Christmas 2008

Roy and I opened our gifts on the Sunday before Christmas. I know this is a terrible pic, but each year Roy and I always take a pic of ourselves, so it's kind of a tradition. Cleo got her present first!

Roy gave me some great gifts and stocking stuffers. See all those bath fizzie balls? Those will be really nice and relaxing in the next few months, assuming I can actually get out of the tub once I am in it!

I gave Roy a French press and a coffee bean grinder, along with some other things (like the scotch - when he opened it, his first words were, "I can take this to the hospital with me." LOL)

On Sunday night, we met with a group of friends we hadn't seen in a long time. I forgot my camera, of course, so no pics, but it was wonderful to catch up with their lives, laugh together, eat too much, and play with the kids. When one friend (Justin) saw my belly, he said, "Now that's a side of you I never thought I would see!" David was gracious and told me I am not very big at all. I LOVED that! We sure missed our friends from CO and AR being there though... We love you Yocums and Fortners!

On Monday we left for OK. On our way, we stopped in Waxahachie to see my college roommate and her dog Pickles. It was great to chat and to watch our dogs play. On Tuesday, I received a special treat: my mom, niece, and I all got pedicures!

My mom gave me some pajamas for Christmas. I just love them, but look at my belly!!! It has really grown these last few weeks. I suppose the polka dots don't flatter.

Here's another pic of the baby bump ... I love black! It truly doesn't show the enormousness of my belly! In reference to my belly, my sister said, "It's not gigantic." Hmm, that doesn't sound like a compliment to me, though she swore it was! Another lady told me, "You're getting fat" about three times. I just love people! LOL

Cleo enjoyed opening her gifts from the family, too!

I just love my niece and nephew! They are both growing up so fast, and it makes me feel old. Aren't they cuties? We also had a great time with Roy's family. We were able to see Sumer, his sister whom we had not seen in a couple of years; she has grown up to be a beautiful young lady. I am so glad she is back home, so Warren can know his Aunt Sumer.

Seeing Cristy and Keara is always a highlight of our trip. Roy taught Keara to say "coconut/banana butt" - what are uncles for, anyway?

On Sunday, I had my first baby shower! I received many nice gifts and was so excited to see my friends and family and enjoy my special day with them. My mom and I got a pic together at the shower. I think it was our only pic together the whole trip. (By the way, the shirt I have on in this pic buttoned up last week, but it was too tight to button this week, so I took my mom's suggestion and just proudly let the belly hang out.) We came back home yesterday, the 29th, and today Roy is at work and I am supposed to be cleaning the house. Ha! I did put away all the baby gifts I received, so it hasn't been a total loss. We are having company over for dinner tonight, so I really need to get motivated. I still have to go to the grocery store...
To all of you - Merry Christmas!

12 Things My Girlfriends Never Told Me About Being Pregnant

1. You have to turn your foot sideways to get socks or pantyhose on.

2. You have to spread your legs wide when you try to get into the car, so your belly has a place to go.

3. You can no longer cross your legs because your belly is too hard and too big.

4. You have a consistent worry about the cord getting wrapped around the baby's neck, so you poke and prod your belly daily to be sure the baby is still moving.

5. You have an immediate camaraderie with any woman that is pregnant.

6. You can no longer safely trim your pubic hair - ouch!

7. The feeling of the baby being inside of you is so amazing, you are willing to have twelve children just to feel this way again.

8. Your breasts can leak during pregnancy, not just while breastfeeding.

9. Your private parts don't look normal anymore.

10. You can no longer take a bath without having trouble getting up out of the tub.

11. Your belly becomes a handy armrest.

12. People look at your belly instead of your face.

Xmas Spirit Is Here!

This week Roy and I went out Christmas shopping two nights in a row! Then last night I got home late from school, and when I did Roy left to go buy MY presents. A few minutes after that, I got in the car and drove up to the liquor store to get him some stocking-sized scotch. He had run out a while back, and he kept teasing me saying that I should just give him a good bottle of scotch for Xmas. I told him I had already bought all of his gifts except for his stocking, and I was not going to spend $60 on a bottle of scotch to put in his stocking.

Well... I got to the store and they had the perfect stocking stuffer - three small bottles of scotch, each a different kind, in a cute little box. It was only $25, so I snatched it up. After that, I went to Sonic and got an extra long cheese coney, rings, and a strawberry malt (all for Warren, of course), and went back home all proud of myself.

I spent a couple hours wrapping all of the gifts we had bought this week, including Roy's stocking gifts. An hour or so later he came home with my gifts and ... yep, you guessed it - a bottle of scotch!!!! Ugh! He said he deserved it for getting all A's this semester. I agreed that he did and just left it at that. I didn't give away my surprise. I guess it will make it all the more humorous when we open gifts.

