Boy Reality Check and Pregnancy Brain

You know when you say something or think something and then immediately realize that maybe you shouldn’t have acknowledged that certain thought because know you are going to be tested? No? Well I do it all the time. Shocker! Today was one of those times. I have been reading Dr. Dobson’s “Raising up Boys” in preparation for the Hudster and although I was initially freaked by all the little boy stories, I then started to get excited about what the new addition of a little boy would bring. I have to admit that I was almost a little over-confident about how well I thought I could handle having a boy even with the crazy stories swarming all around me. Yeah, just so you know, it’s not a good idea to think you are totally capable of handing these things before ever experiencing them :)

So here’s how it all went down:

Right now the Charles and I are chilling at the folks in Cali for a few weeks of fun and parties while the Hubs is working away (Hubs just so you know working is way overrated and they should pay you to come chill with us..just saying). So anyways, while we are here I have to keep a tight watch on the Charles while he ventures out into the Rent’s yard since they are hosting my shower and a wedding reception while we are out here. He had been doing pretty good and not getting into too much trouble so I let him out unaccompanied today to get some outdoors time. I was on a tight time schedule so I wasn’t checking on him too much (getting ready for my spray-tan appointment was much more important at the time). As I was getting ready to leave I remembered that I still hadn’t checked on the Charles and he was still all alone outside. Yeah insert cringe now..

When I looked out I saw him playing with something unfamiliar looking on the ground. It wasn’t until I actually stepped outside and got a little closer did I realize it was a dead bird. And I freaked. I yelled at him to get inside and then panicked on what to do..I mean there was no way I could stomach picking up a dead bird, but my dad was at work and I couldn’t leave it on the lawn since the shower is tomorrow. I looked outside again and saw the wing move…okay now the bird isn’t even all the way dead. I really couldn’t believe I had a killer as a dog son. I ran into my mom’s room and told her what had happened all while freaking out and fighting tears. She suggested that I let Charlie out to finish the job. My heart broke..that poor little bird. I took my mom up on her suggestion and once I was sure the bird was dead I made the Charles come back in. Luckily while I was at my tanning appointment my mom picked up the bird and told me that she thought it was already dead way earlier. I realized the wind must have made the wing move and that Charles was in fact not a killer..just gross.

However, it also made me re-evaluate how ready I really am to handle all the boy stuff. Yikes! I know I will have to man up at some point (since i’m sure Hudson will do the gross stuff while the Hubs is away) and not freak out about things like lizards or bugs or dead birds. But let’s be honest, I am sure I will always freak out and I will no longer think I am going to be a pro at having a boy..lesson learned :)

On another note..Hudson is taking over my brain. Today I dropped my phone and it broke open in the parking lot. I gathered all the pieces (this has happened several times before) and got in my car to put them all together. Once I got the phone back in one piece I stared at it for like 5 minutes because I couldn’t remember how to turn it on. I tried the button I thought it was and it just wasn’t working. By then I was freaking out that I broke my only source of communication to the Hubs and many others. I tried to take the battery out and back in several times to see if that would make it work but all I got was an error message. I finally realized I might be hitting the wrong button but then I got a message that everything was wiped out. After a brief moment of clarity (or old Ashley..I miss you and come back please) as I was pulling into best buy to see if they could fix it I did the battery thing one more time and hit the correct button to turn it on and it worked. Praise the Lord! This loosing your mind thing can be very frustration though!

Baby Update: Weeks 25 & 26

Week 25

Week 26 (please excuse the blurry picture)

How far along? I hit 26 weeks yesterday

Baby's size? I think he is the size of an eggplant. He weighs about 1 and 3/4 pounds.

Weight Gain? I am fluctuating between 17 and 18 pounds.

Maternity clothes? I am still wearing a lot of non-maternity shirts but all my bottoms are maternity.

Stretch marks? none yet

Belly button in or out? It is starting to get a little shallow but no where near out.

Sleep? I have my good nights and bad nights but it’s not too bad.

Foods I am loving? All the sudden I have been craving chicken. Also tons of fruit and cereals. 

Foods I am hating? Nothing really.

Best moment this week? Seeing my sisters excitement when she got to feel Hudson move for the first time.

Movement? All the time

Symptoms? I am still dealing with heart burn some but I have been able to cut my Zofran to one pill every other day. After a long road-tirp to Bako my hip has been killing me (see my last post).

