learning to be empathetic

last night we had our last parenting class. while we learned a lot, i'm not sure that we still feel completely prepared for parenthood...and honestly, i don't know that we ever will. some things you just learn as you go, i suppose. :) ryan, along with all of the other pappies, did get to wear the empathy belly last night for all of about 30 seconds. though he has been nothing but kind throughout this pregnancy, there was still something wonderful about seeing him bogged down with a belly similar to mine. granted what he was wearing only weighed about half of what i'm carrying around these days, but oh well. it made for a good laugh!!

score!

i found the cherry 7-up i've been so desperately searching for! of course, i should have known that target would carry such a wonderful product. i am enjoying some even as i write this, and it is SOOOOOO yummy...everything i had hoped for and more! ;)

these are a few of my favorite things:

Ignoring the ridiculous baby name book (side note: why do all baby books claim to be the best? is there no standard for this award-something that truly would make one the best??), this lotion set really is wonderful! There is a lotion and massage cream that claims to prevent stretch marks. While I know that no lotion can actually do this, it makes me feel better when I slather my belly each day with it! And, I have had horrible itch problems since day one of this pregnancy..the only thing I have found that has really helped is the itch spray that came in this little package. AMAZING stuff!

I have had few cravings over the course of my pregnancy, but this is one thing I can NOT get enough of. When we were still living in CO, my mom would talk from time to time about going to eat at Zaxby's. The mere mention of the word made me want some SO bad to eat. Greasy chicken, crinkle cut fries and that ridiculously good sauce. Honestly, the sauce is really what actually does it for me...but I can't really figure out what else it'd be good on, so I just stick with Zaxby's food. I have probably eaten my weight in it over the past two months. Seriously.

Not working very much affords me the opportunity to do quite a bit of reading. While you'd think that'd be an excellent chance for me to catch up on some academic, or at least some form of brainy, reading, that simply is not the case. I have been really into what I call "books that don't make me think too hard" aka twaddle aka junk really... Anyway, this is one of the author's that I have been reading...currently, I'm about to start Picture Perfect. While riskae at times, these books bring up very interesting moral and ethical situations and questions...so there is maybe a little thinking that happens after all...

The bubbly! I really cannot get enough of this either. It's not neccesarily cokes that I crave, though I do love them...but really any kind of carbonate drink. My preference would be , but I have had the worst time in finding any. I can't find them in the grocery or the gas stations. I just looked on the 7-up webpage (not because I'm a freak but because I was trying to find a picture) and saw that they are now advertising cherry 7-up with antioxidants. Does it get any better than that? I mean, that means it will be practically a healthy drink: no caffiene, fruit, AND cancer fighting power! If anyone comes across a pack of these, please buy it and send it my way-I'm a desperate woman!!

This book is hilarious! A friend was telling me about it recently, so I found it the other night while we were hanging out at the book store. I sat in a cozy chair and read half the book while Ryan and Mollie were looking at other things in the store. I was so sad to when it was time to leave because I hadn't finished the book. I decided I'd try to check it out at the library, but then it ended up not being there. So, a few days ago, Ryan and I needed to waste a little time between our doctor's appointment and our class, so I talked him into going and hanging out at another book store. I found this book, sat my self in another cozy chair and read the rest of it. I literally was laughing out loud at the stuff I read. It was only so funny because it's so true! It's all about the ails of pregnancy...Every pregnant woman should read it!!

32 weeks

*i had my check-up yesterday and all is well. they were super fast-we were in and out within 20 minutes! and since i'm going every two weeks now, i don't have to get my finger pricked all of the time-which is wonderful!! i was a little disheartened to discover that my scale at home has failed me. it had me thinking that i had been doing wonderfully with my weight since my last check-up, only to discover that i had gained twice as much as i had thought! i'm pretty sure the nurse might have had her foot on the scale behind me though!

*i did visit my grandparents-in-law today and was pleased to hear grandpa say, "well you haven't hardly put on any weight, have you hon?" i laughed until i realized he was serious! then i just wanted to give him a big hug!! what a kind fella! then when i said i had actually gained quite a bit of weight, certainly more than i had anticipated, granny said, "but you were so thin before, it's no wonder." what kind, kind people! a welcomed change from someone in my family who always is quick to comment on how large i'm getting!

