Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Too busy to blog

Timing contractions.

Hoping for the best.

But it's been 2 hrs of irregular contractions....

So I don't have my hopes up.

Too high.

Monday, January 30, 2012

A Picture Post

This weekend was an exciting whirlwind of last minute baby-welcoming activities.

My sweet Georgia girls were kind enough to throw me a peach of a shower!

(HARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! That was a good one, right???)




And I totally reacquainted myself with the color pink.



Yes, that IS tissue paper between my knees...you can never be too prepared, I always say!!!

(Please pardon the blur, but my photographer was having a difficult time keeping me still for very long after I licked all the sugar off the rim of my glass...mm, mm, good!)

And then there was the adorableness that is personalized diapers.


And then, as if all that love and joy wasn't enough for one weekend....

We followed it up with a little maternity shoot.


(Little Man was totally distracted by the choo choo train in the distance, but who cares!!!)






And now, it's official.

Baby girl doesn't have to wait anymore.

She can come any time now.

Of course, I say that, and then stop having the contractions that I've been having for 3 weeks straight....

Free Purex Samples

You know how much I love my Purex Samples!

And now it's your turn to try them out!

Head on over here to get your free samples now!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 37 and Counting

It's been a few weeks (3, to be exact) since I was accountable to myself for my preggo largeness...

And in the meantime, I've been chomping on bon bon's and chicken marsala.

NOT.

But I have still managed to put on a little weight.

Despite the fact that I have upped my workouts from 3-4 per week to 5-6 per week.

And in case you are wondering what this moo-cow momma looks like these days and you aren't a Facebook follower, here ya go:

Last week's pic:

And this week's unfair comparison:


Yes, I look way bigger in the Now pic.  Thankyouverymuch.

But it's also not zoomed out by about 20 feet.

However, I do have a number for you.

A shameful number, but a number all the same.

As of this week, I weigh 179.2 lbs.

Meaning I have, at 37 weeks, gained 40.6 lbs.

Not on target for my goal, but not nearly as bad as last pregnancy.

I am continuing to workout like a banshee to try to keep the weight off and hopefully, this stuff will come off quickly once Baby Girl finds her way into the real world!

Wish me luck!!!

Either way, it should all be over soon and we can move on to our normally scheduled programming, right????

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Helpful How-To: Putting Some Elbow Behind my Degreasing

It's been a little over a month since we moved into our little rental.

And life is good.

Not perfect, perhaps, but good.

But there are things that come with living in a rental that are never quite what you imagined them to be.

And one of them just happens to be cleaning up someone else's messes.

Not that I enjoy it, just that it came with this territory.

And today, of all days, I could take it no more.

Mostly because the grossness was getting to me.

Let me explain.

In our little rental kitchen, we have a little rental stove top.

And above that is a little rental vent hood.


From 1972.

But whatever.

It's fine from this angle.

But get a little closer and you might notice a dirty little secret this vent hood was trying to hide.


That's grease.


Underneath my vent hood.


Let's zoom out, shall we?


And that's AFTER I scrubbed it for a good 20 minutes.

It's disgusting.

But then I remembered a little something my momma told me.

Not to mention a commercial or two about Dawn dishwashing detergent getting the grease off of pretty much anything.

So I thought I would give it my best shot.

And literally, a couple scrubs and the grease melted away.


Lesson learned?

Sticky, greasy, hot messes really can be cleaned with just a little help from this magical substance.

The helpful how-to here???

Learn from my mistake.

Start out using it.

Don't wait until you are 20 minutes in with a ginormous preggo back ache!!!

Not that you would have a preggo back ache, but still....

Grounds for Divorce

Techy has many quirks.

Surprising, right?

One of them happens to be the fact that he likes to act "fancy" every night.

Meaning, he likes to drink out of his "fancy" glass every.single. night.

And now, he can't.


Oops!

I think I may need a place to hide....

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Nesting without a Nursery

Today I'm here to talk about something (other than poop and marker lids) that is stealing my sanity.

Nesting.

Only imagine with me an adorable rental with horrid wood paneling and only 2 real bedrooms. (It has a 3rd, but with 2 doorways and only one door, its really more if a hallway with a closet. And an air mattress for your guests.... And no room for your newborn.

Which is totally fine since the first 10 weeks will be spent in a bassinet anyway, right?