Gender? Hudson (a boy)

What I miss? Laying/sleeping on my back. Diet coke and coffee (though I do have the occasional one). My old body. Enough said.

What I'm looking forward to? My first baby shower on Sunday :)

Milestone: I don’t really feel like much has changed from last update.

Emotions: Again I am so excited for Hudson to get here! I am starting to freak out a little about the giving birth part and after he comes but overall I am feeling pretty good. Being able to stay active has helped me a lot but this week I have been benched due to hip issues so that makes it harder. I think I am getting to the point where I have to re-think what I physically can and can’t do..change things up a bit :)

Pregnant road-trips are getting harder

I would consider myself an expert road-tripper. So much so that I would rather drive this December for 3 days with a new infant than get on a plane (a story for another time). I can’t even count the number of times I have driven from one side of the country to the other in the last 7 years. I have to say though, that I find this reality ironic because for the first 21 years of my life the longest I had been in a car for one stretch of time was about 7 hours and that was torture. And the thought of driving actually out of California was unheard of in my mind. However, when I packed up my belongings in my car for my last year and a half of college and headed from Cali to Ohio my thought of road trips changed forever! Luckily my wonderful dad made the trip with me and took care of a lot of the driving.

Although I made it through the three days of 12-14 hour driving with out any major repercussions I still wasn’t a huge fan of long car rides. I remember when I met the hubs and I had to laugh because to him a 7 hour car ride was a short little trip (not an all day torture experience like I thought of it). And as with most things, as the year went on which included several 9-10 hour trips to DC my thoughts about a long car ride slowly started to align with the hubs. He also introduced me to audio books which have made road-trips a thousand times more enjoyable.

That summer my sis and I made the long 3 day trip back to Cali from College and three months later made it again back to Ohio. Can we say crazy. However, I was really starting to enjoy the feel of the open road and the bleak surroundings of Kansas (well not really the last part but you get the idea). One of my rules for these long road trips was finding really yummy and fun restaurants to eat at. I figured it gave us something to look forward to.

Once the hubs and I got married and I joined the rank of Military Wife road trips again took on another new meaning. I was no longer driving from home to college and back but all over the country. And I was loving almost every minute of it. So much so that I made my first solo cross-country road trip from Cali to Washington DC last year with the Charles. After that trip I felt like there was nothing I couldn’t handle. It is no surprise that our 2009 Corolla has almost 90,000 miles on it!

One of the hardest things about living in NJ for me was being so far away from my family. When we found out we were moving to Utah and would only be about an 11 hour drive from my folks I was ecstatic..I mean 11 hours is nothing right?! I made the trip solo and with others several times during our first year in Utah. So when we found out we were pregnant and people warned me that my love of road trips might wane slightly I laughed. Obliviously they weren’t true road-trippers like I was. With the hubs being gone earlier this summer I drove the 11 hour dive with the Charles to Cali to spend time with the fam. Since I was already about 5 1/2 months pregnant and it went great I figured not even pregnancy would slow me down on the road.

..Until Tuesday. With the hubs gone again I decided to head to Cali for a few weeks to hang with the fam. Side note: part of the reason was also because I am in a wedding here and they are throwing me my first shower this Sunday..yay! Okay back to the story. Tuesday morning I woke up bright and early ready to get the last minute details out of the way and hit the road with the Charles. My leg and hip were bothering me some (maybe the hour and a half intense fitness class the day before wasn’t the best idea) but I didn’t really think anything of it. I figured that if I managed fine last time at 5 1/2 months pregnant than I should also be fine at almost 7 months.

About an hour into the drive the pain moved into my back and basically wrapped around my rib cage on the right side of my body. Let’s just say this is when the rude (and I do mean rude) awakening happened! The next 10 hours were misery as I tried everything I could think of to relieve the pain while safely driving. I treasured my potty breaks because it provided some relief but about 20 minutes later the pain would start again. I could barley talk on the phone because it made the pain a lot worse. I think I stopped about 7 times which is unheard of for me. I finally made it to Cali and cried tears of joy (or maybe they were from the pain too).

