Update

Me, today, at 26 weeks.   ignore my face. 

This wrap skirt took about 3 hours to make and was really easy.  The pattern is from this book

This picture is dark, but you can see how it fits & the length

Current status of the cross-stitch... not even halfway done. (some of it is getting cut off here)

I have another ultrasound, a week from today.  I can hardly wait!  And we start our Bradley Childbirth class next Monday!  

My belly button is looking like a corn kernel in a shallow crater (I had an innie/outtie, so its basically disappearing).  And I get braxton-hicks contractions a lot if I: sit down for too long, stand up for too long,  don't drink enough water, or don't pee like every hour or 2.  

Yesterday, this conversation happened:  

       Michael:  how are you cleaning the bathtub?

        me:   uhh... I don't clean it.

      Michael:  ok, well, its gross now.

        me:  yeah, I used to clean it and it never got any better, so I stopped.  

        me:  how are you supposed to clean a bathtub?

      Michael:  with ajax or something.

So, that is pretty sad.  I do clean the bathrooms, I just hate cleaning the tub.  We have seperate bathrooms (kind of, I have my stuff in both though) so I never use that shower.  But, today I cleaned it, after I found some bathroom cleaner I didn't even know I had, and it looks 100% better.   And I made some liquid dish soap!  And found out there is a leak under our kitchen sink.

Bread Recipes

I need a good whole grain bread recipe.  I have one, but its turns out kind of crumbly & hard to slice small pieces (I'll post it if anyone wants it though)... maybe I need to decrease the flour a little or something?  And, I don't have a bread maker.  But I'll take any recipes anyone has.... it doesn't even have to be whole grain/wheat.   Just something good... anyone?

*and its cutting off half my picture now... I don't understand!  Why can't you be a small picture???

I love my husband

I thought, for fun, I'd put some pictures on here... because I love my Mikey.  He is such a wonderful husband.  

This was around when we first met, Oct 2006.  He had long hair. hehe

In the wal-mart he worked at, in electronics, where we met.  I think this was right around the time we got engaged, march 2007.  He cut his hair.

One of our engagement pictures

Our Wedding... Nov. 2007

Honeymoon in Rome

After his basic training graduation, Feb 2008

Sewing & Cross-Stitching

This is the first cross-stitch I've ever done.  Its a "Julia Ann Sampler".  A 13 year old girl made the pattern in 1819.  It's on 29 count linen & has this in the center & various trees & houses on the side.  I got the kit for $2 at a garage sale!  I've been working on it since the beginning of the month... the other day it took me 30 minutes just doing the cursive M & half the N.

I made this dress the past week. Its a nursing/maternity dress called "Catherine's Choice" from bakerlane.com.  The material is kind of an olive green floral velour-ish (ok, I don't know my fabrics too well) ... not cheetah print as it appears in this picture.  I've never made anything, except quilt blocks, without the help of my mom, so I was a little scared.  I only had one mishap and I fixed it, so I feel quite accomplished now.  It would have only taken 3 days to make, but I ran out of thread and I had to wait to go to fabric store.  

And, whilst at the fabric store, they had simplicity patterns for $1 each!  So I got some baby patterns, including that super cute one!

Yesterday, Michael and I went to Babies R Us to register and they were SO busy, they had a waiting list for registry scanners!  So we just looked around & made one online, but I don't know how easy people will be able to find the things that I registered for online in stores since not all stores have the same things.  Babies R Us online didn't even having diaper pins... I searched "diaper pins" and it says "did you mean diapers pink?".  So, in short, amazon registry is much more fun because amazon has everything!  Unfortunately, not everyone wants to order from amazon so I have to make a babies r us registry too.

We also found this in our cul de sac parking lot- thrown away by one of our neighbors, to be picked up by the trashman.  Our neighbors are always throwing usable things away, like our coffee table, for instance, was out in the parking lot to be thrown away & there was once a whole living room set out there (we just took a chair & ottoman from it though).  When the trash came that time, I caught a video of it chopping up the furniture... I wonder if I can find it.. it was crazy!

MMM Smoothie

Since I'm pregnant, I try to eat healthy & get all the nutrients I need (without eating too many poptarts...), which is hard since I tend to forget to eat in between meals.  But yesterday I made the most amazing smoothie!  Its really easy & really healthy!

1/4 package of silken (soft) tofu

2 whole bananas

1 to 2 cups frozen strawberries (I didn't measure, I had like half a bag left & threw them all in)

3.5 slices of pineapple (I used canned, you know, the pineapple rings)

& some of the pineapple juice

thats all!  no ice to crush, its plenty thick too!  no sugar, no ice cream or yogurt (though yogurt would be healthy too)

You can't taste the tofu at all.  I kept making smoothies before & putting plain yogurt & tofu in it, and it tasted gross so I'd have to add 1T sugar to every glass... I thought it was the tofu, but it was the yogurt!  So, probably vanilla yogurt (or any flavored yogurt) would solve that problem.  

