Halfway there, homies!

October 30, 2015

Forgive me, Blogger, for I have sinned. It’s been over a month since my last post. :) My sincerest apologies for the extended hiatus! As most of you know, I do have a pretty good excuse – it’s been quite the month of nuptials, and I’ve been living in a constant state of airplanes and suitcases for the last 4 weeks.

Fort Lauderdale view

I’m finally home in Iowa for a few days this week – and then back to STL on Monday for a full workweek in the office and a grand finale to the Fall wedding event(s) with a dual evening of receptions on Saturday. Adam and I are literally going to be driving from one party to another; I’ll be changing my dress in the car (praying they both still fit), and dutifully making a bloated bridesmaid appearance for both of my gals. Woop!

#isurvived2soberweddings

I’ve warned Adam that as soon as that wraps up – it’s gonna be full on Baby T Prep time. I’m already feeling anxiety about getting the nursery ready and registering, etc.  We’re going to turn the guest room upstairs into the baby room – which means finding a way to move and/or consolidate a massive dresser that I have in there… full of MY clothes. Admittedly, I’m a hoarder – especially with clothes and shoes – and I just don’t know how I’m going to get rid of and/or dramatically decrease what’s in those drawers. Reality check #27 on this pregnancy train: the kid and his or her presence will take precedence over your 6 drawers full of workout clothes and pajama pants.

Pinterest example that will never end up like it's supposed to: I like the idea of a family tree for decor in there... but I do NOT want to paint. 

We hit 20 weeks on Monday - which is super EXCITING! But also daunting (here comes negative Nancy) – I’m only halfway there?!? Twenty more weeks to go… how can that be? In all seriousness, I feel like I’ve come a long way – hopefully the latter half will be an even better experience. And I’m sure that with the holidays around the corner, time is gonna fly… March will be here before we know it.

With the passing of 20 weeks, we got to have a big appointment with the weird gel that gets squirted on my stomach and a slightly strange technician who rubs a device all over and stares at a screen: the ultrasound! All in all – everything is good – Truebe Tyke is right on track! All fingers/toes and organs are looking good; and he or she is even measuring in the 82^nd percentile for growth at this stage – 1) how in the world do they figure this stuff out? And 2) why am I so proud of this factoid??

This is the time when we could find out the sex, as well – but we asked to be kept in the dark. Adam is wavering big time – he’s never been as resolute as me in keeping the sex a surprise (which is kind of shocking) – so I asked Ron (the technician) to put the results in an envelope that we could take home in case it strikes our fancy or we decide we just can’t wait any longer to find out. Which wasn’t really the brightest moment for me, because now that it’s here… in my possession… and I’m home all day long by myself… I’m kind of dying to find out. But I’ve stayed strong thus far! (It’s been ~30 hours).

I do think that regardless, we’re going to keep it a surprise for the rest of the world, so I’m sorry, my friends – you’ll probably have to wait with bated breath for the news to hit the livewire come March! Which drives my mom crazy, I’m aware. And since I can’t have a few drinks, get a little loose-lipped and let the secret slip (which has been known to happen in my younger days) – I think it’ll actually stay on lock-down!

What’s funny is that Adam and I are both just so excited about having a baby, I can HONESTLY say I don’t have a preference – and he agrees. Other than the name debacle weighing on my psyche, I am seriously going to be happy and content as a clam - no matter if we have a girl that I will ridiculously spoil with adorable dresses and headbands, or a boy who will undoubtedly have extremely stylish hats and suspender outfits to flaunt.

I’m pretty much full-blown showing now – but it’s not always totally noticeable, depending on what I’m wearing. And I’m still not putting on weight quite like I should, but the doctor’s not concerned as I’m just under the average and wasn’t a Nicole Richie before getting pregnant. It’s a difficult and strange thing to grapple with… feeling yourself expand and get heavier and not fight the urge to be upset or do something about it. I have taken it upon myself to eat more of what I want and indulge more frequently… and I’ve also taken advantage of being a little lazier than I might normally – but I’m also making sure I’ve got the good stuff happening too – tons of H20, fruit and staying pretty active when I can. And when I don’t want to get off the couch and make myself a smoothie, I use the time-honored excuse to Adam that I’m growing a life inside of me, and I’d love his assistance. He takes good care of me!

And speaking of smoothies – you guys will love to hear the spectrum of sizing that my apps gave me this week: papaya, mango, banana! That totally sounds like a delicious concoction you'd get at Jamba Juice, doesn’t it?!  Maybe if I bring back the Jamaican spirit of a few weeks ago, we’ll name the kid Triple T: Thunder (our favorite resort employee) Tropical Truebe.

Mandatory: if we name our child that, we have to move here.

I must wrap this up as on the one weekend in the next 2+ months where we actually did not have plans, I’ve managed to book us up on both nights – tonight, we’re hosting a neighborhood bonfire, and I’ve got cheesy potatoes to whip up and ghost paper lanterns to finish; and tomorrow, we’re heading to Ursa/Mendon for the big hometown high school football playoff game. Supportin’ the U – Go Mustangs!

In the spirit of the holiday, tonight I’m thinking about wearing a black shirt for the party, and then gluing a white circle with an “8” on it to my bump and answering people all night with snarky one-liners –

Little kid from down the street: “Annie, can I have another s’more?”

Me: “Outlook not so good.”

LOL – Q: do I maybe have too much time on my hands today to think about these things?

A: As I see it, yes.

Happy Halloween!

Awesome, little crafty item I found while antiquing in Muskie a few weeks ago.
I'm old, I've accepted it.