I was so glad to be out of the car and if you would have asked me at that moment I would have said I was never getting in one again. Although my back and hip continued to hurt that night, it wasn’t too bad the next morning. So what did I decide to do..well go for a run of course. As soon as I hit the pavement I knew this probably wasn’t the best idea but I didn’t want to give in an turn back yet. I thought about only doing 1 mile but then the pain seemed to lessen some so I decided to at least get in two. When I stopped running and did my cool-down I could barely walk due to the intense pain in my right hip, butt cheek and down the leg.

In my mind this was nonsense since just last week I walked about 20 miles, ran 9 miles and took 4 fitness classes (including my first spinning class which is highly addictive). Yet a measly 2 miles did me in for the whole day. I did some yoga to see if that would help. Sadly though for the rest of the day and even into today walking has been a very painful process. It is slowly getting better but I think it is time to face the sad and harsh reality that maybe pregnancy has changed my love for road-trips (at least for the present time). I am dreading the return trip in a couple of weeks!

Baby Update: Weeks 23 and 24

Week 23

 Week 24

How far along? see above (although today I am actually 25 weeks but I have been meaning to post this for a while).

Baby's size? Did anyone else notice that the bump updates say papaya for like 3 weeks straight? I don’t really remember the other fruits :)

Weight Gain? I really hate this question (and have almost deleted it several times) but around 16-17 pounds. The doctor assured me that since I am exercising a lot and eating healthy not to worry but sometimes I still freak out.

Maternity clothes? Same…loving the maternity clothes. I made the mistake of trying on a pair of jeans that were a little tight when I first found out I was pregnant..not good. I have to admit, I have been going to the gym in the mornings and then running errands so I am mostly living in workout clothes right now :)

Stretch marks? none yet

Belly button in or out? It is starting to get a little shallow but no where near out.

Sleep? okay. I am just getting really tired of the strange dreams.

Foods I am loving? All the sudden I have been craving chicken. Also tons of fruit and cereals. 

Foods I am hating? Nothing really.

Best moment this week? Seeing the Hubs feel Hudson really move for the first time..so cool :)

Movement? All the time, especially in the middle of the night.

Symptoms? Heart burn and dizziness.

Gender? Hudson (a boy)

What I miss? Laying/sleeping on my back. Diet coke and coffee (though I do have the occasional one). My old body. Enough said.

What I'm looking forward to? Heading to cali next week and the fist baby shower :)

Milestone: The hubs was amazing and put together all of the nursery furniture. Also I hit the six month mark! Oh and I finally made our birthing class appointment.

Emotions: I am feeling pretty good. It has been so neat to feel him move so much. I am really excited for him to get here :) I have to say this week I have been hit hard with the fear of not being able to lose the weight after he comes. Some weeks are better than others (with that subject) and this week has just been bad. I have been working out a lot (with the permission of the doctor) so that has helped my mental state some. It is funny because sometimes I am so overwhelmed with with joy at the idea of this little guy and all he is going to bring with him and other times I am scared to death at what is going to come and the physical changes.

House Projects Revealed – the Living Room

As I was sitting in the living room the other day I realized that we have done some bigger (well bigger for us) projects around the house lately and I have failed to share them with you all. I am breaking them into different posts as to not overwhelm you with pictures and words :) So let’s start with the first big change to the house…the living room. I am very lucky that the hubs is patient with me and the fact that I have to change the decor every time we more (and for an Air Force family that is a lot). I guess it’s what makes the moves fun and bearable for me. I also really love to decorate and I get tired of my decor quick so it all works out.

When we first got to Utah and moved into our house I went a little crazy with the redecorating passion. Blame it on the fact that I hadn’t had a house or our stuff for about 8 months, I just couldn’t help to go full steam a head. We had a sectional couch that we were a little concerned wouldn’t fit in our small living room but it ended up working out great.  I loved that couch and was glad it worked. I have to say (as you can see below) that the Charles really loved this couch too :) I don’t have a ton of pictures of our “first” living room..they were all on my old phone that broke so I lost them. Therefore I have tried to scrape up some not-so-good pictures to give you somewhat of an idea.

Our couch on a normal day :)

This was during Christmas so the decor is more “christmasy” but usually I would switch out the pillow covers (from my decoration love Pottery Barn) and switch out the fabric in the frame to match the season and decor.

This is the couch in our old house before we moved from NJ but I thought it would give you an idea of what it looked like.

