Could This Be A Non-Baby Blog? Nope.

Okay, so I had intended to write a non-baby blog... but it just isn't going to work out since I went shopping for clothes Wednesday night for the first time since I found out she was a girl. My sister was kind enough to share her Gymbucks with me so we could shop together. So off to the mall we went, where I was more then able to find $100 worth of goodies. Including Mason's favorite item, the denim skirt. It actually made him chuckle, and since he was tired and cranky that evening, I will take that as a BIG victory.

But there was nothing for Miss O. So off to mall #2. Where I found the dress I was drooling over since it first came out. There it was sitting on the sale rack in the right size just waiting for me. Except for one small detail... I already spent my money at the last store. I could exchange something I already got for the dress. But since it was only on sale and not on clearance, it was going to cost me 2 shirts. Did I want it that bad? I mean 2 shirts is a lot more practical then one dress... Apparently I wanted it that bad. Because if it were a skirt in my size, I would totally wear it. But since it isn't, my daughter will wear it instead.

Miss O ended up getting some little sunglasses and a hat for the time we will be spending at the "Lower 40" this summer. Also known as the lake property, or the farm, or the 40 acres my parents bought which just happens to be a tree farm that is pleasantly close to a beautiful lake. I'm pretty sure I am going to need a Go-Girl as it gets harder and harder to squat with my ever growing belly. What I haven't told my parents yet is that I am super excited for all the family fun we are going to have down there. Miss O already has a life jacket and a fishing pole from her daddy and her very own camping chair from Pop (also known as my daddy). Miss O has already been practicing her fishing skills from her camping chair, and she had a trial run with her daddy in the bath tub. Which I'm not gonna lie, picturing Miss O in the bathtub with her pink fishing pole cracks me up.

I'm also looking forward to bringing Charlie (Mr. Jealousy) to the Lower 40 for some much needed attention, away from the other dogs. Plus he is the one dog out of our pack that I trust to not wander off to far or get lost. He was a stray after all, he knows how to take care of himself. He knows how to eat leafy plants if he gets hungry, and he knows how to come back if I call him. But most importantly, he doesn't want to be a stray again. Plus he's way to needy to wander too far. Mason, being the worrier of the two of us, is unsure of the whole thing. But I have taken Charlie to unknown places and let him off his leash several times before. If I ever though he was getting too far away I called and he wandered back in my direction. Plus I have a no fail technique for getting him to run to me. Squat down with your arms out as if you were going to give him a big hug and call his name. Then brace yourself. He's pretty good at not plowing me over when he runs in for the hug, but then he leans and down I go. A hug is way better then a treat for him. His trial run is tomorrow, as we load up the trucks and head down to the Lower 40 for the first time.

Banana Split

Has it been a week already? Well, I tried to post a couple of times, it just didn't workout. Either my brain was malfunctioning, or the clock was. Anyway, baby is now officially the size of a banana, well at least the length of a banana. I however have noticed quite a jump in size. I have officially gained weight in my face and have found several new stretch marks. I'm pretty sure the people who have 8 kids are those women who don't get stretch marks. I hate them. And seriously stretch marks, do you have to attack my thighs too? I'm sure it's just a matter of time before my feet start getting those nasty little marks too. Grr. I would trade all those mornings of not throwing up for these ugly marks.

Anyway. Little Banana's hearing is being fine tuned and now is a good time to start reading, talking and singing to her. Apparently, according to Mason anyway, my belly button is the microphone. I don't know why. Maybe just because it is in the center of my belly, or maybe because it is a focal point. I doubt he knows the answer either. But I do know that my stomach is now bigger then I realize. Yesterday while walking into my coworkers cube, something I do all the time, I bumped her chair with my belly. Anyway, I have pictures for you, but I won't have time to share them with you tonight, and probably not tomorrow. Tonight is a celebration for Mason's birthday with my family, and tomorrow is shopping for baby clothes for my little girl. With a busy week ahead, I hope to have lot's of new stories and pictures to share.

Dazed and Confused

I'm sorry, what week am I? I think my doctor confused me last time I went in, when I thought I was 16 weeks and he said 15. As he kept looking at his little handy little chart, and going back and forth on how far along I was, I trusted him when his final answer was 15. Now, even though I just posted week 18 last week, it appears we are officially 20 weeks. Where did 19 go? Of course the confusion isn't helped by the fact that one website says I'm 19 weeks, while the other says 20. Sooooo, what the heck? The tech said 20 weeks after taking measurements, and my stomach measured at 21 weeks. I thought baby was a mango, baby is really the size of a cantaloupe, even though I am measuring like a banana.

