Pet Peeve

My husband is good to have around for lots of reasons. He's very handy. He can fix just about anything. And if he doesn't know how to fix it, he will learn. He's a great dad. He's also good at taking care of the gross things that I just can't stomach, especially pregnant. Like emptying diaper pails. Or cleaning up dog vomit. But the one thing that drives me absolutely CRAZY about him? He has this really annoying habit of finishing off the one thing that I really want to eat, then complaining about how crappy it tasted. For example, this past summer I went to a special candy shop and bought some expensive caramel pecan turtles. I had one (or three) in the car on the way home and hid the rest in the back of the pantry. I hid them because I really didn't want to share them with anybody and I wanted to save them for the occasional treat. A few days later I open up the pantry and see the bag sitting out front. I look inside and there is only one left! When I asked Eric if he ate them he said "yeah, but they were kinda stale!" WHAT????!!!!!! So, why did you eat five of them? His answer "I saved you one!"

This morning I still had a headache that's been lingering all weekend. Usually I'll have three Advil and a cup of regular coffee and that will help take the edge off. I can't have Advil pregnant, so I opted for just the coffee this morning. I went to put my creamer in and it was gone! "Eric! Did you use the last of my creamer?" "Yeah, that stuff is gross! It's way too sweet!"

Last week, when he was at work, I went in the fridge for the good kind of pickles. You know, the crunchy kind you find in the deli meat section? Gone. This time when I called him at work to ask him about it (yes, it was that important) he said he did eat them all, but he would stop at the store and buy more. Okay. I'm willing to forgive this offense, because at least he enjoyed the pickles. When he came home that night, he said they were "out". I'm sorry, the store wasn't out of pickles. Now, the offense is becoming less forgivable. But a couple days later he came home from work with these
He's learning....

How low can you go?

I haven't been "working" for several months now. By "working" I mean getting a regular pay check. Of course it's tons of work to be a 24/7 mom, but unfortunately, toddler kisses don't buy groceries. And I DO have a new build real estate deal in the works, and have for the last several months, but it will probably be several more months before I get a commission from that. So, that leaves me with, exactly, ZERO dollars. Eric works, but we've made our lifestyle so that his check pays for the mortgage, all of the bills, and food. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room in the budget for extras. I don't need a lot of extras. None of us do. But sometimes "extras" become necessities. While I'm "not working" I'm trying to make it my job to find money. Either by saving money, or making money. I have my etsy site that is giving me a teeny tiny bit of extra money here and there. I also have been trying to find a kiddo to watch out of the house, and have my feelers out for part time jobs that wouldn't involve sending Jackson to day care (which is clearly not in the budget). Our spending is pretty much down to zero on a daily basis. We eat in all the time. Eric packs lunches everyday. I rarely leave the house in the car to save on gas money. And Jackson is FINALLY potty trained, so diapers (except for night time) aren't an issue anymore. So, I'm asking YOU. What do you do to save money or make extra money here and there? Are you a coupon clipper? Are you a one car household? Have you stopped eating out? Do you sell your rarely used items on Craigslist? For me, finding ways to save money is almost fun, like a game. (And anyone who's ever played a game with me knows how competitive I am.) Let's help each other out and see where we can find money that didn't exist before!

To each his own

Sometimes I will read something or see something on tv that infuriates me. I'm going to try my best to stay calm and not point fingers. I know that this might ruffle some feathers, but when it comes to this subject, I don't really care. I think BY FAR the biggest problem in the world today is intolerance. People are so quick to pass judgment on others. My biggest question to intolerant people is "why do you care?"

So what if two people of the same sex love each other and want to get married? Why do you care? They aren't asking YOU to marry someone of the same sex.

So what if a guy wants to have 10 wives. Why do you care? He's not asking YOU to marry him.

So what if people want to believe in God, or the devil or Tom Cruise? Why do you care? Believe what you want to believe and let them believe what they want to believe.

So what if someone wants to marry outside of their race or religion? Why do you care? No one is asking you to do the same.

Why do you care what kind of car someone else drives, what clothes they wear, how they do their hair, how they spend their free time, what they do for a living, or how much money they make. What makes you so much better than them that you feel you can pass judgment on them?

It's not up to you to judge others. I am so tired of hearing people who are supposed to be believers and followers of a loving and accepting religion, and yet show no empathy or acceptance for anyone with different views.

As a mother of a 2 1/2 year old, and another one on the way, I think it's IMPERATIVE that I teach my children to love and accept all people for who they are. I can only hope that my fellow moms and dads will do the same for their children, with the hope that someday the world will be a more accepting place.

10 things to NEVER say to a pregnant woman:

Stuff to never say/do to a pregnant woman. (or any women, for that matter)

1) Never NEVER assume someone is pregnant. Unless you actually hear the words "I'm pregnant" come out of her mouth, don't ask her if she is, and don't assume she is. If she is pregnant, and wanted you to know, she would tell you. If she isn't pregnant, you are just calling her fat.

2) Do NOT tell her that she looks the way she feels. Yes, she is probably some shade of green. Yes, she is probably exhausted. Yes, she is probably gaining weight in places other than her belly. Yes, she probably has the complexion of a 15 year old. But never tell her this. Lie. Or don't say anything at all.

3) Don't try to guess how far along she is. And when she tells you how far along she is the ONLY appropriate answer is "you look great". If you tell a pregnant woman that she is HUGE, she's going to feel like shit, because you just told her she's fat. She isn't going to hear that you are just trying to say that her belly is big and it's cute. She will hear "you are fat". And don't tell her that she is tiny. She won't hear that she looks great and most people would be envious to be her size. She will hear "don't you care enough for your unborn child to properly nourish it?" Again, the ONLY answer, when she tells you how far along she is, is "you look great!"

4) DON'T TOUCH! Pregnant women are not animals in a petting zoo. I, personally, am not overly sensitive to this. If I know you, and you want to touch my belly, I'm fine with it. But complete strangers are off limits to me. And many pregnant women aren't okay with anyone touching. So, better to be safe and keep your hands to yourself.

5) Once the big D-Day is approaching, don't ask them if they've had the baby yet. You'll just sound ignorant. If they are still pregnant and don't have a baby in their arms, obviously they haven't had it yet. And I can promise you that they are a thousand times more eager for the baby to come than you are. You are just making it worse when you say something stupid like "no baby yet?" when they are obviously still pregnant.

6) No matter what she says the baby's name is going to be, your answer should be "I like it". I don't care if she just told you that her precious baby is going to be named "Blue Lady's Feather Duster" after her favorite childhood dog. Your answer? "I like it".

7) Here's a fun one that I got on a regular basis last time I was pregnant. "Are you sure you aren't having twins?" Really?! REALLY?! Do you REALLY think that I might be pregnant with twins and just don't know? This isn't 1955. And this isn't an episode of "I didn't know I was pregnant". If I were having twins, I'd know.

8) Don't give her stupid, impractical advice. Stupid impractical advice would be "get as much sleep as you can before the baby comes." That's just dumb. First of all, you can't stock pile sleep. And second of all, she is already not getting enough sleep. She is probably really uncomfortable sleeping anyway. And once she DOES finally manage to get to sleep, she'll be awoken to a swift kick in the bladder, making her run to the bathroom. Or a nice charlie horse. Or her two year old crying. So, telling her to get lots of sleep is a total joke. There is a good chance she'll get MORE sleep once the baby comes.

9) There are two topics that I've found to be unacceptable to give your advice on, unless the pregnant woman specifically asks. One is on breastfeeding. IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS WHAT SHE CHOOSES TO DO WITH HER BODY AND HER BABY! Formula isn't going to hurt her baby. And breast milk isn't going to hurt her baby either. Whatever she chooses is just fine. Talking with a pregnant woman about her options is one thing. Being judgey or pushy is SO not okay. What she needs is support. Not judgments. The other thing that is very personal is getting an epidural. It's not up to you to decide what kind of birth experience she should have. For me, an epidural made me go from a living hell and making no progress with labor to laughing, joking, and ready to push in less than 30 minutes. For some women it's the opposite. Whatever they chose, support them in it. You aren't going to change their mind anyway.

