21 weeks down!! 19 more to go!!! I've been feeling amazing - this second trimester stuff is great!
Brandon is moving like crazy lately. He feels like he is doing flips in there, kicking me low, then high, to the right, to the left - maybe he is practicing for his future professional sports career? Perhaps practicing his baseball slides and home run swings? I should call my Red Sox and let them know he will be ready in a few years.
I feel him most when I am sitting or laying down. He also seems to get very active when I am hungry and just after I eat. It is like he is screaming for me to give him food and then thanking me for obliging. For anyone who has not felt a baby move, it is the weirdest, and most wonderful feeling in the world. It is like he is letting me know that he is still there and doing well. It reminds me that I really AM growing a little person in there.
I was brought to tears yesterday by socks. Yes, SOCKS. Our neighbors brought over a huge tub of baby clothes that their little boy has outgrown. We couldn't be MORE appreciative of that. They are almost new since he grew out of them so fast and Brandon already has a full closet. While going through the tub of clothes I came across an unopened package of what I thought was toddler socks - it seemed like it would fit their two year old.
So yesterday, (after getting picked on for destroying the courthouse), I brought the socks back to the neighbor. She explained that these were not toddler socks and opened the package to show me. They were the cutest, smallest, little gym socks that I have ever seen. I was overcome with visions of my little man running around in them, (and of me and Mike running around trying to get them back from the dogs on laundry day).
I can't wait till he is here - so he can wear these socks. I swear, Brandon truly is a blessing.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Random Story of the Day
Disclaimer - I don't fully understand what happened - maybe some of you techie people can elaborate!
So, on Tuesday I received a call from my local cable company while at work. My cell signal here is spotty at best so I only heard a few words. What I was able to surmise is that they were doing work in our neighborhood and noticed a problem with our signal. They wanted to schedule maintenance to clear up my problems. I'd seen cable trucks out and about in force lately in our area, and since we have been having random problems with our Internet going down and with our HD channels "pixilating" I was excited and scheduled the maintenance for the next day. The technician who called told me to ONLY call her back if I wanted to cancel, that she knew all about my "situation" and needed to be informed if I had to reschedule. (should have been a warning sign)
I was so excited that the cable company actually called ME and was so willing to proactively help me. I was thinking about ways that I could recognize them for such great customer service, bragging to the bestie that the technicians up here in the county are sooooo much better than her city technicians, etc.
So, being a responsible person, I got off work early to meet the cable guy. I put each dog in one of the bedrooms, cleared away anything that would get in his way, trying to be helpful. He comes in the house and tells me that he is there to "fix all of your problems". Great! I didn't even know until you called that I had such big problems!
My nice county cable guy runs lots of tests, checks each cable connection, checked the connection at the street, the connection at the house, at each TV (which involved him leaving the house so I could play musical bedrooms with the dogs without them seeing him), VERY thorough tech. Again, I was sooooo proud of our wonderful county cable guy.
An hour later he comes in the house to tell me they need to run new cable. At this point my curiosity was peaked so I asked him what was going on here, we never called in a problem, the random loss of pixels didn't bother us that bad, what's up?
Story of our life - it isn't as simple as a problem with our signal. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, the network has been bombarded with "radio interference", which has been destroying the network up the street at the courthouse area (court, jail, police, fire, hospital - nothing big). They have been spreading out from the courthouse and scanning to find the source of this interference. Eventually they narrowed it down between our house and the next door neighbor. And after running tests, WE are the culprits. Our cable lines are so bad that we are sending interference all the way back through the network and destroying the courthouse. :(
I feel so guilty. And I didn't even know we were doing it! I went outside after the cable guy left and the neighbor came over to ask how things went. HE knew all about this problem, I guess they got better cell phone signal and heard the whole story when the cable company called. I told him that they were laying new cables and he jokingly screamed "You are the ones!" and not two seconds later his wife came over screaming "so it was YOU!!!". I feel like we need to wear Scarlet "C"'s for our violations.
