Cravings

I have not yet officially broken out the maternity wear, but as the day progressed, my jeans had become more uncomfortable. It's not bump, just bloat - comes and goes with meals, but still the discomfort is different from, let's say, packing on a couple extra pounds during the holidays. I decided to try my BeBand which goes over your regular, but unbuttoned pants. GLORIOUS! Really comfortable. In fact, I'm thinking of just carrying it around with me in my purse from now on, so I can break it out when needed. 


I also am surprised at the amount of time I spend daydreaming about food. This is my current craving list:


1. Muffins (we've been watching a lot of old episodes of Scrubs and Dr. Kelso has them all the time - it's making me crazy!)


2. Chicken salad (I tend to want things again even if I've just had them and this was my lunch today.)


3. Cheddar cheese Combos 


Any of these things would be amazing right about now...but because I don't want to end up a whale, I'll just have to count the minutes until breakfast. Who knows? Maybe I'll treat myself to a muffin then.

Finally!

At long last we were able to tell Kevin's parents about the baby! It was absolutely worth the wait though. Their reactions were positively priceless. They both simultaneously burst into tears and then sandwiched me in a great big hug. It was so sweet! It's really wonderful to realize that not only is this baby bringing me and Kevin joy, it's a source of happiness for others as well. 


I'm itching to find out if it's a boy or girl too. I am dying to shop for baby clothes, but I'm not a big fan of all the gender neutral stuff. We'll find out on September 20th, so just in time for my birthday - and the big gift to myself will be a giant shopping spree at Babies R Us! My only baby purchase so far (admittedly advanced) has been ordering dozens of Berenstain Bear books online. I loved them as a kid and I want to be able to read them to the little one. 


Not too much else to report. Camp went very well again today which was nice. It looks like last Monday may have been a fluke thing, but I don't want to jinx myself! 

Yay Shopping!!

I went maternity clothes shopping today and it was really, really fun! I ended up finding a lot of great items. I went to Old Navy, Gap and Target. Jess was an excellent shopping partner and picked out a super cute pair of maternity jeans at the Gap. They were really flattering already with tons of room to grow! I honestly might start wearing them now. They were so comfortable. Special bonus - I felt sexy in them! Wooo! I also found 2 two cardigans on clearance at Old Navy for $11.50 each so I got a black one and a tan one. I got several stretchy, yet adorable tops and a dress that feels like pajamas. Lastly, I did get one of those bands to put on top of your regular pants. It was definitely a win! 


My goal is to be mom-to-be-chic. I feel like I am known a lot for my fashion sense and outfits, especially among the students, so I don't want to of start off the school year looking dowdy and frumpy. Call it vain or superficial, but it is still very important for me to look good and to be well dressed. But after today I think I am off to a good start! Plus I can probably still wear a lot of my other clothes for while - I'll just be rocking the bump before you know it!

Schoolgirl Crush

I took a mini-roadtrip down to Rhode Island today to take class with one of my former Open Doors yoga instructors. As many of you know, I have a massive crush on this guy. Kevin even jokes that he's my "yoga boyfriend". I think the funny thing about it is, it truly is the kind of crush you have when you're twelve. My heart starts fluttering right before I see him, I start rambling and blushing when I talk to him, and when he introduced me to someone today as "my good friend Andrea" I think I may have actually swooned. My adolescent-acting brain was like "Oh my God - he called me his good friend...YES!". But in all seriousness, he is a great yoga instructor and I've learned a lot from him during the course of my yoga journey. It's definitely worth the time once in a while for me to drive down there to see him. 


And now I am off to an Olympics Party at Rebecca's. I tried a new recipe for a savory muffin - Garlic and Sun Dried Tomato Corn Muffins. Hopefully they taste good because they do look good. Very bright and cheerful. :-)

I am turning in to a huge nerd...

