easily forgotten.....

Sometimes I forget I am pregnant. It does not happen as often as before, but it does happen. Yesterday, I did not work, I took alysha to the dentist and drove her up to my Aunt Sara's house which is about two hours one way. (She is going to spend a few days with her while I work this week, more on that later) Basically, I was in the car most of the day. Last night I got back home a little after five and I felt the best I have felt in a while. Usually at night I am sore and hurt and ache all over, but last night was different. I felt good all over for once. I was walking around the bedroom, tidying up and as I was walking by the mirror I saw my reflection and did a double take! I had forgotten about the big belly, so when I saw my reflection, it shocked me at first. lol. I forgot Shayla was there.

My boss called last Friday and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. They were desperate for interpreters this week, so she offered me double my normal pay if I could find a babysitter and work for them all week. Alysha has been wanting to go spend time with Aunt Sara so it all kinda fell in place. I found someone to watch her Monday, and Tuesday she had an orthodontist appointment and then I drove her down south to my aunt's house. I worked today and I will work the rest of the week and head up to Aunt Sara's spend the weekend. I am excited! My aunt Sara makes the best rice you will ever put in your mouth. She also makes me SaraMcMuffins for breakfast, which I am looking forward to. Does it seem I associate family with the food they make me? hmmm..... Jon will be at work all weekend, so it really did all kinda fall into place. This week is flying by because I am so busy!

bad news

I got a call from my doctor today. I failed my Diabetes test. I am so upset about it. That test really sucks. The good news is that I still don't necessarily have gestational diabetes, but I have to go take the FULL test. That means 3 hours at Labcorp, sitting around waiting for them to take my blood every hour on the hour. Drinking that stuff makes you feel so bad, and I have to starve 12 hours before, the one hour test was rough. That is hard for a pregnant woman! I just pray I pass it this time. I won't go take it until next week, its all in God's hands.

30 weeks - Buddha time

I only have ten more weeks to go. I feel good and I have lots of energy. My belly is bigger than ever, but I guess this is normal. :) My husband has taken to calling me Buddha. He gets the biggest kick out of my big belly. What an endearing nickname. sigh. We both agree on one thing though, this pregnancy is FLYING by!

Alysha has a nickname for me too. Since I do carry around all this extra weight, I tend to walk a little slower. I mean, where's the fire? When Alysha and I go to Wal-mart to get groceries and stuff, she will be walking and realize that I am behind her. Of course she stops and turns and waits for me, cause I get in a hurry for no one, I am after all the Pregnant Princess. Lately she has started calling me Turtle, due to my slow canter. Well, let these two family members of mine strap on 15 pound weight in the front and see how buddha-looking Turlteicious they turn out to be. I am doing the best I can with what I have to deal with.

It is so odd to look down now. It looks like there is a bowling ball stuffed up my shirt. It is so round and funny looking. My tummy really does enter the room before I do. It pokes way out there. I love mornings the best, cause that is when I feel the best. First thing in the morning, I feel great! By night time I am tired, my back hurts, my feet ache and I cannot get comfortable. I will give kudos to jon for giving me a back massage and feety massages. That makes all the difference in my sleep. I am really clumsy lately, but that can be explained away by the pregnancy too, apparently. According to the weekly email I get, you become more clumsy because your center of gravity is off. LOL. Also, my ligaments are relaxing and SPREADING. Which includes my feet and that means you can permanently go up a shoe size. Doesn't that sound just hunky dory? It is really amazing how God designed our bodies to go through this amazing miracle of life.

pregnancy perks

I found one good thing about being pregnant. Last night was the first time I had the opportunity to enjoy this little perk. Alysha and I went to Winn Dixie, we just had to run in and grab two things. The parking lot was full, but low and behold, they had EXPECTANT MOTHER PARKING. That's right. Parking just for Pregnant women so we dont have to park in the back 40. How awesome is this? I only have like ten more weeks to enjoy this wonderful little perk, but I plan to take advantage of it every time I go. I mean, I got the belly, so there is no doubt that I am preggo when I get out of the car. I wonder if Wal-Mart has it too?

