Windows into other Worlds

I have to confess something..I am a lurker! I LOVE other people's blogs, especially the professional, well written blogs filled with beautiful photos, interesting stories and incredible talent. I am addicted. I will find myself clicking on blogs at the most inappropriate times (like work for example). I can't get enough. I will click onto one of these blogs and totally get lost in its content. It is like peering into someone else's world. I can't get enough. It makes me wonder what it is about my personality that absolutely loves learning about others. I have always loved people. I love going to the airport. It is true. I love to watch others. I love to strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger and learn about their life. "Where are you traveling". "Where is home". It is just a tiny sliver of that person that you get to glimpse. I will never see that person again, but I have met someone new and for a moment shared a conversation with them. It is incredible the amount of people who live in this world and I love being able to glimpse the life of one more person. Am I strange or crazy perhaps? What is it that draws me to the wider world?

I love watching documentaries about real people from boys learning opera in Africa, to female journalists in Iraq, to homeless youth in Utah. It absolutely fascinates me. Now, I'm not talking about reality television where people are thrown together to create drama of the very unreal kind. I am talking about real people in their very own real element. It is amazing! What is it about other peoples lives that is so fascinating? Is it the feeling of connection? Is it learning of a person that you never knew existed before? What is it?

What is funny is for a living I actually listen to recorded phone calls. Now granted these are business calls, not personal ones. All day I listen to other people talk and converse. What made me end up with a job where I am an observer of human interaction? Granted, I then end up judging these people. I have to make comments like "Please remember to speak with enthusiasm" or "Remember to use the caller's name at least once during the call". It just makes me wonder why do I enjoy watching others so much. Wes said the other day that I should be a psychologist because I am so observant with what is going on with a person. We had just had a conversation about him and he was surprised by how much I had noticed. I guess it gives me something to think about. For now though I really should get back to work. I should just put my giant headphones on and start the audio rolling. That is why I a paid. My cubicle will be my world for the rest of the day and I will AVOID browsing the wider world that exists outside of mine.

1/3 of the Way

If you are tired of hearing of this pregnancy already, I apologize, but this is one of the only ways I will remember it. My pregnancies with my girls is now just a blur, except for the the last 8 weeks with Adelle thanks to those great contractions. This is not going to turn into a pregnancy blog I promise. We have Lydia's birthday party this weekend and our family vacation next week, so don't worry you'll have other things to read about.

I am now 13 weeks and 1/3 of the way through. I am so excited that next week I will be starting my second trimester. I have had spotting off and on since week 6 and it has made me nervous at times. I know that being this far along has greatly reduced my chances of things going wrong. I have spoken to other mothers who had the same issues in their pregnancies and still went on to have healthy babies. My doctor isn't overly concerned and thinks things are going well, especially since we saw my little one at my first appointment.

I have found that my internal worrying has somehow manifested myself to my girls. Aren't kids perceptive! They have worried about the baby as well and Adelle one day asked if the baby could die. It made me realize even more that I need to relax and enjoy the pregnancy. It is becoming easier now that I am further along.

I will on occasion feel my little baby move. I remember what it felt like with my girls and it is such an exciting moment when it happens. I am looking forward to feeling my baby move on a regular basis when I get further along.

I rarely get morning sickness anymore, which is wonderful. I do get more hungry than usual and I still have cravings. I really tend to lean towards Italian food. I made one of my favorite childhood foods the other day, tetrazzini, and absolutely loved every bite and consumed all of the leftovers over the next couple of days. It reminded me of my mother since she was the one that made it for me as a girl. I miss her, but I know she is happy where she is. I feel like she is watching over my little baby.

I still get bouts of tiredness and often fall asleep on the couch in the evening for a little while before waking up, hanging with Wes, and then heading to bed. My family has been very patient with this!

This last Saturday I broke down and went clothes shopping. I found great bargains and I am so happy I will have cute, comfortable clothes to wear especially while I am gone on vacation. I have found that if my clothes are too tight it will actually cause spotting. Gotta love it, NOT! So I was especially motivated to get some new things. I usually HATE clothes shopping but for some reason I had a total blast finding stuff for myself on my solo shopping trip.

I am still exercising when I can, even though I have totally lost my previous fitness level. I tried a prenatal yoga DVD and couldn't walk properly for two days afterwards. It was a great workout that I think would really benefit me, if I can get brave enough to do it on a regular basis. I usually don't want anyone in the room when I do it though because it involves some vocalizations, arm flapping, and at times dancing in strange ways while imagining you are giving birth to your baby in a forest surrounded my caring women. You think I'm kidding? I'm not! Wes won't admit it, but I think he finds it hilarious! I can't really blame him! It is a bit embarrassing, but I find that I feel relaxed afterwards while at the same time using muscles that rarely get any sort of real work anymore.

I am so grateful for my little baby and we pray for it every day. Wes has been a very supportive, loving husband. He has been right there with me as I have stressed or haven't felt well. The girls are getting more excited all the time. Adelle still has questions. Last night I had to explain how the baby gets out. She seemed okay with how that happens. I remember telling Lydia years back and she vowed right then that she didn't want to have kids. I did make it much simpler with Adelle and she didn't ask if it hurt like Lydia did years ago.

