Things I Have Learned with Pregnancy

1. Drink a lot of water and that means more than you could ever imagine.

2. Have a strong community. Family and friends are absolutely vital during this time.

3. Pregnancy is truly a miracle. After 2 visits to the ER and 1 to Labor and Delivery (at 20 weeks gestation), I have not once received a concrete explanation to anything. It is in God's hands.

4. Always save financially for a rainy day as that day could last months.

5. Don't hesitate to call the doctor if something is worrying you.

6. Give in to your cravings with moderation.

7. If you feel tears coming on, just let it go and have a good cry, even if you don't know what you are crying about.

8. Talk, sing and dance with/to your ever growing belly. There is a little person in there and share all this with your spouse.

9. Hand-me-downs, borrowed items and consignment are a blessing! Also, your baby does not need every item you see on the shelf.

10. Pray.

Thank You, Lord!

Our backyard neighbor just came over and shared with me their oak tree was hit by lightning on Friday evening. Now, on Friday, when the lightning hit, I new it was close, but not that close. I was home alone and the strike set off our house alarm, which I was unable to switch off. So, my energy was geered toward speaking with customer service to solve the problem. Little did I know, our neighbors just had bark thrown through their living room windows, their irrigation system blew up around the tree and the wiring leading to the garage where those systems are controlled exploded AND it did the same to their garage doors. Good gracious! They were all safe, thank you, Lord! Also, thank you, Lord for mine and little guy's safety. When it happened, we were sitting in the room closest to the oak tree, about 150' away. I was wondering why there were chunks of tree on our deck and scattered throughout the backyard...in looking at the tree, there is an area from top to bottom where bark was sheared off from the force of the lightning. We are due for more severe storms this week and you will find me in the basement.

Thank You, Stranger

I would like to thank whichever previous owner, as there have been two, that planted the beautiful flowers in our yard. They not only make the yard look great, but they have contributed to my enjoyment of Spring. So, thank you very much!

Take That!

This past Friday, we were cited by our ever-loving and caring HOA that we needed to "refresh" the mulch in our yard. Well, I have been out of work for quite some time and our bugdet does not allow refreshing mulch. So, Matt and I put our heads and cellphone calculators together to figure out how to do this task in the most cost effective way. Well, when you pull up to a mulch wholesaler with a CRV, sans truck bed, you might get laughed at and handed a shovel. We can take it. They don't pay our bills. Actually, they were laughing because this is not the traditional way of doing things around their place, so maybe we taught them something. I doubt it, but we did beat the system by spending $30 rather than $100+ if someone had delivered it to our house or if we had used Home Depot, whose customer service lady was rude. Well, the yard does look better and Matt got his exercise. :)

Little Guy is Growing Like a Cute Weed

These newest photos were taken three weeks ago, so I know even now he has changed so much. I can feel him moving, which is fascinating and miraculous. He is very active and I'm pretty sure he has enrolled in a kickboxing class and sometimes attends up to twice a day.

IT'S A BOY!

Baby Bump

Several friends have requested 'baby bump' photos. The first one was taken at 9 weeks and the second photo at 15 weeks. I'm feeling well for the most part, a victim of heartburn most everyday and still wearing my regular clothes, although I probably shouldn't. Many times, chilling on the couch, before I know it my tummy is hanging out in all its glory.

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia

One afternoon in February, Matthew and I headed to Athens to meet some friends for dinner, yet started out at the Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed getting out of the house. Can you find the moon in the last photo? Days like this make the end of Winter with the arrival of Spring and Summer that much more desirable.

Try It!

Ok, so, I've been given permission to putter around the house. Something I have missed during the bedrest period has been cooking, so I've started back doing some light work in the kitchen. Matt and I are trying to cutback on our sodium intake, so I've been doing research on options other than potato chips and the like. I found a recipe for Moroccan Spiced Chickpeas (Kalyn's Kitchen Blog) and the part I find so great is the spice mix, so I want to share it with you:

2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch of ground cloves

Mix them together and store in a jar for whenever and whatever foods you want to spice.

New Realization

About a month ago, I had the honor of attending a woman's retreat with the women from Redeemer. Motherhood was mentioned many times over the weekend and at that point on the calendar, I was nine weeks pregnant. What was being said, especially the part of being a mother without having the babe in your arms, rather for me still baking, was a new concept to me. It made sense, of course, yet I still needed time to process this thought.

Well, it has processed and I find it amazing. Even though little sweet pea is the size of a lemon (the internet keeps on comparing the fetus to the size of fruit) at 14 weeks gestation, I am still mothering him or her. I make daily, hourly decisions that effects directly what is going on in there. Of course, these feelings will change with pregnancy and even more so when the sweet little critter is being held by us. Oh, and this goes for dad's too! In a different way of course, but your decisions effect the baby also. We are already parenting...