And so, out of guilt for the poor courthouse people, the police, clerks, judges, doctors, nurses, patients, and prisoners who didn't get your cable and Internet:
(To the Tune of Sorry by BuckCherry)
I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry You're blue
I'm sorry about all things I did to you
And I know, I can't take it back
You must have been bored, without all your sounds
'Cause cable makes the world go round
And I just wanted to say - I'm sorry
This time I know, I'm to blame
It's hard for you to get through your days
You get bored and no cable is to blame
'Cause everything you want, it never comes through right
And when your network dies, it makes you want to cry
I'm sorry, I'm bad, I'm sorry You're blue
I'm sorry about all things I did to you
And I know, I can't take it back
You must have been bored, without all your sounds
'Cause cable makes the world go round
And I just wanted to say - I'm sorry
I'm sorry
So, on Tuesday I received a call from my local cable company while at work. My cell signal here is spotty at best so I only heard a few words. What I was able to surmise is that they were doing work in our neighborhood and noticed a problem with our signal. They wanted to schedule maintenance to clear up my problems. I'd seen cable trucks out and about in force lately in our area, and since we have been having random problems with our Internet going down and with our HD channels "pixilating" I was excited and scheduled the maintenance for the next day. The technician who called told me to ONLY call her back if I wanted to cancel, that she knew all about my "situation" and needed to be informed if I had to reschedule. (should have been a warning sign)
I was so excited that the cable company actually called ME and was so willing to proactively help me. I was thinking about ways that I could recognize them for such great customer service, bragging to the bestie that the technicians up here in the county are sooooo much better than her city technicians, etc.
So, being a responsible person, I got off work early to meet the cable guy. I put each dog in one of the bedrooms, cleared away anything that would get in his way, trying to be helpful. He comes in the house and tells me that he is there to "fix all of your problems". Great! I didn't even know until you called that I had such big problems!
My nice county cable guy runs lots of tests, checks each cable connection, checked the connection at the street, the connection at the house, at each TV (which involved him leaving the house so I could play musical bedrooms with the dogs without them seeing him), VERY thorough tech. Again, I was sooooo proud of our wonderful county cable guy.
An hour later he comes in the house to tell me they need to run new cable. At this point my curiosity was peaked so I asked him what was going on here, we never called in a problem, the random loss of pixels didn't bother us that bad, what's up?
Story of our life - it isn't as simple as a problem with our signal. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, the network has been bombarded with "radio interference", which has been destroying the network up the street at the courthouse area (court, jail, police, fire, hospital - nothing big). They have been spreading out from the courthouse and scanning to find the source of this interference. Eventually they narrowed it down between our house and the next door neighbor. And after running tests, WE are the culprits. Our cable lines are so bad that we are sending interference all the way back through the network and destroying the courthouse. :(
I feel so guilty. And I didn't even know we were doing it! I went outside after the cable guy left and the neighbor came over to ask how things went. HE knew all about this problem, I guess they got better cell phone signal and heard the whole story when the cable company called. I told him that they were laying new cables and he jokingly screamed "You are the ones!" and not two seconds later his wife came over screaming "so it was YOU!!!". I feel like we need to wear Scarlet "C"'s for our violations.
And so, out of guilt for the poor courthouse people, the police, clerks, judges, doctors, nurses, patients, and prisoners who didn't get your cable and Internet:
(To the Tune of Sorry by BuckCherry)
I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry You're blue
I'm sorry about all things I did to you
And I know, I can't take it back
You must have been bored, without all your sounds
'Cause cable makes the world go round
And I just wanted to say - I'm sorry
This time I know, I'm to blame
It's hard for you to get through your days
You get bored and no cable is to blame
'Cause everything you want, it never comes through right
And when your network dies, it makes you want to cry
I'm sorry, I'm bad, I'm sorry You're blue
I'm sorry about all things I did to you
And I know, I can't take it back
You must have been bored, without all your sounds
'Cause cable makes the world go round
And I just wanted to say - I'm sorry
I'm sorry
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Random Story of the Day
I am supposed to keep myself hydrated. Number 1 - it is healthy. Number 2 - Mom keeps telling me my ankles will swell if I don't. Number 3 - I've heard it can prevent stretch marks. Soooo, keeping this in mind, I set out this past Sunday to ensure I was well stocked in the hydration department. Since I am not supposed to lift heavy things I brought the hubby along. $150 worth of groceries later (can you EVER get out of Wal-Mart for less) we were stocking the car. We went about this very strategically. Our new, family friendly car has a pretty neat rear hatch with an adjustable "shelf".