Until you realize that nesting is natural. And I have no outlet for all the nesting that is bottled up in me right now.

Thankfully, there's pinterest...

Where ideas like these come from:
Source 1
Source 2
Source 3
Source 4
Source 5

To be honest, I'm not sure which is worse. Actual nesting or pinterest nesting....

Sigh.






Monday, January 23, 2012

Tales from the crib

After such a short time of being home with Little Man, there are a few things I've picked up on pretty quickly.

1. My child is very hands on.
Everything is, "mommy, come here." Or "mommy, roll it." Or worst of all, "mommy, hot dog dance!"

Have I mentioned I'm about 9 months pregnant and agility, including hot dog dancing, is not only uncomfortable, but almost impossible.

But does that mean I  don't try?

Not a chance!!!

Momma has a mean hot dog dance.

2. My child is obsessed with having a marker in his hand. But he is constantly losing the lids.  And I'm a bit ocd. Needless to say, I'm losing my mind.

Along with markers.

3. This kid is incredibly fascinated with bodily functions-even if he can't tell them apart. "Pee pee" and "poo poo" are commonly confused...which leads me to my next point...

4. It is surprisingly possible to have a 2 poop crisis day.

Including but not limited to an attempt to "go potty" that mommy confused for a "go pee pee" that resulted in a poop down the leg, all over our pants and in the socks situation, which could only be eclipsed by the ever impressive tub-floater happening later in the day.

Allow me to say that nothing freaks mommy out quite like her child swimming in his own feces.

Let's just say it's more than a little surprising that the neighbors didn't break down the door, considering all the screaming....

5. Melt downs still happen. And not just in the privacy of our own home.

6. The kid is obsessed with trains, so at 4 am when the train cruises by our house and wakes him up, he is not only not upset, but he begins a rolling dialogue about said choo choo to no one in particular. This dialogue can last for minutes or hours, depending on his ability to find something in his crib that can be imagined to be a choo choo. I am obviously impressed, but 4 am is not really the time of day I would choose to discuss the Awesomeness of choo choo trains. Odd mother I am, huh?

7. Puke happens. And when it does, you may or may not spend the next 3 days trying to figure out what that smell is and how to get rid of it. Until you remember....

8. Nap time is always 10 minutes shorter than you needed it to be.

9. A 2 year old can survive on chicken "uggets" alone. And he may actually CHOOSE to survive on chicken "uggets" alone.  Whether you like it or not....

10. Almost all things can be cured with an episode of Mickey.  Yes, I've been reduced to luring my child into good behavior with the promise of Mickey Mouse....

I'm pregnant.

And weak.

And it works.

You can judge me if you like.

Friday, January 20, 2012

I Want to Make a Political Statement, Too!!!

To all you people who spend all day, every day posting updates about the latest panicking news that may or may not affect your favorite candidate....

Please stop.

Especially if your candidate isn't even really in the running.

You're fighting a losing battle.

Take one for the team and find SOMETHING to endorse the front-runners for.

Because realistically, if you don't support the President, you only have so many other options....

And there can only be one winner, so....

You do the math, mkay?

Your guy is in the background already?

Just let it go!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

My Honest Opinion: Jockey Sports Bra and Purex Crystals

Over the holidays, I got an extra gift.

From my friends over at Purex.

And these guys:



I know, right?

Exciting!!!!

They sent me this:


A new sports bra!

(I know.  It really was confusing there for a minute - couldn't tell if they sent me a Rachel Berry, or new towels, or an iPod, right?  Glad I cleared that up for you?  You can thank me later....)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand more of my FAVORITES - the Purex Crystals!!!

Which made me extra happy.

Because:

1. I'm still working out regularly.

and

2.  My "girls" are so pregnancy-ginormous that I don't fit into any of my workout clothes - including but not limited to my sports bra.  I literally had to "wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yeah" in order to get into it.  It was sad.  And even then, it was a one boob at a time situation.  Not pretty.  Or comfortable.

and

3.  Have I mentioned how much I adore the Purex Crystals?  And they sent me the one scent I hadn't tried yet - Tropical Splash - which is pretty much amazing.  And brings tears to my eyes as I'm folding my laundry...happy tears, of course!

Upon receiving that box of goodies, I may or may not have wet myself out of excitement.

And I may or may not have jumped around the house like a chihuahua chasing a Taco Bell Taco.

