Pregnancy Update!

How Far Along? 34 weeks & 4 days w/ 38 days to go
Total Weight Gain? 27 lbs.
Sleep? Getting very uncomfortable... I wake up to turn from one side to another every 2 hours or so.
Best Moment This Week? Hearing from the doctor that I'd only gained 2 lbs... and my appointment was right after a heavy lunch at Olive Garden so maybe I really didn't gain any :)
Worst Moment This Week? All of the times I wake up with aching hips and have to roll over
Movement? Lots of movement still
Belly Button? Poking out a little bit now
What I Miss? I missed being able to drink a margarita on New Year's Eve
What I'm Looking Forward To? Dressing Reid in all his cute clothes and taking thousands of pictures
Weekly Wisdom? Drink more water.... stay away from salt.
Milestones? Able to identify specific body parts... a few nights ago I could feel two seperate little feet kicking from outside my stomach

Early Christmas!

Christmas came a little early for us this year since my husband will be deer hunting out of town the week before, and we'll be on the road all during the holidays. We still have one gift and our stockings to open Christmas night when we get home, but we wanted to go ahead and get most of our presents from each other so we can start enjoying them now!

Preggo Stats

I've been reading the pregnancy blog my cousin Megan at Oh, The Places We Will Go and decided to steal her pregnancy questionnaire when it dawned on me that I may want to remember these things, too. Love you Megan ;)


HOW FAR ALONG: 30 weeks & 5 days w/ 65 days to go
TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN: 20 lbs.
MATERNITY CLOTHES: usually wear skinny jeans (maternity), boots, and sweaters
SLEEP: getting more uncomfortable every night. Last night Reid tried to pry my ribs away from my body, or at least it felt like it!
BEST MOMENT THIS WEEK: hearing Ben refer to him as "our baby boy"... don't know why but it caught my breath
WORST MOMENT THIS WEEK: frantically prying my wedding rings off my very swollen finger
MOVEMENT: almost 24/7 and getting stronger
BELLY BUTTON: flush w/ my stomach but no stretch marks in sight
WHAT I MISS: being able to sleep on my stomach
WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO: holding Reid in a little over 9 wks.
WEEKLY WISDOM: see post below
MILESTONES: I think I felt the first hiccups yesterday

If You Want To Become Pregnant,

....be aware of this first:

most likely you will encounter more people offering their opinion to you without you having to ask than with any other milestone of your life. I have never been so shocked by advice from strangers or offended by rude remarks from people I do know when I never even asked for their opinion. Everyone has their own ideas and thinks they know best. Not all of those people push their ideas on you, but so many of them do. I have had everything from someone misquoting the Bible to try to persuade me to come to their same conclusion, to a stranger warning me that people can get a yeast infection on their nipples from breast feeding! I even have had obese people tell me I am getting too fat! This is going to happen to all of us pregnant women at one point or the other, so just be prepared! Also, remember all the unsolicited advice you received the next time you run across a pregnant woman with different outlooks than yours. The flip side is that you will hopefully also receive wonderful advice, willingness to listen to your ideas too, and a whole lot of support from wonderful friends and family members like I have as well.

Pregnancy Update!

Almost 31 weeks now and feeling more excited everyday! Some of the "dreaded pregnancy symptoms" I've heard about are finally starting to pop up.... my hands and feet swell when they decide to, sleeping is getting uncomfortable, and I am losing the burst of energy I've had for the past few months. Here is the most recent picture of my big belly.... I think I could pass for much more further along than I really am!

I get a sonogram Tuesday to see how Reid looks and if he's decided to flip around from his breech position.... I sure hope so b/c I want to have a totally natural delivery, but not unless things line up the way they're supposed to! ;)

Potluck Thanksgiving Manners...

This is the second year in a row that my husband and I will host Thanksgiving at our house. I really do enjoy doing it and I'm not as stressed out this year because our house does not resemble a construction zone quite as closely as it did last year. The stressful part is organizing the menu list, which brings me to the point of this post...

I want to inform all of you of an important potluck piece of etiquette that I have realized not everyone is aware of-

Bring a dish in relation to the number of people you are bringing and how much those people eat.

There needs to be a positive correlation there. This means that if you are bringing 2-3 kids and a spouse it's not okay to just bring chips and dip, etc. If you feed 4-5 people for about $5, that is not okay. Why? Because that leaves other people making up for your cheap ass by compensating for your stingy food choice. It's okay to bring chips and dip... but you need to bring a side dish along with it!

