Dreams

A couple of months ago, I had a dream, which started quite normal.

We were attending a friend’s wedding and we were dressed up pretty nicely.  (In the start of this dream I did not appear to be with child.)  We were asked to go and check on flowers or something to make sure it would be ready for the ceremony to start.  We needed to pass through an indoor pool room to check on what ever the thing was.  As we walked by the pool, some teenage boys decided it would be fun to see if they could get us wet.  Well, when I looked down to see if my dress was wet, I saw something starting to move in my abdomen.  I thought that was odd, I had not eaten recently, so it couldn’t likely be indigestion.  There was stronger movement, and I saw a distinct foot outline on my stomach.  So I got out my camera to take a picture, and before I could push the shutter button, there were 3 strong movements again, and out of my belly popped a foot.  This foot was sticking out past the knee and would not relax.  We searched all over to find any doctors we could, in hopes that they could figure out how to get the leg back where it belongs.  I woke up at this point, with the baby’s leg still sticking out of mee.

When I was awake, I found myself holding my hands as if I was holding the leg, just as I had done in the dream, and there were strong movements/kicks right where I felt them in the dream.  Boy was that trippy!

So, Halloween was this last weekend, and I was trying to think of what I wanted to do for a costume.  Many people gave ideas, some fun, some cheesy, some I was not interested in at all.  I started thinking about how hard it would be to make it look like the alien from Alien.  Then it occurred to mee, I had that dream.  I could sew a leg.  I could make at least one dream become a reality.  So I did.

footbellypractice

Jacob said there was a little something missing, blood.

footbellyfinal

It did seem to add that little extra umph.  The best comment of the night was when a cute kid (not really yelling, but speaking quite forcefully) said, “Why is there a foot in your belly?”  I couldn’t help but laugh as I tried to explain that it is not real.  And even better is that every time I laughed, the leg would kick around.  It was fun!

And because I love him, here is a picture of Husband, and (fake) baby foot*.

footbellyjacob

And the weekly count down has arrived again.  35 weeks down, 5 to go.  Here is what is probably my favorite picture from this weeks photo shoot:

bellyshot35weeks

I sure do love my monkey footie pajamas!  Now if only I could find some in Copyright sizes…and if Jacob were willing to wear a pair of them as well, we could have a fun family picture in a couple months.


*Foot is also some times known as fot, this developed when one of the ultrasound pictures, that refused to show us if Copyright is a boy or a girl, was labeled with a fot in stead of a foot.

Can you believe it?

34 weeks down

2010 10 26 belly shot a

Only six to go?

2010 10 26 belly shot b

I can’t hardly believe that there are only six more weeks of this.  While it will be nice to have my baby in my arms, I think I will miss the fun stuff that comes with the baby being inside….

I have been busy sewing, and other stuff too, but there has been a good amount of sewing.  Lucky mee, I have pregnancy carpel tunnel syndrome-that they assure mee will end when baby comes out.  For now I wear wrist braces, and it makes it much more bearable.  I have been sewing blankets/quilts, some clothing projects, and I made major progress on my Halloween costume.  Pictures will come later.

And the white ghosts on my pants glow in the dark!

We have a winner, but first some reminiscing

This last Sunday was our Stake Conference weekend.  Four years ago, I was working in Nauvoo, ILL at a bed and breakfast.  I was the innkeeper.  It was a fun job, there was much to be desired in the employer area, but I met some really great people.  As most of us know, that is where I was when a certain young man asked mee to marry him.  We had no desire to live there and work the B&B after being married, so I needed to move back.  It was convenient that Nauvoo is also where our Stake center is located.  So, at the end of the Sunday session of Conference, I/we piled all of my belongings that I had in Nauvoo into my car (Speedy) and Jacob’s dad’s (Richard) truck (I am not sure if it has a name).  And to Macomb I moved, two weeks before I went from Mee to Wee. It was fun this weekend, during the awake and coherent parts of it, to think back and remember the events of that weekend.

So, now, for why you are all here reading this in the first place….

Remember this post?  We do.  And we have our winner.  This person “won” it a while ago.  September 1st, 2010 at 2:37 am, to be exact.

1000th comment blog winner

This seems to have been a  group effort, and so technically we have three winners, Fiona, Bran, and Nuala.  And it is also important to note that they live in Bulgaria, so it is not unreasonable for two three-year-olds to be up at 2:30 in the morning, our time.  Though, from what I have seen over the years, it really wouldn’t be unreasonable for two three-year-olds to be up at any given point in the night/morning.

