busy weekend!

i was so excited for my mom to come up for the weekend! she arrived thursday night so that she could go to my 5 month ultrasound on friday morning. however, before she arrived i went into a bit of a cleaning frenzy which unfortunately depleted my batteries! is it possible to start nesting at only 5 months??? i reorganized all of my clothes and pulled out tons of clothes for goodwill and the consignment store, steam cleaned the carpet, vacuumed the ceiling and crown molding, sponge washed the baseboards, cleaned out the oven and did a bit of a kitchen overhaul. when mom arrived thursday night...i think i managed to stay up until 9:30 0r 10:00 before i passed out!
mom, benson and mrs. ward made it to the ultrasound. i havent had one since 3 months so it was fun to see the babe again. everything is perfect so far and i have gained 10 lbs which they said was great. we could have found out the gender but we have chosen to remain in the dark. it is annoying some people (cough *mallory* cough) but i think it will be such a fun surprise. mom and i celebrated after the ultrasound with a trip to the maternity store. some friends have mentioned that they dont like maternity clothes, but i love them! we went to a really nice lunch at bricktops with the girl i am sponsoring at Christ the King, Lisa. yall might remember how i went through a program to convert to Catholicism that involved lots of classes; well i am now volunteering as a sponsor. sunday was actually her confirmation!

on saturday we all went to pick out a crib set. my wonderful parents offered to buy our crib and changing table, which was a massive help! of course, i had a very difficult time picking out something that i liked. i basically wanted the exact crib that was my childhood crib but mrs ward has forbid that "doodles 2" be put in a drop side crib that is not up to safety standards! i like the style of the old fashioned cribs...which do not seem to be produced anymore! after 2 hours in the store (bless benson's heart) we finally found one!

i miss my mom so much...i tried to beg her to stay but of course she has to work. i dont know how i will do it once the babe comes. a girl needs her mom around constantly, not just once a month. i wish we lived much closer. so, sorry for such a long post...just had a lot going on for this tiring and long weekend!

crib... we chose the dresser without the hutch
fancy!

profile pic of face...couldnt scan it...

look at that spine!!

never know what they are going to do to you in the exam room!

the womens

fish out of water

ok...so this goes out as a plea to anyone who has been blogging for a while...

it is well known that my computer skills leave something to be desired (my ninja and nunchuck skills are superb) and i am left with a case of blog envy.

so rather than lurk and skulk around looking at much cuter blogs, i am just going to lay it out and hope for a response!

how and/or where do you get these cute banners and backgrounds? i just went with whatever blogger had on their site...but i love the cute backgrounds that many of my blogging friends have. i would also love a banner of sorts with our photos and the name...

anyways, you get my drift! i would love any advice you might offer!

mountains and molehills

the weekend forecast was thunderstorms with a chance of rain but that did not deter our intrepid group from making our annual pilgrimage to the north georgia mountains! this year we stayed at mebbie's parents beautimous cabin in cherry log, ga. we spent the weekend doing my favorite activities: bad movie watching (road house, part of megashark vs. giant octopus and the room), cooking/eating, sleeping late and game-playing (no one had the energy for cranium so we focused on dominos). sadly i could not partake in my other favorite activity (drinking) so the others more than made up for me! like flavor flav, they poured some out in my honor...but i think the excess ended up in benson's mouth...thanks guys for a wonderful weekend. however, i am not thanking you for reminding me that this might be the last trip when we are still young and carefree:(...the assumption is that i will basically be wearing breast pads for the next 10 years. thanks again!

on another note...
it seems that in the past 10 days i went from barely showing to having a bit of a mole hill. at first i thought this was a food baby, but it seems it is here to stay! since i went almost 5 months without gaining much girth, i have a feeling that the rapidity with which i will now grow might be astounding! i am imagining one of those puffer fish that blow up to scare away other fish fiends...

without much further ado, here are a few photos from the trip!

it's not a tumor (austrian accent)
not from the trip, but here i am at 20 weeks!

the bean! our original 2nd child

quail eggs to top the burgers

next door there were bison...

benson, pleased with his giant pink drink

part of the gang, i can almost hear mebbie's unmistakable laugh

the drink doctor, notice the socks people

i try not to think about the future

tonight we are going to visit some friends of ours who just had a precious baby boy. i am excited to see everyone, but i am strangely a little nervous as well. going to the hospital and seeing the needles, the tubes taped to hands...makes me more than a little freaked out. i guess this is the acknowledgment that at some point in the next 4 months that i am actually going to have to get this thing out of me! i know, i know...my fear is pretty pedestrian; but that doesnt make it any less visceral.

i guess i am really torn between two paths in approaching childbirth. i have spoken for years about the desire for a natural childbirth with no meds. there are so many reasons to approach it this way (that i am not going to list here!). then i read birth stories describing 4th degree tears (seriously cant even say that without gagging), women fainting from pain, and unbearable transitions and my intense fear of pain and childbirth bubbles to the surface and overruns all of my naturalistic intentions. no one likes pain, but i seriously get ill from just considering an episiotomy, let alone a tear. i have not had morning sickness my entire pregnancy, but i am nauseous right now, just writing about it. i hate feeling weak and delicate, but honestly these fears seem to override any rational thought i have in planning for childbirth! It makes me want to just schedule a c-section so that tearing is not a concern (i am not planning on that mom). i know those are such polar opposite birth plans...au natural or uber-invasive...

for now, i just need to calm down and go see a cute baby. i know it will remind me that in the end, i wont care how it got here but that it is healthy.