I wear skirts quite a bit because I feel more feminine when I do, and when I don't I had 1 pair of jeans I wore all the time since they are so comfy.  I went through my clothes the other day & found 2 pairs of pants that I haven't been able to wear in like 2 years!  Now, I can't button them, but the legs fit so well (which is why I had to stop wearing them 2 years ago, cuz my legs were fat)

Pretty sure the reason I couldn't wear those pants 2 years ago is because at that time I worked at Panera 5 days a week from 5am-1pm & ate many meals there (employees got an awesome discount!).  Then I would go from work, home for 3 hours & nap, then go to ballet class at night & get home at like 8, and Michael worked close to my apartment when we were dating & so he got off at like 10 and he'd come over & I'd fall asleep & have to get up at 4 the next morning!  So, lack of sleep, bad diet, stress... hmm, but that only lasted a few months, then I quit ballet & started another job as a waitress on top of my panera hours & took 9 hours online college classes.  & I rarely ate breakfast.  I was so unhealthy...  glad that whole part of my life is over!  And, this is a really pointless entry now...

23 weeks

This is me today, at 23 weeks!  Is this picture kind of big? I think it is, and I clicked "small", oh well.  

Today I kind of rough-drafted my birth plan for fun and since we have to have the birth in a hospital birth center, I feel I need to be as prepared as possible.  I also plan to labor at home as long as possible.  Here are some highlights (lol)

• freedom to change positions, walk, go to the bathroom, do yoga, or labor in the tub as long as possible
• No IV & limited electronic fetal monitoring & vaginal exams
• freedom to be in any position, including off the bed, during 2nd stage of labor
• prefer to tear rather than have an episiotomy
• don't offer pain medication
• freedom to wear my own clothes (... maybe)
• no eye ointment, vit k, or hep b
• defer PKU test for 2 days to establish breastfeeding for more accurate results
• B/F immediately after birth
• no bottles, pacifiers, water or formula
• delay cord cutting for at least 2 hours or not at all (haven't decided about this 'lotus birth' thing)
• no bathing of baby... will rub in vernix
  
• Baby is to ALWAYS be accompanied by myself or Michael when not in my room.

We went on a tour of the hospital on Sunday, it was nice... everything is brand new (they just built the hospital in 2007).  The only thing really 'hospitalish' about the rooms are the beds (so narrow!), they had tv/dvd player/cd player in all the rooms & a jacuzzi tub in most of the bathrooms, and you can adjust the temp/lights.  I had a breakdown about a week ago over how I didn't want to go to the hospital to have the baby... but I think it will be ok.  Its better than the alternatives-  either drive an hour away to a free-standing birth center the last 2 months of pregnancy for prenatals, the last month being an appointment every week which michael wouldn't be able to take off work for, so I'd have to drive by myself!  Or pay a homebirth midwife out of pocket, like $2,000, which we can't justify (since our insurance pays 100% for the midwife in the hospital).  I'm just worried one thing will go wrong & then everything will crumble to the ground... maybe I shouldn't have such high expectations.  I should probably prepare myself for when something doesn't go the way I want it to...

I'm going to try to stop eating sugar... or at least I'm going to think about it and stop once the baby is born.  lol.  I just really don't want to be feeding my kids sugar!  And its so bad for you, but I just love it so much, its hard.  :-)  And I just bought 4 bags (1lb each) of sour patch kids from the store bec. they were on sale from christmas- 64cents a bag!!!  Who could resist such a deal?  lol

I love amazon so much!!  I have a baby registry on there, its fun.  Its amazing to me how stores convinces us of how much stuff we need for a baby, when actually you don't need very much at all!  Its pretty crazy how much stuff we have cut off our "things to buy for baby" list, like a crib and changing table... well thats actually all I can think of, but those are pretty major necessities to most people, and pretty expensive, and take up a lot of space!

Headcovering?

So, I have been studying the biblical headcovering (as mentioned in 1 cor 11) for a while now.  I even covered... for about a week, a few months ago.  Then I got lazy and quit doing it.  I don't know anyone who covers... no one at our church does, nor any church I have ever been to, for that matter.  The reason I started studying it was because I knew the Amish covered, and I have always been very intrigued by their lifestyle & dress... and knew their had to be a reason they did it.  Then I read this book (which you can download for free) and was pretty convinced.  Michael is neutral on the subject... so I don't know.  Its confusing, but I think I'm just making it confusing because I don't want to do it, but feel like I should be... you know :-/.  If for no other reason, I like it as a reminder that my husband is the head of me (and thus a reminder of my submission to him, which is hard to remember sometimes...) & God has put me under his protection.  The scripture says the glory of man is the woman and the man is the glory of Christ...  man should cover his glory to give full glory to Christ.  And, I see "hair is given for her as a covering"  but earlier in the passage it says "it is a shame for a man to pray with his head covered"... so a man should make sure he has no hair covering his head?  Not unless it means an actual covering/veil... or some people argue long hair.  It is also unsettling how it was a universal practice until recent decades.  hmm... 

Anyways, I ordered some from garlandsofgrace.com because they have really pretty ones that are convertible to headbands, so we'll see.