I went back to the library today, which is now becoming something of a weekly ritual. Last week I checked out 3 books and finished them in about 8 days, so today I upped myself and checked out 5! Carrying 5 library books makes you look supremely nerdy because they're hardcover and slippery from the plastic covering on them. You will look like an even bigger dork when you spill them onto the counter and ask the librarian, "Is there a limit?" which is exactly what I did. NERD ALERT! 


I'm totally embracing it though because all this reading has been making me want to write more. I finished my short story and just uploaded it and sent it off to the short fiction contest. This is a publication that receives tons and tons of submissions so I'm not counting on winning anything. I'm just glad I'm throwing my work back out there again.


I continued with my book theme by cleaning out my book shelf. I pulled a bunch for the future yard sale I will make happen. I want to clear out all the clutter before we starting moving baby things in here. I took every single book down and dusted before reorganizing. It felt really good and now I have more space! More space for more books that I will eventually buy, but for now I'm pretty content with nerding it up at the library. 

Serendipity!

The very place I wanted to order dinner from tonight sent a $10 reward certificate in the mail today...it was food destiny!!!

Very Grateful

Camp today was so much better! All of the groups had fun and were enthusiastic. I got a bunch of "thank yous" and a "you're so nice" as I handed out plastic Hawaiian leis for our Luau theme. It was such a relief and a great boost after Monday. I also got invited out after camp next week with a couple other specialists whom I had met and hit it off with during orientation. I was really happy for the invite because they were super nice girls and I hardly ever see them except for my jaunt back to the field where my car is parked. 


(By the way did I use "whom" correctly there? Lindsey if you're reading, let me know grammar girl! :P)


So now I really should be figuring out dinner. I want to be good about saving money with Baby on the way, but the lure of takeout is beckoning to me like a siren call. Not to mention that I absolutely need a cannoli in my life right now. 

Already Thinking of September

I bought a ton of back-to-school supplies today. I didn't originally intend to do that, but once I started with a couple things, I just kept right on going. I always get sucked into the dollar section near the entrance of Target and from there it snowballed. I only need a few other items before the beginning of the school year. I know it seems kind of silly to be school shopping in July, but I also don't want to wait too long into August because then it's slim pickin's. I was especially grateful to the lovely Target employee who did not make me count out again all 140 notebooks that I was purchasing while at the checkout. The last two years I've had to count them out with the cashier and I always feel like that customer holding up the line. This lady just asked how many and called it a day. Buying school supplies is always uplifting. It just brings about feelings of new promise. My favorite purchase of the day was a blue composition book with a giant, glittery shoe on the front. This of course will be my notebook for faculty meetings. I always need to add a bit of pizzazz. 


It will definitely be weird starting the school year knowing that I'm only going to be there until February and then *poof* Motherhood. I've wrapped my brain around the fact that I'm pregnant - the fact that I would do anything for a sugar cookie right now proves it - but it's still difficult to grasp the concept that I will be a mother. Wow. Now that's a role that has new promise. 

Patience is a Virtue...

that I am still trying to cultivate. I will give myself credit and say I've definitely gotten more patient over the years, especially with the help of yoga and meditation, but some days even that doesn't help. That's pretty ironic since I was in dire need of patience today while teaching yoga. 


The unfortunate fact about the camp job is not everyone wants to do yoga. It's not like my classes at the YMCA where kids sign up specifically for yoga. Still, the last few weeks everyone had been having a good time it seemed, but I had one group today that was quite a challenge. It wasn't a group I see normally which is probably part of it. There's a block of time for "electives" so some kids end up with me even if they did not "elect" to do so. I understand that, but I totally lost my cool, and to one child in particular. My patience had just been run into the ground. Rudeness and disrespect are so difficult to tolerate, and this kid was downright rude to me. Maybe I'm just used to a school situation where the students are usually very respectful. It was just a very frustrating situation, and of course because it's me, I spent hours feeling bad about my reaction and berated myself for not being patient enough. 


When I got home I gave myself some quiet meditation time and feel a lot better. I know I cannot be perfect, but it will always be a struggle for me to jump over that hurdle and tell myself that it's okay. I look at myself as a "recovering perfectionist" and sometimes I just need to take it one day at a time.  