18 weeks...post meal. it really makes quite a difference!

17 weeks

17 weeks

morning sickness is not the only preggo side effect!

one question you are consistently peppered with when you talk to people about being pregnant is about your symptoms/side effects. i am guessing they would not ask unless they actually wanted to know, but i always hesitate before answering truthfully. i think the expected answer is one of a few variant strains- a) i feel great! b) i have been horridly sick...why yes, with morning sickness

unfortunately my symptoms have been wacko and not easily distilled into a 1 sentence reply...headaches are my constant companion. i have been really weak and pathetic, especially if i expend energy. i have fainting spells, the worst ones occurring at church! (presumably, it is the repetitive sitting and standing) after announcing these various maladies i generally have to explain my crazy low blood pressure, which hovers around a zombie-like slow shuffle, and that there really isnt much i can do about it. i doubt anyone actually wants to hear all this, but.....what else can i say?

it is all worth it when i think about the little gremlin i am currently hosting! i saw today that it is now as big as a sweet potato. i *think* i have been able to feel a few movements recently. of course, it is hard to discern with all the bowel issues pregnancy seems to bring! i have been thinking about the nursery a bit. i am bummed because i wanted to use the crib from my old nursery, but after the mass recall of all drop side cribs, i guess its not a good idea...i try to talk to benson about names, but i think he is going to hold out until the last minute. so far my lists looks like this with benson's edits:

benson steppenwolf ward : no
harrison belisarius ward : no
jimmy page ward : no
severus snape ward : no
john wayne ward : no

ok, obviously i prefer coming up with boy names! and no mom, i have not really serious....ok, maybe if benson would let me get away with it i would, but he is not about to undergo a lobotomy, so no worries!

as a side-note, i have been able to fully nerd it up this summer with my time off. between the eclipse movie, rereading the harry potters, and borrowing exciting new comics from my geeky comrade, i have been in heaven! i have always preferred graphic novels to comics, but if anyone is interested, the superman set in russia, with superman being the communist leader, is amazing! i think it was called red son or red dawn.

the artwork all looks like it could be from propaganda posters!!

jumping ship

i have mentioned to a couple people that i am considering switching my ob...and everyone reacts like this is sacrilege and i must be crazy. well i cant contend with the crazy part, but i am so excited about changing doctors.

my obsession with all things baby goes way back. i was researching midwives and doulas when i should have been considering china patterns! i want it to be an intimate experience for us, and i hope to be as mentally present as possible (meaning, hopefully, no drugs). of course i really dont want to make any hard and fast plans, because you know what they say happens when you tell God your plans! however, i want to make choices that make a natural birth with a doc i trust and care for as likely as possible.

i wasnt sure about where to go when we found out we were pregnant in april. i made an appt with atlanta obgyn based on good advice and hoped for the best. i am sure it is a great practice for some people....but remember, this is me you are talking about, not someone normal! i did not like that i saw different docs every time that i went for an appointment. i did not like the impersonal staff or the fact that i would be stuck with the doc on call for the night (1 of 7) and not the doc of my choice. i had almost 100% decided to jump ship when some insurance issues made the decision for me.

my new doc is dr. tate, who seems like a dream. he is known for not having taken a vacation in 13 years, for being a pillar of his local synagogue (he is orthodox) and for delivering babies other docs would decide to c-section. his wait times are notoriously long, but i think that is a small price to pay for a real relationship with your ob! i look forward to going through this experience with a doc i know is a man of faith.

so here i am; jumping ship. and smiling!

How many luddites does it take to upload some photos?

right when i found out....maybe 7 weeks!

at cassidy's bachelorette party...10 weeks

all the girlies for the bachelorette party

mebbie and cam, the besties, before a concert....about 13 weeks i think!

before the show... the milk jugs arrived before the baby bump!

the adorable husband...on a family trip to destin i think maybe 13 weeks

me and mums at sip and strokes!

me and carrie at a braves game! i think about 14 weeks...

Well...I think I figured it out...Now many I can update more regularly!

Bad blogger, bad!

Well...I only have one post and I am already a bad blogger. I didn't publish my first post until today though, so maybe this is not a harbinger of things to come!

I am 17 weeks pregnant today! At this point, we are starting to feel secure in the pregnancy...it was scary to tell people at first. I don't really look pregnant yet; instead it looks like I have a spare tire. I can't wait to actually have a baby bump! I think I have actually lost a little bit of weight in the past few weeks because I am walking an hour daily with my neighbor Carrie. This is definitely an improvement from my previous work-out regime! Anyone who knows me knows I hate to sweat and have tried to avoid exercise at all costs.

I am still jobless, but am planning on subbing once school starts. Hopefully it is not as stressful as I have heard...As an ex-teacher, I am not sure how I will handle subbing. I am not the type who can go in a classroom and just ignore the kids and do worksheets. So many subs just sit back and ignore the wild rumpus that ensues once the kids realize the teacher is out for the day. My room was always trashed when I came back from a day out! Well, we will see.....

I am going to try and attach some recent photos.....as you know (you being mom, the only person who will read this!) I am new to this so we will see if I can do it properly. Well, I tried and for some reason I can only attach one. So here is a boring old pic of me at 17 weeks. I think this was taken 8/4.