Almost a Big Announcement

Well I'm at 21 weeks and tomorrow Brett and I will find out the big news; whether or not this baby that's been kicking me in the belly is a boy or a girl. Hopefully he/she won't have his/her legs crossed. That would be upsetting. But mostly I'm just extremely excited and nervous to see my baby for the first time. I'm assuming it's normal to have fears of something possibly being wrong with your baby when you take your first glance. I'm not so sure it's normal to think my baby may have an arm growing out of its head. Or is it? Anyway, I guess I'm just nervous because of the unknown. What if my 1 cup of coffee every two weeks really has hurt my baby, or what if carrying that night stand that probably weighed 35 - 40 lbs. was too much, or maybe inhaling paint fumes while painting my room was harmful. I mean, I think I've followed the Dr.'s rules pretty closely, but I still have fears. I've never been pregnant before and I'm so used to over doing things (especially when it comes to straining my body) that I just don't know what is safe. I have been a huge believer in not listening to everybody's advice and only listening to my Dr. and my body and so far I think that's the right thing to do. I know there are so many people out there that believe if you have a sip of coffee or lift over 15 lbs. you're hurting your baby, but I don't believe that. But I'm still a little nervous for tomorrow.

I really haven't been that worried so far, until I went over to my in-laws the other night. My sister-in-law had a baby about a year and half ago and her and her husband were the types that took no chances and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't even take a sip of Coke for the entire 9 months. So when I had mentioned I painted my bedroom, her and my mother-in-law freaked. I told them my Dr. said it was okay as long as I had plenty of ventilation. Then when I picked up a box of baby clothes that probably weighed 10 lbs., my sis-n-law quickly made me hand it over and told me I'm not supposed to be lifting stuff that heavy. I know they only have the best intentions and are only trying to look out for the baby, but it just makes me feel bad like I'm not taking care of my own baby. I don't know. I think this blog just turned into something way more that I had intended it to. Must be the hormones.

Anyway, I'll make sure to let everyone know on Thursday morning whether or not our little boy or little girl has an arm growing out of its head. Until then...someone please get me a chill pill.

Gray is an impossible color

Well over the weekend I was determined to add some more color to my house. Apparently it was pretty colorful before we bought it, but the seller painted it all a boring beige to make it more sellable and now I'm trying to change it back. I painted our master bedroom a couple of months ago and was trying to achieve a medium gray color and ended up with a dark olive green looking color. Kinda similar to gross baby poop. I guess someone thought it would be a great idea to mix a lot of gold into the paint and made it look disgusting once it was on the walls. So I went to Sherwin Williams and picked out a couple of over priced paints to fix my situation. I stressed to the guy that I wanted a light to medium gray that actually would turn out gray. Not blue, not purple, not green, but actually gray. Well I got a color I really thought would look gray once on the walls, but it once again looks a little different. It has a blue look to it, but I'm satisfied. It's waaaaaaaay better than the color I covered up. So I am in love with my room once again. We got the smell out be painting the floor and replacing the carpet pad, we finally got a bed that we love as well as the bedding, and now the color just really tops things off. So here is the final product (almost, I still need to hang the curtains).

Here is the color I picked out to paint two of the walls in my living room. It's called Svelte Sage. I'm doing a two tone, because my ceiling is sloped and two of the walls are two stories high and God knows I don't want to attempt that project while pregnant (or ever for that matter).

Oh and some how I actually convinced Brett to let me paint the kitchen purple!!! Can you believe it? I told him that a lot of people are starting to use dark purples in their houses and I left it at that. When we were at Lowe's last night I had showed him a Taupe kind of color for the kitchen and he replied, "I thought you were going to paint it purple." What?!?! You mean you would actually let me do that?! He said as long as I had lots of white accents. No problem, our cabinets are white and there is lots of white trim in there to help out. So this will be exciting, because I'm going to do a wine/grape/Italian theme in the kitchen and I think purple is very fitting for that.