*God has once again provided for a few of the little things i needed in life, which is a good reminder that He will certainly provide for all our needs. my sweet mom took me to gap yesterday and bought me a brand new pair of maternity jeans. this was after we had a morning of laughing at how short the ones i was wearing were. i certainly looked ready for the floods! they were so bad, in fact, that as we were walking around after buying them, she recommended i go to the bathroom and go ahead and change into them...

*my fingers have finally done that swollen thing they tend to do on pregnant women. i was reading this weekend about how it's a good idea to take rings off before you're fingers get so fat that they have to be cut off....and then, yesterday morning i got up with sausage fingers. with much difficulty, i twisted my rings off and had a sad little ceremony as i placed them in a safe place. i later realized that i look a little funny with a big belly and no rings on my finger. people look at my preggo belly and smile, then glance down at my bare hand and shake their heads... oh well, at least my rings will stay intact and my finger has no danger of falling off!

*we toured the birthing suites at st. vincent's last night with our class. they are wonderful and i am so thankful we chose st. vincent's as our hospital for delivery! it did make the whole thing even that much more real.. seeing where we will actually have noah, how they will take the bed apart for delivery, where they will put noah after he's born to do all the tests, etc. it's all "pretty dang exciting!"

*i've been craving carbonation like no one's business! and zaxby's still...can't get enough of it!

*sleep is not going well right now, but there is new hope on the horizon. being getting up to potty, noah kicking, my ribs and back aching and my stomach growling, it just is not easy sleeping. but, my doctor offered some helpful tidbits yesterday, and a body pillow is on it's way to me very soon! i have friends who swear by them, so maybe this will be the answer for me! :)

thank you, captain obvious!

last night, ryan and i went to a yummy dinner with some friends, bertha and ricky. during the course of dinner, bertha was sharing with us about an odd sensation she was having in her head-something akin to ringing, but more like a waterfall sound. i immediately suggested that we google the symptoms she was having to see if we could diagnose the cause (afterall, that's what i do with all my wacky pregnancy symptoms and i have found it quite helpful...it's always nice to know what the very worst disease my symptoms could lead to is, you know!). so, we accessed the internet on our phones (isn't technology wonderful?) and googled away. our answer: it could be high blood pressure, but who really could know unless we got it checked. as it happened, there was a fire station just across the street from us. after much indecision, she decided we should go and just get them to check it on our way out. as it turned out, her blood pressure was quite high, totally abnormal for someone who tends to have what they call great blood pressure. so, we were sitting there, chatting with a few of the fireman, seeing what they suggested she do...even as we awaited a call back from her doctor. another fireman came in after a few minutes, one quite younger than the rest and began to ask what the diagnosis was. we quickly filled him in-high blood pressure. he asked bertha what kind of symptoms she was having and she began explaining the whole waterfall in the head feeling that she had going on. he quickly responded with, "oh, that's because you have high blood pressure, mam!" thanks man! ;) anyway, he further went on to say something about how she really should go to the er and get everything checked out to make sure that nothing was about to bust loose in her head. his delicate way of putting it freaked us all out a bit and we quickly arose and headed in that direction. thankfully, everything is fine with my friend. and now we know just the place to go when we are having odd symptoms-the fire station. not only to get a helpful diagnosis, but also a good laugh!

*names changed to protect to innocent*

a little math

6 hours: time needed to be spent working in our apartment.
5 days past the expiration date on my license.
4 trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
3 pounds i've gained in the last two weeks.
2 naps in one day.
all together = 1 tired pregnant girl! (and it's barely past 10 am!)