Nice Little Saturday

Even though I am so lucky to be off for the summer, Saturdays have still been a special day of the week, especially since the last 3 in a row we have actually had no plans. I'm not quite sure how this happened because it seemed like last summer I had something going on every weekend. But then again, I did have triple weddings going on. 


Yesterday was nothing short of delightful. It was so nice to spend a full day with my hubby. We started off by finishing up season 4 of the show Breaking Bad - intense! The finale totally blew our minds. I believe season 5 is going on now, but we'll have to wait until it comes on Netflix. I don't think we could handle only watching it once a week as it aired anyway, considering we couldn't even limit ourselves to one a day. 


Afterwards we picked up some sandwiches from our local coffee shop and went to the park. We have a beautiful park in our town that we had only been to once before in the fall and we didn't really have time to explore it. But yesterday after we had our lunch we walked along the pond they have there and hiked through some woodsy trails. One trail even took us all the way to the high school. It was so peaceful and serene. The park also has a great playground area too with equipment for younger and older children. I know it's a ways away, but I can't wait to take Baby there!


Then we moved on to grocery shopping at Whole Foods -we are now "grocery snobs" as Kevin says, but hey Doctor's, orders. She said "eat as organically as possible" and as much as I love MB, they don't have a lot of organic choices. Later on I made White Pizza with Fried Sage while simultaneously Kevin experimented with making homemade chocolate frosting. It was a huge success! We enjoyed our food with some more Netflix and eventually called it a night. 


Today I am off to yoga, then down to CT for a movie date with Lynnie. When we were in high school we would always end up at the movies on a Sunday during the summer and at first we would be like "What kind of losers go the movies on a Sunday?" but pretty soon it became our thing. I guess it still is!

I Still Got It?

So I just ran out to Cumbies because I had a major craving for Doritos and root beer. I wasn't doing much today so I was dressed in comfy clothes, jeans and an old tee from my Cape trip with the girls. It has a cassette tape on it that says "Cape Cod Mix" and in hot pink letters it says "Made in the Eighties". It's kind of a loud shirt, so I get that people are drawn to reading it, it's the nature of a graphic tee. But when I paid for my snack the young kid behind the counter was most definitely staring at my enhancing chest region. It's definitely a positive symptoms of pregnancy, but I'm totally not used to it. 


"Made in the Eighties huh?" he asked and smiled. And then for some reason I felt embarrassed and I started rambling and blurted out that I'm pregnant. I guess I wasn't expecting to get male attention from anyone other than my husband now that I'm expecting. It was weird. 


Turns out the kid is 21 (Made in the Nineties) and I started thinking about what a world of difference it is between 21 and 27. It's kind of amazing to think of what I've done in those six years:


I started my teaching career
I got my master's degree
I'm married
I have a house
I'm having a baby


Pretty nice. 


And now after all those years since reading Are you there God, it's me Margaret? I'm finally filling out!

The alternate title to this blog could have been...

My Summer Spent in Yoga Pants


Honestly. About 4 times a week when I get dressed in the morning, I start off wearing yoga pants. I'm either teaching it or practicing it. Not that I'm complaining - I'm staying active and am also comfortable. I just find it kind of funny.


Today I filled in for my friend Heather at the summer camp she works at. It was only for two hours, as opposed to my six, and it was in a big, air-conditioned space. I have to admit, that was pretty nice. It felt like an upgrade from my hot, stuffy, glorified storage shed. But I guess I'm used to hot yoga anyhow!


On the way home I stopped at the Farmer's Market again. I got some lettuce and cucumber but also a fair amount of baked goods. Does zucchini bread count as a vegetable? What about if it has carrots in it as well?

Fun with Fiction

One of my summertime goals was to write poetry, which is something that comes pretty naturally to me and is something that I absolutely love both reading and writing. Short fiction on the other hand, is something I've ventured in before, and do really enjoy, however it is definitely not something that comes naturally to me.