And I may or may not have run to my bedroom to immediately try on said sports bra and take it for a test run *ahem* workout - because let's not kid ourselves about the possibility of me running at this point in time.

That's a laugh.

But I did hit the elliptical hardcore for a good ole fashioned sweat-a-thon.

And you know what I discovered???

This sports bra is pretty much the cat's meow!

I mean seriously.

It's vented.

As in, there are these breathable mesh panels that help you stay cool.

And the fabric is super quick-wicking, keeping you from feeling too icky.

Which, let's face it, is almost impossible as a pregnant workout-a-holic.

And something else that I noticed, but haven't yet found the opportunity to take advantage of?

An awesome little key pocket where I can tuck my car/house key when I finally do start running again.

But that's not where my little test ended.

Not even close.

I wanted to test the entirety of this package like a 4th grade math teacher wants to drill long division - COMPLETELY.  I mean, to it's breaking point!

So what did I do next, you ask?

I guess you are probably referring to AFTER I plopped on the couch and watched an episode of Glee while my breathing levels regulated and I stopped sweating like a pig in heat???

I went to bed, of course!

I know.

Gross, right?

No shower or anything???

I have to work on that....

But anyway, the NEXT DAY, I got up and threw a load of laundry in the washer, along with my sports bra and a cap full of the Purex Crystals.

Did you know that typically, it isn't recommended to use fabric softener on "performance sportswear"???

Yep, the oils from the softener typically coats the garments and prevents them from being able to wick properly....

Which is probably why I have had so many sports bra's end up in the trash so fast.

But not with Purex Crystals!

The Crystals don't contain oil and therefore can be used on all your laundry.

And yes, they totally leave your laundry feeling soft and smelling fresh for every bit as long normal laundry detergent, and maybe longer....

The next time I needed my sports bra to wick away some moisture, it totally followed through for me.

So, just ask me...

Am I happy with the results of my test package???

I think this is a good enough answer, don't you?* **


If you need an actual answer, that's a yes.

Duh.

*I really stink at photo shop, and actually, all I know how to use is Paint, so you know....


**This is obviously not a picture of me, since I am obviously, very, very pregnant.  I hope you didn't get too confused by my amazing head-matching skills....  Also?  I don't have an iPod, so that COULDN'T be me.  Although, I would really like an iPod...









Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Day 3

It's been 3 days of being home full time.

And here I sit in my bathrobe and my slippers.

In my defense, not much else fits me, and the things that do are in the dryer....

The most successful thing I've done in the last 3 days was making sausage balls.

No kidding.

First time ever.

But I've also done 3 loads of laundry, worked out every day, cleaned up a pool of puke, hung curtains and blinds in almost all the rooms in this temporary home (our neighbors must be so relieved) been to about 45 doctor appointments, and clipped coupons until my fingers fell off.

Do you know how difficult it is to type with your nose?

No?

Ok, I'll drop it.

It wasn't that funny, anyway.

Apparently, while I have been busy "staying home", big things are happening out there in the world like football games, and something called SOPA/PIPA, not to mention some Republican debate wherein Newt Gingrich got all feisty on a race-bent question . This I know ONLY because of Facebook.

My point?

Feel free to mock me. At this rate I am mocking myself.

I have had a ton of goals for the week, but everytime I go to do something I end up having contractions and have to stop.

Baby steps, people. And self mockery.

These are the things my life is thriving on.

Well, that.

And the knowledge that it won't be much longer until my life really goes nuts!

Friday, January 13, 2012

The Next Chapter Begins

I have a little secret for you's guys....

After today...

I will be on maternity leave.

That doesn't have an end date until I want/need it to have an end date.

Meaning, as of 4:30 this afternoon, I will enter the world of Stay-at-home-mom-dom.

I don't kid myself that this is going to make my life easier.

Mostly because I have a 2 year old.

And a husband who is getting busier by the day....

And I am 5 weeks away from adding a newborn to that mix.

But the prospect of not having to stress out about sick leave or maternity leave or vacation time or snow days...oh wait, I moved to Georgia....

Well, you get what I am saying.  

The life that I never thought I would choose for myself has chosen me.

Now I get to find out if I can manage to conquer it.

Without losing my mind.

And we all know I love nothing more than a good challenge, right???

