My next 28 years

Today is my 28th birthday. I am definitely in the twilight of my 20's and even though I have loved every minute of this decade, I am looking forward to the future. On my way to work this morning (UGH - WORK ON YOUR BIRTHDAY SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!), I started thinking about all the things that have happened over the last decade of my life. I was pretty amazed at all the changes that had taken place. In the past 10 years, I:

- Graduated high school
- Went to the beach for the first time with my friends and no parents (aka Senior Week)
- Began college at the College of Charleston
- Watched my parents divorce and begin dating new people
- Met my future step-dad & step-mom
- Saw my childhood home sold (that song, The House That Built Me makes me cry)
- Dropped out of the College of Charleston
- Moved back to Greenville
- Enrolled in North Greenville and started a new college (and changed my major)
- Saw my parents get remarried
- Moved back in with my mom
- Turned 21
- Got my first "real" job
- Graduated from college
- Bought my first car
- Got a new job
- Moved in with my boyfriend (yes, we lived in sin)
- Got another new job
- Got engaged to that boyfriend
- Got married
- Got pregnant (and will have a baby while I am 28!)


Of course there are tons of little things that aren't listed that have made this past decade wonderful and heart breaking and life changing. I have lost family members, but gained some too. I have met people who have changed my life, opened doors for me professionally, and been there with me to sip a glass of wine and laugh with me. I have let go of old friendships and welcomed new ones. I guess you can say in that this has been the decade of growing up.

Ten years ago, on my 18th birthday, I was at Myrtle Beach celebrating my graduation from high school and being a "grown up" finally. Little did I know that it would take much more than turning a certain number to be considered "grown." It takes time, failure, success, and a few stray gray hairs that have to be covered up every six weeks - I'm going tomorrow as a matter of fact.

I am not the same person I was 10 years ago and thank God for that. I hope that I am a different person 10 years from now, when I celebrate my 38th birthday. I hope that I continue to become a grown up, continue to grow as a person, and continue to be so blessed with such a great life.

Happy birthday to me! :)

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

Week 14 will be upon us tomorrow, which is also my 28th birthday. I'm excited to be celebrating with my family, both here and in my belly. Hopefully the baby will enjoy the birthday meal from Ruth's Chris that I'll be eating. So excited about eating there!

So this past weekend was hotter than hell. Luckily, I spent both Saturday and Sunday around a body of water - Saturday at my mother-in-law's pool and Sunday at my mom & step-dad's condo at Lake Keowee. I really wanted to tan my legs, but honestly, I have to either be submerged in the water or inside in the air conditioning. There is no "laying out" at this point, in this heat. I know that summer isn't even technically here yet and it's just going to get hotter. Awesome. I love SC in the summer, but we do not know what dry heat is. All of our heat is water based and you pretty much have to be wrung out when spending more than 30 seconds outside. My body temperature is higher than normal, too, so that makes everything just a little bit more dramatic. Lately, all I've wanted to do is lay around and eat Edy's Fruit Bars and complain about the heat. I plan on doing that all summer, just FYI.

We find out if Baby Butler is a girl or a boy in just 20 days and I am getting so excited! I keep getting asked if I have a "feeling" as to what I'm going to have and honestly, I don't. The only "feeling" I have is that the baby is perched upon my bladder and it feels like I have swallowed a bowling ball most of the time. However, I have been eyeing some VERY cute baby clothes lately and most of them have been girl things. I haven't purchased anything yet, but I got REALLY REALLY close, especially this week when I saw the cutest little Christmas dress marked down at Gymboree from $40 to $7. I didn't do it though. But honestly, all bets are off come June 28th because I'm headed to the mall right after the ultrasound! I'm also planning on hitting up some of the upcoming consignment sales in our area because I've been told by many seasoned mamas that consignment is the way to go, especially for infants and toddlers. Since I seem to be partial to smock dresses that run $70-100 a pop, I will be at the consignment sales with bells on!

So...I guess this is bye bye 27 and cheers to 28!

Dog Days...

Did I mention that I adore my dogs? I don't know if I have...lately. Jake, our Lab/Dane mix turned 4 in May and Lucy, our Carolina Dog will turn 3 in August. They were our first "children" that have yet to grow up. Except they poop outside and don't talk back.

Chad and I really dote on the two of them. I can't begin to tell you how much money we've spent on a $60 pound puppy and a freebie found on the side of the road. But I can honestly say that every penny spent on them is worth it because they are so precious. They have been especially clingy to me since I found out that I was expecting. They are clingy anyway, but the two of them literally follow me everywhere, even the bathroom. I guess that's good practice for kids, too! Both of them are spoiled rotten and think they are little people. And I guess we've made them that way.

Jake curled up on my side of the bed...

What happens when your parents are bored? They dress you up...

Lucy, who goes into the guest room (now Chadee's room, soon to be Baby Butler's room) when she needs to feel "girlie"

Even though Lucy doesn't like to share, she loves her Jake to pieces...and I think he feels the same way...

We Set the Date

This morning was our second visit to the obstetrician. If Dr. B wasn't so nice, I would hate her. She is young and has perfect teeth and is really really tall and slim. She is beautiful. But I can't hate her because she is so nice to me and is pretty straight forward, which I appreciate. I was told that I would see all the doctors in the practice, but this is the second time with Dr. B. I just hope my husband doesn't develop a crush on her.