(NOT our surfboard!) As I was saying, we strategically placed the bags under the shelf, with frozen items on bottom, bread and veggies on top of that. And then, on top of the shelf we placed three boxes of mini Gatorade and a case of water (trying to stay hydrated). Thereby protecting the groceries from getting squashed. Smart, huh?
We didn't make it out of the parking lot before we heard a crash and looked back to see that the shelf can't hold that much weight, thereby collapsing onto our "protected" veggies and bread. Lesson learned. Anyone got a recipe for squashed tomatoes, zucchini, and bread?
(NOT our surfboard!) As I was saying, we strategically placed the bags under the shelf, with frozen items on bottom, bread and veggies on top of that. And then, on top of the shelf we placed three boxes of mini Gatorade and a case of water (trying to stay hydrated). Thereby protecting the groceries from getting squashed. Smart, huh?
We didn't make it out of the parking lot before we heard a crash and looked back to see that the shelf can't hold that much weight, thereby collapsing onto our "protected" veggies and bread. Lesson learned. Anyone got a recipe for squashed tomatoes, zucchini, and bread?
Great Yard Sign
Got this in email today. Of course we don't need this in Gloucester, unless we put a bunch at the bridge pointing south to the city. :)
(Soon to be) Mother's Day
I celebrated my "soon-to-be" Mother's Day this past weekend. To begin the weekend Mike and I became adventurous and decided to try a new restaurant in Gloucester. In case you don't know anything about Gloucester (most people don't), there aren't many restaurants to choose from. We have two chains - Ruby Tuesday and Applebees, both of which I am tired of. With my crazy pregnancy cravings it is a bit difficult for Mike to find some place for me. So we drove up and down Route 17, hoping that one would jump out at me. We ended up at a local place called GoodFellas, a Pasta, Steak, Seafood restaurant. Here is where being a vegetarian, pregnant women who recently came down with a shellfish allergy becomes a problem. But my stubborn self was determined that this was THE restaurant. After reviewing the menu I narrowed down my choices to Fettuccine Alfredo or Stir Fried Teriyaki vegetables. I was overcome with pregnancy guilt over the lack of vegetables I had eaten that day, so I went with the stir fry. (Note to self - don't order Japanese food at a steakhouse - there is a reason they aren't a Japanese restaurant.) Everything else was great, and the lack of food I ate left room for the best cheesecake ever. Problem Solved, and Brandon got extra calcium, vitamin D, etc!! :)
Saturday was a spa day with Mom, a gift from Dad for his two favorite "mothers". Spending the day with Mom, learning about her pregnancies, and just relaxing was great. After the spa, we were starving, and my abnormal pregnancy food problems kicked in again. This time we only drove around for about 10 minutes until I found a place. Unfortunately when we went inside and the lady came to help us I was overcome by the smell of fresh cooking cow (known to you meat eaters as steak). Mom of course thought this smelled amazing and was ready to order exactly what was cooking. But since she loves me she walked out with me and we kept driving. We ended up at Moes, which smelled like fresh cut vegetables. Yummm.
For my "soon-to-be" Mother's Day I got cards form all four of my boys - Riggins, Gibbs, Mike, and Brandon. Brandon also gave me a prenatal massage since he is getting so heavy! Mass on Sunday was run completely by the youth of the church - choir, readings, everything. They also presented a special tribute to all their moms and then passed out flowers to all of us. So sweet.
Couldn't have asked for a better "soon-to-be" Mother's Day weekend. Can't wait to join the ranks of motherhood, which Mom has been a card-carrying member of for - hmmm hmmm 32 years! :) Love you Mom!
