When I...

• Almost start crying at the tire shop after seeing an On-Star commercial
• Want to eat hot dogs for at least one meal a day every day (after cringing at the thought of them literally all my life)
• Get mad at my husband when he goes to serve me green beans and tell him, "I can serve myself, I'm not a child," and then we both laugh uncontrollably
• Go from vacuuming a few times a day to once every few days (or weeks)
• Start looking forward to my toddler's naps so I can nap too
• Don't want to think about preparing or even eating food
• Spend a little time almost every day "worshipping" the "porcelain god"
• Begin to consider buying stock in Canada Dry Ginger Ale
• Spend a lot of time looking at my toddler's baby pictures to remind myself that it's all worth it
• Eat a lot of refried beans and cheese (sometimes on a tostada or tortilla, sometimes not)

I just might be...

Ok, let's rephrase that...






I AM pregnant.






(Yes, you've just been informed.  Oh, and we're 12 weeks along.)

An Anniversary of Sorts

A year ago today we sent out an email to our family. It looked a little bit like this...

This year, we want you to guess what we were for Halloween. Examine the picture and select the most appropriate answer from the choices below. Reply to this e-mail or give us a call to submit your answers.

a. A poor student and his hardworking wife.
b. Overwhelmed assistant nursery leaders of Jamestown Ward
c. A newlywed couple enjoying their first Halloween together.
d. A pregnant mother-to-be and a proud father-to-be.
e. All of the above.

Isn't it amazing how much can happen in a year??

As of Friday

I am nearly 4 cm dilated... It could be soon....!!! =) I'm beyond uncomfortable, so we're at least hoping it will be soon...

As of Friday

I am 3 cm dilated, 50% effaced (or as the doctor said "thinned out"), and the baby is at zero station... though it was noted that the doctor at 34 weeks put me at +1 or +2 station. (If that's really where I was, it may explain the "early" pregnancy walking, previously referenced.)

We have located a trampoline in our ward and may be utilizing that in the near future... ;D

Embrace the Waddle

There comes a point in a woman's pregnancy when walking "normally" becomes uncomfortable, difficult, and yes, even impossible. While I feel like I am able to walk "normally" most of the time, I have had some definite periods when walking has been/is uncomfortable. I previously mentioned around week 34 that the baby had "dropped". Along with that came a lot of discomfort and difficulty when walking. While I was sometimes able to walk in my "normal" fashion, I had to slow down considerably. It was around that painful time that the change in my walk was noted (as quoted in the previous post). I suppose I'm a little prideful, but I felt like that was something of a challenge to make my walk as normal as possible--which I've mostly done (or think I've done)--with a few breaks as the body/pain requires...

I had an interesting experience yesterday as I was walking from my desk to the restroom (is the destination a surprise?). I realized that when I walked with my feet a little wider than normal the pressure and intermittent pain while walking lessened. With that realization came an interesting change: I don't care what I look like, I'm going to walk however is most comfortable. if I can walk fast and normal--and it's comfortable--then so be it. But for the time being, I feel that it is perfectly acceptable and reasonable to waddle.

So I will waddle. =)

An Excuse to Insult

A funny thing about being pregnant is that your body (and the many changes made the duration of your pregnancy) becomes the object of observation for pretty much everyone you know or come in contact with. Everyone seems to enjoy making comments about the changes/"features" they observe, and it seems each person feels that he or she is the first or the only person to notice whatever it is they notice. Most people also seem to feel that pregnancy is the perfect opportunity to tell someone the most insulting things about their changing appearance... because it's due to their being "temporarily" pregnant after all, and it's not like they'll stay that way, right...

I think I have been lucky enough to get more compliments than insults… but… to share my favorites…

"You must be having a boy, because your nose is wider."

"Your whole face has changed."—This is not a "you're glowing" reference.

"You are definitely walking like you're pregnant now."

Sixteen

No, I'm not talking about the "magical" age when I was allowed to date. Believe me you, that fact, and what this post is about, are not related. I am sure my parents are very grateful for that simple truth.

This post is really about the fact that every once in a while I glance at Baby Pea's gender-guessing poll. I set it up so that the poll closes on Baby Pea's due date and I use it as something of a count-down for our new arrival.

I just glanced at it today and there are only 16 (did you catch that--sixteen--SIX-teen) days left until Baby Pea is due to arrive. That's just barely more than two weeks.