29 weeks - 11 more to go

I am now 29 weeks pregnant. I feel good, I don't need naps most of the time, I have good energy levels, even when I work. I was having a problem in the bedroom. (not that kinda problem. hehe) My side of the bed is up against the wall and I was having a hard time hitting the pregnant princess room 2-3 times a night. I had to scooch down off the end of the bed. Well, that was getting complicated. So, my wonderful hubby rearranged the bedroom last night so I could roll my big ole self right off the side. Made a world of difference!

I have a nice little pig pot belly, so I cannot go anywhere without people commenting about it. The problem, as I have blogged earlier, is that people are stupid and say the rudest things. It's like, you get pregnant and strangers feel they are allowed to give you "advice" or tell you what they think about YOU. I have a few little examples. Katie and I were in Target and there was a nice lady there with her kid and the child spoke to us, so we spoke back. The woman then asks how far along I am. Common question, you would not think that that little question would envoke such thoughtless stupidity. The lady then proceeds to tell me that when she had her baby, her belly was not poking out that much until her ninth month. Let me give you a little picture of this 'nice' lady. The reason she did not see her pregnant belly until her ninth month was cause of all her fat. I can say that about her cause that is basically what she said about me. She is still a big girl, 50 - 60 pounds overweight, and she makes this comment to me. People kill me, they really do.

Another case in point. I went to my work to drop of my time sheet and one of the ladies comments on how I am now showing alot. I agree with her and she says, "either you have a big baby or you have been eating good." Ahhh, the wonders of stupidity, I believe these people are a few peas shy of a pod. I informed her that no I have only gained 11 or 12 pounds, this is a normal size belly. Idiot. Why bother? When I tell people that I am not due until May 2, they look at me like I have eaten a football team. SERIOUSLY. I mean, I really don't think I am that big, I know lots of pregnant women who gain 30- 50 pounds. I can still wear my regular jeans, buttoned under my belly, so I am not huge anywhere but in my tummy. ( I am thinking about just saying I am due at the end of April, I think it is the word May that freaks people out. I don't know.)

So, we go to garage sales today and without fail I get the same questions all day long. I had one little shining star experience. One lady said, "wow, you are so small, you must have been small before you got pregnant." :) These are the kinds of things you say to pregnant women, all you idiots out there. At the very next house I tell the lady when I am due and she says "you have a long way to go." sigh. whatever, just take my quarter lady. Save your personal opinions for your other customers. I never knew being pregnant and naming my baby would be such a public experience.

Be my valentine

Yesterday was valentines day. I had to work all day so I wished my family a happy one and went to work. I told my husband ahead of time that I did not want anything for Valentines day. I think it is an overblown holiday where people spend money unnecessarily. I would rather get flowers on some nothing day, than on this "holiday". Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the day, I know many people love it. That is fine, I just think romance happens all year long and why do I need flowers on this day? Alysha and I planned to hit Walgreens the day after and get some chocolates half off. You know everything is 50% off the day after. :)

So, that said I came home tired and pregnant and made dinner. Then I sat down and let my family know I would be in the recliner for the rest of the night til bedtime. haha. My husband surprised me by giving me a box of Ferrero Roche chocolates! I really did not expect anything. It was a nice surprise and those are my favorite! When Jon got the mail, Alysha and I had both gotten a card from my mom. She sent us valentine's card and they showed up on valentines day! How fun. I like surprises. So next year I decided that I would make other people's valentines special too. It never occured to me to send my mom a card, that would have been nice. I will make up for it next year. :)

Later that night Alysha and I made valentines for her to give out Friday at her GLOW meeting. It was so fun making them together instead of just buying them from the store. It turned out to be a special day for us after all.