Now, I just have to get the prize out.  When y’all moved to Bulgaria I failed to acquire your address.  If you could email that to mee, the prize can be on its way.  It will be good.  We promise!

I guess it is time to get serious about finishing the “unpacking business”

31 weeks down and theoretically 9 to go.  Here is a picture from today:

2010 10 05 belly shot

A great big “Thank you!” to Abby and her friend(s) for the maternity clothes.  It is nice to have warmer things to wear as the season is changing.

Let’s see, I get asked all the time how I am feeling…?  I am feeling great.  I get heart burn.  I often feel like I am starving (even though I am not).  I am tired.  I can’t sleep (unless I build a sleeping tower or nest out of ten pillows).  I pee a lot.  I feel Braxton Hicks.  And yet none of that makes this a bad experience.  And over-all I really do feel great.  These things are all intriguing to mee, I am more curious about why these things happen, and I enjoy studying them.  I have felt hiccups from Copyright, not everyday, but a number of times, it is pretty cool in my opinion.  I have been told not to sneeze anymore unless I am sitting in the restroom.  I still get out and walk to keep it up.  Most days I get in eight cups of water.  I think I may need to figure out shoes that do not require tying, or bending over, but I am holding out as long as I can.  I am now scheduled to go to the doctor every two weeks.  And two weeks ago I was told that I have gained all the weight he would like for mee to gain, there were tears, and a hug and reassurance that it will be okay, and it is common for women who lost significant weight prior to pregnancy, and while I really don’t want to stress about it, I do.  (and it appears I like run-on sentences…go figure)  Also, I am refusing to waddle, when I feel like my body is starting, I pause and re-balance myself, and then continue walking.  I am more than willing to mosey, however.

I guess that is the update for now.  We have been keeping busy and trying to stay out of trouble.

Hang up the phone and drive!

Listen lady!  It is a busy intersection, and you need to get off the phone.  There are stop signs each direction.  The car that I let go ahead of mee, had the right-of-way.  Then it was my turn, so I started.  You, however, were not paying attention to the intersection.  And would have plowed right into the side of mee if I had not been aware of you going and you not watching.  I braked, and stopped in time for you to not hit mee, and when I put my hand in the air (whole hand, not displaying any particular part of my hand, lest anyone think I was making a rude gesture) as if to ask why you went out of turn.  You just shrugged your shoulders, still holding the phone to your ears, as if to answer “whatever” and that it really doesn’t matter because you are allowed to drive irresponsibly.

If you are driving, just pay attention to the road.  If you really need to talk to someone, pull over.  If you think you need to keep talking to someone while driving, make sure you can keep your eyes on the road, and hands on the wheel.  The phones do come equipped with speakerphone after all.

Ch…ch…ch…changes

Here is a picture of my current condition.  26 weeks.

2010 08 31 26weeks bellyshot

Funny story.  A few days ago, I was standing next to Jacob.  He was sitting on his computer chair.  I turned to walk away, and hit him with my belly.  I wonder if I will get used to this belly sticking out so far.  And if I do, I wonder how long it will take to get used to not having such a big belly after Copyright is born.  Time will tell.

Today was a productive sewing day.  I was able to sew a dress, I had already cut it out.  And I was able to turn a t-shirt into a half-shirt (someone makes and sells them as half-tees, I think).  I have heard great reviews on them, and so I decided to make one and see what I think.  I think it will work well for layering.

We got to see and hear little Copyright

If you were not able to get your guess posted, you still have time.  Like 3 months* to make your guess.

Little Copyright was not as cooperative as we would have liked.  So, no, we still do not know if this baby is a boy or a girl**.  Copyright kept legs closed and while we did not learn that, we did learn other things.

We learned that this child is definitely ours***.  This child is modest (takes after mom).  This child is stubborn (takes after dad, okay takes after mom too).  This child is healthy.  All the other parts were there, in their proper places, and measured well.  Heart beats properly.

I had to laugh as we saw the baby’s face.  Copyright was sucking, and as a result we saw the tongue go in and out.  It was like it was sticking its tongue out at us for wanting to know the sex.  In all seriousness, it was really cool to watch.