10) Don't try to guess the baby's sex based on a negative aspect of the way the pregnant mom looks. (i.e. "I bet you are having a girl because of all of your acne". Or "I think it's a boy because of your cankles") If you want to have fun and guess the baby's sex, that's one thing, but keep mom's looks out of it.

Knocked up....

I've been rather absent lately. From my blog. And from my friends. And from pretty much everything in my life. But, it's actually been a really good thing. Here's why:





That's right. I'm knocked up! Due August 10th, which makes me about 11 weeks now. I realize that I'm not completely "out of the woods" yet, and that many people would wait another couple weeks to out themselves, but I just couldn't keep it a secret any longer. So, I'm dragging you in the woods with me. Yesterday, we heard a really strong heartbeat at the doctor's office, which gave me the go ahead, in my mind, to come out with it. (the statistics of miscarriage after hearing a heartbeat after 11 weeks is rather low, a risk I'm willing to take) But here's the other thing. If, God forbid, I were to miscarry, I'd still tell you. I'd want the support of my family and friends to get me through that difficult time. So, to answer all of the questions that everyone has been asking:


So, how have I been feeling? Crappy. I've had all day sickness (not just morning). Not actually getting sick, but on the verge all the time. I was having a hard time eating anything at all, and was losing weight, so my doctor put me on Zofran. It's an anti-nausea medicine. It's been a God send. It's taken away almost all of my nausea. It has it's own set of, less than desirable, side effect though, that I won't get into. But the benefits definitely outweigh the side effects. My energy level has been zero. Getting anything done around the house has been a joke. I haven't had much of a desire to even get out of the house. I went almost an entire week last week without leaving! This pregnancy is the total opposite of my last pregnancy. With Jackson, I had NO morning sickness, lots of back pain in my first and second trimester, my boobs were HUGE and hurt, I peed all the time, and I was rather emotionally stable. This pregnancy I have morning sickness, my boobs are no bigger (the ONLY physical perk of pregnancy and I'm being deprived!) they don't hurt at all, and my back hardly hurts at all, I don't pee any more than usual (yet), and I'm an emotional WRECK! It's getting a little better, though, now that I'm closing in on the end of the first trimester.


Does Jackson know what's going on? Eh, kinda. He knows that there is a baby in Mommy's belly, and not in other people's belly's. He tells me the baby is sleeping all the time. But, I'm not sure he actually understands that there is a baby in me, that is going to come out in 7 months. And completely rock his little world.


Am I going to find out the sex? You bet your ass I am. I totally respect those ladies out there that have the will power to wait it out for the big surprise at the end. And who are fine with picking out all gender neutral stuff. But I am SO not one of those ladies. I'm a major planner. I want to know what's inside of me. I want to prepare the nursery and the cute little boy or girl clothes. I want to rub my belly and know what I'm rubbing, instead of calling the baby "it". And for those people that tell me they want to be surprised? Well, it WILL be a surprise. It will just be a surprise while I'm still pregnant instead of the day the baby is born. With Jackson, we found out he was a boy at 12 weeks, during our first trimester screening. Our first trimester screening is at 13 weeks this time, in 2 weeks. I'm hopeful that we will found out, for sure, again. But I know they may not be able to tell. So, I'm preparing myself that I won't know until the 18-20 week mark.


Do I care what I'm having? I'd be lying if I said I didn't care. I care a little. I would like to have a girl this time. I'd like to have that experience of having both a boy and a girl. Will I be devastated if it's a boy? Absolutely not. There is a lot to be said for having 2 boys. I won't have to buy new clothes. Jackson will have a brother to do brotherly things with. I already know what to expect with a boy. And, to be honest, having a teenage girl scares the daylight out of me! Of course the most important thing is to have a healthy baby. This is probably our last baby though, regardless of what we are having. (Famous last words, right?)