Oh ya, I am trying to get him to have our Xmas tonight, since we have a party tomorrow and we're leaving Mon. morning for Ponca. Xmas spirit is here! Finally!

Since I didn't put up a tree this year, we just put our gifts for family under the piano...

and our gifts to each other (and one for Cleo!) in Warren's cradle.

No Motivation

Roy told me this week that I have thrown him for a loop. He had just realized that I had not yet bought any Christmas gifts for his side of the family, and that I hadn't been bugging him incessantly to go and buy my gifts and let me open them early. In fact, he said I don't seem to even have any Christmas spirit - I haven't even put up the Christmas tree or any decorations! My response? I told him we still have plenty of time to shop - one week! It's crazy for me, I know. I am usually obsessed and driven crazy by the anticipation of opening gifts. I guess Warren is making me unmotivated or less stressed. Hormones. Anyway, we went out tonight and did some Christmas shopping. It was fun. Perhaps my Christmas spirit wasn't gone, just delayed.

Last weekend Roy put up the new curtain rods and valances in Warren's room. I moved the crib in the corner, and I like it a lot this way.

I just love the puppies!

A couple of weeks ago I found these outfits for Warren. Too cute to pass up.

I can't believe I am almost in my third trimester. Where has the time gone? I am having my first baby shower on the 28th. It is in Ponca with my family. I am excited! In fact, I should go and take a peek at my online registries to see if I can find out what I will be getting! (See, that gift-getting obsession hasn't really left me!)

Week of Woes and other Random Thoughts

This has just not been my week! Sunday my neck/shoulder muscle threw a fit and my ribs on the right side were killing me ... I got meds for the muscle and it and the ribs are better.

Yesterday, however.... I chipped a tooth on a piece of garlic toast at school!!!! It was my back molar on the bottom right. Thankfully there was no pain, and I was able to go to the dentist today. It only took 30mins and $50 to build up the tooth, so I was happy about that, but still ... this has not been my week! Have I mentioned that the a/c compressor went out on my Kia two weeks ago? Oh ya, it's only $875 to fix!

So let's calculate: $875 car + $50 tooth + $25 muscle relaxers + $300 in missed work = TOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would say, "What else can go wrong?" but perhaps I should take my mom's advice and not even go there! LOL

Sometimes the old "S*** Happens" bumper stickers are really true. I guess it's how we respond to those happenings that's most important. You would think that I would be depressed about all of this, but I'm not. I am just laughing about it all. Perhaps having this wonderful baby boy growing inside of me and moving and kicking is just what I need right now to keep my sanity.

Some good news, though, is that Roy will be working part time for RCS over the winter break. That's the great company he worked for before he got into Baylor for the Ph.D program.

Can you believe I only have a little more than 3.5mths before I hold my baby?! Where is the time going? My belly is really growing these days. Some days I can actually feel my skin stretching, and I just wonder if I will pop. I am now bumping into things (and people!) with my belly, and my students are bumping into my belly, too. Everyday someone says, "Look at that growing belly, Mrs. Garton," as if I can't see it myself. One teacher actually told me I was growing wider! Now that's what every pregnant woman wants to hear! LOL

I can no longer groom my pubic hair because I can't really see it. Guess I will have to get a mirror, cause there is no way I am trusting my husband with a razor down there!!!! My toes look terrible because I can't sit scrunched up to paint them, and I have to turn my leg sideways to get my socks on now because my belly is too big and tight to lift my leg up straight in front of me. I am even having to get into my car differently because I just can't fold up like I used to. I can see inside of my belly button, though it hasn't yet become an outie, and I am pleased to see that it is clean and rather perfectly shaped, if I do say so myself. LOL My breasts are still growing and leaking, so much so that I am now wearing nursing pads during the day. Roy still thinks it's gross, but he is dealing well with the leakage.

We are having one of Roy's professors and his family over for dinner on Saturday. I am making baby back ribs, cheesy bacon potatoes, bacon wrapped green beans, and cherry dump cake. Gotta impress the prof, ya know. :)

We have not yet finished our Xmas shopping, and I haven't even put up our tree this year. We will be in Oklahoma with our families from the 22-29th, and then back home for a few days before school starts up again for me.

Talk about a book! This is way too long of a blog post...

Major Pains!

Okay, this is just a "poor me" post...