The lesson I learned here is that next year I need to be a lot more direct on assigning dishes instead of asking everyone what they want to bring. And if I ever had been a cheap person at potlucks (which I haven't... I love bringing things!) I would have learned this very important lesson through hosting Thanksgiving myself. Most of the guests that come to our house for Thanksgiving know this rule of thumb very well, but just not all of them!

Please reference this very funny story about Stan, The Potluck Freeloader

My First Baby Shower

Two of my best friends threw me an amazing shower last week in Hattiesburg. I had a lot of fun and so many of my friends and family were able to come! I was right at 27 weeks.

I See You!!

This week something very, very cool happened! I was logging something into my Blackberry and holding my phone down near my lap when I saw a wave move across my stomach! And then a little kick! I didn't realize you could actually see the baby moving from the outside! It kinda looks like I am infested with aliens, but I remind myself that it's just Reid and it's cool again ;)

Happy Halloween!

Since I'm 6 months pregnant, I didn't want to go out for Halloween this year so we had a party here at our house! Ben and I dressed as white trash parents (my beer is just a prop! So are our tattoos and Ben's teeth "bling"!). Here are some party pictures!

Our white trash (fake) tattoos of each other's names

To My Husband:

I'm onto your game.... you know you can't keep a secret from me! I have known for quite a while that you're using my deodorant and toothbrush again. The curly hairs and chewing tobacco remnants gave you away. I don't mind so much, but please at least try to be sneaky and remove your armpit hairs and rinse my toothbrush a little better afterwards. Thank you.

Remember The Animals, Too!

The holidays are coming up soon and everyone should be thinking about how they can help those less fortunate. Since we don't have national holidays that really get people thinking about helping pets, I like to always include them in my holiday charities I participate in.

This list is a general idea of how you can help local animals by taking steps to prevent animal cruelty and pet overpopulation. It ranges from giving a little time or money to a lot. Everyone has something different they can offer. The list is from this post.

Here are some ways you can help:

1. Check with the local animal shelter before you buy a pet from a breeder. If you want a pure bred animal, you're in luck! Shelters have purebreds also, so you can get a good deal on one. If you are renting or don't have the neccessary time it takes to train a puppy, please visit the shelter and adopt an adult. MANY of the dogs have lived in homes before and are owner surrenders, so they know how to live inside. They also are the most in need of homes.

2. SPAY or NEUTER your pets! Even if you aren't planning on breeding, "accidents" happen all of the time. Even if your pet has only one litter, you are directly contributing to the sad overcrowding in our shelters today. Even if you find all of their offspring homes, those were homes that maybe could've gone to a shelter animal already in need.

*** If you are in the Hattiesburg, MS area, visit the Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic. These are everywhere, so just search for one in your area.

3. Use Goodsearch instead of Google to search the internet, and you can help donate money to local charities. Go to http://www.goodsearch.com/ and pick your charity. If you don't know your local shelter or they aren't listed, then search for animal shelters and just pick any random one! Everytime you search for a specified charity, the site donates money. You can even look to see how much you've raised.

4. If you have the extra time, money, and heart for it, become a foster. If you have a favorite breed, look up the national club and volunteer to be a foster for misplaced animals of that breed. If you don't have a specific breed you love, then you can volunteer to foster for a local shelter.

5. Donate your time or money to a local animal shelter. If you'd rather not give cash, all of them need dog food, cat food, blankets, paper towels, bath towels, light bulbs, garbage bags, 409, laundry detergent, etc.

**Click the "Help Prevent Animal Cruelty" link at the top of my blog for more info.

Blog Carnival Round-Up

One of my favorite things about blogging is participating in Blog Carnivals!

These require you to link your relevant post to their Mr. Linky (where other guests can view your link) on a certain day of the week, and link back to their original post. They are so useful either for getting great ideas, finding people w/ similar interests, getting traffic to your page, giving you an idea of what to blog about, etc.

Here is a list of the blog carnivals I know of (and I participate in most of them too). Just visit these blogs and if you like their carnival idea, subscribe to their blog so you know when to include your post on their page.

WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAYS @ We Are That Family

RECIPE SWAP @ The Grocery Cart Challenge

TALK TO ME TUESDAY @ Tip Junkie

POST-IT NOTE TUESDAY @ Wanna Be SupahMommy

SHOPPING CART ROUNDUP @ The Grocery Cart Challenge

MENU PLAN MONDAY @ I'm An Organizing Junkie

If you have or know of another blog carnival, please leave a comment and let me know about it so I can add it to my list!