Of course, the due date doesn't mean too terribly much, as the likelihood of an early or (oh please not) late arrival is very possible. At my last appointment I had graduated to 2 cm.

Apparently, I will be walking during lunch this week... and not napping. ;)

Showers!

This last Thursday my coworker/boss-type, Elvis, disturbed me from my afternoon nap. Having a headache, I wasn't too happy about it. Luckily for me, my coworkers not only took my mind off my headache, but they helped to remind me of how grateful I am for them!!!

A little "inside" joke...What a friendly bear! =)
Will wonders never cease??A friendly bee...
Oops, no... that's TWO friendly bees!
For little Baby Pea to gaze at! =)

Not too many weeks ago...
On one bright spring morning...

Some of the lovely ladies from our ward gathered together...
For some lovely punch...
Yummy treats...Sweet favors...
All in honor of Baby Pea!! =)
Anna, on the left, was the hostess with the most-ess. Next to her is Camille, whose children (especially Becca) I've mentioned before...
This is Laura, our favorite primary chorister! She does such a good job with the music in our nursery! I also really love watching her interact with the kids (including her own 4!!)... she's really patient and sweet with them...This is my friend Sloan and little Livia (one of our nursery kids from last year... oh so cute!!)...
Some of my favorite guests didn't stand taller than about 40 inches... =)
This is Jene`... (I'll tell you a "secret"... She was the absolute FIRST person to know we were pregnant... I guess that's what happens when you are nice to the new girl and she needs to figure out where to go to the doctor... =D)
You almost don't want to open it...
This is the very grateful girl/almost-mother. She may look familiar. ;)Elizabeth was the amazing photographer, hence she's not in any of the pictures... I think she did a wonderful job documenting this fun occasion, don't you?

Week 36

Please excuse the very tired eyes! Besides the fact that I'm waking up about every 1.5-2 hours... We usually take these pictures at the end of the day, when I am wide awake, but we instead took these this morning after I'd been awake for about 30 minutes...

Wardrobe Fiasco(s)

One thing that is often said about pregnant women is that they seem to be accident prone. Well. I have definitely had my share of accidents during this pregnancy… but nothing too serious or too frequent.

After this morning, I am seriously hoping that the frequency tide hasn't changed!

I initially thought that this "series of unfortunate events" began yesterday. And then I realized it really began on Monday.

Monday, I had sloppy joe leftovers for lunch. The name of the food is warning enough, right? Apparently not. I ate lunch. As careful as I was, I still managed to drop some of the meat onto my khaki pants. Having a belly makes dropping food on yourself a little interesting. If I didn't have the belly I don't think it would have landed as mid-thigh as it did. You just have to love the pinkish-orangish-reddish mark, left in the wake of sloppy joes, which is completely un-camouflage-able.

Yesterday, my sandal broke. Luckily, I wasn't walking when it happened. (Oddly enough, I was sitting at my desk, lifted my foot and my sandal fell off, broken.) No matter how I rigged it, I could not get the sandal to stay together for more than about 5-10 steps. During lunch I managed to make it to Burlington Coat Factory. Of course my sandal lasted about 5 steps from the car. I ended up just picking up my sandal and walking into BCF with one barefoot. Luckily… right inside the door was… a wall of flip-flops! Unfortunately… all of the flip-flops were the decorative, extraordinarily narrow flip-flops that won't fit these pregnant feet after about 1 p.m. I wasn't able to walk around looking for new shoes/sandals with one of the pairs from the wall because of the way the pairs were tied together. For a short time, I actually tried walking with just one of the sandals with its pair flopping around too, but that worked for about 3 steps. So. My only option was the one barefoot. Not wanting to be conspicuous (who was I kidding??) I walked around Mission Impossible-style, trying to avoid people and get to shoe department. I don't think that's really possible for a 9 months pregnant woman… but hey, I tried. I did find a pair of sandals that would work. Luckily, I have a great boss that doesn't care that they are pretty casual, and I'll be able to keep wearing them with my "business casual" work attire.

