Simple Things I Miss the Most

I have officially hit the point of pregnancy where I feel huge and uncomfortable most of the time.  So in honor of achieving this milestone, I share with you the things that I miss the most from my pre-pregnant days (in no particular order).

1.  Breathing.

I miss breathing through my nose and not having such swollen sinus membranes that eating requires taking short breaks to catch my breath.

2.  Coffee.

I miss coffee with caffeine.  Yes, I know, I technically can have a cup a day, but I know I can't stop at a cup.  And really, I miss caffeine in general.

3.  Sleeping.

I miss sleeping on my stomach and my back.  And I really miss getting out of bed without having to roll out of bed (and without elbowing Dan in the face when I get back into bed for the fifteenth time each night).

4.  Running.

I miss running, especially now.  This is my favorite time in Corpus to run in the evenings - it's perfect.  I had such terrible siatic pain early on that my doctor wouldn't let me run, and now that the pain has been taken care of, she says too much time has passed to start running again.  So I walk or swim (which I have enjoyed getting back in the pool more often!).

5.  Sushi.

I miss Philadelphia rolls, and Texas rolls, and Christmas rolls, and...  Dan will likely be making a trip to Imperial Cafe shortly after I deliver. :-)

6.  Walking.

I miss walking without waddling, gasping for air, and tingling feet and hands.

7.  Painting.

I miss painting my own toenails.  While I do enjoy the monthly pedicures I am letting myself get, painting my nails has always been a very relaxing time for me.  I miss that time.

8.  Drinking.

I miss the occasional margarita and the occasional Fat Tire.

9.  Eating.

I miss eating with no heartburn or indigestion.  And I miss sandwiches with lunch meat.

10. Clothing.

I miss not having to pull your jeans up every time you stand up.  Although I do love maternity pants, they are the best invention ever.

Luckily, I know this will all be worth it in 3 short months when I get to hold my daughter for the first time!

First Glimpse of the Nursery

My Mom and Dad came to visit (code word = work) this past weekend.  I am so overwhelmed at everything that they did while they were here, we are so incredibly blessed!  They flew in on Thursday late afternoon, and I had three projects that I really wanted to complete while they were here - painting the nursery, hanging storage in the garage, and putting together the nursery furniture.  Dan had to work on Friday, so the storage in the garage had to wait for Friday night/Saturday morning.  By noon on Friday we were onto my secondary list of projects - shampooing the carpets in the nursery and fixing odd things that needed fixed around the house.  It was so nice to have them here, however I'm glad we have a granddaughter coming because I don't think they would be coming back anytime soon without her!

Here are some "before" pictures of the nursery...

My Dad isn't too fond of painting, so he put together the baby furniture while my Mom and I painted.

First wall of the nursery...it's borderline obnoxious - but I love it!

And here are some "after" pictures...

There's still quite a bit that I'm going to do with it, but having the solid color down on the walls was the biggest part, and had to be done to start!  My superstar friend, Jade, is going to paint the design from the baby's nursery decor (Carter's Butterfly Flowers collection) on one of the walls, and I have some decals and other stuff to hang on the other walls to complete it all.  I'll be sure to post pictures as everything comes together!

The last time my parents came down, every time we saw a Whataburger (which is just about every half mile in this town...), my Dad would make a comment about it.  I thought he was just being my Dad, but in all honesty he really wanted to try it.  So we promised him Whataburger on this trip (since he worked so hard).  Dan missed out since he was at work...

Friday evening, my Mom and I made a Babies R' Us run while Dad and Dan started work on the garage storage.  When we got home, we started cleaning up all of the cardboard and styrofoam trash that had accumulated in the garage.  Four trash bags full of styrofoam...the blue bin next to it is already filled with cardboard boxes, with another stack about 2 feet high waiting for it's turn to be recycled.  Apparently everything baby comes wrapped in cardboard and styrofoam!

Dad and Dan working on the storage

They finished up around noon on Saturday, which was perfect because we had plans to meet some dear friends from Wray (now they live in Greeley) for lunch.  Bill and Ruthie went to the church I grew up in, and now live in Port Aransas for two months out of every year.  Port Aransas is a beach town just across the bay from us where a lot of Winter Texans come from December-March every year.

My Mom and Ruthie

Dad, Mom, Ruthie, and Bill

We also went to church with them on Saturday night - which was a hoot.  They attend a church in Port Aransas that is largely comprised on Winter Texans...meaning the average attendee is no less than 60 years old.  We were by far the youngest pew there!

These last shots are some that my Mom took the last night they were here.

A huge THANK YOU to Grammie and Grandad for coming down and helping us get ready for little Miss Gaines.  Next time we won't put you to work (maybe...) :-)

Double Digits!