*Unless we can find a way to have another ultrasound somewhere before that.  Preferably not very costly, and if at all possible some 3D ultrasounds would be fun to see.
**Which totally presents us with the enormous challenge of agreeing on names for both a boy and a girl.  We were hoping to only have to figure out one name.
***This child is not a lizard.

Rules are meant to be followed

There are protection/safety/blessings in obeying the rules.  From playing games to laws of the land.  If you think about it, it may sound funny to think of “protection” in keeping the rules if you are say, five years old and playing Candy Land.  Though, there is protection, if you cheat you are likely to be hit (or something similar) by your playmate(s).  Sports, there is potential serious injury or death if any of the players thinks they do not have to keep the rules.  If you cheat in school, you face bad grades or possible expulsion; often times this goes on your “permanent record” and makes it nearly impossible to get into another school.  The basic ten commandments are there for our benefit.  So, as we think about it, there really is safety in keeping the rules.  This includes the high school track.

A friend and I walk in the mornings at the *high school track.  Diana is my fifth (and longest enduring) walking partner in the three-ish years I have been doing this early morning practice.  I have not always had a walking partner, but I find that while I do not like to be in a big group for exercise, it does help to have one other person that keeps mee going.  Sometimes I can handle having a second person, any more than that, and I start to get a wee bit uncomfortable.

Back on topic, we get to the track fairly early, and over the years I have seen many people come and go.  I see most people for less than two months.  This summer however there are two ladies that have been on and off through the summer.  We always greet each other.  I have a story from this Wednesday morning.  In this story I will refer to them as **OSL and ISL, standing for Out of Shape Lady and In-Shape Lady.

Well, Diana and I were walking and we were just past the middle of our second lap, and we heard a voice yell something at us, we did not understand the words, and we both asked, “What?” as I placed my hand up to cup my ear.
OSL:  Could you let us have the inside lane!
Diana:  There is no jogging on the inside lanes.  There is a big sign posted.
OSL:  We are just timing sprints!

I know she felt entitled to request this on Wednesday because they actually arrived a few minutes earlier than we did. ***Normally we are the first people on the track.  Also, OSL and ISL had not been coming for the last three weeks.  When they would go to the track, it was sporadic.  Each time though they would give us dirty looks like they could not believe  we wouldn’t move when we should know to get out of their way.  OSL would grunt at us each time she passed by us and get as close to us as she could, and half of her dirty looks were the stink-eye.  About five weeks ago (two before they took a three week break) ISL arrived after us, but still about five minutes before OSL.  She did some stretches and then decided she would go over and read the posted track rules.  She no longer gave us dirty looks or tried to make us uncomfortable with her body language.  In fact, she would even politely greet us. It is amazing what knowing the rules can do. Here is a picture of the sign posted:

trackrules

Back to the story:  if it were up to mee alone, we would have stayed put and continued walking in the inside lanes.  However, Diana is a good person.  She suggested to mee that we go ahead and allow them to jog (or sprint jog) in the inside lane.  I didn’t want to.  Because I am stubborn and it is a posted rule.  Diana however, saw a potential lesson in it for OSL if we gave her the lanes after pointing out the rule.  So we moved to a couple outer lanes.

The next time our paths crossed (we were walking the opposite direction from the one they were jogging) OSL yelled out “Thank you!”  We chose not to respond, for a couple reasons. First being that by that point I was ****starting to feel a bit snarky, and my reply would not have been very polite.  Second, I was not about to allow her to think I in any way approved of her actions.  Thirdly, I did not want to give her the validation.  This seemed to bother her, because the following time we crossed paths, she tried to thank us with more explanation as to why she was entitled to do what she wants.

If the rules were not posted (and if it was not common knowledge that joggers/runners leave the inside lanes for walkers on a track), and if she had not been giving us the stink-eye through out each encounter thus far in the summer…maybe, just maybe it would not bug mee so much.  I think it would still bug mee, just not as much.

The other part of her *****sense of entitlement that really gets to mee is that she totally seems to think that she is so much more important and that it is okay for her to break the rules.  And that she thinks nothing of requesting us (not a “please” escaped her mouth) to allow her to break the rules.  And did she even consider our wanting to keep track of how far we walk?  Why does she think we use the track, and everyday the same lanes?  Does it not occur to her that we want to walk a certain distance, and by making us switch lanes mid walk, we no longer have an accurate measuring of the distance?

No, it does not matter to her (or any one else who lives in entitlement-land) what the needs or wants of other individuals may be.

