Pregnancy Observations, for the Lighthearted

As of late, with my body slowly morphing before my eyes, I have been reflective on some of the funnier and surprising happenings that go along with pregnancy. Not only am I noticing them in myself, but also with other people as well. Here's a short list:

• My belly button has a new home...OUT! WAY out there (as with the rest of my mid-section). Lovin' it! I would post a picture, but some might find it disturbing. HA!
• It is getting more difficult to conduct activities that require me to bend over (e.g., paint my toenails, tie my shoes, help patients get up/down, feed/wash the dogs, etc.) with my ever-expanding belly acting as a barrier between me and the object(s) within my reach. I guess this means that I'm going to have to invest in some pedicures and pet grooming in the next several months :)
• Some of my friends/family members/co-workers think I should be refraining from physical exercise (e.g., volleyball, climbing a step-ladder, lifting boxes, etc.) because of the"condition" I'm in. People, pregnant women can still walk/run (if they want)/move just as we did before...it just may take us a little longer to get there and we may be a little out of breath! I know, I know...I need to be cautious, but I don't want to be lazy! But at least I get out of picking up heavier things, so Brett has taken over the chore of getting our 40-50 lb. dog food bags lately.
• Persons feel compelled to touch pregnant women's bellies...I've heard this for quite some time, but I could not believe that random strangers would actually do this. Now I can say that this is very true. Of course, I don't mind the attention, just not when I don't know the person that well!
• Oh, and I think this even more now than EVER before...swimwear is overrated! I think I will stick with muu-muu's this summer thank you very much! Oh, and I'm diggin' the maternity duds (no zippers is ingenious)!

Of course, with all these amusing observations, there are some serious ones, too (not too serious, don't get worried)...

• Baby bedding is expensive! If you compare it yard for yard, cute animal print by print, it costs so much more than other bedding (even at 20% off)! But, it is cute, and that's justification enough I guess.
• Registering for a baby is somewhat of a daunting task...there are SOOO many items and "necessities" that we found to be unnecessary and somewhat hilarious, too (the "Pee-pee Teepee" and the "Hooter Hider" for instance). Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun picking out the big and small items, and it made us even more excited for our little guy to get here! But, as we walked from aisle to aisle at both stores, we kept asking ourselves two questions: "Our parents didn't have this stuff for us growing up, and we turned out okay. Right?" AND "Where on earth are we going to put all of this stuff?!"

And then there are the oh-so wonderful things that I've really enjoyed about being pregnant :)

• Buying baby items for Jameston and preparing his room
• Seeing Brett excited and so involved in getting ready for our little guy. I know he is going to make a great dad!
• Eating whenever, whatever I want (the recent faves are Italian food (I'm still on the cheese kick), ice cream, and the very random tootsie rolls (who would've thought)
• Sonograms are the best invention ever!
• Oh, and people are very courteous once they see you are preggers. Strangers give kind smiles, open doors, start up conversations and ask questions like they've known you forever. It's a wonderful world!
• Feeling your baby move is the COOLEST, most awesome feeling in the world! Knowing that he's thriving and kicking (and grooving to music...we've been to some great concerts lately) is so incredible! Words can't describe it well enough...

To celebrate my "Ode to Pregnancy" post, here is a pic of me at 26 weeks:

As mentioned earlier, my belly has really popped over the last month or so. I have gained about 20 pounds so far, and we still have a little over 12 weeks to go. Goodness--I think we may have a big boy on our hands!

Oh, and the nursery is getting closer and closer to completion. Brett has painted the walls, chair rail, base boards, etc., we replaced the door handles/stoppers and wall plates, and he put together the crib and dresser last weekend. It's taking shape, and I love it! I'll be sure to post pics as soon as it's all done.

Passin' on the savings

To those of you who follow our blog, I wanted to let you know about a great deal on makeup that a friend recently blogged about (shout out to Kimberlee). I usually don't look into these things, but I had to (makeup isn't cheap)! I just placed an order this morning, and it is legit.

