Grammar Police Strikes Again

Okay, so I guess this time I would technically be classified as the Spelling Police...but equally important, in my mind.  At least with these common errors.  (By the way, I really wish I were cool enough to have written this poster myself.)

Hey, if you need a dictionary to help you spell prestidigitation or antidisestablishmentarianism, I'm cool with that.

From the Peanut Gallery- Week 32: The Jicama

Jicama, huh?  You know, I occasionally like to take a gander at these fruits and veggies in the grocery store.  Not sure if I'll find a jicama on the shelves at the Teeter.

Week 32.  Also known as the week I've decided I'm ready to be done being pregnant.  As in, get this baby outta me.  I know I still have a few weeks until we can safely do that, and I will most certainly take one for the team and let him cook in there a little longer.  However, the countdown is ON.  And I'm not gonna lie...I'm really hoping this guy wants to come early.  As in 37 weeks (which is officially considered full term).

And just a little tidbit to make you go WHOA...that happens to be only 28 days from today.

Week 32 was also the week that I lost any and all remaining grace that I may have had left.  Aside from feeling like (and moving like) a whale, I've also become excessively clumsy.  During a trip to Target, the cart literally had to be taken away from me, as I continuously ran it into anything in my path.  Come to think about it, the shelves and items may not have even been in my path, but they were getting rammed into, anyway.

Although I may not be thrilled about the clumsies, I'm sure that my pooches are beyond excited.  Daphne and Delilah have learned to stay at my feet in the kitchen, as I am sure to drop food, and maybe some more food, and perhaps a little bit more food on the floor as I prepare meals.

Major accomplishment of the week?  I hosted (and stayed awake for) our annual New Year's Eve party.  THANK THE LORD for our visitor (whom I am blaming my tardy post on :) ) Mimi, otherwise I'm not sure I would have made it!!  She was a HUGE help getting the house together and preparing all the food.  And a good time was had by all!  Unfortunately, I could not partake in the Jell-O shots this year, but I'll be back in fighting form to ring in 2012!

And after the ball dropped, J reminded me that it was officially January.  Which means that now when people ask me when I'm due, I can simply reply "next month!"

I know I've been slacking on the fetus updates, but the truth is, he ain't doin' much.  Just getting bigger and fatter (at this point, he's probably in the neighborhood of 4 pounds), and finishing up that final lung development.  I'm guessing by the frequency of his hiccups (at least twice a day) that Gabe is doing a fine job of expanding and contracting those lungs in preparation for the real breathing!

Also, go ahead and call me a liar.  I know that I promised more pictures of progress in the nursery, but I have none.  There was some minuscule progress made- see last week's pics, and imagine white below the painter's tape.  But this week, the real work begins.  My mom arrives tomorrow to help me finish up!  I will take pics as we go, and next week, you can look forward to seeing the finished product!

First "Labor and Birth Education" class at the hospital tonight!  J and I are hoping to be able to keep it together without too many giggles.

AND, the belly pic of the week.  Happy New Year everyone!

From the Peanut Gallery- Week 31: The FOUR Oranges

Sorry I'm late this week!  I let the holidays and the 8 INCHES of snowfall get the best of me!

J and I were at the grocery store yesterday, and I stopped to really look at the size of some of this produce.  I'm here to tell ya', little man is not so little anymore!

And speaking of not being so little...

Big news of the week: this week's baby appointment brought with it some questions about Gabe's size.  At each appointment (beginning at around 20 weeks or so), the doctors measure my "fundal height."  For you non-medical personnel, this is basically a measurement of how big my uterus has gotten.  It's pretty nifty, actually.  The number of centimeters should correspond to the number of weeks pregnant I am.  So at this 31 week appointment, my uterus should have been about 31 centimeters tall.  Well, my uterus hit 33 centimeters this week.  At 28 weeks, it was 30 centimeters, and at 25 weeks, it was 28 centimeters...are you seeing the trend?