Which would explain the weight gain. I was doing to good too. Minimal weight gain had me well under the line, and then POW! I'm now right on the line. So, I'm still in good shape, as long as next month doesn't bring another weight spike, and then another, and another. Although I'm pretty sure all four of those pounds could be just from the weekend. Mexican on Friday, biscuits and gravy on Saturday, Sunday brought Steak n' Shake, and since I won the bet with Mason on Monday, we had Five Guys, Burgers and Fries. Sounds like a fat weekend to me. Of course those extra pounds could be directly related to the mass amounts of fluid resting in my feet and kankles, I mean ankles.

Oh, what bet you ask? The gender bet. The winner of the bet got to pick where we ate for lunch and the looser had to pay. That fact that it would be coming out of the same bank account doesn't matter. Mason picked boy, and I picked girl. We are having a girl! We pretty much have a name all picked out, but you know me, it will probably change once I meet her. I'm a little hesitant to tell everyone what it is, because people have an amazing ability to voice their opinion about your terrible choice in potential baby names. However, since I have all of 9 followers, and 4 or 5 active readers (that I know of anyway) I might as well tell you. Mason is 90% sure and I am about 80% sure that our daughter will be Elina Anne (Lina for short).

Although there is still some debate between my mother, my sister and I about the spelling. Here are the Greek meanings for each spelling:

Elina (eh LEE nah)- Torch; bright light

Elena (eh LAY nah)- Wicker, reed, shoot; torch; basket

First of all Elena sounds too close to Elaine, which I don't care for at all. Nor do I want to name my daughter after a basket. The pronunciation of Elina is exactly how I want it to sound. So no, it is not spelled wrong. If we go with this name, it will be spelled Elina.

Dreams

This post is a little belated, as I had the dream Tuesday night. According to the wives tales, what you dream is the opposite of what you are having. According to my neighbor, what she dreamed was exactly what she had.

Mason had a dream a few weeks ago, and while he couldn't remember the details of the dream, he knew it was a girl.

I dreamed that we were in for the ultra sound and instead of seeing the little black and white fuzzy version of our baby, there was a real baby on the table before us. This baby was wearing a thin paper like diaper thing, so we couldn't actually see anything. But the tech announced that it was a girl, and when I looked, I could tell she was right.

This is the second sign that I have gotten that it's a girl. A while back while driving home after work I heard a voice that said, "It's a girl." It's a voice I've heard before and one I've learned the hard way to listen to. It comes to me like a thought, in my own voice, but they aren't my words. I know this may sound weird to some of you, but I also know at least one person will understand what I'm talking about. Call it my guide, my instincts, whatever.

Even after hearing the voice I was pretty sure I was having a boy. But now, I'm leaning towards girl.

Also, in unrelated news, I'm going to try and incorporate more pictures in my blog. Even if they don't relate to what I'm talking about. Which may be hard since I don't usually blog while I'm at home, with the camera and access to all my pictures. But that is my goal.

Week 18 Brings... Spring Cleaning?

Our plans for Saturday were unavoidably canceled. So we cleaned. And hung some things and rearranged some things and I made a list of everything I wanted to do to each room. I am proud to say that after I purchase a few candles and clean some towels, the guest bathroom will FINALLY be at a place I can call done. One whole room that is complete, well except for the eventual lighting fixture change which is a little lower on the list. As soon as I have more funds, then I will finally get the rest of the house the way I want it. Which means a lighter color in the living room which will be done in WASHABLE paint (now if we try to wash it, the paint comes right off). Then something calming and airy in the main bedroom instead of the dark dungeon we now sleep in. I didn't mind it at first, but now, it depresses me. I'm just not a dark and drab kind of person. And I'm sure I will love it as much as I love the new curtains in the living room once it is done.

My feet. Oh my poor feet. I thought they were doing better, after all I was on them ALL day Saturday with very minimal swelling. Then come Monday morning, sitting at my desk at work... poof! Huge feet. Although it wasn't all bad, I did get a foot massage out of the deal without even asking for one. So Tuesday morning, I woke up again to very minimal swelling and in less then an hour of being at work and the were so big they were almost painful. Today, when I woke up, they were still quite poofy. Thankfully, I am working from home, so I can prop these suckers up all day and watch as they slowly deflate.

