21 weeks and Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Ours came and went so quickly, but it was a great day with family and good food.  I tried out the Pioneer Woman Mashed Potatoes, and they were delicious!  The only problem was that I made 10 lbs. of them.  I’m not sure why there was such a disconnect between my brain and the potato peeler, but I must’ve thought I was feeding an entire army of people or something.  I made WAY too much, and, sadly, threw about half of it away a few days later.  Oh well, at least I have a crappy cell phone picture to remind me of its short life span:





I also made baked macaroni and cheese – again, I made way too much! 

I finished it up with this dessert – Pumpkin Crunch Cake.  It was AMAZING!  I’ll probably make this every Thanksgiving/Christmas (or Monday in June just because I want to eat it).  It’s so easy, there aren’t many ingredients, and it’s a hit!

We spent the day at Joe’s grandmother’s house.  She has a lot of acreage, so Anna got to spend the day riding on a golf cart with all of us. 

 Anna with Paw Paw Bruce

 Joe and his mom

 My cute husband!

Our only family photo!

Anna with Maw Maw and Uncle Chris (and her slinky)

Enjoying the leaves



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21 weeks and counting…

Here’s where we are this week:
Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.


Content and images are from babycenter.com


How far along: 21 weeks

Total weight gain: +13.5 total.  This is +3 from last week.  I blame Thanksgiving and my insatiable appetite.  I figure I’m over halfway done at this point.  I gained 30 lbs. total with Anna, but I had her at 37 weeks.  I guess I’m on track for the same gain with this baby. I just looked at the weight gain calculator, and I’m exactly on track.  So, YAY!

Sleep habits: Since the baby refuses to move from my bladder, this means I have to pee every 30 minutes all day, all night.  I can always fall back asleep quickly if it’s before 3 a.m.  After 3 a.m., which I have lovingly deemed as my baby witching hour, I have a super hard time falling back asleep. My mind is racing about everything, and the only cure, besides cowbell, is watching The Golden Girls.  This has become my nightly (or early morning hours) routine. 


Maternity clothes: Yep, wearing ‘em and enjoying ‘em.  It’s especially nice to wear full-panel pants on Thanksgiving day.  I may make this an annual tradition even when I’m not pregnant. 


Now ask me if the clothes look cute on me.  Nope, they don’t. 


This is because my bump has somehow mysteriously disappeared.  Never mind, it’s not a mystery.  The reason it has disappeared is because my son is trying to fall out.  He just refuses to move up. 


Do you see what I’m talking about?  I am 20 weeks here. 



Believe it or not, he was even lower than that throughout most of my ultra-sound. 


While Anna was pretty low initially and in the last few weeks, she was middle-of-the-road for the most part.  So, my bump was nicely shaped and in a good position.  Right now I have a FUPA.  Iz sexy. 


Best moment of the week:  Thanksgiving was great!  Getting to spend the day with Joe’s family and seeing how happy Anna was really made my entire week.  It was such a beautiful day, too – perfect weather – chilly, but not too cold.  Sunny. 

Food cravings: Fortunately, I’ve actually been craving decent stuff this week.  Apples have been at the top of my list.  So have salads. However, my salads are not very healthful for any human to consume, so that probably Xs out the good factor.


Mmmm.  Cheese.  Mmmm.  Tons of Ranch Dressing.  Mmmm.  Lots of green olives.




Symptoms: I go from feeling tons of pressure on my bladder and having the inability to pee freely (sorry if that’s TMI) to having horrific sciatica.  Since he’s so low, I get to pick and choose between those two experiences.  The bladder pressure is the lesser of two evils, so I’m quite thankful my little bean has been camping out there for the past few days. 


Other than those issues, I feel fantastic!  Most days I’m full of energy.  2nd tri is bliss!

Movement:  Most days he moves quite a bit.  It’s pretty sporadic, though.  Lots of kicks here and there and the nothing for a while.  I have to shake my belly from time to time or talk loudly to wake him up.  If I could just attach an ultra-sound machine to myself 24/7, I wouldn’t have to do such things!


What I’m looking forward to:  Christmas with my family!


What I miss: There’s nothing I miss at the moment. 

Next appointment: January 3rd.  I had an appointment today (after I totally spaced and missed my appointment yesterday by accident), and everything checked out great.  H/B was 149 average.  He’s measuring on track.  The u/s results were good.  I won’t have to have the gestaional diabetes test until my 28th week, so I’m glad I don’t have to drink that nasty stuff anytime soon.

Saintsgiving.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I’m finally taking the time to blog about our day.  Now that we’re in December, that’s appropriate, right?

The highlight - other than the food, family and fun – was watching the Saints play the Dallas Cowboys and finally getting revenge on them after last year’s heart breaking loss. 

Here are some pics of my family of Saints fans:

Joe and me before the game!

My little Who dat!

Uncle Glenn, Aunt Clarissa, Chris and Ale

My dad missed the memo that the Saints were playing, not LSU!

Crazy Joe and my child who refuses to look at the camera!  I made her a turkey bow and woven headband to match her outfit.  The headband came off before we even got there.  She settled on the bow and then ripped that out later.

AS usual, she’s trying to get away from me!  I get no love from this child when there’s playing to be done!

Joe’s “sassy” expression in the background owns me.  Anna paused to eat a chip with her Aunt Lea Lee.

Anna and her cousins spent the majority of the day sticking these leaves to the glass windows.

A little saucy pose right before the game started. 