Each day when I arrive at work I clock in, put my lunch in the fridge and head to my desk. This morning, as I was preparing to sit down I realized that the back left side of my shirt was wet. I could barely pull it around enough to see that I had red sauce all down my shirt from the mid back to the seam. I made it to the bathroom to try and clean up and soon noticed that the sauce didn't stop at my shirt. It went down the back of my pants as well. Not just one spot either, I had a stream of sauce on my pants starting where my shirt hit my pants ending below the ankle. There wasn't much that I could do for the shirt, though I tried. I was able to get the tomato residue off of my pants though the paper towel I started out using left a nice lint mark on my black pants… At about 10 a.m. I went to BJs to pick up the cake for our monthly department party. Don't worry, I was able to make a detour to my much loved Burlington Coat Factory and found a really cute maternity shirt on sale for $6. Apparently, my wardrobe fiascos, should they persist, may keep BCF in business!

Chris' Joke

Which of the Star Wars’ characters is in the business of delivering babies????

OBi-Wan Kenobi

Yes. He made that up, and he’s pleased with himself. =)

Week... ?

Ok, so, we have been purposely taking my progress pictures in the same shirt. You'll see why later, but the unfortunate thing about doing this is that when you misplace the shirt you use for the pictures… you don't take the pictures…

We have since found the shirt and are now happy to present the Big Belly at Week 34.

In case you are interested… It looks like this baby may not hold on for the full 40 weeks. Last week I started feeling some discomfort. When we went in for our appointment on Friday, we brought it up to the doctor, who wasn't really very concerned. (I'm at the point in pregnancy when discomfort is a pretty normal state of existence.) Well, we had the doctor check and the reason why I'm feeling discomfort is because the baby has dropped and I am dilated to 1.5 cm. He told me to hold off on having the baby for at least 2 more weeks… =) Of course, when I told Susie-Q (my good friend and almost OB in training) she told me to tell this baby there's no hurry. We'll just have to wait and see if s/he is going to be obedient. =)

I Pack the Heat

In case you didn’t already know, all those rumors about pregnant women liking the cold are true. (At least as far as this pregnant woman is concerned, anyways.)

Over the last month and a half, my dear, sweet husband has borne the brunt of my need for cold. Once my body temperature really kicked it up a notch, we quickly learned that I had difficulty sleeping if the temperature in our apartment was above 62`F. Below that was preferable. As it is still just April, we have been able to accommodate for my need for cold by not running the heater or a/c much--until the last week or so. While beneficial to our budget, I really feel for Chris, who has taken to doing homework in bed under all our covers. All of this has helped me to see that while June is not the worst time of year to have a baby (I don’t have to endure the hot and humid summer months with this heater), I think there may be a better time… A baby due in January/February/March seems perfect to me. =)

Celebrate!

My sister (-in-love, as my mom likes to say) did a great job of putting together a celebration for our pending arrival. I think my favorite part was being able to see some of my much-loved and much-missed friends from "home". =)

All the preggies sat in the front... in case you wondered the three on the left (with me in the middle) are three of the four of us girls expecting babies on my side of the family. =)

30 weeks

The latest progress of the ever-expanding belly...

28 weeks

I guess it's technically almost 29 weeks... but oh well!

26 weeks

So, the idea is that we will show you the biweekly progression of the-ever-growing-belly. Here's week 26.

Yes, She's Looking Pregnant

Ok. Still don't have any of the promised pics of Chris without braces... but! As of tonight, we have the beginning of the series on "Evelyn's Expanding Belly." I think the person MOST interested in this is probably my much missed DB. Hope you enjoy! =D

Can It Be Contagious??

We found out today that my brother Josh and his wife Caroline are expecting! We are sooo excited! Chris and I have had a great time talking about how fun it would be for Caroline & Tori to have babies this year too... Our little baby is getting a ton of cousins this year! Both of Chris' married siblings are expecting, and now two of my three married siblings are expecting. This year the grandbabies on the Chris' side will more than double and we're getting close to double on my side too.

Even funnier is the fact that our ward is a baby factory... there has been (on average) one baby born each month since we moved in, with 3 due in June! We are due on the 12th as is another couple, and one of my visiting teachers is due about a week later.

Then there are the Tidewater YSA Branch "graduates"... off the top of my head... there are 3 of us who are pregnant... One due in May, we are due in June, another due in August.

Oh... and about 2 weeks after we announced our addition to the folks at work, one of the guys in my department found out he's going to be a dad... a good 6 or so weeks after us, but still pretty close!
Be careful what you drink, something is in the water! =D