19 Weeks and Counting

So I'm officially calling an end to my blogging hiatus.  I just posted three posts that were supposed to go up weeks ago, but since I've been completely engrossed with life here lately, I failed to put them out there for the world to see at appropriate times. An excuse that's been popping up a lot lately? "No one cares what I think. Does anyone really even read that stuff anyway?" Just call me Debby Downer. Whomp whomp.

When I say that life has been getting into the way, I mean that life really is starting to take over. Aside from the Christmas play that my husband and I were in, the many Christmas shindigs I've had to prepare something for, the Christmas shopping/wrapping mayhem, trying to find some crib bedding that won't put us in the poor house, the torture of thinking about something like Shady Hook happening in our schools, and the crescendo of chaos at work, I've been getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And with largeness comes slowness. And largeness and slowness are always friends with wardrobeless. When you think you have something to wear, your body just changes a little more the next week and says, "Oops. My bad. I thought you knew..."

Back to the holidays...

They've always been a paradox, haven't they? We storm around like paratroopers hunting for sales and the "right stuff" to get our friends and family just so we can see their happy faces when they open their presents. We make that twelfth trip to the grocery store just so we can make that special dish Aunt Ida loves oh so much, and we endure endless road rage all while traveling to destinations that are supposed to provide us all these warm, fuzzy feelings. When it comes down to it, we are pretty much governed by the all mighty dollar if you haven't figured that out for yourself yet. And this just downright makes me want to say, "Grrrr..." It's unavoidable, really; there's not much we can do about it. It's just there...hiding behind our shoulder like a creepy stranger in the mall. It's not going anywhere any time soon. Christmas shouldn't be about money! Aaaggghhh... (Why do we do this to ourselves?) It sucks out every drop of the real reason why we even celebrate Christmas to begin with: priceless love!

And then you have crazy people out there who cause such devastation as occurred in Newtown, CT. That just plain ole makes you wonder about life and what has become of it. Something so heinous and horrible happening to babies? "No. That would never happen..." But that's what's happening in our world today, folks. I've been looking at my own life thinking about how that any second, everything could be taken away from me just like it has been done to so many other families this past week. There was even a homicide of a family friend in my home town this past week! Every single breath is such a blessing, and we take it for granted every single day. We all do from time to time, but travesties such as these always promise to put things in perspective for us--if we let them. Someone always has it worse than we do, and someone's heart is always a little more broken than ours. What a wake-up call...

Pregnancy this week...

The downside...

My hair is extremely long, but it's frizzy since all this new hair is growing. It's poking out all over my head in little short clumps.

My nails are like Wolverine's. They're growing like crazy thanks to those prenatals.

My calf muscles cramp up during the night.

My back is killing me now...even if I just walk a couple of miles.

My face is still broken out.

On the upside...

My appetite isn't as finicky as usual. Peanut butter and gum are now regulars in my diet again.

I've gotten a little more daring with what I eat. I actually bought some decaf coffee and put one pack of Splenda in it. And you can't say no when pumpkin-spice creamer is dangling in your face at the grocery store. I'm not going to feel bad about this, people! Let me enjoy all 5 mg. of caffeine, please!

The baby kicks all the time, especially when Heath and I are talking on the couch at night around 7:30. I don't know if he recognizes our voices or if he has just woken up from a nap or something, but he kicks like crazy.

The baby is now at a stage where he can hear and recognize our voices (as I alluded to above), so I've been reading to him while I walk on the treadmill. I've been reading him Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Who knows if he can hear anything substantial. I'm guessing I probably sound like the adults off of Charlie Brown, just to be honest. But let me have fun!

My next doctor's appointment is Thursday. I don't even care how much weight I've gained at this point. I just want to know that my sweet boy is doing well.

Sorry for the all-over-the-place, unorganized post. That's what's happening inside my head right now; imagine how I feel!

Now for a quick after-school walk with Heath and Lola...