75 days!

Only 75 days to go until this wee one makes his/her arrival! 

Can't believe that's all the time left for this pregnancy...it has gone so fast!  Likely because we're chasing a toddler around all day long now!

It feels like nothing is really ready yet....with Neva we were all set by 5 months or so!  But we have all the basics, and I've learned, that you don't really need the rest! 

We've ordered cloth diapers for this kiddo, but that was about it on our "must buy" list.  So....maybe we're more ready than I thought?!?!

I'm feeling well.  Measuring right on track, but feeling very large!  Still exercising on an almost daily basis and eating as well as I can (or want to!)

Neva talks to my tummy every day and often sticks a baby up her shirt and will deliver them!  And they always come out head first!  I have no idea where she picked that up, a book perhaps, but that little lady is definitely prepared for when the time comes!  She also loves to talk about why I'm going to roar like a lion when the baby is being born.... 

Can't believe we're almost done!  Can't wait to meet this little person!

March

I had a thought this weekend.  March should be looking a lot different for our family....but it is not.

We were supposed to be welcoming a new baby into our home in the next few weeks.  But things don't always work out as you had planned.

I can't decide how I feel about this realization.  I'm not necessarily saddened by thinking about it,  more that it's just weird to think about where I am in this pregnancy and where I thought I would be when I found out I was pregnant last July. 

Clearly, our timing wasn't right.  There is some reason that we were meant to have THIS baby joining our family in June, rather than the baby that we lost joining our family in March.  It's strange to think about what that reasoning might be, but I have to believe it is for the best. 

Maybe it's because I only have 62 hours of leave time....and a week and a half just isn't enough for maternity leave.

Maybe it's because we needed to be in Kansas several times already this year and that would have been much more difficult if I had been 8 or 9 months pregnant.

Maybe it's because I'm going to need this baby to make my 33rd birthday the best one I've had yet.  Although I'd really rather not be 2 weeks late and in labor on my birthday.  Just putting that out there.

As I said, I don't know the reason, but I'm sure there is one.  I'm not sure how to feel right now, but I will move past it and I will be ready to welcome this June baby with wide open arms.

And this one....she's ready to be a big sister, that's for sure.  She LOVES to read books to anyone who will listen!  And who better than a brand new baby? 

 

Pregnancy Weight Gain & Fitness

I swore this time around, I wasn't going to get as big as I did last time. 

That hasn't worked out too swell.

I'm blaming that partially on the progesterone supplements, which made me feel awful and also made me put on a good 10 pounds pretty much when I swallowed that first blasted pill.

I've been exercising daily, sometimes twice a day, and still have put on quite a bit a weight and feel a little large.  With Neva, I exercised, but nothing like I have been this time.  And I ate ALL THE FOODS.  I took pregnancy as a free pass to eat whatever I wanted!  I'm making much more of an effort to eat healthy...getting lots of proteins, veggies and fruits in on a daily basis.  Believe me, I'm not perfect.  But I've been trying a lot harder this time.  Hopefully giving up sweets for Lent will help a little bit, too!

I know this is a struggle for a lot of women.  It's hard to watch your body do all this crazy stuff that is seemingly out of your control.  But...I'm pretty sure it's 100% out of your control.  It's not just the belly that grows.  It's the arms, the hips, the thighs....anywhere your body could possibly store some fat, it seems to happen when you are pregnant. 

And it's hard to not compare yourself to that one gal who only gained 15 pounds and left the hospital only 5 pounds over her pre-pregnancy weight and in her regular clothes.  That doesn't happen to everyone....some of us live in maternity clothes for a few weeks or months after the baby gets here.  That's real life.

Yes, you can make healthy eating choices and exercise regularly.  But your body is going to do whatever it needs/wants to do to make a healthy environment for this little person to grow.  You might only gain 15 pounds, but you might gain 50 pounds. 

During this pregnancy and my pregnancy with Neva, I received many inappropriate comments.  I've been told that I "just keep getting bigger and bigger".  Yep, that happens when you're growing a HUMAN in your belly.  I've already been told that I'm waddling...and that was probably about 10 weeks ago!  Seriously?  "You're still growing" has also been thrown out there this time around.  I seriously don't understand where people get the balls to say these things! 

I think it could be fun to go through life without a filter, but guessing it would hurt a lot of people's feelings!  I think I'll stick with the good ol' rule, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it!"

 

Princesses

This has been on my mind lately, as I keep hearing reasons why I shouldn't call my daughter a princess or why she shouldn't be allowed to play with princesses.  I have to admit, though, my little lady LOVES her some princesses.  We don't know how it started or where it came from, but it seems to be just ingrained in who she is.  I mean, we didn't even have cable until December, so it's not like she was sitting in front of princess shows for the first 3+ years of her life.  She just loves some princesses.



And she doesn't care who they are...Sleeping Booty, Snow White, Sofia the First, Belle, Ariel, Rapunzel, Cinderella...you get the picture.  She's currently trying to decide which princess she might want to be for Halloween next year.  And which co-star her little brother or sister can be. 



We don't call her a princess.  And I can sort of get that part of the argument.  However, my name actually means princess, so I'm not sure why people aren't calling me that more often.  But I digress.  We try to stay away from calling her things such as "cute, pretty, princess", etc. 



What I don't understand is what's the big deal if she looks up to these girls?  These princesses are all young teenagers.  Often very nice and kind young ladies.  Helping animals, mean step-sisters, their not-so-nice parents.  So there's a problem with looking up to kind young women? 



Or maybe it's because they marry princes and that's just not real life, unless you're Kate Middleton.  When dating and finding my spouse, I definitely looked for someone who treated me nicely and made me feel important.  Does he treat me like a princess?  That might be pushing it, but he's pretty damn good to me. 



Maybe it's because they wear ridiculous dresses and often go from rags to riches, seemingly overnight.  What child doesn't like to dress up?  We dress up as animals all the time at our house...so what's wrong with putting on Mom's clothes or a fancy dress and pretending to be a princess?



And why is it just girls?  How many boys have boxes full of toys and not one pink item?  Not one doll to play with and pretend with?  It's a bit of a double standard, if you ask me.



We're not surrounded by princesses all the time.  This little lady loves to collect bugs in her bug box, play in the dirt, ride her bike, play on the playground, go skiing, roller skate...she does it all.  But she also gets a bit "girly" in her play and often princesses are involved. 



To me, it's very similar to boys who want to be super-heroes and who play them constantly.  Seems as though super-heroes might not be the best role models as there is often violence involved, in some way.  Yet I'm supposed to shield my daughter from the lure of the sparkles and the tiaras? 

Seems to be a bit of a double standard, in my opinion.  And if you don't have a little girl, but one day might be graced with one in your family?  Good luck keeping the princesses out of your house.  They just have a way of finding their way into your home.



Rock on, princesses.