Nordstrom is renaming their makeup line, so they are selling a lot of goodies online for as little as $1. One particular line called EyesLipsFace (e.l.f.) is being repackaged, so their current products are selling for super-duper cheap on their website: http://www.eyeslipsface.com/shop.asp.

When you go to check out, you can enter coupon code"CAROLINA" and save an additional $7.50 if you order over $15 worth of products (those savings pay for shipping :) OR you can get a free makeup kit (worth $15 I think) if you enter the coupon code FREEMINI instead.

WHAT A DEAL!

Dog days of summer...

Here is a little film roll of their loungin': 

Marlie on the floor

Although it's not officially the summer season yet, it felt like it a couple of weeks ago when our AC was out! In honor of the title, I thought I would post some of the latest pics we have of our canines.

Boomer getting the special treatment with Brett on the couch 

(before AC went kaput)

We think the dogs know something is up (i.e., baby on the way) because they have been acting differently lately. Marlie has been going into the room that will be Jameston's nursery to scope it out a lot more recently. We currently just have little odds and ends in there, and we've noticed that she definitely wants to be in the know.

Marlie gets jealous and wants up on the couch, too!

Also, Boomer has been vying for more attention lately. Maybe it's because he is tired of Marlie butting in and trying to steal his spotlight! He is definitely more attached than he has been. So sweet!

Making themselves comfortable (we have recently broke them of their habit

of jumping up on the couch, in preparation for baby)

Boomer and Marlie may be realizing that they will be "taking a back seat" when our little boy gets here, so they are trying to soak up all the attention they can right now.

Poor guy gets ousted and makes his bed on the floor/bookshelf. 

Is that really comfy, Boomer?!

Family Time

Last weekend we went up to Oklahoma to visit Brett's younger brother, Jared, and his wife, Bryn. They are expecting a girl in July, and we were so excited to be able to make the trek to get to see their new home and to shower them with gifts.

Also there were Brett's mom, his two other siblings, and our two nieces. Altough we wish we could have stayed longer, we had a fun trip!

The Winters Crew: Kayla, Brett, Mom, Jared, and Cade

The girls: Riley, Kayla, Jessica, Bryn, and Me

Aunt Bryn and Ruby

Bellies: Bryn 33 weeks and me at 25 weeks:)

Jared and Bryn, we can't wait to meet your baby girl!

24

weeks...wow, time seems to be flying by. Of course, I might not feeling these same sentiments when my third trimester and 100+ degree heat coincide. It's really hard to believe we're six months along already, and that our little guy is growing so much (one of my books says he's the size of a half-gallon of milk. Really?). What I find even more incredible and hard to wrap my mind around is that in less than 16 weeks he'll be here! Whoa, we have lots of preparing to do!

My growin' belly: our little fella is sure moving around a lot lately!

It's so cool to feel him kick, twist, etc...we may have a little boxer or soccer player on our hands :)

We bought Jameston's crib and dresser, his bedding (it's called "Monkey Bars" by Carter's...love it!), and paint for the nursery this past weekend. We are painting an armoire and cedar chest that we currently have to match the furniture pieces. I plan on finding some artwork or wall decals of my own (I didn't break down and get the ones from the bedding set!). I feel like we are a little closer to gettin' ready for his arrival in September.I say that because I kinda had a mini panic attack last week. In the midst of what seems like the hundreds of renovations taking place in every other room throughout our house, I was worried we would barely finish those up in time to get started on our baby boy's room.

But I have the best husband in the world!! He knows me all too well and sensed my worrying. We hunkered down and got a lot done throughout the house (and for the nursery) this past weekend. Now, all we need to do is paint, assemble furniture, wash and put away our son's already quickly-growing wardrobe (thanks, Jessica, for the hand-me-downs!), and the list could go on and on.

In other house news, Brett is getting the master bathroom closer to completion. He tiled the shower (again, like the guest shower, I think he did an AWESOME job), and he is putting wood floors in our closet. We repainted the walk-in closet to make it "pop" a little more (it was a drab ivory-yellowish color, ugh!) for when we add the saloon doors to the entrance. You know, renovating has been fun, but it has literally consumed every free weekend we have had. We are ready to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor (before I go into labor!).