24 week picture

It's been 6 weeks since my last pregnancy picture, so here is a picture of me at 24 weeks. Now I think I actually look pregnant. I looked at my 18 week picture and compared the two, it actually made me sad to see how much fatter I look. I just have to remember it's baby, not fat (at least I hope it's mostly baby and not fat!). Sorry it's pretty blurry, we took it on my camera phone at night before bed time (hence the pajama pants).

The best part you actually can't see, and that's what my shirt says. I love it! It says, "Does this baby make me look fat?" I have another funny pregnancy shirt that says, "Somebody's kicking me!"

The Apple Mom

I just got back from Walmart where I saw the funniest thing, and I have since decided I have a new woman to add to my list of mothers I look up to.

I was on my way up to the cash register to buy my laundry detergent, after I spent probably ten minutes in the Halloween candy isle thinking how much I wanted to buy the candy, but knew I shouldn't (what are they thinking putting the Halloween candy isle next to the laundry detergent anyway!?). Anyway, as I'm walking to the registers I see a young mom, probably about 25 (because anyone younger than me is now considered young) walking into the store with her adorable 3-year-old girl. In this particular store when you walk in the food side you walk right into the produce section. So the little girl and her mom are walking and talking when suddenly, the little girl spots the apple display. She stops mid-sentence, her eyes bulge out of her head, she starts clapping her hands, and screaming in the most excited 3-year-old voice I've ever hear, "Mom, look, apples!" Then she takes off running toward the apples as fast as her little legs could carry her, all the while gleefully screaming, "apples, apples, apples..."

I looked at the mom to see if she had a surprised look, but no, she was just smiling and said, "Yes, honey apples. You may get some." Wow, watching this little girl one would think she spotted Princess Island or Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory, but no, she was this excited over apples! And her mom didn't seem the least bit surprised. Like, "Oh yeah, my daughter gets this excited over apples all the time." All I have to say is, You go Apple Mom! and Can I be like you when I grow up into a Mom?

Housewiffery

Back in the days when I had a full time day job I used to think to myself, "I could never stay home and not work. What would I do all day? I think I would just get too bored!" Well because of my high risk pregnancy, I have now been doing this for about a month and I keep thinking, where did the day go? Every day I have a To-Do list a mile long and I only seem to get through half of it. No wonder why my house seemed to be messy all the time and I rarely made dinner when I worked full time!

Now, granted, I do still do some work from home a little and I babysit a beautiful little 4 month old, but just the "house wife" work alone keeps me busy pretty much all day every day. Plus, I do probably move slower than average person with the whole fatigue of pregnancy, but it's amazing how NOT bored I am. It's also been interesting how "domestic" I'm becoming. Amazing because I never considered myself domestic nor did I ever really want to be domestic. For example, this weekend I canned my own jam (first time experience) and this morning, I woke up early and made blueberry pancakes from scratch, packed my husband's lunch, did dishes, laundry, went to the grocery store, cleaned the kitchen, and worked out. That may not sound like much, but for me, it really is.

Anyway, the thing that has been the most surprising to me about staying home, is the response I get from people. When I run into friends I haven't seen for a while or people in my neighborhood, the normal question is "where are you working" or "what are you doing for work?" My answer, is I'm actually just being a housewife right now. Honestly, from my perspective, from that point on in the conversation a lot of those people just look down on me. I've had people ask what do I do all day, what do I do for money, how am I going to survive financially, etc. They all know I'm pregnant and expecting a baby in a few months, and yet, somehow I am suddenly less of a person because I'm choosing to stay home.

In my opinion, whether you work outside the home or are a housewife/stay-at-home mom, you can be just as much of a contributing member of society. And no one has the right to judge you about your choice to stay home or to go out of the home and work. I know wonderful women in both scenarios and they are wonderful wives and mothers. Either way, that is a very personal choice that only they can make, and it is no one's place to tell them otherwise.

