PSA for Expectant Fathers

Posted on December 11, 2013 by playinghousewi

To all expectant fathers…

Today’s post is my version of a Public Service Announcement (PSA) for all you spouses of pregnant mommas. If you don’t make it through all 10 tips, here’s the moral of the story: Your special lady literally has a person growing inside of her, which makes her pretty damn spectacular. A living miracle. A total blessing. Treat her as such.

Tip #1: Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not happening

Take the time to read about the endless changes going on in your wife’s body and about the miraculous developments of your sweet little growing baby. While the Internet is vast and this task might feel overwhelming, BabyCenter.com has simplified the searching. Just make an account, type in your wife’s due date and voila! You will receive an email every week providing an update on the latest and greatest information regarding both your wife and baby. As a little bonus, try beating your wife to the punch… “Honey, our baby no longer has webbed feet or hands this week! How crazy is that? I also read that you might be extra tired these next few weeks… how are you feeling?” This leads me to Tip #2.

Tip #2: Ask how she’s feeling, then listen and sympathize

It seems so simple, but showing concern for your baby momma can go a long way. It not only shows that you’re thinking of her, but also shows that you recognize and understand the great task she has taken on. Carrying a baby is much more than just weird cravings and excessive weight gain. It effects every aspect of her life… what she looks like, activities she can participate in, things she can eat or drink, how she feels – imagine 3 months of the stomach flu or 9 months of feeling like you just ate a full pot of chili or having your boobs feel like they’re painfully pulling down your entire body. While it’s amazing, it’s also very difficult and it will likely make it easier if she feels like you’re with her, supporting her through it all. And really, just listening when she vents.

Tip #3: Treat her pregnancy like it’s 9 months of Valentine’s Day

To say that pregnancy can make a woman feel (more) insecure, ugly, fat, crazy, insecure, uncomfortable, unsteady, insecure, and so on would be a total understatement. And what better way to reinforce your love and appreciation for your lady than by making her feel like a queen? I’m not implying that you should bring a dozen long-stem red roses home every day for the next 9 months, but you should try to beef up the romance. Surprise her with dinner, write her a sweet card and send it to her at work, bring her home her favorite magazine, tell her she’s beautiful (and mean it), give her a massage, let her stay on the couch all night while you take care of dinner and clean-up, tell her you missed her. Whether it’s a big or small gesture, the important part is that it’s something. She deserves to feel special.

Tip #4: Do the things you say you’re going to do without her having to remind you

When it takes multiple reminders for you to get things done, you’re not actually relieving that much stress from your special lady. It’s always said that a pregnant woman shouldn’t stress and it cannot be STRESSED enough how important that is. Stress can cause brain and developmental damage to a growing fetus, not to mention pre-term labor and low birth weights. Stress is no joke, so don’t make her worry about whether you’ve gotten your shit done.

Tip #5: While you’re at it, take on some additional tasks

Whether it’s laundry or grocery shopping or cooking some meals, be proactive and help relieve some of the weight and responsibility from your gal. And don’t be afraid to ask the simple question, “What can I do to help you?” Among the many symptoms of pregnancy is severe exhaustion. Like, suffering from the flu, can’t move your body kind of tired. Give her a little relief, as her normal work-load is likely not as easy as it used to be.

Tip #6: Pick up the phone

If she calls, answer the phone. This will become more important as she gets closer to her due date, but it is also just a simple way to show her that she is a priority. Again, pregnancy is a sensitive time for a woman and it is most likely that she feels what she has to tell you is of the highest priority. Plus, if you don’t answer, she is flooded with questions like, “What’s going to happen when my water breaks and I’m all alone? Am I not going to be able to get a hold of him?” Note: This also means that you should keep your cell phone charged.

Tip #7: Be forgiving

Whether you think pregnant women use hormones as an excuse to be crazy or not, I will assure you, the only sustainable option for you is to get over it. Mood swings are very real and very uncontrollable and if you don’t watch it, one will punch you right in the nose and knock you on your ass. When this happens, brush it off and let it go. Your role is to be the cheery, happy and supportive husband. That might mean a few bloody noses (figuratively speaking) during the 9-month period, but it’s nothing you can’t recover from. Trust that it will only get worse if you try to fight it.

Tip #8: Take her on a date

Remember… 9 months of Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t have to be some epic event… just dinner for the two of you at a new restaurant, or a walk in the park. A nice, planned event for the two of you.

Tip #9: Make her feel sexy

Between the weight gain, the zits and the bloat, there is very little to feel sexy about during pregnancy. Remind her of how beautiful she is, hold her hand, give her sweet kisses. You know how to make a woman feel sexy… just don’t forget to actually do it. If you want a sex life, it’s essential.

Tip #10: Just be happy and excited

Remember that you and your baby momma are experiencing a true miracle together. Keep that in your mind every day and remind your partner of that. Fantasize about the sweet little hands you’ll soon be kissing. Ask your partner fun questions about your future life. And most importantly, be positive, happy and excited.

When Life Hands You SOUR Lemons…

Posted on December 10, 2013 by playinghousewi

When Life Hands You SOUR Lemons… Add a Shit Load of Sugar and Start Squeezing!

With all of the happy going on in my life these days, one could say I was a little bit, well… kicked on my ass… when my boss took my colleague and I out for drinks (non-alcoholic for me, of course) on Friday and suggested that we start looking for new jobs. To say the least, the company’s outlook is not ideal, and, being in marketing… AKA 100% overhead… we would be the first on the chopping block. So, having just read in my pregnancy update that I would begin showing soon, all I could think was, “SHIT!” I mean, when people think of the ideal time to go job hunting, they must imagine waddling into an interview, baby bump front and center, and face in full swell… that really gets employers ready to negotiate.

Okay, enough wallowing. Since hearing this news on Friday, I’ve been trying to figure out my next step. Prior to this, my hope was to begin working for my parents once the baby came, while staying on at my existing job on a part-time basis to help supplement the pay cut I’d be taking by working for my parents’ company. Now that the part-time job portion of the plan is no longer an option, I’m faced with losing my insurance and taking a pretty significant pay cut, oh, and adding a mini person (and mouth to feed and butt to diaper and so on) to our family. On the positive, working for my parents will allow some great flexibility… ie: every day will be ‘bring your baby (and dog) to work day’. Can we say, hello dream world??

So, I’ve been trying to figure out some other options to supplement the lost income, while still allowing me flexibility and ample time to dedicate to growing my parents business. So far, the best option I’ve come up with is trying to secure some contract work. This could add a flexible 10-15 hours of work per week and would be a great supplement. Of course, this isn’t as easy as I originally thought. Because of course, on top of figuring out what to charge… which apparently isn’t as simple as dividing my current compensation by 2,000 (number of hours worked / year) – think social security taxes and fun stuff like that – but it also takes CLIENTS. DUH, right?

I’ve never been a big sales kind of person, so already this is not ideal. But, I bit the bullet and sent my first solicitation email this morning. What I’m offering specifically is a little TBD, but I guess the only way to start figuring it out is by gauging demand, right?

Anyway, wish me luck as I attempt to navigate Entrepreneurship 101.

Symptoms

The theme for the week is to make amends. With friends who I’ve been arguing with. With myself… it’s time to allow myself to forget, forgive and focus on being jolly. With my job situation… make lemonade, right? My week and a half of emotional crabbiness has taken too much out of me. It’s exhausting and frankly, just not much fun. While I’m sure I’m still going to have my little meltdowns, I’m really going to focus on letting go, smiling, and appreciating everything I have around me. Life is good.

Oh, and by the way, my boobs still hurt 🙂

Playing in a Winter Wonderland

Posted on December 9, 2013 by playinghousewi

It was a SNOWY, COLD, and BEAUTIFUL Wisconsin weekend. As with most of our weekends lately, we were overbooked and jam packed. Here’s the update…

Friday we had a lovely dinner with some of our favorite new parents and their sweet little baby. It was great! The pup came with and “played” with their GIANT golden doodle. My friend gave me the book, Belly Laughs, by Jenny McCarthy. I’m pretty excited to read it.

On Saturday, I got my nails done with my mom, sister and niece, then got my hair done. It was a nice little morning. Then, it was off to celebrate my friend’s birthday with some cookie making and dinner!

Apparently this is what 29 looks like… one martini and three waters. CHEERS!

Little Erica making a wish!

The birthday girl.

And look at the sweet little onesie my friend, Carrie, got for the babes…

The apple of my eye.

On Sunday, the snow began. While it’s a pain in the butt and obviously very cold, it’s also pretty darn fun! I think Toby is a fan…

Then, we trekked our way out to have a Santa brunch with my parents, grandparents, sister and her fam. It was delicious and a blast. It’s not every day that you get to hang out with Santa AND his reindeer.

Winter Wonderland…

The Reindeer!

Making sure Santa knows exactly what we want this year… one healthy baby, please!

Of course, I must include photos of my cute little nephew.

And another…

Post-brunch, we went back to my parents house to curl up on the couch, watch a little football a shitty movie (word to the wise, skip Girl Most Likely… it was painful!), and relax. We did watch the show Naked and Afraid, which was pretty awesome. Also, my parents – who are crazy Brewers Baseball fans – gave us a cute little presie for the new baby!

First little sports outfit! Can’t wait to take the tiny child to a game… and eat so many hot dog nitrates 🙂

And now, it’s back to Monday… the work week begins… again. But, on the positive, at least everything is looking beautiful!

Pulling out of our neighborhood. Beautiful snow, beautiful sky.

Symptoms

The biggest symptoms lately have been my emotions and my boobs. Holy smokes are they sore. And giant. It makes me quite sad. I’m not a fan of my growing chest and am starting to worry about just how big (and painful) they’re going to get. I’m going to have to get special bras if they keep this growth spurt up. Yikes. And they are definitely very tender and achy. The other prevailing symptom is my roller coaster of emotions. I am a very snappy, tearful, bipolar version of myself, which is REALLY exhausting. One minute I’m ecstatic, one minute I’m crying, and then the next, I’m threatening someone’s life. It’s too much. This week, my goal is balance and mental stability. Think centered thoughts, think centered thoughts.

Breaking the News at Work… or Not??

Posted on December 5, 2013 by playinghousewi

“I’m sure I told you I was pregnant…”

I’ve been trying to figure out when I should tell my boss about my little bun in the oven. Part of me would really just like to wait until I’m giant and can’t avoid acknowledging my growing body… the other part of me feels that might be a bit rude or inappropriate. So, when is the best time to tell?

December 20th officially marks my first day of the second trimester, so in terms of when it’s “safe” to break the news, that would make sense. But I’m just not sure.

Here are my hold ups…

Being that my company is not having its best year, I’m guessing the idea of bonuses or raises is a total joke… HOWEVER, I still can’t help but think I should wait until after that’s a sure thing before making my announcement. I mean, I don’t know the thought process that goes into this decision, but my guess is that employers don’t often throw more money at pregnant ladies who will soon be collecting maternity leave. Just a guess…
My maternity leave is feeling frighteningly up in the air right now. As of last year, the company utilized FMLA (Family Medical and Leave Act) standards for maternity leave; however, our firm has since dropped below 50 employees, which means we are no longer required to uphold FMLA standards. So, I feel that waiting until the 2014 handbook is issued might be a good idea.
My boss is a man. Even if by some strange chance he surprises me with genuine excitement about my news, I am confident it won’t last. No one likes the idea of paying for a staff member to be MIA for 6+ weeks. And have I mentioned that I feel 6 weeks is way too short?
As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t really enjoy telling people. It feels so awkward to me.

Now, the positives of making my announcement…

An explanation for my upcoming weight gain.
I can stop thinking about when I’m going to make my announcement.
Hmmm…

I think that might be it. Really, it seems like maybe I should just wait until someone asks me if I’m pregnant and pull the, “Yeah… I told you that! Remember?? Sheesh… you forget everything.”

Symptoms

I think my cold is on its way out! Excessive amounts of water and OJ (and a humidifier on my desk at work) have really done a great job of taking care of this cold in just a few days. I’m not perfect, but have improved significantly. AND, I slept through the night last night! Well, I got up to pee, but that’s my new normal. Other than that, I’m starting to think that the worst of my symptoms are behind me. I’m still decently bloated by the end of the night, but really, even that’s not too bad. And I’m feeling a bit more regular. I’ve adjusted my diet a bit to include a ridiculous amount of fiber, so I’m feeling good.

Are you saying my face is fat???

Posted on December 3, 2013 by playinghousewi

On Thanksgiving, I finally made the big pregnancy announcement to my aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandparents. It was awkward. I don’t know what it is about these announcements, but I seem to be getting worse at it. I get so nervous and uncomfortable. Needless to say, after I made some weird (and unclear) speech about being thankful to have one more Thanksgiving without naughty children, my sister and mother broke the deafening silence with…

Sister: She’s pregnant!

Mom (said very loudly to my deaf grandpa): DAD, MELISSA IS PREGNANT!

Ahhh, perfection, huh?

Anyway, that’s so not the point. After I subjected the family to the awkwardness of my announcement, we were all chatting and my cousin said to me, “I could tell you were pregnant! You kept pushing away your drinks at your mom’s 60th birthday party… and, your face looks…” (as she cups her hands around her face making what looked like some sort of hand signal for fat).

I cut her off immediately with, “ARE YOU SAYING MY FACE IS FAT!?!”

I’ve been so preoccupied with my growing gut, I haven’t had the chance to pay attention to my face. Now, Amy, if you’re reading this… I’m not mad. But I’m not going to lie, you have punished everyone around me. I will now spend the rest of my 200 some days of pregnancy asking everyone their opinion on whether my face has gotten fat.

Maybe a side-by-side comparison is in order…

Is my face fatter?

I don’t think my face looks any different. I’m definitely zittier now and maybe a bit more tired looking, but my face is always a little round. Right?? Or am I in denial?

Symptoms

All pregnancy symptoms have been trumped by my damn cold. I’m so sick of this running, stuffed up nose and the achiness. I could use a day in bed. Ughhh… is it Friday? I’ve been trying to drink my weight in water and I even struggled through a workout last night… but I think the cold is winning. I’m going to give my “fight back” strategy another attempt today. Maybe tomorrow will bring improvement.

Big Brother is Watching…

Posted on November 22, 2013 by playinghousewi

I know what you Googled last summer…

I work a desk job, which means I spend at least 45 or so hours a week in front of the computer. Being that this is my first child, I’m sure you can imagine how many questions pass through my mind (and my Google search bar) during those 45+ hours. Sometimes I think about our IT guy and wonder whether he’s paying attention to my odd, very pregnant-focused searches, but my curiosity always trumps my fear that he might be monitoring my browsing.

Now, I don’t think that Chris, the IT guy, just sits around checking up on me or my colleagues, but Chris recently made a comment that made me question whether he was “watching.”

Being the sailor that I am, I dropped some profanity (the details escape me) and he replied with, “Hey, we’re at work… you need to be appropriate, just like your Internet browsing.” I brushed it off, but definitely thought it was more than just a random comment. And, being that I’m not looking at anything that could actually be considered “inappropriate” in the broad, world-wide-web-way, I figured he must be referring to my constant pregnancy searches.

Anyway, yesterday, I was melting down over a project that just totally sucked and he seemed overly concerned with helping me deal with my stress. He very kindly came over to my cube and asked how he could help. I made a sassy comment about him making it so I never had to work with a certain person who was running said project. I quickly added in an apology for being a little harsh, and he replied with, “Whoa! What are you pregnant?”

The conversation continued…

Me: Yes, I’m pregnant. Or I’m just so sick of this project blowing up all over the place.

Him: You seem like you have some crazy pregnancy emotions running amok. (Okay, those weren’t his exact words, but the gist was the same.)

Now, in his defense, I totally had some crazy pregnancy emotions running amok, but I have never been accused of such things. PMS’ing, for sure. Being bitchy or high strung in general, many times. But this just felt weird and a little too coincidental.

SO… in conclusion, I’d like to make a plea to the dear Chris… if you are monitoring my browsing and reading my blog, I ask that you keep my secret for a bit longer. You will know when I’m ready to share such news, as I will bring in some sort of mini, baby-sized treat and send a little announcement email to the office. Until then, no more public pregnancy accusations. Deal?

Symptoms

As displayed above, my emotions have been a bit out of whack lately. I’m feeling overly sensitive, and a bit bi-polar. Also, I think I gained about 10 lbs yesterday. Suddenly my stomach feels about 4 months pregnant. It’s a little overwhelming. Other than that, the nausea has settled down and I’m feeling good. Definitely looking forward to my Hunger Games afternoon and a little R&R this weekend.

Boy or Girl?

Posted on November 20, 2013 by playinghousewi

The homemade, improvised ring swing points to a girl!

My friend Carrie, who is also pregnant, has her 19 week ultrasound tomorrow, at which point she will hopefully find out the sex of her baby. This has obviously gotten me thinking about my own little nugget. Will I have a sweet little girl or an adventurous little boy? My mom is convinced (already) that it’s a boy.

I looked online and found some fun old wives tales about determining the sex of the baby, so obviously, I had to test some of them out…

If you’re carrying high, it’s a girl. If you’re carrying low, it’s a boy. Seeing how I’m not carrying much at this point, I can’t play this game yet.
Typically girly girls have a faster heart beat, SO, they say that if the heartbeat is 140 beats or more per minute, it’s a girl. Anything less is a boy. Our little chick-a-dee’s heart rate was 124. First sign leading to a boy.
Those craving ice cream and sweets every day are said to be having a girl. Those who want the sour and salt are said to be having a boy. I haven’t had any overwhelming cravings, but I have been leaning towards sweeter… vanilla cappuccino, sweet pickles… I think when I crave, it’s usually sweet. But I haven’t been to crave crazy either way. We’ll give a point to a girl for that one.
The old ancient Chinese birth chart. I tried it here with a conception month of September AND October, just to be safe, and both said I’m having a girl! My Chinese horoscope is always right, so that’s one point for a girl!
Okay, this one is super weird. You’re supposed to pee in a cup and mix 1 tablespoon of Drain-o in… if it turns green, it’s a girl! If it turns blue, you’re having a boy. Being that I’m at work on my lunch break, I’ll probably have to hold off on this one.
Legend has it that the Mayans determined a baby’s sex by looking at the mother’s age at conception and the year of conception. If both are even or odd, it’s a girl. If one’s even and one’s odd, it’s a boy. I conceived at 28 in 2013… another point for a boy!
This is hard to test on yourself, but it’s based on whether you pick up a key by the narrow or the round part. I think I’m a round part kinda girl, which points towards a boy in this odd old wives tale.
If you’re breaking out a lot, it’s supposedly from your girl trying to steal your beauty. I’m not 100% sure how to measure this, but I have consistently had at least one zit taking over my face at all times. So, I’ll give that point to a girly.
The wedding ring test… you have to take your ring off, tie it to a string (or your headphones cord if you’re at work) and if it moves in a circle, it’s a boy… if it moves back and forth, it’s a girl. I quickly tested this one twice at my desk and both times that ring swayed back and forth, pointing to a girl once again.
Horribly sick during the first trimester means you’re having a girl and feeling healthy as ever means you’ve got a boy in there. While I haven’t thrown up at all, I’ve spent at least a few hours most days feeling like I was going to be sick. I don’t have anything to measure this against, but I think that leans towards a girl, right?

Okay, time to tally up the results…

Boy: 3

Girl: 5

So, weighing all of these, it looks like I’ve got a little girl in me… however, the only one that appears to be remotely scientific – the heart rate measurement – leans towards a boy. Sheesh. Guess I need to go home and pull out the drain-o. That will solve this mystery!

Symptoms

Mornings and evenings (post-dinner) have been a bit uneasy lately. Last night I literally felt incapable of digesting anything. Thankfully, the feeling passed after about an hour or so. Other than that, I’m still totally zonked. We didn’t get much sleep last night and with dinners with friends tonight and tomorrow, I’m guessing we won’t be catching up on sleep then, either. At least it’s hump day… that means only two more days until the weekend. AND, Friday afternoon, my friend at work and our boss will be ditching out early to go see the new Hunger Games movie. So, I can’t complain too much.

Entering Recovery Mode

Posted on November 18, 2013 by playinghousewi

To say that I’m exhausted after this weekend is a total understatement. This weekend was my mother’s 60th birthday party, which brought my aunt, uncle and cousin in from California for the weekend and my aunt, uncle and cousin in from Chicago for the party. As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one weekend, this weekend was also the big moving weekend for my grandparents. My mother’s parents arrived on Thursday evening from sunny Florida to their new permanent residence of Wisconsin. This move came because both my grandma and grandpa were no longer at a point that they could manage on their own and it was time to enter assisted living.

Grams & Gramps sold most of their stuff (furniture, etc) in Florida, leaving them with a pretty empty apartment. This meant that our charge this weekend was to get them settled and get their apartment furnished. To say we rallied would be a total understatement. We divided and conquered and together, purchased just about all of their furniture and equipped their home with essential and non-essential items to get them going. This entailed 2.5 days of solid work (and shopping)…

Gramps trying out his new sofa!

As for the party, what can I say? It was a blast. Although, I will say, I almost cracked (or snapped) under the pressure of my family to tell my aunt and uncle about my bun in the oven. Prior to the event, I had decided I was going to wait to tell them until Thanksgiving. That way, I would have another ultrasound under my belt, I’d be further along, and my announcement wouldn’t come at such a stressful/overwhelming time. However, when I got to the party, it was starting to feel as if I might need to tell them. I was feeling uncomfortable, pressured and rushed and finally decided I was going to stick to my original plan. Unfortunately, my family didn’t get the memo. For the first 3 or 4 (of 6) courses, my mother, sister and father kept trying to “cue me in” for the announcement. Thankfully, between Mark and I, we were able to send the message to each of them that there was no announcement coming. Instead, I pretended to drink the wine or beer that was paired with each course and carried on conversation as the table became more and more intoxicated. In the end, it was a blast. It’s quite silly to be on the sober end of things, but I’m not going to lie, at the end of the night, I was ready to crash. The pressure of an announcement and my attempt at slyly making sure each course was pasteurized or cooked well done enough or some other form of pregnancy safe, left me ready to snooze.

Mom making a wish!

Mark, Cousin Stef and I enjoying each other’s company at dinner.

Goofing off.

All-in-all, it was a really lovely, important, special weekend spent with people I absolutely love and adore. I got quality time with my California family, who stayed with Mark and I, and Mark got the opportunity to really get to know the California family better. And oy. It must be mentioned how amazing my husband is. He was so patient and helpful the entire weekend. He happily came shopping with us, helped lift grams in and out of the car / her wheel chair, and kept us all smiling. He really is such a perfect guy.

Anyway, now, it’s Monday and I’m zonked.

Even my sweet little niece, Gabby, was zonked.

My nephew, Judah, & Uncle Geoff hanging out before they headed back to Cali.

Symptoms

I’ve been feeling pretty great. Bouts of nausea are becoming less frequent and really, I’m just feeling happy and excited. My body seems to be changing a bit. I’ve gotten on a pretty good pattern of working out, and am feeling fit, but definitely feel a tummy that wasn’t there before. I don’t think it’s baby, but I do think baby is pushing my guts and fat upwards to form said tummy. Other than that, it’s business as usual.

A blueberry? A grape? I’m so confused.

Posted on November 13, 2013 by playinghousewi

In my explanation of my first ultrasound experience, I kind of glazed over my latest predicament, which is the fact that I do not know how far along I am. I’m not sure that it’s actually crucial for me to know to the day at this point, but it’s kind of frustrating not knowing if I’m 7 weeks, or almost 8 weeks, or even 9 weeks as we originally thought. So much happens with the little nugget in such a short amount of time, it feels like I’m missing out a bit by not being able to know where we’re at on our little journey.

