each outfit I bought last night (despite my best friend Sue's contention that my child will need therapy....). Yes, I saw that Miss Sue-z-que Malou....and I'm going to make EXTRA sure she's always wearing a HUGE bow when you're around. And I love you anway right back. :P

And really...if the only thing my child can complain about in her adult therapy sessions (because you know we all go at so point) in her relationship with her mother is that I put too many bows on her during her infancy, then I've done damn good.

20 Weeks

Cranium Craze

For me...it's all about the bows.

I take that back.

If I'm being honest, it's *really* all about anything baby. But my primary (notice I said primary - I am currently obsessed by all things baby...you name it, I'm researching/thinking about it) obsession this last week was headbands and bows for out little spudette.

Would you really expect anything less from a woman who owns three honest to God, didn't buy them at a thrift shop for Halloween but actually wore them for a purpose, tiaras?

If you tell me you did, I'd call you a liar. Nicely, of course ;)

My friend Kim turned me to ebaying for headbands - and she created a monster. Well, I shouldn't blame that on her. I was a monster in waiting - she just pointed me toward my outlet (and probably saved my husband money because heaven knows I wouldn't have been able to pass them by in the overpriced baby shops).

My husband's response the first time he saw one of the bows? "Ummm, honey? I think you should run all clothing choices past me before buying them. I don't want our kid to look like an idiot." I just had to laugh. I didn't point out that he relies on me to pick out all of his clothing and thinks, rightly so, that he's quite fashionable. What does he know about baby girl fashions anyway, really? ;)

I think I'm done for the time being - I really need to see some of her outfits before I continue buying - and since I haven't really started clothing shopping for her (I'm sort of waiting till after the shower for that...), I guess I'll have to put off buying any more bows.

Ah well...on to the next obession.

Here is the collection thus far: