Career Strong

The answer is yes. She's still hanging out, not wanting to come out. I've been walking around as much as I can (she's on my nerves in my right leg now) and I made Darren pick up eggplant for dinner. I'm pulling out all the stops. Well maybe not the sex thing.  I read that can sometimes prolong pregnancy and I'm not risking it. Plus, the logistics of it seems almost impossible. Although if I make it to Monday Darren might have to take one for the team! I have been working from home which has been a godsend! I went out to get the mail a couple of days ago and my neighbor was outside. She said "You still haven't had that baby yet? You're going to be wishing for these days in a few weeks". I wanted to punch her in the face. Then I talked to my best friend Nicole and she said I really would miss this time. Not that I won't love Stella but having time to myself and getting in the car whenever I want to run a quick errand will no longer be possible....

It's Monday, March 19th and I'm still pregnant. I'm not due until March 25th but I thought for sure Stella would be early. Last week the midwife told me Stella was very low in my pelvis and I wouldn't make it to my due date. I immediately thought she would be born the next day. HA, I'm an idiot. That was a week ago and she's still snug as a bug in a uterus. Here's a shot of my baby. This picture was not taken at a fancy studio where I had various shots of my naked belly taken. No, this was taken in the Wal-Mart dressing room where I was trying on comfy pajamas that I will be living in for a few weeks post delivery. Yep, I'm so classy. Also, if you were wondering, I have gained 52 pounds. This is great considering that I was underweight to begin with. (I've never been underweight in my entire life.) I'm pretty sure Stella weighs 30 pounds so I'll be in a bikini by March 30th.  Stella has also decided to sit on my sciatic nerve. Oh joy. ...

I first want to apologize for not posting for a very very long time.  Life has been INSANE! On Christmas eve morning my grandmother (Frances Mitchell) died.  This was actually a blessing.  She had a stroke in March of 2011 and really never was the same.  She couldn't see very well out of one eye after the stroke and had word finding issues which was nothing like the woman I knew and loved my entire life. This is a picture of my grandmother when she was in high school.  As I mentioned in my last post, this is one of the pictures in my wallet that helps me remember who I am and where I came from.  It's odd though, on the eve of becoming a mother myself it's like I feel this shift in my family.  My mother has moved into the grandmother role, I am the mother and Stella is now the granddaughter. I mentioned this to my Mom and she said she felt it too. After getting back into town after my grandmother's funeral I ran out of checks. I was ord...

I thought it would be fun to write a letter to you before I met you. We could read it together later and laugh about how clueless I was about you! Dear Stella, It's Christmas 2011 and I honestly haven't thought at all about the holiday this year.  All I can think about is March, when I get to meet you for the first time.  Your Dad and I went to the hospital this week to check out where you would be born! I thought for sure going to the hospital would make me anxious but instead it made me incredibly excited. What a gift it is to bring someone into the world and because of you I get to experience that.  You have no idea how much you were prayed for, wanted, hoped for, for so many years. I always knew I wanted to be a mother, even back in high school when I worked in a toy store and joked about getting my tubes tied. :-) But, when I found out about YOU I couldn't have been happier.  I remember standing in the bathroom completely convinced that I had willed ...

Over the past 2 weeks Stella has been kicking (and possibly punching) all the time! I went to the doctor this week and they gave me a kick counter in case I was worried she wasn't moving enough. The nurse said "only use it if you haven't felt her in awhile".  I will never use this since she is now even waking me up at night with her movement.  I've decided to call her DJ Stella D. (D is for Diane, her middle name, the Pauly D reference is shear coincidence). I think she's DJing in there. Why else would you happen to be awake at 3AM moving around unless it was to create some crazy sick beats.

Me at 23 weeks.  There's a lot wrong with this picture.  Yep, I'm getting bigger but so is my butt, face and hair.  I got a haircut yesterday in the hopes of remedying the fro.  We'll see if it truly helps though.  I'm truly gaining all over. Thanks Stella.  Actually if you are around me on a daily basis you know this actually doesn't bother me that much because I eat a lot! I have been SOOO hungry! I think it's because I was underweight when I started my pregnancy. Ha, no way is that true. I'm really enjoying pregnancy.  Eating is fun. Different clothes are fun.  And I have a whole new respect for bigger folks.  I had no idea how just a little bit of weight can make it hard to roll over in bed at night or get up out of a chair.  Okay, let's be honest, I've gained 21 pounds since last I visited the Doctor.  6 of those pounds in the last 2 weeks! YIKES! Did I mention that I've been hungry? Stella is weighing in at 1lb 3 ounces, slig...

I haven't posted in about a year so this sucker's going to be long! Sorry for the long update.  We've been busy. 1. The rental place. We love this place, it's fabulous! We have a queen size bed and the kitchen came fully prepared to cook (minus food of course).  Here are some pictures below. It's pretty big and very open and bright.  Who knew we would only be here a month and a half.  2. The new house.  We found a PERFECT new house.  As everyone has told me, we found something that I love even more than the first house I blogged about forever ago. Pictures of the new house below. This is the front door.  Notice the rocking chairs and cute table, we get those too! The family we are buying from is moving back to California, they were transfered here a year ago! Can you imagine! I feel for them.  Anyway, they can't take all of their furniture because they will be buying a smaller place.  So they've been selling various things to us, such a...