Yesterday, I was inspired by another one of my crazy pregnancy dreams and started writing a short story. It's kind of a bizarre dark comedy. I have no idea if it's any good, but I've really enjoyed the whole process of story writing again. I'm debating on entering it into a short fiction contest. I've tried this one in the past to no avail, but have had much better luck with my poetry. Still, I think it's a good thing to try something new. Maybe I'll go for it. The deadline is July 31st, so I better get crackin'!

Not showing yet but....

am definitely feeling my jeans get a bit more snug.


It's very strange because I've only gained like a pound and half so far. I've weighed more than I do now, but still didn't have any discomfort wearing anything. I guess I've been sticking with a lot of sundresses and yoga pants so far this summer, so this change seems so sudden. I have to admit it's a little disheartening, but I suppose it's inevitable. I can probably suck it up (or in) for a couple more weeks, but it looks like I'll have to start shopping for maternity-wear, or at least get myself a "Bella Band" which goes on to your normal pants and gives you some extra stretch. 


I feel like such a cliche right now whining about how I'm "getting fat". I know it's all part of pregnancy and honestly I'd rather just be all out showing. This in-between phase is odd. Bring on the belly!

Busy Bee

Yesterday I traveled "out west" to visit my pal Ipsi. I love driving through my old college town and the surrounding area. It's surprising, but I still know many of those roads like the back of my hand. I was also really pleased to be able to introduce my unborn child to the wonderful taste of Antonio's pizza. Heaven!


I was wiped out by the time I got home, but today I have been shockingly energetic. I trimmed all the bushes and pruned a couple of the little trees in the front yard. Just a little bit of yard work really goes along way. Then I went on a cleaning spree in the house where I mopped, cleaned the bathrooms including both showers, and dusted! Not too shabby!


Next, I'm off to the garden store and then figuring out what I want to make for dinner. I will probably drop like a racehorse by nightfall, but I definitely want to take advantage of the fact that I have all this energy. I'm very lucky in comparison to a lot of either p.g. ladies in their first trimester - no crippling morning sickness or extreme exhaustion. I absolutely have my own symptoms to contend with, but they seem to be pretty mild overall. And I sincerely hope I didn't just jinx myself!

On Cloud 9

I am 9 weeks pregnant today, the baby is now the size of a medium-sized green olive, and baby has just been upgraded from embryo to fetus status. (I'm still a little fuzzy on the difference.)

We had our first doctor's appointment today and it was so exciting. It definitely made everything very real. I was so grateful Kevin took the day off to come with me. We got to see the heartbeat on the ultrasound and it brought tears to my eyes! I'm going to try to amp up my nutrition even more. Doc says if I can, eat as organically as possible so I got the green light from hubby to become a weekly Whole Foods shopper!


And now the best part of all...baby's first picture:

I can't stop looking at it!

A Little Taste of Hawaii

After our honeymoon in Maui this past spring, I find that I can't get enough pineapple. I love it. I think the #1 reason I love it is because when I taste its sweet, tart juiciness, for a moment I am taken back to the beautiful island soaking in the tropical surroundings. It tastes like vacation. I felt similarly the first time I went to Hawaii as well, back when I visited my pal Jess in Oahu. Shortly after that trip I found a recipe for a grilled sandwich that incorporated pineapple. I like to call it a "Grilled Hawaiian". So in homage to the glorious memories of sea and surf, I made this delicacy for dinner tonight. Should you ever want to try:


Ingredients:
Any kind of bread, I chose fresh baked ciabatta
Pineapple slices (canned is fine here)
Ham
Swiss cheese 
Fresh basil 


Instructions:
Layer both sides of the bread with ham
Add cheese
Add basil (just a few leaves, and trust me, it gives a nice burst of flavor)
Add pineapple (best to have this in the middle of the sandwich so the bread doesn't get soggy)
Add another ham and cheese layer
Use a panini press or "griddler"-type appliance to heat up or heat in skillet and apply pressure with spatula
Enjoy and imagine yourself surrounded by palm trees!