Well, maybe Gabe will be a tall boy, some of you may be thinking.  And in answer to that- J is 5'8" and I am 5'3".  A tall son?  Me thinks not.

SO, chances aren't bad that our little man is NOT a good listener, and will not stop growing at 7 lbs as I have repeatedly requested.  BUT, we don't know this for sure.  I could just have an excess amount of amniotic fluid, for one reason or another.  And I suppose there could be other reasons why my uterus is expanding at a faster-than-normal rate.

In any case, we will be having another ultrasound soon (most likely at 35 weeks) to take a look in there and see what is causing this growth.  And I'm not gonna lie- I'm pretty excited that we get to take another peek this late in the game.  Especially since J and I decided to forgo the 3-D ultrasound that is all the rage these days, as we find the images to be...how do I put this delicately?...creepy.

I'm really not too alarmed about this.  Little man is kick, kick, kicking away, his heart rate is wonderful, my blood pressure is fantastic, my weight gain is still non-existent (yay!), and every other aspect of pregnancy is right on the money.  And there are several completely reasonable and non-scary reasons why I could be measuring ahead.  So don't fret, readers!

Truthfully, I've been feeling for a little while now that little man is going to be big, and he's going to be a little early.  This just further adds to my suspicions.  But hey, I also thought I was definitely having a girl, so what the hell do I know?  I suppose only time will tell...and by time, I mean the mere 56 DAYS UNTIL D-DAY!  AAAHHHH!

Aside from the update, I have some images to share this week!  A few pictures of the disaster of a nursery in progress, and a few of my recent favorite baby things.  Enjoy! 

The dogs are distressed, as we have taken out the bed, and piled copious amounts of baby stuff into the middle of the room, so we can get to the walls to paint!

Tape is in place for painting, step one.  The area below the tape will be white with navy blue stripes.  There will be a chair rail installed at the tape line.  More pics next week!

How cute is this outfit?  I'm only sad that he'll have to wait a year to fit into it!

Yes, that's his little monogram.  Thanks, Blaire!

My first extravagant, non-necessary baby purchase.  But c'mon.  Gabe HAD to have these!

I mean, they're itty-bitty Chuck Taylors!  For cool babies.

And, the belly shot of the week.  I sure am feeling big these days!

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza!

I'm not sure exactly what came over me.  Nesting in the kitchen?  I felt the need to spread my culinary love to friends and neighbors?  In any case, I recently went on a very serious baking spree.

We're talking ten kinds of holiday treats made in one weekend.

I was obsessed.  I made my list and gathered all of my ingredients.  J was frightened when he saw what I was taking on.  I had my trusty Mrs. Claus apron, and I was ready to go!

A few photos of what I have dubbed Christmas Cookie Extravaganza 2010!

Supplies are gathered...let the baking begin!

My grandmother's soft sugar cookies- soft and fluffy like muffin tops!  Mmmm...

Peanut Butter Blossoms- some of my favorites.  Just FYI, all you bakers out there- if you run out of milk chocolate Kisses, don't use the dark chocolate ones as a substitute- they melt!

Spritz cookies made with my favorite Christmas cookie tool- the Super Shooter!  Thanks to my awesome MIL for giving me hers!

Fantasy Fudge- 'nuff said.

Chocolate Toffee Caramel bars- or as I call them, "Everything But the Kitchen Sink bars."  We're talking chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, toffee bits, caramel...sinfully rich and beyond tasty.

My Tupperware overfloweth.

A finished tray for our friends the V's!

 And now, I am exhausted.  I may not bake again until Christmas 2011.

Also- J and I will be eating cookies for weeks.  But it's okay- I'm eating for two.  We'll manage!

From the Peanut Gallery- Week 30: The Head of Lettuce

HOLY COW!  Week 30?  Out of 40?  That puts us at the three-quarters mark, people!  As in, 75% complete!  A mere ten weeks until d-day.  Whoa.

