"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee"

I think I might end up birthing the next heavy weight champoin of the world. Two nights ago the baby punched me about 20 times in a row and last night when Neil was here she did it again. Its nice to have a witness, now that Neil felt it go on for 20 mintues he knows I'm not exaggerating. And I'm not really complaining, it doesn't hurt at all. I'm always relieved she moves around so much.

The other day I was talking to Neil's grandma and she asked what we were planning on naming the baby. I told her Grace. She made a bad face and said, "Thats not very exciting." I had to laugh because I'm not crazy about her name choices either. She named her girls, Betty Anne, Bonnie Jo and Janet Rosalie. I'm sure if I had said Gracie Lou she would have loved it.

Today I found some fabulous blog spots that had fun projects to make at home. The first was homemadebyjill.blogspot.com and the second was howaboutorange.blogspot.com. I've already made some of the cute flower button cards!

Shopping

Hip Hip Hurray! My spell check is finally functioning! Today I discovered I have been behaving like a fool for the past 6 months. About six months ago Neil and I got a Sam's Club membership. I was dubious at the time, I have a strange allegiance to Costco, but there are not any Costcos within a reasonable distance. Another deterrent was that Sam's is on the other side of a busy busy freeway. In fact the free way where I was hit by the semi, so I kinda fear the area. Basically Neil and I order our contacts at Sam's and buy big food storage items, not as often as we should, OK we've only done that twice. Well, I ventured over there to the Micheal's and then decided to check out Old Navy and then realized, what the heck I'm right here I'll go to Sam's. Oh the deals they had to offer! Sadly, I realized I have been paying twice as much at my grocery store for 1/2 the amount of food! I am a Sam's club convert and I've heard their diapers are a really good deal.

A Day at the Mall

Today I continued my plan to walk this baby out. I spent a good 3 1/2 hours walking the mall with friends. There were 4 of us and I was the only one without a stroller, so we were quite a crowd. While at the mall I bought the cutest dress for the baby from Gymboree. It is whiteish ivory silk with a few tiny purple embroidered flowers on the bodice, it is my back up blessing dress in case I don't find anything I love more. After shopping for a while we took an ice cream break and sat outside on some benches. While we were chillin' this lady with a stroller came up and asked if she could sit with us. She seemed a little strange from the get go and I just got a bad vibe from her. Then she told us all her baby was 15 months and she was 16 weeks pregnant. She then started asking really intrusive questions. The girl was creeping me out so with escape in mind I said I needed to go get a pretzel, two of the other girls said they needed to change their babies' diapers (it turns out they where creeped out too). It was then that the girl told me she had no money for food, no where to live, and no job. I got the impression from her that she was not unuse to sharing this information. Now, I'm never quite sure if I respond to some situations in a certain cynical way because I grew up in Chicago. I grew up hearing to give money to charities not to individuals and there was just something not quite right about this lady. I don't know if I had such a need to get away from her because I am pregnant and felt vulnerable and unsafe or what, but I practically ran away from her. And for the rest of the day I have just been thinking about her poor homeless baby. She told us she had considered putting her daughter up for adoption but then decided not to. I'm sure that child hasn't had her shots, she probably isn't receiving the nutrients she needs from food and I really doubt the lady has been to the doctor about her unborn child. Its just depressing and I feel guilty I just ran away from her. But at the same time I can't deny I felt an overwhelming prompting to flee. So that whole situation has been troubling me and I haven't been able to fall asleep tonight. Anyway when I got back from the mall my cute husband was home and wanted to take me on one last date before the baby comes. We went and saw National Treasure 2 and tried out a new Mexican restaurant. It was really fun and I can't remember the last time we went to a movie. And Diane Kruger's wardrobe in that movie is to die for! This day has just made me realize how grateful I am for my husband, home, and our little baby on the way.

Why my cervix hates me

Today I had another doctor's appointment and this is how things went down.

Doctor: (Enters)
"So how are things going?"