Old School

In continuation of my flashback to the 90s, I made an "I Love the 90s" playlist and downloaded some classic artists like Seal, TLC, Blues Traveler and The Cranberries. Listening to music that you haven't heard in a long time is really uplifting. Normally, emptying the dishwasher is a chore that I absolutely loathe, but somehow after firing up my itunes, I rocked that dishwasher like nobody's business. 


Then Rebecca and I watched fuzzy recordings of The Babysitter's Club on Youtube. And we're talking the television show here, not the movie, although that is an excellent piece of cinematic art. We topped it off with a trip to the library, where I got my new library card and  checked out three books: a Babysitter's Club book (of course), a Goosebumps book and a gem that Rebecca found - a Full House book. Whoa, baby! We spent the rest of the afternoon reading on the front porch. 


Ahhh...I'm definitely enjoying these lazy summer days. I know they'll be my last. ;-)

Interesting Symptom...

Somewhere in my travels I've heard of pregnancy dreams before, but now I am definitely experiencing them firsthand. I've read a lot women having scary dreams of something happening to the baby or other anxiety-inducing nightmares. Me on the other hand? I am dreaming about food.


I had one of those weird "dream within a dream" situations last night. In my dream I was going to yoga, but for some reason I got there way before the class started so my instructor was like, "Hmmmm you're a bit early.", so I decided to go to Dunkin Donuts, or so Dream Andrea thought. Cut to me in Dunks staring up at a giant wall of donuts, displaying practically every kind of donut known to man. I couldn't decide. Chocolate frosted with sprinkles? New Oreo donut? Good ol' glazed? Flash to me in my car waking up and seeing that the time was 2:30, meaning I missed my dream yoga class because I was dreaming about donuts. I drove back to the studio even though this class had been over for hours. When the instructor asked what happened to me I said, "I don't know. I fell asleep in my car in the parking lot and was dreaming about not being able to decide on what donut I wanted at Dunkin Donuts. And by the way, I'm pregnant."


No kidding.


What I'd really like to dream about next is drinking a bottle of pinot noir, because to be honest kids, I do miss it from time to time. 

Believe it or Not

Despite all my whining about yard work, I actually just enjoyed myself outside. The temperature was not brutally hot or humid and it was late in the afternoon so the sun wasn't as strong so it just felt pleasantly warm. I could smell the freshly cut grass and hear the peaceful sounds of summer. It felt good to be out, relaxing even. And bonus, I was able to de-weed the whole front bed. So now that the weeds are under control again, my next yard project will be the bushes. I'll get to those either later this week or sometime next week. One thing at a time. I'm definitely learning to give myself breaks this summer and to keep a good balance of staying active and busy, but also giving myself some R&R. 


I finished the "50 Shades" series today. It took one week for me to read all three books. They got worse with each sequel - in terms of cheesiness, not shock value. Part of me wishes I had stopped after the first book which I still definitely recommend as a hot, trashy read, but curiosity got the better of me and I just had to know what would happen in the end. I have yet to venture to the town library even though I've lived here over a year now, so I think I will definitely have to check that out soon. If anyone has any book recommendations, I gladly welcome them!

I didn't blog yesterday because...

I was too busy eating Ben & Jerry's and meatloaf.


Not at the same time of course - I'm not that bad. But seriously, I'm slightly shocked that this morning when I did my weekly weigh-in, I only gained less that a quarter of a pound. I don't eat all bad for me things. I definitely try to keep it balanced and all, it's just that if I feel like ice cream, well gosh darn it, I'm going to have some. Pregnancy has made me feel entitled. Entitled to buy cookies at the grocery store, entitled to finish nearly everything on my plate, entitled to my license to eat. 