I guess that is why I like/appreciate rules.  They are just what they claim to be.  Following rules keeps us in check, and helps us not step on others’ toes.  What a less thoughtless world this would be (or at least appear to be) if we would all follow the rules out there, and stop looking for ways that they apply to everyone but ourselves.

Jacob suggested that perhaps she may be the bumper sticker driver from here.


* School starts this next week, and we don’t want to have to get up as early as we would have to in order to be off the track so as to not be there after the school day has begun (last year we did it), so we will have to move our walking to the university track, or walk laps around the town square.

** This reference is only to her inability to breathe as she runs/jogs.  She is a fairly small person, she just breathes really hard as she goes around the track, and looks as if she will pass out from exhaustion, doubled over at the end of each lap.  She might be able to breathe better if she would just drink some water and get her mouth/throat wet.

***While some days there may be other individuals who arrive earlier than us, we have always been there earlier than these two.

**** Oh we all know I was snarky feeling as soon as she demanded we give her permission to break the rules.

*****Really any person’s sense of entitlement bugs mee.  You don’t get things just because.  You can’t go around demanding things and still have friends (at least not friends that like you).

Belly shot (not that kind)

Here I am this evening at 24 weeks.

24weeksbelly

You can’t really see it in this picture, but I am wearing my rubber chicken earrings.

FAQs

Q:  How are you feeling?

A:  Hungry.  Tired.  Gotta pee.  So mostly good!  (However, not as tired as I once was.)

Q:  How many weeks are you?

A:  Today marks 24 weeks (LMP) however, gestationally 22 weeks.  It is weird, and can be confusing.  LMP stands for last menstrual period.  Ovulation, and therefore conception does not occur for (an average of) two weeks after that.  So while we are told that we are at 24 weeks, Copyright has only been in there for 22 weeks.

Q:  Have you felt the baby move/kick?

A:  Yes, yes I have.  I thought I was feeling something for a while, and then because I have never been through this before, I was doubting what I was feeling.  And then what I felt was more obvious at 21 1/2 weeks.  A few days later I was trying to hear for a heart beat with the stethoscope, and must have been crowding little Copyright, because there was a strong movement that pushed the stethoscope over.  A week later I was able to place Jacob’s hand on my abdomen and He was able to feel baby movements.  There have been stronger and more movements in the short weeks that followed.  When I lay down, we can see movements with our eyes.  We try to use the stethoscope to listen for the heartbeat, but we are not as skilled at that.  We do have a thing-basically an electronic stethoscope-and we heard the “whooshing” that is Copyright’s heart and last night I decided that we should try again, and we heard the heartbeat pretty strongly.  This time it was more like the thumping of my heart, and less like the whooshing from before, however we know it was not mine, because we could still hear my heartbeat as well.  So that was pretty neat.

Q:  Why do you call the baby Copyright 2010?

A:  Well, this baby is uniquely made from us, and so the “copyright” part.  And this baby was started and will be born in 2010.  And we felt that we wanted a “name” so we are not always calling the baby “the baby” or “it” or “he or she.”

Q:  How many are in there?

A:  We are assuming there is only one in there.  We will find out for sure next week.  This is also the appointment that we will learn if we are getting a he or a she.  Also, the dreaded glucose testing appointment.

There is hope for this world yet

I was running some errands, and needed to get some salsa.  Jacob loves salsa and we were out of it.  I went to get the White Corn and Black Bean salsa because he likes it.  Today, it was on the top shelf, and pushed all the way back.  I am short.  I stood on the tips of my toes, and reached.  I could not even touch a jar.  So I took a few steps back to survey the scene.  Would the bottom shelf or two be sturdy enough to hold mee?  How much would I get hurt if it would not hold mee?  Does Jacob really need salsa?

At this point another shopper man came over and asked if I would like some assistance.  I admitted it would be great.  He got on his toes (also not that tall).  Reached and pulled down the first jar he could get.  It was covered in dried/sticky salsa.  He offered to get mee a clean one.  I appreciate that even people who don’t know mee also want clean products.  He asked if there was anything else I needed.  I told him there was not and thanked him.  The teenage boy with him was “patient,” his body language indicated that this is a regular occurrence with his dad(?).  It made mee tear up as I walked on to find bread.  They were happy tears.  I am so glad to know that people are still willing to help a person they do not know, and (at least by example) are teaching the next generation how to be kind to others.

Thank you kind sir, you are a gentleman!