Baby is now a sweet potato. I don't know about

you, but I have never bought a small sweet potato. Which would explain why it is now such an ordeal just to roll over in bed. I'm really not sure how Mason can sleep through such commotion. Perhaps if it were warm so I wouldn't need covers, and if I had the whole bed to myself it wouldn't be so bad. But that is not the case. Baby's ears are also fully developed, so I stuck my headphones in the giant belly panel of my pants on Monday so Baby could listen to his or her future favorite song. I know, I'm weird. But it works. Plus this way, I won't hear it so much that I will get sick of it, and I can use my work hours to do something productive. You know, other then work, of course.

"OMG That's Huge!" News

The swelling has already started! I'm pretty dang sure it's to soon for that non-sense. It appears my cute shoes will not be making an appearance this summer after all. My cabbage patch feet will be sporting flip-flops and ballet flats where my skin can bulge out of the top. It's going to be a LONG summer. Although, apparently I favor my right foot, as it is officially 10 times bigger then my left.

In other "OMG That's Huge" news, I finally gave in and went bra shopping this weekend. You know those bras you look at when you first go bra shopping cause your trainer bra is no longer doing the job and you think, "those are huge!" Welcome to my drawer big huge bras. Try not to intimidate all the little ones still in there.

While I was shopping Sister discovered baby snow suits on sale for $5. How does one pass that up? Surely they will be gone by the time I actually KNOW if I should buy the pink one or the blue one. Since we can use Miss O's old suit if it's a girl, I was convinced to buy a blue one and just return it if I ended up not needing one. I figured it evened out Linda's purchase of a girl outfit, so it was okay. But really, me buying anything gender specific for this baby is HUGE news.

What else is huge you ask? I finally got my drool-worthy camera. Perhaps not huge news for most of you, but ginormous news for me. With all the AMEX and Visa cards I got from work, and the earnings from photo shoots, birthdays, and so on, it finally worked out that I could go and get it. This camera is not without controversy though. The big debate is, who gets to use my old awesome camera. Sister who called dibs long before I was ready to purchase the new camera? Or Mason, who wants to learn more and be more involved in what I am so passionate about? So, I'm trying to win another one of a different brand so that I can get myself out of the middle of this situation. I should just put my old camera at the end of a scavenger hunt and let the two of them duke it out. Or maybe just work out visitation rights.

Baby is now an onion, and that seems huge to be inside of me. I know, I know, just wait it will only get bigger. People are like onions, they have many layers. Baby is working on those layers as we speak, building up some baby fat to keep warm. Little onion now also has finger prints! Baby is also making it more difficult to sit up from a reclined position. You know, the one I lie in to help the swelling in my huge feet go down.

That's all for now. Please be sure to tune in next week for more "OMG That's Huge!" News.

I Have No Idea Where This is Headed

I seem to have a complete aversion to anything looking remotely like work today. So I thought, "Hey, I'll write a blog." Except for one minor detail. I really have nothing to say. No wonderful stories to share, no dead dogs on the side of the road to tell you about, nothing. Maybe I share to many stories verbally and then forget to mention them here too. Or maybe my week has been nice and dull for a change. Or maybe, just maybe I'm to tired to notice.

Except for Wednesday. Wednesday was a great day. I was fortunate to be working from home that day, so I got to open the back door and let the fresh air come in. I needed that warm fresh air, it was a fuel that had been missing from my system for those long winter months. I wanted to hop up, and dance around the room with the stereo blasting. I was even tempted to clean while I danced. But instead I was glued to the couch dealing with needy customers. And then I started thinking, and planning and wanting to pull out all of my craft supplies. Instead I grabbed my dusty sketch book and jotted down my ideas. And then I called my Dad to share my ideas with him and see if he had what I needed "in stock." Dad does have a rather large inventory. See Mom, this is why we don't throw anything away. You never know when you (or I) might need it.

Remember not that long ago when I stated that I was showing? One moment I thought I was just starting to show. The very next day, I looked down and thought, "Holy Crap!" And it is a strong little baby in there. Yesterday (or was it the day before? I really can't remember) I got punched or kicked hard enough that I actually said "ow." Out loud. Oh, apparently baby doesn't want me to tell this story. I just got kicked in the side. Anyway, when I say "ow" out loud it means one of two things. 1. It really did hurt. 2. I saw it coming and I thought it was going to hurt, it usually does not. So my sweet little baby's movements no longer feel like weird gas bubbles. They now feel like getting elbowed in the gut, from the inside.

And now I have to actually try and get some work done. As my To Do folder is filling up and my time is running out.