I was asked the other day if my girls will be attending the birth and my answer was "Absolutely Not!". I don't want my girls to see me that way. Let them keep their innocence. Besides, it can be very distracting to have others in the room because then you are worried about them. It is a time that I will just need to focus on myself and what is going on. Besides, remember how they do with blood? Can you imagine them getting ill or passing out? It will very likely just be Wes and I, and the doctors and nurses OF COURSE. We probably won't have any other relatives. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all of you, but prefer to keep it something between the two of us. This is especially true when you are having a natural birth when focusing is key :)

I am really looking forward to the next 27 weeks and can't wait to meet my little one. There is much that needs to be done around the house before we welcome our baby though. We need to turn the family/play room downstairs into the girls' new room. There are purchases to be made, walls to be painted, organizing to be done and furniture to be moved. I am hoping the walls will be painted by the end of the summer so they can dry well. Our basement is not known for warmth. It is an absolute icebox in the winter, which means I am hoping to find super warm comforters for the girls.

Well here's to the next 2/3 of the pregnancy!

My Crafty Moment

Last November I suddenly got a hankering to sew. Moments like this are VERY rare. I can often lose patience with a project, especially when my back starts killing me after hours of cutting fabric and leaning over a sewing machine. I did decide though to do a simple project. I have often seen chic nursing covers and have thought "I want one of those". Of course I could NEVER justify spending forty to fifty dollars on one since a simple blanket would really do the job. I did some research though and found information on how to make your own. I of course have now lost the link, but maybe with some digging I could find it again. I am just posting this project now because I figured if I posted it in November everyone would wonder if I was pregnant, which I wasn't. I knew we wanted another baby and I thought "why not". Wes thought I was a little crazy "planning ahead", but it didn't deter me.


I did subject my poor family though to an hour or so of wandering up and down rolls and rolls of fabric. I think Wes was ready to pull his hair out, even though he usually likes the fabric store. I wanted to find just the right fabric, something chic and beautiful. This of course takes time, especially because I can be so indecisive. I settled on this beautiful green fabric that is embroidered with butterflies. I didn't want anything that would overly suggest a girl or a boy, since obviously I had no idea what we were going to have someday.
This was the finished product. A simple, but very functional cover.

I loved the ingenious idea of putting a small strip of boning in between the neck straps. This allows the top to slightly open out allowing for air flow and for you to see the baby while nursing. The straps were very simple to make, even with my limited skills and allows you to adjust the cover as needed.

This less than glamorous photo with me wearing the cover was taken back in November. I was very proud of my project though and so happy I was able to make something all on my own, without even nagging Wes too much about how to do it. It was pretty inexpensive and all in all I think the project only took about 4 hours. I am sure some of you could make it even quicker. Well at least if I won't look chic after the baby is born, I will have a chic cover for my baby. Silly I know! The great thing too is that there is lots of "coverage"! .

By the way...I dug around and found the link http://www.blisstree.com/breastfeeding123/free-pattern-to-sew-your-own-nursing-cover/. If you have a friend or family member that is expecting and nurses this would be a FABULOUS gift and super inexpensive!

Happy Hula Girl

Grandma Ellen came home from Hawaii last night. Lucky woman to be in Hawaii for a week and a half. She even flew part of the trip first class thanks to her sister's frequent flyer miles. Some day we'll go there right? Some day....anyway...she came bearing gifts last night when she visited which was so sweet. She brought the girls a few things, but one of the gifts was a hula girl outfit. Can't you imagine putting this little one on your dashboard? Just kidding! I would have subjected Lydia to pictures, but she is in Denver this week. Welcome home Ellen! We missed you!

My First Prenatal Appointment

Well, today the whole family packed into the car and headed to my first prenatal appointment. They informed me when I made my appointment that they would be doing an ultrasound, so I though it might be fun if we all went. I LOVE my doctor. She is absolutely wonderful, caring and warm. Her office staff is also exceptionally great! Every time I have called the office with concerns they are quick to help me out.

The doctor powered up the ultrasound machine and sure enough we got to see our little one.

The baby was bouncing and moving around and we could see a strong heartbeat. There is nothing like seeing your little baby. It is such a happy moment! The whole family was excited. It is such a relief to know that the baby is healthy and well. One surprising thing though is the doctor measured the baby at 12 weeks and 2 days instead of 10 weeks and 5 days. She decided to move up my due date slightly (based on the first ultrasound which showed me 6 days ahead), so now I am due 12/22/08 instead of 12/28/08. Woo Hoo! I can't complain about that. I wonder if the baby will come on it's due date. If it does I should be home by Christmas Eve. We'll have to see. There is of course the possibility that the due date could move up again if the baby continues to measure ahead.

I feel so happy that my baby is doing well and I'm looking forward to future appointments. My next ultrasound won't be until I'm 19 to 20 weeks along. At that scan we will be able to find out what the baby is. Yeah for ultrasounds! Seeing that picture makes every thing about pregnancy so worth it!

Lydia the Great!

So school has officially ended for the year and I am so proud of my girl. She got 100% attendance for the year, straight A's, a Gold Medal for reading, and 100% on all of her spelling tests for the year. Since she did so well we took her out to her absolute favorite restaurant. Tepanyaki! It is expensive, but that is what we promised her if she got 100% spelling for the year. We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed watching the chef prepare our meals right in front of us. Lydia totally deserved it! We love her so much!!!!

Adelle found a vent and was our own little Marilyn Monroe.

Congrats again Lydia! You're my hero!!

What does an attorney do...

After a very busy, stressful day in court? This is it! He totally loses himself in the nature that surrounds him. I gently interrupted him when the rain started falling. Who knows how long he would have stayed out there.
Adelle wanted to join in the fun as well.