Today was just a routine visit. Dr. B used the Doppler to find the heartbeat, which was new. She warned me that she may not be able to find it immediately, but she did. Because my baby is as cooperative in the womb as he/she will be outside the womb. At least, I hope. :) Heart rate was 162, which according to the old wives' tale means I'm having a girl. Did I mention that I don't believe in old wives' tales?

Because everyone is anxious to find out whether we should refer to the baby as "he" or "she" to avoid gender confusion, we decided to find out what we're having on our next visit, which will cost a little extra (I guess because it's an extra ulrasound?), but to me, is completely worth it. So June 28th is the day. And then I get to go shopping for the tadpole.

Pregnant Sinuses

For the past few days I have sounded like a man. What started as just a mild sore throat ended up with all kinds of congestion in my chest, which causes a hacking cough that makes me sound like I DIDN'T quit smoking a year ago (we really haven't smoked in that long - I don't even miss it).

So what do you do when you're pregnant and your husband is terrified of you taking any medication that may cause some crazy thing to happen to baby? You google "what meds can you take when you're pregnant" and find out that Benadryl is A-okay! And then you take it, hoping for a peaceful sleep and when that doesn't happen, you wake up in a REAL bad mood, feeling even worse and somewhat hungover from the Benadryl that didn't make you sleep good. Also you wake up to drool because pregnant people drool even more than normal, a stopped up nose, and the hacking cough. So very attractive.

I was kind of at my wit's end last night. I don't like being sick in the first place and we are planning on spending the LOOONG Memorial Day weekend at the lake house. Sinus issues do not fit into my plans. So last night I used the Netti Pot. You know, that thing that you put the saline solution in and run through your sinuses. Completely harmless despite that feeling of drowning if you don't hold your head a certain way. Guess what? The Netti Pot worked and I got a great night's sleep last night for the first time this week. I woke up in a good mood and even LAUGHED with Chad this morning. Unheard of! I am stopped up again, but know that relief is just a Netti Pot away. I am soooo looking forward to the lake.

Clothes.

I used to be a major clothes horse. This was like, before marriage and such. I was all about the name brands and was proud that I could easily wear a 4 or a 6 and would spend MAJOR cash (or credit) on anything that caught my fancy. The metal pole in my closet actually BROKE at my parent's house because I had so many clothes on it. I was seriously proud of my closet.

These days, the sizes have gone up and the brands have gone down. There are even some hand me downs about to make an apperance in my teeny married and pregnant closet. My how the times have changed and the mighty have fallen!

My body has done some serious changing in the past 3, going on 4 months and it will keep on changing, hopefully changing back to a svelte figure come mid-December - March. I put it off and put it off, but yeserday I finally threw my hands up and decided to just embrace that section of the store called "Maternity." My sister-in-law gave me her entire maternity wardrobe and she has some nice pieces. However...she had a March baby and I'm going to have a December baby. You do the math. I will have some cute fall outfits to wear, but the weather in 'ole SC is hot as hades and it's only the end of May. The few regular dresses that will support my blooming belly are just that...a few. And unfortunately, my company frowns on wearing yoga pants (even though honestly, I think they should make an exception. I sit at a computer. Who would even see the yoga pants?).

I decided to begin my maternity wardrobe at Old Navy. I am an avid Old Navy shopper and have been told by many of my mommy friends that they have good maternity stuff. And they were right (aren't mommies always right?). Not only did they have some cute stuff, they had some cute stuff on sale! I did go a little crazy, but I'm happy with what I got for the amount I spent.

I have to be honest...I am so ready to find out what if the tadpole will be wearing a pink bow or a blue hat so I can go shopping for them! I think that will be MUCH more fun than the maternity section!

Just Call Me Garfield

Craving alert: for the past couple of days or so, along with Honey Bunches of Oats (that had to be replaced with Fruit Loops because we ran out of Honey Bunches of Oats), I have been all about some Stouffer's Lasagna. The kind with the meat sauce. I liked it when I was un-pregnant, but I really wish I could have a huge plate in front of me 24/7 at the moment. IT'S FROZEN FOOD. Seriously. You would think that my palette would crave some finer cuisine...or at least some lasagna from Capri's. But no, I want FROZEN LASAGNA. I mean, I heat it up, don't get me wrong, but fine dining it is not.

Also, on a totally unrelated to pregnancy/babies/food note - Chad and I have discovered the joy that is HBO Go. Basically, if you are an HBO subscriber (shamefully we are), you can now gain access to ALL THE SEASONS OF THE SHOWS - like "Big Love" and "True Blood." YEEESSS! Because we can't commit to watching our favorite shows when they actually come on, we've been catching up on "Glee" and "The Office" on Hulu. And because we are never able to keep up with HBO, we have spent the past few nights catching up on Sookie & Bill. I made the executive decision to cancel our overpriced cable and go with the basic package + HBO. We have cut about $40 a month from our cable bill (that's almost $500 a year). I would really like to give Direct TV the heave ho altogether because you can pretty much watch anything you want online these days.

Get HBO Go. Especially if you are a True Blood fan. :)

Look Mom! No preservatives!