The other Sund family visits

Jon's brother and his family came down to visit us. They got here Saturday and left out Wednesday. Jon and his big bro have not seen each other in a while, Jimmy has been in Afghanistan for a year and they are currently stationed in North Carolina. It was a wonderful visit. We had so much fun! On Sunday, Katie and I left all the kids (they have 3, plus mine made 4) with the men and went out for a girl day. We went shopping at the mall, had lunch at the Olive Garden and hit Target to check out my baby registry. Here is a pic of us before we left.Katie bought Shayla her present while we were at Target. Sadly, (for us not for them) they are getting stationed in Germany in a few months. This is what they put in for, but we will be sad to see them go. They will be there for three years. Here is a pic of all the goodies Shayla got at Target.

They all went to SeaWorld on Tuesday, I did not go. I know walking around SeaWorld for 5-6 hours would kill my back, feet and everything else. It did not sound fun to me, so I went to work instead. :) Here are some pics they got.

Tristan, Allie, Taylor and Alysha!

I was so sad when they left. I just loved having a house full of people. It was so quiet around here. I really miss living close to family. You don't know how blessed you are to have your family around until they are gone. We have always lived close to each other. We celebrated birthdays and holidays together when we all lived in Alabama.

Katie loves me so much. She makes the BEST mashed potatoes in the land and she made them for me two nights she was here. She did not mind cooking for me, I peeled 'em and she cooked 'em. She also made some of her southern sweet tea, which is so good. Shayla is going to come out asking for Aunt Katie's cooking. Uncle Jimmy just kept looking at me and laughing and saying things like, "That is so great." He could not get over my pregnant belly. Katie better watch out, he might have gotten baby fever...... One of us has to try for that Sund Boy. Katie, if you go again, I will too. :)

28 weeks - Almost to thirty!

I never thought I would so excited to hit 30! ( haha, it's not the same as hitting 30 years old.) Here are the rest of the pics we had made. They turned out good.

Doctor today

Went to the doctor today for a check up. All is well with Shayla Kathryn Sund. Her heartbeat is strong and steady. I have gained five more pounds. That brings me to 11 pounds in 28 weeks. I thought five pounds was quite a bit for just six weeks, but I do enjoy my food. I have been exercising 3-4 times a week, trying to keep fit and healthy. I do the best I can, I am eating for two........... haha. The doctor did give me some good news. I can now take Tagament for my heartburn. It has gotten so bad I cannot sleep at night, it wakes me up. Tums no longer helps me. He also said that my labored breathing is partly due to my stomach being inflammed and this pill will help! woohoo! I hope I do get better. They gave me a slip to go have my diabetic testing done. I will do that next week. Really no news to report, but no news is good news!!! I did register with the hospital today and they told me I had to pick my pediatrician. I will go back in three weeks.

On another note, my husband has gotten poison oak. Ouch. All the guys at work got it while they were doing some yard work. It is painful and it is spreading. ick. I asked my doc and he said it is not contagious. So, me and the baby are safe, but I still like for him to keep his distance. :)

Alysha's birthday - Saturday

Saturday was a great day. Alysha started the day by getting up early to hang out with her dad before he left for work. I did not get up with them, 7:00 a.m. is too early for me. I got up right before he left and gave him a kiss goodbye. Alysha and I stayed in our jammmies and watched saturday morning cartoons until about 10, then we decided to get ready. It was cold so Alysha has on her sweat shirt.

This is a picture of Alysha before we left. She had this great idea to take the camera so we could take pics and document the day. That did not happen, this is all we got all day. We left for Gainesville about 11:00. We went to The Olive Garden for lunch. It was so good. Of course, we had lots of leftovers to eat on the next day for lunch.

Next we went to the mall to shop till we drop. I was not feeling well. My stomach was tight, making it hard to breath and walk around. Not a good way to start our shopping trip. I was a trooper though. We started out in The Limited Too, but Alysha has really outgrown those clothes, in size and style. They are really little girlish. So, we then went to Rave, but there was nothing there for us. By this time I am feeling better, I had to sit down for a while in Limited Too, feeling lightheaded. Alysha is not a shopper, so at this point she is ready to quit and hit a TJ Maxx at a later date. She decides though to give Ambercrombie and Hollister a try. The first was a bust, but Hollister was a winner!