And then there is the unspoken question that absolutely EVERYONE I tell I'm pregnant does. They look at my stomach to see if I'm showing yet. Well, yes. Unfortunately, I already have a bit of a bump. Maybe it's baby, maybe it's just being seriously bloated. I don't know. I just know that I have a belly now, and I didn't have a belly before. Thank God for the belly band, cause I haven't been able to button my pants for about 3 weeks now!

You can be sure that I'll be blogging much more now. Now that I can write about what consumes 90% of my brain at all times.

50 Little Secrets

[ONE] Who was your last text from?

From my real estate office. But that's boring, so I'll change it to, my sister, Mindy

[TWO] Where was your default pic taken?

This survey was made for facebook. But my facebook default picture was taken up at Daniels Park. A park about a mile from my house.

[THREE] Your relationship status?

Married. Almost 6 years.

[FOUR] Have you ever lost a close friend?

Lost as in died? I've had friends die. Not best friends dying though. I've also lost close friends, as in, lost touch with them.

[FIVE] What is your current mood?

I'm pretty good. I managed to get the kitchen cleaned up in a reasonable amount of time after dinner tonight, which means more time for me to relax tonight.

[SIX] Whats your brother(s)/sister(s) names?

Chad, Cindy, and Mindy.

[SEVEN] Do you have a job?

Kinda. I'm a real estate broker. But it doesn't keep me very busy on a regular basis. I'm also busy making and selling my crafty stuff on etsy. I'm still looking for something that will give me a regular paycheck though. Any suggestions?

[EIGHT] Where do you wish you were right now?

I would take a nice beach vacation right now.

[NINE] Have a crazy side?

Crazy as in wild and crazy? Yes, I can get a little crazy. Crazy as in mental? Well, yeah, I can get a little mental sometimes, but it's usually situational.

[TEN] Ever had a near death experience?

Not really. I've done some dare devil-y things before that I swore I wasn't going to live through, but haven't actually come close to dying.

[ELEVEN] Something you do a lot?

Put Jackson on the potty. Go on facebook. Yell at the dogs.

[TWELVE] Angry at anyone?

Maybe a little, but I tend to have a hard time holding a grudge. It takes too much energy to stay mad at someone.

[THIRTEEN] What's stopping you from going for the person you like?

I think my husband might have something to say if I pursued Patrick Dempsey hard core. Husband can be SO selfish! ;)

[FOURTEEN] When was the last time you cried?

I don't really know. A couple weeks maybe? I almost cried today at the bead shop when Jackson told me he had to go potty, so I pulled his pants down a little and sat him on the potty and he ended up peeing all over his pants :(

[FIFTEEN] Is there anyone you would do anything for?

Yes. Anything.

[SIXTEEN] What you think about when you are falling asleep?

Usually I'm so worried about how much sleep I'll get if I go to sleep RIGHT NOW that I end up losing sleep worrying about it.

[SEVENTEEN] Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?

Eric.

[EIGHTEEN] What is your favorite song?

This is really hard. I love so many songs, but if I had to pick just one, I guess I'd say Dave Matthews Band "lie in our graves"

[NINETEEN] What are you doing right now?

Watching Biggest Loser and filling out this silly survey.

[TWENTY] Who do you trust right now?

I trust Eric. I also have other family and friends that I trust. I tend to be overly trusting of others.

[TWENTY-ONE] Where did you get the shirt you are wearing?

I'm wearing two shirts right now. A long sleeved white shirt from Old Navy and a 3/4 sleeved green cardigan sweater from some cheap store at the mall. And a scarf. That I made.

[TWENTY-TWO] Have you kissed someone in the past week?

yes, I kissed Jackson good-night right before getting on the computer.

[TWENTY-THREE] Who is your friend that lives closest to you?

I have a few neighbor friends. Rosie is probably the closest, as far as being a good friend and being really close. She is right next door. And in my neighborhood, that's REALLY close. (We can actually see each other's boys in our video monitors if we switch channels.) It comes in handy sometimes!

[TWENTY-FOUR] Describe your life in one word?

Mommy

[TWENTY-FIVE] Who are you thinking of right now?

well, now I'm thinking of Jackson, after answering that last question.

[TWENTY-SIX] What should you be doing right now?