Meredith:
"I am done, I am so over this pregnancy thing. I want my body back. I'm so bloated I didn't recognize my own face in a picture"

Doctor: (Laughs)
"Well, I have some news. I'm going to Mexico a week from tomorrow. So you can have your baby before 7 AM on Tuesday or else stay in bed and hope it doesn't come until I get back."

Meredith:
"Well, staying in bed wouldn't be that different from my current schedule (laughter at M's super funny joke). I would like to have the baby this week. I had an evil contraction on Sunday and some other symptoms (I wont write on line, it would be a total over share) and I think its getting close to go time."

Doctor:
"Well, if your cervix is dialated enough, I could fiddle around and try to get things going."

(Meredith readily agrees to the "fiddling around" and happily envisions having the baby in the next 24 hours)

Doctor checks Meredith

Doctor:
"Well, you are really thinned out but you aren't dialated enough, sorry."

Meredith curses her cervix and leaves the doctor's office to go walk around target in an attempt to get things moving. This plan did not work, Meredith was unable to will her body into labor. Meredith finally admitted defeat and went home.

I'm Sorry: The Saga of the Sandwich

The Setting:
Our Kitchen, 7:30ish

The Characters:
9 month pregnant completely irrational Meredith and poor unsuspecting husband Neil

The Dialogue:
Meredith "I just feeel awful, I can't make dinner"
Neil "Thats ok, I'll make dinner. What do you want? A sandwich"
Meredith "That hurts my stomach just thinking about"
Neil "Spaghetti?"
Meredith "Gross"
Neil "Rice? Mashed potatoes? Cereal?"
Meredith "No ewwww"
Neil "Do you want me to go get you something? Subway, McDonalds, Taco Bell"
Meredith "NO NO NO, just make yourself something and I will figure out what I want"
A minute later..
Meredith "I'll just have some noodles"
(Neil starts boiling water for the noodles, then gets out a left over breaded chicken breast, tomato sauce, cheese, and a sandwich roll. As Neil makes himself a sandwich Meredith smells the delicious aroma)
Meredith "Can I try your sandwich?"
Neil "Sure"
(Meredith hands Neil a knife to cut her off some of the sandwich)
Neil "This is really messy, why don't you just take a bite."
(Meredith looks crestfallen and takes a bite then hands the gourmet goodness back to Neil. Neil finishes his sandwich and Meredith promptly bursts into tears)
Neil "What is going on?"
Meredith, between sobs says "I wanted half of your sandwich, don't you care about me and the baby?"
Neil "I care. I'll go get you a sandwich from subway"
Meredith "Thats not the same, it is too late. You were selfish with your sandwich. I will just eat these plain dry noodles" (more sobbing)

Ok, when this all went down yesterday I thought I was being totally rational, doesn't food = love? It is only today that I realized I was behaving like a crazy person who expected her husband to read her mind. In all actuality hungry pregnant woman = psycho. To make my husband even more of a saint, he called today and invited me out on a lunch date, to make sure the baby and I recieved proper nourishment :)

Something strange occured last night.

For the past few weeks my schedule has been pretty set. It goes like this, do a chore then sit down and recover from said chore. A chore includes anything from doing the dishes, cooking dinner, laundry, or even blow drying my hair and putting on make up. But yesterday I was struck with a bunch of energy. I made a real dinner (this hasn't happened for a while), ate it and then felt compelled to scrub out the bathrooms. I expected to slip into a pregnancy coma after this but to my surprise I was still energized. It then became extremely important to finish scrap booking all of Little Baby Larson's ultra sounds. I think I had an unusual amount of sonograms because I ended up with 10 pictures. Is that normal? Still feeling refreshed I moved on to our honeymoon pictures. Then our pictures from dating and being engaged and I ended my evening printing out a bunch of wedding pictures before finally sucumbing to bed at well after 1 AM. Now I am not really a scrapbooker so I am guessing this was some sort of twisted nesting thing, but it is nice to have all the pictures pasted in and labeled.