Hollister was great for me cause they have this great little seating area that has actual recliners for you to sit in. Awesome. Footstools and everything! Now, I don't know if you have ever been in Hollister, but it is extreemly LOUD in there. So, there I am, sitting in this little circle of recliners with other parents (a.k.a. Old People). I am beach whaling it, (all sprawled out), it was too funny. All the other parents are old, with gray hair, and they looked tired. So, the parent circle just sits and waits while our teenagers spend all our money. Alysha found some knee shorts and a cute little top that she LOVED. The prices were crazy, I won't shop and tell, but it was not a cheap outfit. Hollister did not even have a sales rack. This did not stop anyone though because the WHOLE time we were there, there was a LONG line of people checking out. I mean, it was never ending. I was amazed, really I was. In the parent circle, we would wait until our kid hit the front of the line and then get up to whip out our credit cards. haha. Too funny. I had cash so I let Alysha check herself out. I am all rested up now and I have my second wind.

We head on back to Olive Garden for dessert. Alysha wanted a piece of Lemon cake for her birthday, since I had some change left after that little Hollister trip, we decided to partake of this sinful pleasure before heading home. By now it is 3 or 4 in the afternoon. We have an hours drive home still. I think I have been Super Mom and made it to the end. No such luck. Alysha really wanted to go see her dad on her birthday. Since it was her birthday, I decided my tired body could do this one last thing. We drive all the way to Yankeetown, which takes over an hour and half from Gainesville. Spend an hour or two with dad, then we head on home. I have become completely pooped! We finally get home at like 8:00. My couch has never felt so good!!!!!!!!

cute baby hiccups

Shayla got the hiccups today! It was so cool!!!!! We had our pictures made today. I will post some soon!

Alysha's birthday weekend - Friday night

Since Jon had to work Saturday and Sunday, we decided to have the official celebration start friday night and just continue it through saturday. Friday night, after we finally got home, (see previous blog), we started making Alysha's birthday dinner. She wanted TGI Friday's appetizers and as luck would have it, WD had them on sale for buy one get one. Woohoo! So, we had Onion Rings, Potato Skins, Steak Fajita rolls and Cheese Sticks. It was great!!

Alysha and I also finished up the cake. We had baked the two layers the night before and all we had left was to ice them. We had cream cheese pound cake with cream cheese icing. (Do you see a theme?) It was, in a word, FABULOUS. She did a great job. We put 12 candles on there and everything.

She opened her last present from us Friday night. I say last because this year I had wanted to do something to make this birthday really special for Alysha. This is her last year as the only child and I know things are going to change when Shay gets here, so I wanted this to be memorable. So, this year I started a Birthday Week tradition with her. My mom started this with me when years ago and I knew one birthday I would start it with her. It works like it sounds, you get a whole week of birthday presents. My mom and I, when I lived there, would get creative, coming over at night and leaving the present in each others car and things like that. Just knowing you have a present to expect each day is exciting. We have always bought simple things, never spending more than a few dollars a day. The point is not to give great and elaborate gifts, but just to let the other person know that they are loved! So, I started the birthday week tradition with Alysha this year and she had a present to open every morning that week. She LOVED IT! She got fake nails and pens and polka dot stuff, which she is really into. The last night, Friday, she got two movies she has been wanting. The day of your actual birthday, you get your nice gift, the BIG ONE. :) Although that was not a big one for her, she requested a day of shopping as her gift this year, and that is what she got (I will blog about saturday seperately)

So, we all sat down to watch the movies about 8:00. I promptly fell asleep, after all, I have been on my poor feeties since 8:00 that morning carting Alysha around all day. (see previous blog :) I was a tired pregnant birthday girl mommy. I have never been so exhausted, at least I thought, Saturday would prove to be an even longer day!