Dear Mr. President

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Abraham Lincoln

Week 20 Belly

For the first time in my life my legs actually look skinny compared to the rest of me. I promise you, I really do have thunder thighs!! This is me at 20 weeks prego. I hope I'm not expanding too quickly, but if I am, oh well! You probably won't be seeing anymore pictures of my bare belly, because it's really not that attractive nowadays. I don't have any stretch marks yet, but I still have a tiny tiny fat roll at the top of my stomach that the baby hasn't seemed to push out yet, so it leaves a gross red line across the top of my belly. It's horrible, because it's the tiniest little roll you've ever seen, but it just won't go away!!! What can ya do?? Hey, with my belly looking so large at least my but doesn't look that big anymore. (At least for now).

Halfway There

Today marks my 20th week of pregnancy, which means I'm exactly half way there! It seems like these past 20 weeks have flown by, but it also seems like November 24 is still an eternity away. These next 8 days are going to crawl by, because on July 15 at 3:00p.m. we find out whether our child will be playing baseball or softball. To date, we still haven't had an ultrasound done, so this first one will be extra exciting. It's supposed to be a 3D ultrasound, so that'll be really cool to see. Hopefully the baby cooperates and I won't have to wait any longer to find out the gender. Brett and I were at the mall the other day and stopped by The Children's Place and were debating on whether or not to buy a pack of neutral colored body suits, but we decided to pass. Afterall, we're going to be find out if it's a boy or girl in just about a week, so there was no point in spending the money on something we weren't crazy about anyway. Although, I did find a website a couple of weeks ago where I could design my own Onesies and I got a couple personalized for Brett and my parents. The one I got for my dad (or the baby really) said "Grandpa, it's not fair to blame your gas on me." So fitting.

On another note, our new bed arrived yesterday and we got to sleep in it last night. It's a King size pillow top and I thought I may never get out of it once I layed down. Not only is the mattress super comfortable, but the sheets and comforter are also soooooooo cozy. I think Brett and I will be going to be at 6:30 tonight.

Fat Lady Suit

I got my new maternity swimsuit/fat lady suit today. I haven't tried it on yet, but just by looking at it makes me sad. I'm thinking, "Could my butt really be that big?" The answer: yes, it probably is. I've always prided myself on my thunder thighs, because they were built like rocks (at least when I worked them out), but now that I'm pregnant the term thunder thighs has a whole new meaning. Some how all the muscle that I used to have has been replaced by cellulite. Gross! But this is just extra motivation to lose the baby weight and then some once I am no longer pregnant. My goal is to have a nice body once again by next summer. Now I just have to purchase a treadmill to make that possible. That's the one thing I miss about living at home or in an apartment; unlimited access to exercise equipment. I did put a jogging stroller on my registry though, so maybe that will also be a bit of motivation.

Anywho...I'm just excited to finally be able to get into a pool without fear of one of my girls popping out. Let the summer fun begin!

Party at My House

I've been looking forward to this for months and now it's almost here...our neighborhood block party to celebrate the 4th of July. Ever since we moved into our house back in January, all of our neighbors have told us about the awesome block party one of our neighbors hosts for the 4th. Our neighbors, Craig & Annginette, moved from California a few years ago and they decided to host a block party their first 4th in the new neighborhood in order to get to meet all their neighbors. I guess it has been a big hit the last few years and about 75 - 80 people come and eat, drink, and shoot off fireworks. I'm totally excited to participate and am even more excited for Brett, because he absolutely loves the 4th of July. My only concern is that someone may shoot a firework at my house and burn it down. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Let's also hope no one blows off any fingers in my front yard. I do not want to be responsible for that.

I'm really trying to involve myself in this party and so far I think I'm making a good effort. Today I called the City of Murfreesboro to have someone come pick up the tree branches and grass clippings that are still laying on the side of the street. It's a great service the city provides for us homeowners so we don't have to bag that stuff, but they aren't always consistent about the pickup. So hopefully they will get it cleaned up before Saturday.

I am also planning on throwing down on the food table. I am going to make pasta salad, tater-tot casserole, slow cooked pork roast for pork sandwiches, some Neiman-Marcus bars (a lovely sweet treat), and possibly a seven layer dip. It sounds like a lot of work, but all these things shouldn't take much effort. The pork slow cooks with no assistance, the pasta salad is easy, and so is the tater-tot casserole. The bars and the dip are the most work. But still not very difficult.

So if you're in the neighborhood, stop by Kirtley Ct. for some food, fun, and fireworks!!! It'll be a great time.