I realize this is a scary attitude to have, and if I keep it up I'm liable to gain 70 pounds over the upcoming months. However, I am applying my "casino rule" to weight gain. When I go to a casino, I usually give myself an allotted amount to gamble with and nothing more and if I lose it, well then that's what I paid to have some fun. This easily can apply to pregnancy weight. Because I fall in the "normal" body weight range, I can gain anywhere from 25-35 pounds. I figure, that's my allotted amount and I won't go over it. 


I think it doesn't hurt that I'm still pretty active. Between the camp, my regular yoga practice and walking a lot, I'm doing a good job of staying healthy. As a bonus, I was super-proud of myself yesterday during yoga when I nailed my flying crow pose. Not too bad for a knocked up chick!




Looks like this:



http://yoga.about.com/od/yogaphotogalleries/ig/Arm-Balances-Photo-Gallery/Flying-Crow-Pose-.htm

Feeling Pretty Darn Good!

I know I come across as a pretty organized person, and in many respects I am. However, my home contains secret pockets of clutter, and over time they spread. There's mail all over the breakfast bar, there's empty jewelry boxes piled on a dresser, there's ancient memorabilia shoved in the closet corner. And while all of this "stuff" wouldn't bother most people and in fact, most people probably wouldn't notice it - it most definitely gets to me, so I have decided to do something about it.


I started with my bedroom. I have gone through all my drawers and cleaned out the closet. I pulled tons of items for donation and threw a bunch away. I can happily report that I have now created enough space in the closet so that Kevin can actually move his clothes in and use it instead of keeping his in the guest room.


It is such a tremendous joy to walk into the closet! (It's even easier to get into since I moved the giant purses that used to occupy the doorknob making it difficult to turn.) There's actually free space in there right now! Clearing out clutter really is good for the soul. It's like a physical example of what I try to achieve in meditation. 


I also took a lovely walk today up the road to a farmer's market. I got some fresh basil (does anything smell better than fresh basil?), 2 big zucchini, 2 big summer squash and some homemade fettuccine. YUM! It was great - I got some exercise and helped the environment by not using my car, and I bought healthy food while supporting our local community farm. 


All in all, a nice summer day. 


And now? Probably cookies...

My Grocery Affair

I cheated on Market Basket today.


Lately, I've been feeling that although I eat fairly healthy, I could be eating healthier. And I've also been using my pregnancy as an excuse to pretty much have ice cream and cookies whenever I want. I haven't had any weight gain yet so it's possible the camp job is off setting that...for now. 


When I think of healthy eating, I think of Whole Foods. I can't help it. I know they are WAY over-priced and not everything in their store is actually organic, but I like the association I make in my mind whenever I splurge and shop there. Today, I wanted nothing more than to be a "hip, healthy, yogi, mom-to-be". I even struck up a conversation with another pregnant woman in the cheese section. We were both reading the labels making sure our selections were made with pasteurized milk. I got a whole bunch of fruits and veggies and even had some delicious sliced watermelon as an afternoon snack. So tell me this...is it bad that I still added a pint of Ben & Jerry's to my shopping cart?


In other "affairs", I submitted (word choice intended) and bought the book Fifty Shades of Grey over the weekend, and after finishing it at lightening speed picked up the other two books. Eek! I can't help it! And it's totally putting me off starting my project list though I think I may start by cleaning out my clothes closet - the horror! 

I'm Coming Out!

So I just can't take it anymore...


I feel like since starting this blog again this summer I've been lying to all of my readers. I know traditionally you aren't supposed to announce to the world until a certain amount of time, but I just can't contain myself anymore. Some of you may know this already, but if you don't...I'm pregnant!


Ahhhh...such a relief! There's been so many times I've wanted to talk about it!


Here are the basics:

• I'm 7 weeks, 4 days along
• The baby is the size of a blueberry and is accumulating over 100 new brain cells each minute
• My first doctor's appointment is a week from Thursday where we may hopefully get our first ultrasound
• The unofficial estimated due date is Valentine's Day :-)

I'm glad I'm throwing this out here. Sometimes it's simply impossible to not be myself, and myself is just bursting with happiness!