Pregnant baby ramblings (sorry kinda boring)

Today was my last ultra sound before the baby is born! With my previous ultra sounds I had to go to an imaging center but this one was done right in my doctor's office. Lets just say their ultra sound machine is a little less than state of the art. I'm not even going to try to scan the picture they gave us because it is pretty much a cloudy mess. But little baby Larson is weighing in at 6 pounds 6 ounces and the doctor predicts she will be about 7 1/2 lbs. when she is born. Oh, and she is head down, I've been living in fear she would be breach, so I was greatly relieved. I also had a fear the umbilical cord would be around her neck but we are all good.

The last few doctor's visits I have been very nervous for the weigh in portion. Neil went with me today with strict instructions to keep his eyes off the scale (which he told me later he didn't do! Bad form husband, very bad form). Lately "the baby" has had some serious chocolate candy bar and McDonald's cheeseburger cravings (I heart happy meals :) and I was just waiting to face the consequences. But by some happy twist of fate I haven't gained any weight the last 3 weeks, I even lost one pound! Now lest some people get confused and start shouting "pregorexic, pregorexic!" my doctor told me it is totally normal and healthy to stop gaining weight at the end of pregnancy and lets face it that pound was probably water weight. While the baby is still gaining weight, extra fluids are starting to leave my body and it is all working out nicely. I just re-read that paragraph and realized I am totally a product of the fat obsessed society in which I live. Sorry, I didn't mean to be annoying, cultural programing strikes again!

Now. lets talk about how addicting the TV show Alias is! When I last had the flu some kind neighbors lent Neil and I season one and two and I am hooked. Where was I when this show was first on the air? Living in a bubble? And where has Sydney been for two years and who in the world did Vaughn marry? I went to blockbuster to try to obtain season 3 but all I could get my hands on was the end of season 4, which I watched totally out of order, much to the dismay of my husband.

And to wrap things up Neil and I watched the musical Carousel recently and that show is all kinds of warped. The last time I had watched it I was probably 9 and missed the whole spouse abuse theme! Neil keeps repeating the line, "Can someone hit you, really hard and it not hurt at all?" In Carousel, if this is in reference to your husband beating you, then the answer is "yes it doesn't hurt at all." Messed Up!

PS: My spell check and image adder are still not working, what is up with blogger?

Poor Neil

Poor Neil is sick. Poor Neil is sick on Valentine's Day. Poor Neil spent part of his day at the doctor's office, part of his day finishing up a work project, and the last part of his day in bed, where he is now. This all really translates to poor me... just kidding... sort of :) Actually by a lucky twist of fate we had already exchanged gifts yesterday and when Neil stopped at the pharmacy he picked me up roses and chocolates, what a thoughtful hubby! I do have to lay the smack on a certain grocery store's fresh flowers. This store's name could rhyme with Frogers but start with a k. About 20 minutes after putting the roses in a vase with water all the rose heads were hanging down limply on the verge of death. Never in my life have I seen such a quick flower demise. I filled the bath tub with cold water and ice and put the roses in over night to try to revive them, this trick has worked before so we shall see tomorrow if the roses are blooming. I had better go check on my sick hubby now, happy VDay to all!

"Whoa, were half way there" -Bon Jovi

Exciting news, I'm 50% effaced, and am dilated to a 1. Labor still could be a long way off though, but this is progress :)

Yesterday Neil and I discovered we had become victims of fraud. Someone hacked into Neil's Pay Pal account and spent $456 out of our checking account! We filed a claim with pay pal and will hopefully be reimbursed promptly. Internet shoppers beware. A tip I've learned is to never use your debit card online always use a credit card. With a debit card your money is gone before you know anything is going on, there is much more protection with a credit card.