However, sometimes even things you love come to an end …and well that’s what happened to the couch. After being in storage for 8 months and moving across the country it ended up breaking. Sad day :( The good news is though that we got the couch at Costco (one of my favorite places) and the took it back no questions asked! We got a full refund and were planning on just getting the same one but they didn’t have any in stock so we started looking elsewhere.

We ended up going to RC Willey and although I really wanted another sectional I fell in love with a couch/love seat combo. Although it was a bit more pricy than the costco couch we went ahead and got them. We also had to get a new coffee table since we had an ottoman before that went with the old couch. But guess what, new couches mean new decorations right?! Of course :) So I started stocking Ross and TJ Maxx and all the other “budget” decor places (with my pottery barn inspiration pictures in my purse) and scoring some key pieces that made the whole room come together. I even talked the hubs into hanging curtains to make the room look taller and hanging mirrors to bring more light into the room. So without further ado…here is the new living room (and please forgive the not so great pictures taken on my phone).

A view from the kitchen/dinning area.

It’s nice to have an actual coffee table and it has padded pullout’s that we can use as footstools. I put a Pottery Barn decorating book and a glass vase with flowers. I am also really into a bird theme I guess and scored this frame with a bird and butterfly picture from where else..Pottery Barn. I have also found that Hobby Lobby has the best flower stems and so I love changing out the two black vase things next to the TV.

I feel in love with the pedestal tables I found out Ross and are using for end tables. I founds some birds at Michaels arts and craft, the candle I found at Home Goods, the books I found around our house and we got the coasters at Kohls.

This is another view of the table.

Here is the other end table with a PB frame and matching picture (goes with the one on the coffee table), little bird candles from PB and a odd shaped vase also from PB. We got the lamp at Ikea and we have it set on an automatic timer which I really  like.

Overall I am really enjoying our new living room (well semi-new since it has been like this for several months). I did feel kind of bad though because I know the Charles misses the old couch and being able to sit on the end and look out the window. If you don’t remember anything else from this post, remember that Costco is amazing to get furniture from because their return policy is unlike any other :)

Coming up next is our newish kitchen :)

Some Charles tidbits bullet point style

I realized the other day that I haven’t written anything about the Charles for a while. Now I know most of you are thinking I really haven’t written anything at all lately..well this is my attempt to change that :) Since there were several little things I thought to share I decided to put them all in one post and since I'm lazy they are going bullet point style.

So here I go:

- There is nothing quite like the loyalty of a dog. The hubs was out of town for three weeks and and for about the first week the Charles would sit by the garage door around the time the hubs usually got off work and wait for him. I had no way of letting him know that his dad wouldn’t be back for a while and it was so sad! Every time there was any noise from the garage the Charles would leap up and get so excited because he thought it was his dad. It broke my heart. Let’s just say he was very happy when the hubs got home!

- I have been taking the Charles for about a two mile walk every day. We started when it wasn’t that hot yet. It was a good way to get in more exercise and try and get the pup trained so that I could better handle him when Hudson is born. When the hubs was gone we went in the late afternoon so that the Charles would work out all of his energy and not be annoying at night. As it got hotter we switched up our route so that we would be around more grass and water. However he was still struggling. I thought he was just really hot. I finally realized that it was his paws that were burning. The poor pup. He doesn’t have protection like me so I never really thought of it. Now I make sure we go a lot earlier while the ground is still cool. *Side note: usually the Charles naps during the day and then as soon as the Hubs gets home he gets all this energy and wants to play. When the Hubs is gone I try and play ball with him but he will have nothing to do with it because i’m not his dad hence the walks.

- A lot of people have asked if the Charles has changed much as I have gotten bigger. Well I am not really sure if he has become more clingy but he is obsessed with Hudson’s room. The other day I couldn’t find him and looked all over the house only to finally look in the nursery and see him sleeping on the floor. It is so cute! We painted the room this last weekend and set up the furniture and at first the Charles was a little taken aback but then he got used to it and now would sleep in there all the time if we would let him. It is really cute and I know they will be best buds (eventually). I am a little worried about how he will react when we bring the little man home though. Charlie tends to throw up when there is any type of change and I am hoping he gets over that before the Huds gets here since I will already be surrounded by baby bodily fluids and I don’t need to add dog to the mix :)

Well that’s all for now :) I am sure I will have more Charles tales soon! I am also working on a post to feature some big projects we have done around the house lately and another one on our stroller decisions so stay tuned.

Happy Wednesday :)