Saturday was a spa day with Mom, a gift from Dad for his two favorite "mothers". Spending the day with Mom, learning about her pregnancies, and just relaxing was great. After the spa, we were starving, and my abnormal pregnancy food problems kicked in again. This time we only drove around for about 10 minutes until I found a place. Unfortunately when we went inside and the lady came to help us I was overcome by the smell of fresh cooking cow (known to you meat eaters as steak). Mom of course thought this smelled amazing and was ready to order exactly what was cooking. But since she loves me she walked out with me and we kept driving. We ended up at Moes, which smelled like fresh cut vegetables. Yummm.
For my "soon-to-be" Mother's Day I got cards form all four of my boys - Riggins, Gibbs, Mike, and Brandon. Brandon also gave me a prenatal massage since he is getting so heavy! Mass on Sunday was run completely by the youth of the church - choir, readings, everything. They also presented a special tribute to all their moms and then passed out flowers to all of us. So sweet.
Couldn't have asked for a better "soon-to-be" Mother's Day weekend. Can't wait to join the ranks of motherhood, which Mom has been a card-carrying member of for - hmmm hmmm 32 years! :) Love you Mom!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Creativity
I am normally not a creative person, but this past weekend I decided that I wanted to write my little man a nursery rhyme. I figured that if I started now it would be done by the time Brandon was born.
I was inspired by a local commercial for the Baltimore Orioles where a mom is rocking her baby to sleep and singing to him about baseball.
I love baseball and I LOVE the Red Sox. I was happy that they were leading the AL East and I know without a doubt that they will be firmly in first place by the time Brandon is born in September.
So here is my nursery rhyme for Brandon. Thank you Mike for listening to me over and over and over until I got it right.
Hush little baby, don't say a word.
Red Sox gonna kill some Orioles birds.
And when those birds no longer sing,
We'll show the Yankees our home run swings.
And when New York no longer shines,
We'll beat Tampa Bay in the bottom of the nine.
Sleep little baby, that is all.
Cause Canadians can't play no real baseball.
And when our bats no longer swing,
Papi will show you his Championship ring.
I was inspired by a local commercial for the Baltimore Orioles where a mom is rocking her baby to sleep and singing to him about baseball.
I love baseball and I LOVE the Red Sox. I was happy that they were leading the AL East and I know without a doubt that they will be firmly in first place by the time Brandon is born in September.
So here is my nursery rhyme for Brandon. Thank you Mike for listening to me over and over and over until I got it right.
Hush little baby, don't say a word.
Red Sox gonna kill some Orioles birds.
And when those birds no longer sing,
We'll show the Yankees our home run swings.
And when New York no longer shines,
We'll beat Tampa Bay in the bottom of the nine.
Sleep little baby, that is all.
Cause Canadians can't play no real baseball.
And when our bats no longer swing,
Papi will show you his Championship ring.
Pregnant Road Rage
Sooooo, people tell me I am crazy, but I swear that carrying a boy has risen my testosterone level. Perfect example was my ride home from work on Friday. In my opinion, I am a very reserved driver. I don't cut people off, or yell at them, etc. No road rage over here! So, Friday afternoon I was on my way home, trying to get home in time to meet the lawn mower repair man. (The fact that I had to meet him for the third time in as many weeks is a whole other story - maybe for another day). There are two lanes to get over the bridge and in to our small county. Those two lanes spread out into five lanes at the bottom of the bridge to get cars through the tolls. They then condense back in to two lanes after the tolls. When I came down the bridge I chose the middle EZ-pass lane, the one that no one uses. Therefore, I bypassed about 25-30 cars. I was proud of myself for not following the crowd and finding my own way!
I came out of the tolls, and proceeded to signal that I would be merging into one of the remaining two lanes. An SUV was to my left (where I needed to be) and two 18 wheelers were to my right (trying to merge as well). As we inched down route 17 I noticed that the SUV was riding the bumper of the truck in front of him, clearly not letting me in. Yes I know, I should have given up and just merged behind the SUV. But Brandon is pumping testosterone into my blood and I became a bit angry. I rolled down my window, honked my horn, and stuck both arms out the driver side window, trying to get his attention. His windows were also down, but he remained looking out the other window, completely ignoring me. The driver on the other side of him pointed at me and said "hey man! that girl is trying to get your attention!" The jerk SUV driver FINALLY looked at me. I waved both of my arms out the window and screamed that I was "going to get run over by an 18 wheeler, I needed to merge". A bit dramatic? Yes. But I am pregnant so everything is a bit dramatic. :)
So did the mean SUV driver let me merge, and prevent me from getting squashed by the 18 wheeler? BTW - the 18 wheeler was carrying the ugliest cars I have ever seen - the Nissan Cube. Of course mean SUV driver didn't let me merge, he shook his head NO and then inched up even further. At this point Brandon pumped some more testosterone in to my body, and I flipped off the mean SUV driver. Don't judge!