My Honest Opinion: Purex Ultrapacks Laundry Detergent

I think we all know how much fun laundry time is, right?

Especially when you have a baby.

Or a toddler.

Or even better?

A sick toddler and a sick hubby who are constantly infecting everything in the house with their germs.

Not that this has EVER happened to me.

And most certainly not that I have been living in a world SWIMMING in germs for what feels like a small eternity now.

But I digress....

Laundry is my topic of conversation for today...not germs....

And more specifically, the massive amounts that I have done since we got home from our visit to the North over the holidays.

I have done more loads of laundry in the last 2 weeks than I've done in the past 2 months.

And it hasn't been nearly as big a hassle as it sounds.

And only partially because my washer and dryer is on the same level of the house that I live on, I admit.

And partially because I came home to find a little present from Purex sitting on my front steps...


I didn't have to worry about measuring any soap or making a mess with any kind of liquids while trying to quickly throw my laundry into the wash.

Because Purex has done it yet again.

Remember when I introduced you to the amazingness that is Purex Crystals Fabric Softener?

Well, hang on to your boot straps, Betsy, 'cause we are about to take that awesomeness one step further.

Because soon, (mid-February, 2012, to be exact...) you are going to see this little guy sitting on the shelf at your local grocery store.

And I know, initially, you are going to think, "Oh, that's not so new..." and you'll be thinking of this guy:


But you'd be thinking completely wrong.  

Tide's packets are stain BOOSTERS.  

Not to be confused with little packets of Bippity-Boppity-Boo in covered in Pixie Dust.

I happen to know, because I happened to have tried to use the Tide Stainboosters that way one time.*

And ended up with a full load of greasy, not-quite-clean laundry that had to be rewashed.

Lucky me.  

So you can imagine how I felt when I opened my bag of Purex Ultrapacks. to see these...

"Less than confident, but slightly hopeful" would probably be a good term.

"Skeptical" for you less-wordy people.

Kinda like the feeling a skydiver feels just before he gets pushed out of the side of a plane.

Drastic, I know, but I really despise redoing laundry, so....

Joking aside, I was a little leery, but I have only had positive experiences from Purex in the past, so I gave it my best shot.

I threw the little blue blob in my washer, covered it with a load of snot-covered, ketchup stained kiddy clothes, set the temperature to eh, whatever, and hit start.

Correction: I also added in a handful of the Purex Crystals, because hey, who doesn't like their snot covered, ketchup stained clothes to come out of the wash smelling like hawaiian hibiscus???

And then I started the wash.

And the results?

Awesomesauce, I tell you.  

Like clean awesomesauce.

With a side of sparkle.

I was shocked.

Happily shocked, of course, but shocked all the same.

I was sincerely expecting at least one dank ketchup stain with residual fallout.

But nada.

Now, I will admit to you that as awesome as these Ultrapacks are, even they were powerless against the black ink pen that exploded all over the load of laundry in my dryer last week. 

But we all know that the dryer sets stains, right?

So really, I'll let that one go.

Now for the things you might wanna know about these magical little blue miracle workers?

• Each Purex UltraPack contains powerful 2x concentrated  
 liquid detergent, giving each UltraPack double   
 the cleaning power in every drop**. 
• Purex UltraPacks dissolve quickly once the washer is  
 started—even in cold water. 
• Purex UltraPacks are formulated and safe for all   
 machines, including high-efficiency (HE).

And some helpful hints:

• Dry your hands before handling the UltraPacks – water  
 dissolves the film.
• Put (1) pack in the washer before adding clothing 
 (the more time they spend in the water, the faster 
 they dissolve). For larger or heavily soiled loads, use 
 an additional pack. 
• If you have a front loader, make sure to put the pack  
 directly into the drum, not in the drawer. 



And the really good news?

You can give them a test ride yourself!

Purex wants consumers to know they can prove it to themselves with the idea being “Don’t take our word 
for it. Take your word for it.” 

So beginning in mid February 2012, FreeSamplePurex.com will be back up and running, giving you the opportunity to get your own free sample of Purex UltraPacks and prove it to yourself. 


*Note: Tide Stainboosters are good for what they are intended for - use IN ADDITION to your normal detergent.  




Dear Non-pregnant Me

Remember a time when you peed every time you sneezed?

Or coughed?

Or breathed?

Remember a time when the term "walking farts" wasn't just a term for something that old people or your dad experienced?