Anna, MiMi and Aunt Lea Lee.  Of course Anna is still eating and not looking at the camera. By this point, I gave up.

Anna is patting her cousin Aydan on the back for a job well done with the leaves.

My uncle’s finger got in the way!

Anna and Paw Paw = BFF

  Do I have the cutest nephew or what?!  He could be a baby model!


She looks all innocent, but don’t let that sweet face or bowl of chips fool you!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Random PSA for the week.

If you're at a family function, say Thanksgiving, and you want to show pictures of your pets, please make sure to erase all naked images of yourself from the camera prior to passing it around.

Before you ask, yes, this happened, and, no, the naked images weren't of me. I was just the lucky one who had the fortunate experience of seeing this. Nothing goes better with mashed potatoes and gravy than full-frontal nudity. Yay!

I am still embarrassed and feel sorry for the person this happened to (and myself for having to see this).

That is all.

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is upon us, and now is as good a time as any to reflect on the many blessings in my life. I can't believe this year is quickly coming to a close. Where did the time go? I can remember sitting down on New Year's Eve and thinking how far away Christmas seemed and how long the year would be, and it's already over - just like that - a blink of an eye. I woke up on January 1st, blinked once and now it's November 19.

Sometimes I feel like Adam Sandler is playing around with my remote control of life ("Click" reference for those of you who haven't seen that movie). The only difference is that I don't want my life to go by in the blink of an eye. I want to deal with all of the everyday "inconveniences" that slow me down a bit and make me reflect on how short and sweet life truly is. I want to sit down at my desk and write another check for a bill and be grateful that we have a wonderful house to call home and bills that we have the ability to pay because of our jobs.

Life is made up of millions of inconveniences, millions of menial daily tasks that we'd rather avoid - those few moments of pure bliss, those unforgettable seconds of time, those are few and far in between. Why wait around for those moments to happen and ignore the sweet filling in between? Call me crazy, but the best part of cake is the filling in the middle - the actual cake is just a bonus.

I am thankful for the arguments. I've been married for four years to a wonderful man. We have our moments, our marriage is far from perfect, but through each argument, I feel like we learn more about one another. I feel like we mark our battles down in some invisible, unspoken history book and learn from our mistakes. Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. I am thankful to have a husband who loves me and knows me and still accepts me for who I am even with my many faults.

Waking up at 6:30 a.m. is a blessing. Why would anyone want to be greeted by the irritating beep of an alarm clock and be pushed out of a warm and cozy space? That's easy. It's a blessing to me because I have a place to go, some place that makes my life worthwhile, a true blessing to work where I work and for whom I work. A job that pays my bills and gives me some extra spending money when I just "need" that new "insert whatever gadget is popular now-a-days". An incredible boss who goes above and beyond for his employees. Great co-workers who are funny and smart and good people. This is what life is all about. This is the good filling.

Airing up my tire is a blessing. I've had a nail stuck in my right front tire for the past 6 months. Why haven't I replaced the tire, you ask? It's a matter of principle. I just had all four tires replaced and within a week's time, the nail became embedded in my tire. Kinda aggravated me, so I still drive on it since it's not that big of a deal. It causes a slow leak that I have to fix on a weekly basis. Air it up, I'm on my way. How is that a blessing? Because I have a car. It may not be the latest and greatest or even considered middle-class, but it gets me from point A to point B, and it's always pulled through for me whenever I needed it to. It's paid for. It drives well. It's my car.

My family. The entire dynamic of my family has changed. My maternal grandparents are gone, our holiday get-togethers are at different locations and not all of us can make it there anymore. I had the sickening realization the other day that after my generation is gone, no one on earth will have ever had the opportunity to know my grandparents in life. They'll never get to hear my grandmother's voice, or see the beautiful wrinkles in her hands or hear The Price is Right music playing in her kitchen early in the morning. They'll never know that my grandfather loved to eat bananas and how he used to wear mechanic jumpsuits just to piddle around the house. How he worked on crossword puzzles daily and how is eyes turned a weird shade of blue once the cataracts got too bad. They'll never get to hear them say "I love you" and to know how good it felt to be loved and embraced by them. We can pass their memory along to our children and our children's children, but it will never be the same. They will never know.

This makes me want to hold on to my loved ones even more - to embrace them and cherish them and love them because they won't be around forever. When they're gone, that chapter of life will close. No video or picture or funny story will ever depict just how wonderful they were. I am thankful for them.

I am thankful for my pets - all three of them. If you've never owned a pet, especially a dog, I highly recommend it - if for nothing more than the therapeutic value. My dog is my psychologist. He's my sounding board and my rock at times. I had an emotional day a few days ago. Hey, it's OK to cry, right? My dog was intently chewing on his bone and stopped immediately once he knew I was upset. He came over to me and kneeled down right next to me and just let me lean into him and cry on him. He's a 2 year old lab puppy, so this was a huge feat for him. When I pulled my face back, he looked straight in my eyes and licked my face as though to say "I love you, I'm here for you." I know that sounds stupid, but it's like he just knew. It was one of the most powerful moments of my life. How can something so uniquely different from me be so connected to me on so many levels? My cats are the same way. If I'm sad, it's like they know. They follow me around more, sit on my lap more, head butt me more, whatever they can do to make me happy. I am thankful for them.

I am thankful for all of you and thankful for the many everyday blessings that may not necessarily seem like a blessing. It's time to start focusing on the in between moments, the filling of the cake, the sweet part that is often hidden from the naked eye but makes your life incredible once you reach it. It's the in between moments that count. Let's make them count.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!