Finally I realized there was no way he was going to let me merge. Between my flailing arms, horn honks, and profanity I simply wasn't getting through to him. So I gave up. I didn't give up gracefully though. As he drove past me, I screamed "THANK YOU FOR BEING AN A**HOLE!" To which he replied "You're welcome!" At which point I screamed "HAVE A GREAT DAY!" He replied "Thanks, you too!"
I merged in right behind him, thereby proving how pointless the whole interaction was. Would it have been so hard for me to do that in the first place? Probably not. But would it have been so hard for the mean SUV driver to let me in and save me from getting squashed? Definitely not!
To top it off, I was on the phone with my bestie. I put the phone down in order to merge, yell, argue, etc. I eventually forgot that she was on the phone. Sorry Rena! When I finally picked the phone back up, I think she was ready to call the police and report a crazy, hormonal, rage-filled pregnant women on Route 17. I talked her out of it though. :)
Not my finest moment, but it happens!
I came out of the tolls, and proceeded to signal that I would be merging into one of the remaining two lanes. An SUV was to my left (where I needed to be) and two 18 wheelers were to my right (trying to merge as well). As we inched down route 17 I noticed that the SUV was riding the bumper of the truck in front of him, clearly not letting me in. Yes I know, I should have given up and just merged behind the SUV. But Brandon is pumping testosterone into my blood and I became a bit angry. I rolled down my window, honked my horn, and stuck both arms out the driver side window, trying to get his attention. His windows were also down, but he remained looking out the other window, completely ignoring me. The driver on the other side of him pointed at me and said "hey man! that girl is trying to get your attention!" The jerk SUV driver FINALLY looked at me. I waved both of my arms out the window and screamed that I was "going to get run over by an 18 wheeler, I needed to merge". A bit dramatic? Yes. But I am pregnant so everything is a bit dramatic. :)
So did the mean SUV driver let me merge, and prevent me from getting squashed by the 18 wheeler? BTW - the 18 wheeler was carrying the ugliest cars I have ever seen - the Nissan Cube. Of course mean SUV driver didn't let me merge, he shook his head NO and then inched up even further. At this point Brandon pumped some more testosterone in to my body, and I flipped off the mean SUV driver. Don't judge!
Finally I realized there was no way he was going to let me merge. Between my flailing arms, horn honks, and profanity I simply wasn't getting through to him. So I gave up. I didn't give up gracefully though. As he drove past me, I screamed "THANK YOU FOR BEING AN A**HOLE!" To which he replied "You're welcome!" At which point I screamed "HAVE A GREAT DAY!" He replied "Thanks, you too!"
I merged in right behind him, thereby proving how pointless the whole interaction was. Would it have been so hard for me to do that in the first place? Probably not. But would it have been so hard for the mean SUV driver to let me in and save me from getting squashed? Definitely not!
To top it off, I was on the phone with my bestie. I put the phone down in order to merge, yell, argue, etc. I eventually forgot that she was on the phone. Sorry Rena! When I finally picked the phone back up, I think she was ready to call the police and report a crazy, hormonal, rage-filled pregnant women on Route 17. I talked her out of it though. :)
Not my finest moment, but it happens!
Welcome
Ok, so I was thinking on my way home from work today, (which I was forced to do since I forgot my cell phone - a side effect of pregnancy) and I decided that I might like to try this blog thing. I've noticed that it seems the hubby and I are always getting ourselves in to something, and that I always have one story or another to share. Now that we are expecting a little one, wouldn't it be great to chronicle the funny, scary, wonderful moments we are going through? So here goes nothing!!
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