The Dog and the Kitchen Sink

Yesterday two funny things happened that I can't help myself from blogging about.

First, this weekend I was on "bed rest" because I had hurt myself from a fall on Thursday (not the funny part), and my doctor told me to stay off my feet and rest for the weekend. At one point my sweet dog Shady wanted to sit/lay by me, so I let her up on the couch with me. She sniffed my belly then layed her head on it. A few seconds later my baby boy decided he liked Shady and started kicking me. Shady must have sensed his movement because she immediately sniffed my belly again and then licked it right where I had felt the baby move. So Shady and baby boy had a little bonding moment. It was so cute!

Second funny thing. On Friday night Adam got us a Red Box movie since I couldn't go out. Then he went and picked up dinner (since I couldn't really stand long enough to cook and I wasn't able to go grocery shopping for needed supplies). When we finished eating dinner we could not find the Red Box movie anywhere. We spent the next hour searching everywhere we could think of where the move could possibly be. Finally we gave up and decided it must not be anywhere in the house because we looked everywhere it could have been. Then, on Saturday, I was feeling much better so I decided to be a good wife and do dishes. Sure enough, half way through emptying the sick I found the Red Box DVD still safely in its case. I couldn't stop laughing when I realized we lost the DVD in the kitchen sink! Apparently when Adam was clearing dishes from the table Friday night he had the DVD in his hand and it ended up being put in the sink right along with the dishes. Go figure! So next time I can't find something, I'll remember to check the kitchen sink!

Things I love...

For some reason I'm in an especially good mood today and I just feel like blogging about some of the things I love, so here you go:

• I love being married to Adam, and I love Adam! Thankfully I married a man perfect for me, even if I haven't always recognized that. I'm so grateful to have someone to share my life with and I can't imagine life any other way!
• I love my baby on the way! I know I complain about pregnancy a lot, but I'm seriously glad to be having this baby and I can't wait for him to be here.
• I love my dogs! Shady and Rolo seriously bring so much fun and laughter into our lives. They both do some hilarious things and they are both so sweet. I love coming home to these two fun animals that are always so excited to see me, even if they are a little naughty from time to time.
• I love my family and friends. It's great to have so many people care about you and to share in the joys and stuggles of life.
• I love my pregnancy pillow!! I haven't known a good nights rest since I got pregnant until I got this wonderful thing. It was worth every penny and I highly recommend it to everyone! (even those not pregnant people. Adam likes it too and would probably use one if I bought it for him)
• I love being home to cook dinner most nights. First, we eat much better. Second, we save a ton of money. And third, I know Adam really appreciates it and that makes me happy.
• I love to exercise! I know, you may think this is crazy, but I seriously do love it. I'm so grateful to be in my second trimester and finally be back to working out 5 or 6 days a week. Even though I have to keep it easy, at least it's something! And I can't wait until I'm able to get in tougher workouts again, but pregnancy is definitely a good reason to slow it down. My day just goes so much better when I can start it with a workout!
• I love sugary treats. This one is not so good for me, but I really do love them. Oh well, at least I'm working out every day, right?
• I love having a blackberry. I love getting my email, having the calendar, getting on the internet, putting my to-do list on there where I won't lose it, and all the other wonderful features. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to another phone. It's the only thing that keeps me semi-organized.
• I love reading! I read an entire book in one day the other day. I hadn't read anything for fun in a LONG time, but I finally decided I needed a de-stressor and borrowed a book from my friend Megan. I started it one night & finished it the next. Thank goodness I'm a fast reader so I can get back to work now.
• I love Autumn! Maybe it's because the weather is usually not too hot and not too cold. Or maybe it's because the leaves changing colors is so pretty or my birthday happens to fall in this season, but either way, I love it!

There are many more things I love, but these are the things that I've been thinking about today. It's nice to stop sometimes and just think of our blessings, and right now I feel very blessed!