A day.

7:00am
Alarm goes off, Buster starts thumping his tail against my leg. I get up, go to the bathroom, and go into the kitchen. Start to heat up water for my tea and feed Buster. Make some raisin toast, let Buster out, and sit in front of the computer. Do my makeup and eat my breakfast while catching up on some blogs. Time to get dressed, realize that I am going to need a couple more maternity things to get through winter if it's going to be this cold.

8:00am
Chris goes outside to start my car to let it heat up (awfully nice). I pack up some food to take to the office--yogurt and a banana for my second breakfast, an apple, a frozen organic mac and cheese, some string cheese, some turkey jerky. Go out to my thawed out car, realize that the gas is below empty. Crap. Stop for a quick $5 in gas and get gas on my shoe. Crap again. The sun is shining, it's been raining for weeks and it's still a surprise to have the sun in my face as I drive. The sun is watery and pale, you can really tell it's January. Still, I want to bask in it like a cat.

8:35am
Arrive at work miraculously only 5 minutes late, considering the gas debacle. Throw my lunch in the freezer and turn my computer on. Contemplate my yogurt.

9:00am-11:00am
Check emails, do some research, send in my timesheet, wage epic war against my vintage work computer. Eat a piece of cheese. Sadly you will find that a lot of my day revolves around food, whether I'm eating enough of it, and whether it's what I should eat. This is annoying, but necessary as you seem to be taking most of the vital nutrients. As well you should! You have a lot more going on, actually.

12:30pm-1:30pm
I brought my lunch today but was convinced by my newly pregnant (and ooky feeling) friend convinced me to go out. We had crappy delicious breadsticks and spaghetti and now I am a garlic hazard. I have to really think about what I am going to eat because apparently I will be tortured into tasting and retasting it for the rest of the day. Urp.

2:00pm
I'm trying to be clever and it's very hard. This can sum up my workday a lot of the time.

3:00pm
Am done being clever! Time for some paperwork. And a snack, some apple slices.

5:30pm
Flee to the car, drive home. NPR has been depressing me to literal tears lately so I've been listening to This American Life. Today's episode was about "Accidental Documentaries"; old tapes found in basements, thrift stores, etc. The first act was recordings of a family in the 60's that they sent to their son in medical school. The wife seemed so sad and the dad so detached. If nothing else I am thankful that you are being born into an age where fathers can and do show emotion and are connected to their families beyond being the breadwinner.

It's a Friday, and while I generally prefer to stay in and rest these days I have plans tonight. My best friend Alison is in town from London--other than your father she was the only one lucky enough to see your latest ultrasound! We're going to a benefit so it won't be a late night.
More to come...

Updates to the list...

1. get better at sewing
2. choose some knitting projects for winter
3. update the food blog with my favorite freezable and make-ahead meals
4. learn how to use my camera on manual
5. walk through all of the Pioneer Woman Photoshop Lessons
6. have yard sale (one week from tomorrow)
7. finish eBaying clothes, shoes, and bags
8. take loads of things we don't need and can't sell to Goodwill
9. Simplify.

Well...someone has some work to do, especially with her camera. And really, the knitting project I chose is 19 rows of a very boring baby blanket that I then discarded. It's nice yarn, too. Hmm. And considering I haven't even updated the food blog with the news of my pregnancy, that's looking pretty pathetic, too.

The good news is I've eBayed tons of clothes, bags and shoes and made a nice chunk of money while I was at it. The garage sale was a success and paid half of our couch recovering costs. And I've taken lots to Goodwill, and have more bagged up and ready to go. These efforts all go towards my goal to simplify, as well as taking some time off from writing professionally.

Really all I am thinking about is decorating the nursery, so I guess that can get added to the list!

Picture: 20 weeks

Well, here is a so-so picture of me and my growing belly at 20 weeks. Now that I'm at the halfway point I hope to make a concerted effort to take a belly picture every week, but we shall just see how that goes. Next week I'll wear something a bit more form-fitting so you can really see how much I've popped out there!

GIRL!

A girl! You are a GIRL, and there is apparently no freaking doubt about it. The ultrasonographer even said 100%, which is a dangerous figure for her to throw around, no doubt.

I could put a picture here of your extra wee ladybits, just to extend the mortification to the entire internet, but I'll spare you...for now. Besides, I've got a nursery to plan and names to daydream about. After 5 months of "it" and "the baby" you are "her" and "she"! I can't even wrap my head around it quite yet.

Tomorrow I head back to work after a blissful break and I plan to drag Chris out of bed to take an official belly shot. Now that the belly is in full effect, and filled with squirming (seriously, you never stop moving. Ever.) little girl, we better document it!

A girl. My daughter. Holy crap.

Back from your first vacation.

In spite of the looming money woes surrounding maternity leave Chris and I took a much needed trip to the beach after Christmas this year. After the agonizingly long drive, made longer by my insanely small bladder, it was five days of warm sunshine, cool breezes, and feeling weightless in the pool. Considering I look like I'm smuggling a beachball in my stretched-to-the-limit bathingsuit, weightless was awfully nice. We ate a lot of great seafood and continued our tradition of lobster tail, stone crab claws, and a nip of champagne on New Years Eve.

And you? You have not stopped moving for the past 807 hours. Right now it feels like you are practicing some sort of martial art in there. Chris was finally able to feel you this morning, he *thinks*, but I feel nothing BUT you. Active little thing, aren't you?

Whoopsie.

It's been over a month! Oops. I would say that time has flown because I've been so busy or something, but really I've just been lazy and forgetful. So let's see, what's new in the past month...

I am FINALLY starting to show a little. As in, a belly that looks more pregnant and less fat. But it's still pretty small. I haven't gained any weight still and have a goal of 6 pounds by January 5th. Sadly, for the first time in my LIFE this seems like an impossible goal! Food is still a mystery to me. I eat it, but don't get enjoyment from it. Why I had to be blessed with this when I actually am encouraged to gain weight, I'll never know.

But anyway, the belly is coming along and your heartbeat is nice and strong. Next month we get to find out your gender, and make sure that you're growing as you should. I can't wait to see the ultrasound!

History!

Well, I spent most of the month of October in California for work, it seemed, and I've returned to Tennessee just as fall is peaking. I can't quite believe that by next November you will be 6 months old and able to see the brilliant red orange that our maple tree turns every year. Unreal.

This was a momentous week, on both national and personal levels. We elected a man to be our next president who signifies a great change and new level of hope for our country. The moment I found out that Barack Obama would be our next president, 11:00pm on Tuesday November 4th, I let out a big sigh, a few tears, and was so thankful that you would be born while our country is ruled by such an amazing man. The very idea that Barack Obama will be the president you first remember as a child moves me beyond belief. We have a long way to go but suddenly things don't feel insurmountable. I am so proud.

This week we also heard your heartbeat, loud and STRONG. So strong that my OB remarked in a rather shocked way. You are superbaby, I am starting to think. I'm 11 weeks along now and this doctors appointment gave me such peace of mind and confidence that you are going to be okay. We both are.

In other pregnancy symptom news, I have developed a new (and I've been assured temporary) allergy to the nickel in gold. Meaning that in place of my wedding rings I have an angry red rash. Lovely. I also continue to have very little appetite, which was reflected in the scale at the doctors, I've lost 4 pounds in a month. I have a little extra weight so I'm not really concerned about it, but I do miss the pleasure of food. I have a new love for Orange Julius, though, and could happily live on those. Maybe they are a good source of vitamin C?