Remember a time when your morning routine involved enough support garments to make someone from cirque du soleil raise their eyebrows?

Remember what its like to hear everyone complain about you lifting things, but no one offer to lift it for you?

Remember what its like to wonder how early Taco Bell opens because that's pretty much all you want to eat. Ever?

Remember what its like to, in the words of Juno, have heartburn radiating in your kneecaps?

Remember the feeling of forgetting what nookie is...because you can no longer feel anything below your collar bone, with the exception of the kneecap heartburn, of course?

Remember what its like to look in the mirror and be shocked at the 3 sizes your belly appears to have grown overnight?

Remember what its like to forget everything? No? That's right...because pregnancy brain never really goes away!

Remember what it's like to try to hold your toddler with another child between you?

Remember what its like to attempt to wax "things" only to realize you can't see them?

Um, yeah.

Pregnancy.

It's not for everyone.

Just trust me on this one...

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Then and Now

Because after gaining 7 lbs in the last 3 weeks, I am giving up on keeping track of my weight.

So lets just compare largeness, mmmkay?

The THEN:


 And the NOW:


Depressingly, I can't tell a difference any more.

Looks like I caught up to myself (even if the scale is only 3 lbs off target...)

But for reference sake, let's do the sidebyside.

I'm so humidiated....

*in case you are doing the math, or are really interested in the weight gain, I am sitting at 174.8, I started at 138.6, meaning I have gained a total of 36.2 lbs in the past 34 weeks.  Not terrible.  But the worst is yet to come. 


Trust me.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

It was the End of Times it was the Beginning of Times....

Wow.

I blink and 2011 is over.

At least I celebrated its departure in style...

Oh wait...

Ok, so at least I celebrated its departure.

IF you consider rolling over to kiss Techy when our neighbor woke us up by setting off an entire case of bottle rockets under our bedroom window as celebrating.

And considering the fact that I am 8 months pregnant, I am going with that totally counts.


Because watching Mayor Bloomberg and Lady Gaga dance in the New Year while your husband snores next to you is totally rockin'.

And because these days rolling over for anything is a feat, much less rolling over to kiss my husband after he has been asleep long enough for the morning breath to set in??  That's just pure kindness.

But really...

I tried to reminisce over the year that was 2011, only to realize I have very few ACTUAL memories from 2011 at this point in time.

Note: babies are kinda like zombies in that they totally eat brain matter for breakfast.

Here's what I remember of the year that was:

I lost my favorite daycare provider and had to *gasp* put my child in a daycare center.  DUN DUN DUN

Spoiler: he survived....

I ran in the snow.

I ran in the rain.

I signed up for a 3 day half marathon.

Then I signed up for an actual half marathon.

Then everyone I know got pregnant.

Some with twins.

Then I got pregnant.

And thought I would die from morning sickness.

Then my brother got married.

During the height of my morning sickness.

And I ate goldfish crackers during his entire wedding.

WHILE standing on stage.

Then we went on vacation.

Then we lost our minds.

And now, here we are.

Several thousands hundreds of miles away from "home".

Within weeks of Baby Numero Dos's arrival.

In a rental house.

With new jobs, a new church, a new daycare, and basically, a new life.

Now, no offense to you, Mr. 2011, but you were ridiculously exhausting.

In every sense of the word.

And I can think of no better resolution for 2012 than to SLOW DOWN.

And maybe no more losing our minds for a while....

FINE PRINT:
In all honesty, though, I really do have some significant resolutions for 2012
1. Picking up my running again post baby
2. Staying in touch with good friends, who I now live far away from.  Hear that Carrie, Amber, Ceej, Katie, and Debbie????
3. Losing weight
4. Eating more organic
5. Couponing more often 
6. Generally saving more money.  
Boring, right???

I assumed you would feel that way, so I opted to dedicating this post to my whininess instead.  Because really, who DOESN'T like to commiserate?  Right???  Am I RIGHT????

Right about now is when I should make some comment about the title of this post being related to the fact that the Mayan calendar says the world is going to end this year, with the punch line being something about that guy who totally said the world was going to end not once, but twice last year.  Only that's really like asking fate to take a hand, and despite my deep religious beliefs, I was at one time an athlete, meaning that I am also very superstitious and I don't like to test fate very often....  So I'm not going to mention anything about that, mmmkay?