Based on the ultrasound, I am anywhere from 7 weeks, 2 days pregnant to 7 weeks, 6 days pregnant. AND, based on my schedule, I’m 9 weeks pregnant. The first option seems like a pretty big stretch, because I swear I was already feeling symptoms prior to what my ovulation date would be if I were only 7 weeks, 2 days. SO, for my own sanity’s sake, I am going to say that tomorrow I am 8 weeks pregnant. That seems like a good in-between, right? And really, it probably doesn’t matter either way, because the baby is going to show up when he or she is ready. Also, I’m pretty sure that at 12 weeks, they will be able to get a better idea as to where I’m at and it will only improve from there.

So, little baby, tomorrow is your 8-weeks of life day in the world according to mommy. It’s probably fitting that you get used to this little world I live in, as to prepare yourself for your future. Sometimes, I refuse to accept what I don’t feel makes sense or what the world won’t let me control, and I make up my own rules. I apologize in advance for any confusion this might create. xo

Weekend Recap: Announcements, Celebrations, Shopping & More

Posted on November 12, 2013 by playinghousewi

We had a pretty busy and fun weekend. On Friday, we went downtown to meet up with our two friends for their first night out on the town since having their sweet little baby and a couple other folks. Due to the intimate size of the group and the quiet bar we selected, they all seemed to notice that my soda water was sans vodka. The waitress didn’t help either with her obnoxious little comments… “One water, straight up!” Thanks, lady.

Honestly, I don’t think it really mattered, because we were just not on our A game. At one point pretty early on, they asked Mark if I was drinking and as he lied, he nervously knocked his entire drink all over his lap. Anyway, we ended up telling them we were trying to get pregnant and left it at that. Sheesh.

Saturday was a nice little day with my mom. After we got our nails done with my sister, mom took me shopping for some maternity clothes. All of my clothes still fit, but I just feel a little fatter in them. My tum is sticking out a bit and to mask it, I’ve been dressing like a frump. So, being the amazing lady that she is, mom took me to get some new items… and play around a bit.

How am I going to be able to walk?

After our FULL day of shopping, we met back up with the boys and the four of us (mom, dad, Marky and I) went to dinner and a movie. We saw About Time, which I really enjoyed. I just love Rachel McAdams.

Grub time.

Sunday was pretty special as well. In the morning, we got together with the family to celebrate my sweet little niece’s 2nd birthday.

Make a wish!

Then, I met up with my girlfriends for an afternoon full of surprises. We met up at Louise’s in Brookfield, which I have to mention was pretty terrible. During lunch, we were all talking about engagements when my friend Erica, who recently got engaged, flung out her ring-bearing hand and announced that her and her man had gotten engaged. The girls jumped up for hugs and screams and were just so excited.

Erica and I had schemed to get the ladies there that afternoon by telling them I had won tickets to a Christmas decorations show put on by the American Cancer Society. In reality, we had scheduled a dress fitting at Bliss Bridal, a local bridal dress salon. It was so much fun to watch little Erica get all dolled up and just spend time with the lovely ladies.

Once the dress-up session was over, I told the girls that out of guilt for lying to them about the Christmas show, I bought them all an ornament. Suspiciously, the girlies opened their ornaments to find this inside…

Baby Announcement Ornament

My husband thought it was a bit too much and a bit too creepy. I found it funny… creepy funny, but still funny! Anyway, after all the anticipation of telling my friends, it was finally out there! It was a huge relief to tell them and felt good to share the excitement of our new little family member.

After all that excitement, I went home and just crashed in my husbands arms. It was a busy and wonderful weekend, but I think I might need another weekend to recover!

Symptoms

Holy nauseous. What is happening? Beginning last night, I’ve been feeling pretty darn uneasy. Brushing my teeth this morning literally turned my body inside out with a gag that I can only imagine looked like my cat coughing up a hairball. Oofta. I hope this fades. Between wanting to throw up and feeling exhausted, today is a bit rough.

Wait, what’s that? I think my bed is calling me…