I spent a lovely afternoon shopping with some friends today. Shopping was an exercise in self control, there are just so many adorable Easter dresses out there, for babies, wanting to be bought. But I didn't want to commit to an Easter dress until I know the baby's coloring. There was a darling light yellow one with matching mary janes but if she's a blond that probably wouldn't be her best look. I am getting increasingly excited for this baby to be born! What will she look like? What kind of personality will she have? I can't wait!

Happy Birthday

Today is my older sister's birthday. In honor of that fact I am listing 27 fun/freaky facts about Jill.
1. As a child Jill was deathly afraid of dogs. Rountinely at our bus stop she would climb on top of the fire hydrant to escape an over zealous pooch, and yes she would leave me, the helpless younger sister to the dogs mercy.
2. I once fueled Jill's rage by ripping up a picture of Joey Egbert (her crush). She was about 5. She still has not forgotten.
3. Jill has lived in places where it was not unheard of to awake to the gentle rubbing of a rat walking on your face!!!
4. Jill speaks spanish.
5. Jill has a creepy crush on George W.
6. Jill has recently started seeing a "healer"
7. Jill was hit by another car while she was parked and vacuuming out her car trunk.
8. Jill once hit a parked car herself.
9. Jill almost killed me. I was an infant and she stuck a big chocolate egg into my mouth. Luckily my mom saved me.
10. Jill has gone skinny dipping
11. Jill has a great concern for her skin and will spend large amounts of money to halt the aging process. She hearts med spas
12. Jill recently experimented with hair extensions.
13. Baby Troy nick named Jill Mimi after an unfortunate blue eye shadow incident.
14. Baby Troy also likes to stand on the couch over Jill while holding one of her posessions and taunt her saying, "Jump little hobbit."
15. Jill has recently discovered a love for spinach smoothies.
16. Once Jill fell in an open sewer
17. As a child Jill liked to spread elmers glue all over her hands, wait for it to dry, and pick it off.
18. Jill does not like to be touched
19. Few things can make her more angry than going through her stuff. Take my advice never look in her purse.
20. Jill was flagged by security at an ariport and a lady opened up her carry on. Jill had put all her make up in a zip lock bag and some of it had smeared all over and there was tissue with lipstick blottings on it, it was a mess! The security agent put it right back in her bag after one disgusted look. I'm glad she wasn't a terrorist.
21. Any physical aliment you can have Jill has had it, and much worse.
22. Jill doesn't like children until they can talk.
23. Jill once threw her retainer away and was too stubborn to look through the garbage for it. It has never been found.
24. Jill taught the daughter of a sweat shop owner.
25. The doctor that delivered Jill was later arrested for arson.
26. Jill currently works in a law office.
27. Jill loves corn dogs!

PS. Sorry if there are mispellings, my spell check wont work and it wont let me add a picture of Jill. Blogger hates me today! Happy Birthday Jill!

30 pounds later.....

Ok, its been a while since I've written. The main thing that has occured, is that I have had the flu three times! There are three strains going around Texas and I have been lucky enough to get a taste of each. (I blame my primary class and cub scout den.) The last time was the worst, I thought Neil was going to have to take me to the hospital. My temperature kept going up, up, up. And the worst part is I have tried really hard my entire pregnancy not to take any medicine but tylenol was the only thing that could control the fever. Don't worry I also visited the doctor and the baby is doing fine.

On that fun doctors trip I learned that I have now gained 30 lbs!!!!!!! it is totally healthy but not something any women wants to hear. Five weeks and one day to go until my due date! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I also try not to think about actually having to give birth. yuck.

Also of note, my friend Emily threw me a great baby shower last weekend. She made these delicious eclairs from scratch! yummy! And there was a rockin' pictionary/charades game :) I had a great time but my body crashed after the party and I spent the rest of the weekend in bed. I'll be posting pictures later. I realized after that I didn't get any pictures with me in them though!

Neil has been a champ through my bouts with the flu. He has cleaned our house, brought me roses and chocolates, cooked numerous dinners, rubbed my feet, and is right now out grocery shopping :) Three cheers for him!