Shower time!

My sweet friend Summer and I hosted a baby shower for another precious friend of ours, Brooke. Brooke is 8 weeks ahead of me, which is great so I can get all of the low down from her before it happens to me, or I can call her and ask for advice and clues to what my body is doing. But on a less selfish note, I am so excited for Brooke and Bryan. I know they are going to be such naturals at the parenting thing.

Summer and I made Brooke a diaper cake. I had always heard of these things, and people seemed to "awww" over them. And I thought, cute idea! At first I checked them out online. Riiiigghhhtt. Not for $150 (beginning prices). So Summer and I thought we'd try out our creative hand. It turns out, we aren't half bad! At least we were pretty happy about the way it turned out, especially since neither one of us had made one before. I think I should go into business doing this... But I don't think I could really charge people a Ben Franklin and a half.

The shower went so well, and the food was fabulous. :) I had to pull myself away from the cookies more than once. And Brooke got some super cool stuff too. It made me so excited to meet their daughter, only a few more weeks.

Yep, Still Got It

As I was driving to work one day last week (I know, I should have written then, but life has been busy), I heard a honk. Now, I drive through Bella Vista every morning. The drive to school should take me 15 minutes, but with morning traffic, takes more like 25. This is all due to traffic in BV. So we are all packed on that road like sardines, but to hear a honk is a little unusual. I look up and see 6 smiling faces. A truckload of construction workers waving at me. I actually laughed out loud. If only I could have stood up and showed them my belly. I did manage to put my left hand on the steering wheel to show off some bling. Then I passed them.

I hear another honk. What? Another group of construction workers. I assume they are from the same company as the two trucks looked the same. I laughed almost all the way to work after that. So I've still got it, at least in the face I guess!

Cankles

Funny. The day school started, my ankles decided to double in size. After that first Monday, I looked down and thought "who's ankles are these?" Then I realized they were mine, as which point I thought "It looks like someone crammed softballs into my ankles". Seriously, huge ankles. Officially cankles- no differentiation between the calves and ankles. They go down at night a lot, but they are still a bit swollen every morning. My left one is more swollen (my theory here is that is the side I sleep on, so it's less elevated all night long). And you KNOW it's just way too hot to be wearing support hose, although I do see that in my future.

But on a more fun note, I can feel Riley moving in there all the time. Today as I was teaching in 4th hour (last class of the day), I could feel some body part poking out of my belly. It was the size of my fist. I SO want to know what body parts are protruding when she does that. But it's just so fun to know how much she is moving and growing in there. It makes that second helping of everything I eat seem okay. (remind me of that when I can't fit into my maternity jeans)

Seriously?

Some people in this world have no filter between their brains and their mouths. I see this everyday at the junior high level, but we have to give them a break. Most of their parents have never told them about the filter and the ones who have just haven't quite mastered the skill yet. That's okay, that's what makes them children.

But once you reach the age of awareness (I'm guessing this is early adulthood, or maybe even before), your filter should always be in place, especially around pregnant women.

Take for instance, the cashier at Las Fajitas. My parents stopped in town on their way home from Denver and took me out to eat. As we are standing at the register waiting to pay, one of the girls asked me how far along I was. The secret villain inside me wanted to say "What do you mean?" But since I'm not that mean I told her I was 20 weeks. Then her counterpart, the one working the register, told me that all of her friends that have had babies were my size right before they delivered. Seriously? Why don't you just call me fat to my face? Oh wait, you did. How do you respond to that? My secret villain wanted to ask her if all of her friends were 14 when they had their babies, or if their babies were malnourished at birth. But since I'm not that mean, or that fast of a thinker, I just looked at her (probably with my mouth hanging wide open, catching flies). I guess these people don't realize how self conscious a pregnant woman is about her size. And if you are one of those people who isn't self conscious about it all, please tell me your secret.

I also love it when people tell you, "well, I only gained 12 pounds with my first, and 11 pounds with my second." in that snooty, I'm better than you sort of way. I want to say "KISS IT" since I surpassed those pounds back in the teen weeks of this pregnancy. Seriously, where is the filter? Should I write a letter to the editor? Should I write a column about this to every self respecting newspaper in the area - or in the region? Wait, maybe I should write a column in every gossip magazine, since my evil villain believes these people are just reading about celeb hook ups instead of the true news. Man, I am MEAN! But I would never say anything to a pregnant woman about her size!

Panel Pants

When my friend Jodie was pregnant, I admit that I made fun of her panel pants. Well, it wasn't her I was making fun of, it was the words "panel pants". It just rolls so easily off the tongue. Go ahead, say it three times, you'll catch on. Anyway, she warned me that I would love panel pants when I was pregnant and would want to wear them all the time after that. She was right. I only have one pair of panel pants, a pair of maternity jeans I won off of eBay. And let me tell you, they are so comfy I could almost sleep in them (if I was sleeping at all these days).

So Jodie, I stand corrected. You were right. Panel Pants are definitely comfortable. But I still get a kick out of saying the words. I think I may need to go buy some panel pants for my professional dress at school. Then I can tell everyone that listens that I am wearing panel pants. (and Jodie, I'll even put you on my "friends" links, if you tell me how). :)

It's a....

BABY GIRL!!!!!

We found out yesterday around 2ish, but had lots to do before our friends, the Fleers, came over last night to watch the finale of "So You Think You Can Dance". I'm sorry if I didn't call you. I only got about half way through my phone book before my battery went dead.

We are SO excited to be having a baby girl. Now that I can refer to her as "her" instead of "it", it's so much more real. And to see her little body rolling around inside me was AMAZING. I tried my best to keep my calm and just soak it all in, but a couple of tears found their way out of my eyes.

Her name is Riley Grace Woody, is that not the cutest name ever?! I can't wait to meet her. We didn't get a good look at her profile, and you know that straight-on face always looks like an alien. But her legs! She is going to be a soccer player. She has some long legs, which she is currently using to kick me any time she is awake. The technician that did the ultrasound commented on how much she is moving. I am going to go ahead and give Woody the credit for that. I think she is getting his energy levels.

And now, I must shop for pinks.

Nesting

It has begun. This nesting phase I've heard so much about. I started with some random things in the kitchen, then I cleaned out all of the clothes that don't fit in my closet. I officially have 3 tops that fit. That should be fun next week when school starts. What a GREAT reason to do some shopping.

Last week I went through one of our two extra bedroom closets. Then I made Woody go through and throw out his old stuff. Unlike most couples (I presume), he is the packrat and I'm the one who wants to throw everything away. Now, we haven't even started with the closet in the nursery. I am secretly afraid of that closet. It is full of things we need to keep. I really hate to say we've already grown out of this house, but we have definitely grown out of our closets.

Now, to have a garage sale or to give it all to charity, that is the question.