31 weeks!

i'm amazed at how time seems to be passing so quickly these days. in 9 weeks or so, little noah will be here! in fact, while clipping coupons yesterday, i came across this:

a coupon for diapers. the expiration date: March 31st. i thought, "oh my! we could very well have a baby who needs to wear diapers by then, or at least we will very soon after then!! ahhh!!!"

i can tell he is getting bigger and bigger because he is rolling around inside of me with more and more force. not only can i feel him moving on the inside, but now i can look at my tummy and see him moving from the outside, too. it's like a little alien is inside me! it's a very, very strange feeling! last night i'm pretty sure he was flipping somersaults or something in me...i thought for a minute he might pop right out of my belly button!

here's an update on the baby bump:

we have made little to no progress on the job and house front. it is working out for me to work at the school here and there, which is nice. but i do so hate waiting on someone to get sick and cheering inside when they do, but it's all a balance! ryan has had a few potentials and we haven't really heard anything about any of them. he is still working at the gym this week-which again is nice, but unfortunately we know will not go on forever. our hope is that he can find a great job that he'll love doing that makes great money...and soon! when this happens, we can resume our housing search. but for now, unfortunately, we are kind of at a halt. and it's frustrating at times. it's hard to know why God has us in this waiting place. i'm sure there is something for us to learn during this time, but it is not the most fun place to be!

one of the things i miss most about living in colorado is cooking and baking. having a place of our own with all of the tools needed was so nice! here, all of our things are packed neatly away into boxes, which are stored deep in the recesses of our garage. but, alas, i finally decided to just use what's before me-all of my mom's stuff. it's not quite like mine, but it actually works just fine! :) in the past week, i have made two cakes and a batch of chocolate cookies. i am planning to cook dinner tonite for everyone and then make another cake tomorrow or thursday for ryan's birthday! and i'm loving it! i hate to brag, but just look at the carrot cake i made yesterday:

it's the first layered cake that i have ever made that didn't collapse in the middle! and...it tastes pretty darn good, if i do say so myself! :)

well, that's all i have for now! until next time..

days

sometimes the most simplest thoughts, when written down, can be profound to the readers. during my time at red mountain today, this thought was written at the top of the lesson plan for today: "because how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." when i first read it, i immediately thought, "well, of course!" then, i went back and read it and just chewed on it for a while. i feel like it's really a challenge for where i am in my life right now. as ryan and i try to figure out where in the world God is leading us, this simple thought reminded me that it is somewhere purposeful.

so, obviously, we went to the doctor again yesterday. i posted the most exciting part of the visit already (check out the previous post if you haven't seen it yet)...but i thought i'd update a little on the rest of the appointment. everything is looking good, which i am so thankful for! our ultrasoundist said that he's measuring around 33 weeks size-wise. all that means, she said, is that he is the size of a 33 week old, but not neccesarily with the maturity of a 33 week old... since we are only at 30 weeks. a little confusing, but oh well. when the doctor measured my burgeoning belly, it measured right at 30, so... who knows? she said that she thinks we are probably just looking at having a big baby, but not neccesarily an early baby. good to know! she did say that we can be sure of where his size comes from-his daddy! which, let me just say, i WILL remember in april when he comes out! :) on bad pregnancy days, i find myself looking at ryan and thinking and often even reminding him, "YOU did this to me!" always said in good humor, though, don't worry! the technician also said that he weighs about 4 1/2 pounds right now..and he still has 10 weeks of growing to do!!

we started our first "parenting" class last night. i have been feeling like one of the most ignorant preggos ever...but i think this class just might help. last night, we talked about the labor and delivery process. though a little more scared than before, i certainly feel more educated on the whole topic. up to this point, i have enjoyed not really thinking about the fact that this little one hsa to come out of me-but i guess it's time to face reality...he will be coming out, whether i like it or not. :) next week, we talk about pain management and coping techniques-exciting stuff! it was interesting to be surrounded by tons of other preggos who are due right around the time as i am...and all of them will be delivering at the same hospital as me, so some of our little ones could be sleeping in the nursery together. pretty crazy! strangely enough, 85% of the ladies there are expecting girls...but in my circle of friends who are expecting, 85% are expecting boys! very odd!

well, that's all for now... until next time!

Noah Ryan in "4-D"

(disclaimer: this was originally seen in 4-D, but translating that to this blog did not go well. i'm not sure how many technical dimensions he is in for you the viewer...but it's neat no less! :))

showing us how crazy flexible he is, with his little foot rubbing his eye. it's amazing how bendable he is!

his sweet little face...i think i might have a guess who he is going to look like....

a thoughtful or sleepy face...

a silly face-any doubt in your minds as to who he favors?!?