I have had a very painful day today. My right neck/shoulder muscle went nuts today and starting hurting so severely I could barely move w/o losing my breath. It was so bad I was actually crying. Roy got me set up with the heating pad, and I have been off and on it for hours. Thankfully, the muscle has relaxed somewhat and the pain is not so bad... in my neck/shoulder, that is... Now on to my next severe pain - my ribs!!! For the past couple of weeks, I have had a bruising feeling in my ribs on the right side, but today, I began to have severe pain there. Sneezing is practically unbearable. I have looked it up on a community baby site for pregnant moms, and it seems I am not alone with this rib pain. I had mentioned it to my OB last week, and he said it was normal due to all my organs having to move up to make room for Warren. I read about a stretching exercise that could help, so I am going to try that before bed tonight. Anyone have any other suggestions for me aside from "grin and bear it." I suppose it's good practice for labor pains... Roy reminded me tonight that I have no tolerance for pain. I told him I never really had to deal with physical pain in my life (unlike my sister who had pain from arthritis since she was 12, and now is the Incredible Hulkette of pain tolerance) except for stomach pain off and on as a kid, so I guess my body just doesn't know how to react to it. I am so glad for the option of an epidural in four months!

...I am editing this post on Monday to say that my neck did not get better overnight. Ugh. I nearly passed out from the pain twice this morning, so Roy talked me into staying home from work by reminding me how bad it would be if I passed out in my classroom. I called my OB and he called in a muscle relaxer (Flexerall, or something like that), and Roy is at the pharmacy right now picking it up for me. I am sitting on the couch leaning on a heating pad and checking email. My hope is that I will be knocked out by the muscle relaxer. Roy is staying with me, so I am being well taken care of. Sweet man of mine.

22 Weeks Dr. Appt.

I had my doctor's appointment today, and once again, everything looked good. My blood pressure was 112/70, and I have gained a total of 13lbs, six of which have been in the last four weeks! Yikes! I heard the baby's heartbeat again, which was great, but it was cool because he kicked while we were listening. Oh, and also, I was having a contraction in the doctor's office, even though I didn't know it. My doctor felt it and was explaining it all to me. He measured my belly this time, though I forgot to ask how big it was, and we went ahead and set all my appointments through 36weeks. He told me I will likely deliver in our new hospital, which he said is very nice and the rooms are large. He said I will have the blood sugar test at 28weeks. My next appointment is Jan. 2.

I feel like it's already Christmas for Warren. Today I got his puppy bedding, the matching valances, and his stroller in the mail. I got the bedding from babiesrus.com for $40 less than what I had originally paid at target.com, plus they gave me a free stroller! The funny part was trying to figure out how to get the stroller unfolded. We finally did, but I must admit, I couldn't get it to collapse again, so it is staying open for a while!

I just couldn't wait to see the cute puppy bedding! I put it on the crib immediately, and I love it! The puppies are a different texture, too, which will be great when Warren can recognize textures.

I must say I really have no complaints about being pregnant, though I am experiencing some of the aches and pains of growing: My rib cage often feels like it is badly bruised, like someone has tried to pry it apart with a crowbar; I don't fit in between places like I used to due to my belly; I seem to spill stuff on my belly daily; my breasts are leaky faucets at night; and I have no motivation to clean house. ... wait, take that last one off - it has nothing to do with being pregnant; I just hate housecleaning! LOL

Random Posting

My parents have gone home, and life is back to its normal routine. The kids at school today were crazy. They had horrible attitudes and made me ask, "Is it legal to strangle my students?" LOL I know it's just because they have been at home for 5 days w/o any structure or discipline, but still, it was a draining day.

Before my parents left, I was able to get some pics of them:

My daddy next to the cradle he made for Warren. (See those blankets? My Mom made those!)

My parents, obviously.

Mom and I spent lots of time talking about Warren, and she got to feel him move a few times, too. (Please ignore my hat head and pale face in this pic! We had been shopping all day.)

I told Daddy that at Christmastime, we will have to take a pic belly to belly - I bet mine will still be smaller, though it feels massive to me right now.

My mom helped me make curtains for our bathrooms while she was here. She is a talented seamstress, but I, on the other hand, am just a lazy wannabe. She kept trying to get me to do things the right way, and I kept trying to talk her out of wasting my time doing it right. LOL It was quite funny - esp. when my lines were all crooked and, as you can see in the pic, my hems were not even either. Anyway, the curtains are complete and I am happy - that's all that matters, right? Keep the pregnant woman happy.

On Saturday, after Mom and Dad left, I made some white pecan pralines. They are super easy and taste so yummy - Warren seems to like them, too!

I am feeling Warren move more often these days. Normally during the school day I only feel him move when I sit down and lean forward to type, but today I felt him about four times just while I was walking around the classroom. Being pregnant is such a cool experience. I told Roy I can understand why some people (not mentioning any names, Yocums and Seiferts!) have so many kids it seems they are trying to repopulate the earth - it just feels awesome to have a baby inside of you! I could do this pregnancy thing more than twice, for sure - but according to Roy, that's not going to happen! LOL