This week, baby weighs in at around three pounds.  About the same weight as a large head of lettuce.

I was just thinking back to this picture, and how I was so excited to finally be able to see the entire quarter next to the produce.  Seems like so long ago now!

This week, I present the good, the bad, and the ugly.

We'll start with the good!  Little Gabe got the hiccups this week.  I have been waiting and waiting to feel these.  I often wondered if it was happening, and I just wasn't recognizing it.  But I kept hearing "You'll know it when you feel it!"  Turns out, true.  Not only could I feel them, but we could see my belly move with each hiccup.  J and I were in bed, getting ready to turn in for the night (you know, the time of day when baby is crazy active, every day, without fail), so I wasn't surprised at all of the activity going on in there.  But I suddenly realized that this movement was very rhythmic, and wasn't coming and going in spurts.  So I laid there and watched.  After a minute, I told J that I was pretty sure these were hiccups.  He started watching too, and wholeheartedly agreed that it couldn't possibly be anything else.  It was definitely cool.  And definitely went on for a L.O.N.G. time.  Poor guy.  J felt bad for him that he couldn't seem to stop.  We're hoping he didn't inherit his daddy's horrific hiccuping.  (But if he did, rest assured- J will teach him the ninja breathing trick to get rid of them.  You know, once he's here and can actually breathe and everything.) 

Onto the bad: This was the week when I said goodbye to sleeping soundly and comfortably.  I toss, and I turn, and I toss and I turn some more, desperately trying to find a position that is comfortable.  I lay on my side, and for a brief moment, I think "Ahhh...this is comfortable."  But ten seconds later, I realize that it's not.  So I flip onto my back, and I think "Ahhh...this is comfortable."  Ten more seconds pass, and I realize that alas, it is no longer comfy.  This goes on for quite some time before I finally reach such a state of exhaustion that I pass out in whatever weird position my body is in at the time.  But after a (usually short) time, I am awake, again struggling to put my body into some contortion that doesn't make me feel hurty.  (Yes, I realize that hurty is not a word, however, I made it up and am using it, as I feel that it accurately describes my predicament.  I'm just all...hurty.)  The cycle continues all.night.long., until J comes in to wake me up, and I feel like crying because I feel as though I must have only gotten five minutes of sleep.  Yes, I suppose this is my body's way of helping to prepare me for the sleepless nights ahead!

And now for the ugly: Nausea and morning sickness are officially back.  Those ugly words speak for themselves.

30 weeks!

Snow Day!

 

Yes, friends, this is what a snow day looks like in North Carolina.  Yep, this is all it takes.  For reals.  Crazy southerners!

My (Not-So) Professional Opinion

I just finished reading the acclaimed, #1 best-seller, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  This book is so buzzed about, is being made into an American movie (after already being made into a Swedish one), and is the subject of book clubs everywhere.

My opinion? In short: it stinks.

The book is approximately 600 pages long.  I was engaged in the story for about 200 of them.  It took the entire first half of the book to introduce the cast of characters and build the necessary background knowledge.  That was some S.L.O.W. reading.  The main characters didn't even meet one another until this halfway point.

The murder mystery portion of the story, while intriguing, only played out over 150 pages, or so.  At this point in my reading, I became excited, and thought that maybe the book was worthwhile, after all.  But then it seems as if mystery solved, action over- and I still have over 100 pages left to read.  What could the author possibly talk about for another 100 pages??

The answer: not much.  What played out in the end could have been summed up in 20 pages, rather than 120.

This book took me months to finish- which is not like me.  However, I am really quite stubborn about abandoning a book once I've started it, even if I don't enjoy it.  (Remember the Anna Karenina debacle?  If you've forgotten, you can read about it here.)  I powered through until the bitter end.

And I mean bitter.  SO not worth it, in my opinion.

SO, if any of you readers have read and enjoyed this book, care to enlighten me?  Because I feel as though I surely must have missed something!  What is it about this book that is such a sensation??