We are officially in double digits...only 99 days to go as we count down to our baby girl's arrival!  What is even crazier is that in one week, I will be in my third, THIRD, trimester.  Where has the time gone?  Part of me wants to start freaking out a little because there is still so much to do before she comes (paint the nursery, set up furniture, create my summer online courses, figure out day care for next year...).  Fortunately, my Mom and Dad are flying down tomorrow (yay!), and we'll get some of my list crossed off. (Don't worry Dad...I don't have enough to fill the entire weekend...we'll go to Whataburger).  I've got an idea of what I want to do with the nursery, hopefully it will look as neat done as it does in my head.  :-)  You can be praying that we will figure out the day care bit.  Our heart's desire is to find someone in Kingsville who does in home care for a small number of children.  My hope is to be able to leave campus and nurse at least once through the day, but we aren't having a lot of success finding that yet.  There is a child development center on campus that is really good - and we are on the waiting list there.  Our prayer is that we will find someone or that a spot will open there.  It's a little bit anxiety provoking to think about leaving our baby with someone we barely know...praying for God to bring peace and direction!

25 Down, 15 to Go!

Today officially marks 25 weeks on this little journey.  I'm still amazed that there is a little person growing inside of me!  I am also amazed, every time we take one of these pictures, at how big I am!  Dan says that I'm starting to walk and sit/stand up like a pregnant lady - so I guess I am getting big.  And while I'm on the topic of amazed, my belly button is crazy!  It's still (barely) an innie, but I am completely obsessed with it.  It's my own little growth meter.

Everything has been going great - Dan felt our baby girl move for the first time this week!  I had an appointment on Monday, and my doctor says that everything looks fine.  She has given me the OK to fly out to San Diego in late March/early April to receive the award that I received for my dissertation.  I'll be 32 weeks then, but as long as there are no problems between now and then, I'll get to be out there for it! Overall, I feel great.  I'm starting to feel pretty worn down at the end of days, especially my Tuesdays/Thursdays when I teach 4 classes back to back.  I've been swimming 2-3 times a week, and doing some prenatal exercise/yoga DVDs on most of the other days.  Between that and regular chiropractic adjustments to keep my sciatic pain in check, I can see why some women love being pregnant! :-)  My Mom and Dad are heading out next week to help us with a couple of getting ready for baby projects.  I'm hoping for nice weather so we can spend some time at the beach while they are here too!  Even Coloradoans probably don't want to spend a day at the beach when it's 30-40 degrees out!

The Great Ice Storm of 2011

I title this with a little bit of sarcasm, knowing that we have friends and family up north who endured real cold, ice, and snow this week!  However, we did experience our first south Texas winter storm over the past few days.  Monday the temperature was in the 70s, but slowly across Tuesday the cold front came through dropping us down into the teens and 20s for the rest of the week.  Much like our friends and family to the north, we haven't been above freezing in the last few days...however unlike our friends and family to the north, people here are major weenies about it.  The entire city of Corpus pretty much shut down throughout Thursday and all day today.  A&M-Kingsville closed as of 5pm yesterday...all in anticipation of snow.  

I think many of my students forgot that I am from Colorado, and spent 5 years in Indiana, so there's not going to be a whole lot of sympathy coming from me.  On Wednesday, within hours of the university announcing closing (not effective until 5pm Thursday, mind you), I had 14 emails from students telling me they weren't able to come to class on Thursday.  Excuses ranged from "I have children in elementary school, and since the school closed, I have no where to take my children" (completely legitimate and understandable - I offered to allow their children to come to class with them) to "the weather is too treacherous for me to drive to class".  We didn't get any precipitation with the cold until about 6pm on Thursday...so I'm not sure exactly what was treacherous.  Granted, south Texas does not have the equipment to handle ice on the roads (our version of a salt truck is likely someone sitting on the tailgate of an F-150 with a salt shaker), but at that time there was no ice to be handled!

The other amusing activity was heading to the grocery store.  We, unfortunately, needed milk - so I had Dan drop me off to run in quickly and grab some.  You would have thought we were going to be stranded in our homes for weeks with no electricity the way that place looked.  They had every line open (probably around 25), and the lines extended back into the aisles (probably 10-12 people deep in each), some with multiple carts full of food.  It was nuts.  I stood in line for 20 minutes to buy milk (and a few other I'm pregnant and that looks good items).  The best part is, we're supposed to have temps back in the 60s tomorrow and the 70s on Sunday.

Around 6pm last night, the "wintry mix" came and left between 1/4 and 1/2 inch of ice depending on who is reporting.  We both have the day off, and have opted to stay inside away from the crazy Texans trying to drive in this.  The sun is starting to pop through now, and there are patches of blue skies, so I anticipate everything being back to normal in a few hours.  

To remember this treacherous event in our lives...here's some pictures of plants around our house from this morning...

Bushes around our house that will probably die because we didn't cover them.

 One of our trees out front

 Trees in the back weighted down with the ice

 Random bird who didn't get the "let's fly further south" memo

 One of our trees that I've been nursing back to health since we moved in.

It has twice as many leaves on it this year than last...I fear it may bite the dust after this.

 Leaves on our palm tree...word to the wise, don't let these hit you in the head...

All in all, it's been amusing to watch these southerners respond to what is normal for about 70% of winter up north.  Our prayers are certainly with our friends and family up north who are dealing with the aftermath of a real ice storm (leaking roofs, broken trees, no electricity).