Oh, I could definitely be doing laundry or cleaning, but I'm using the excuse that I don't want to wake Jackson up, so quietly watching tv and being on the computer is the only reasonable answer right now. Right?

[TWENTY-SEVEN] What are you listening to right now?

That annoying beeping of the scale on Biggest Loser

[TWENTY-EIGHT] Who was the last person who gave you a hug?

Jackson. He's the best hugger in the whole wide world!

[TWENTY-NINE] Who was the last person who yelled at you?

Sadly, probably Eric.

[THIRTY] Do you act differently around the person you like?

Well, I like lots of people, but with me, it's usually what you see is what you get.

[THIRTY-ONE] What is your natural hair color?

That non-color. Brownish-blondish....

[THIRTY-TWO] Who was the last person to make you laugh really hard?

Jackson.

[THIRTY-THREE] Who was the last person to make you sad or pissed?

See #29

[THIRTY-FOUR] What do you hear?

Still Biggest Loser. And now Bailey whining to go outside.

[THIRTY-FIVE] Is your hair curly or straight?

Straight-ish. But it's been short for so long, who even knows anymore?

[THIRTY-SIX] Has anyone ever called you "scrumptious" before?

Maybe? I usually fall into the more "cute" category though.

[THIRTY-SEVEN] Do you have a best friend?

I do!

[THIRTY-EIGHT] Held hands with the opposite sex in the past 3 days?

Yeah, maybe for a minute. Eric and I have never been public hand holders though. I hold Jack's hand all the time though.

[THIRTY-NINE] Do you use smiley faces on the computer?

To a fault, yes

[FORTY] Have you ever changed clothes in a vehicle?

Many times. And usually in front of 40 of my closest friends, back in college.

[FORTY-ONE] Are you happy with life right now?

I am. I really wish I didn't have to worry so much about money and could just enjoy it the way it is. But the reality is that I REALLY need to start pulling in some income.

[FORTY-TWO] Are you currently jealous of anyone?

Not really

[FORTY-THREE] What jewelry are you currently wearing?

I took my jewelry off already. I was wearing my wedding rings, another ring on my right hand, my watch and a bracelet earlier though.

[FORTY-FOUR] What are you doing Friday night?

I have no idea. I was kinda hoping we could go to the stock show, but because of #41 that's probably not going to happen :(

[FORTY-FIVE] Have you ever had your heart broken?

I think so....

[FORTY-SIX] Have you ever broken someone's heart?

I think I have, unfortunately

[FORTY-SEVEN] Is there anybody you're really disappointed in right now?

Yes

[FORTY-EIGHT] What was the last reason you went to the doctor for?

I went to the physical therapist a couple weeks ago. Not really a doctor, but it was at the hospital, so I'm counting it.

[FORTY-NINE] How late did you stay up last night and why?

I think around 11:30 or so.

[FIFTY] Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?

Yes. Before Eric I was a serial long term dater. Pretty much everyone I dated was long term. Then I got married and that stopped my dating pretty quick ;)

A mother's purse

Whenever I'm with someone who isn't a mother of a toddler, they always watch in amazement when I start pulling the most random things out of my purse. I stopped carrying a diaper bag when Jackson stopped using bottles. I've found it's easier to just take what I need and throw it all in a bigger purse. So, I'm revealing the mystery of what is in the depths of this mother's purse.

* not 1, or 2, but 3 pens
* a roll of nickels
* a roll of quarters
* 2 dum-dum suckers and a ring pop
* a fortune cookie
* a hat for Jackson
* my wallet
* a toy phone
* my real phone is always in there too, when we are out, but I took the picture with my phone, so....
* anti-bacterial wipes
* an old, unedible, cutie orange
* sunglasses
* renew lotion (can't live without it)
* chapstick (also, can't leave the house without it)
* gum
* a steamroller
* a fighter jet
* the space shuttle
* an airplane
* a truck
* fruit snacks
* a diaper
* wipes
* his bear (his security object he can't live without right now)
* his binky (also can't live without it)
* 1 sock
* a random stupid kids meal spinny top toy
* a basketball book