First day at the beach

I had to clear out of our place yesterday in the afternoon so the owner could get some things done, but because I worked the night before and was going on only a few hours of sleep, I didn't want to do anything too taxing. I was debating braving Target, but even though there's a few things I need there, every time I walk into that store I get so overwhelmed by everything there and all the selection that I typically end up leaving with nothing feeling unaccomplished. My other option was heading down to CW to take a walk since it was such a nice day, but I get tired walking around pretty quickly now and I needed to be out of the house for at least two hours. I called Chris when I woke up and he suggested heading to Jamestown Beach. It was in the high 80's and I had a book to read, so that's what I did.

It was great to sit in a chair with my feet in the water and read a book, but I noticed a few things about being pregnant at the beach:

1. I didn't even think to wear a bathing suit. And it was HOT. I was literally the only person there who was fully clothed. I actually bought a maternity bathing suit top online because it was on sale for $9 and I read that you can typically wear standard bathing suit bottoms with those tops as long as they are the right size. I just wore a tank top and skirt and I definitely regretted it because I couldn't get in the water...but the weird thing was that the thought never even crossed my mind to wear a bathing suit.

2. I can't lay on a towel. At all. I can't lay on my stomach because it squishes the baby, if I lay on my back, the baby squishes me and I'm uncomfortable, and laying on the sand on your side is just not at all comfortable. The sand doesn't offer any give for your hips or shoulders or head.

3. I need tons of snacks. I ate strawberries, crackers, and fruit snacks all within the first 30 minutes I was there (after I had already eaten lunch) and I had to leave to seek air conditioning and food after an hour. I think my biggest mistake was not bringing water, but I guess the heat makes me extra hungry.

We are heading to the beach for a week in July with my family and I will be a couple months bigger by then, so I am going to have to practice so I know what I'm going to need while I'm there. I can already tell I'm going to be spending fairly short bursts at the beach itself and a lot of time relaxing/napping on the porch.

Week 25 *AND* Happy Mother's Day!

To my mom and my mom-in-law, a very Happy Mother's Day!! Thank you both for the influence you've had on our lives; we are very grateful for all that you do! The same goes to all the other mommies in my life: grandmas, moms with babies and mommies without babies, and to all who are missing their moms this day. It is a day to celebrate all the wonderful women in my life :) Love to you all!

Weekend home

Last weekend we headed up north to visit my family. It was a beautiful weekend and we spent some time walking around Morven Park where they were having a dressage event, playing rope ball, grilling, and playing board games. We also went to an ice cream place in town having its grand opening, but to be honest, the opening wasn't really all that grand. It was still free ice cream though, so I certainly can't complain!

Overall it was a great weekend, though in my opinion, way too short. But weekends always seem a bit too short :)

Week 24

While I was home I put the iPod on my stomach and played "Baby Beluga" - a song I used to listen to when I was little. I was trying to wake up the baby for people to feel some kicks and it actually worked! It woke up and started kicking. It may have been coincidence because it was in the evening, but who knows, maybe it likes that song.

Running errands

It's been raining off and on pretty consistently for the last week or so which is pretty appropriate for April so I've been trying to get a bunch of errands done around my work/sleep schedule and the weather. It seems like there are always a million things to do and everything takes a bit more time than I typically expect it to. Today I had to run to the post office, but there was a line (of course) and the person standing in front of me had just finished smoking outside, which given the fact that I had just thrown up my breakfast did not make for a good trip. After that I decided to skip the rest of my errands and go home because I didn't feel great and didn't want to deal with the possibility of puking at the library, in the car, and wherever else was on my original list. I know small tasks like this will only get harder once I have to tote baby Strat around, as well, but hopefully I will at least feel like a human being again instead of how I feel now.

On a much happier note, for me anyway - Chris would probably beg to differ what with his Spring allergies, everything is green and blooming! Though the sky has been rather gray recently, the rest of things have not, and that is wonderful. Happy May :)

Week 23

Another week closer! Hopefully only 17 more to go...even if the baby's late though, it's less than 20 weeks now and that seems like an accomplishment. I had one of my worst nausea days in weeks on Wednesday (the official mark of 23 weeks) but have been feeling fairly decent since then. I've been trying to stick to some pretty bland things for eating the last couple days so it's been a lot of chicken, fairly plain pasta, bagels, and cereal without milk. Here's to a better week this week!

Hoping the basil lasts

Last year I planted some basil and parsley somewhat out of season, and so far it has survived into the warm weather. It is starting to look a bit rough though, so I'm not sure how much longer it will last. I was hoping to be able to use it throughout the summer in bruschetta among other things, which we've only gotten the opportunity to do once so far. As I've mentioned plenty in the past, I don't have much of a green thumb so I'm actually pretty shocked it's even lasted this long. I sure will keep watering it though and keep my fingers crossed.