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Archive for Pregnancy – Page 4

MY perfection

February 22nd, 2010

I have stretch marks and my stomach sags.

My arms are bigger than I’d like and my legs tell their own story between the veins and the cellulite.  A very long story about life and work and even love and sacrifice.

{a story that becomes even more intense with each day passing.}

I have more than one chin.  I spend a lot of money on skin care and some days I’m not sure why.

My breasts?  They are small.  They are not perky.  And they never will be again.

But my body?  Is miraculous and has done things that I am so grateful for – because of that, it is perfection.  Every saggy, stretchmark-y inch of it.

And each morning, I feel so tired, the thought of showering wears me out, I dread opening the shower door to dry off because the drying, the lotioning, the hair-drying, the makeup, it all makes me so tired, it’s difficult to breathe.  But then I start to get dressed, I look in the mirror and I feel…

SO ALIVE.

and perfect in this state.

And sharing this?  It is not easy.  But it’s real and I love real.  And mostly?  I love the miracle that is that baby inside my  belly.

34 weeks 1

34 weeks

34 weeks 2

and uh…don’t look too closely. m’kay?

Friday Morning Coffee

February 12th, 2010

I just finished a bowl of Cocoa Puffs.  Okay, maybe two, but who’s counting?  I am really loving cocoa puffs this pregnancy and the milk that is left in the bowl.  I was just telling my sister they should sell Cocoa Puffs Chocolate Milk.  That would be so good.

I am having a small cup of coffee right now but I would like to ration my caffeine today since I have a lot to do and need all of the help I can get later on without going overboard.  Friends, I am so tired.  Yesterday morning started out horribly, I was totally out of breath, going upstairs nearly knocked me off of my feet and then I had an NST where my blood pressure was the highest it’s been this pregnancy, which makes me so sad.

HOWEVER, it finally went down and Baby Boy and I left to go shopping at Target.  I came home, ate lunch, wrapped up a few things, took a nap, did homework with the kids, ate some M & Ms, drank a diet coke and after that, I felt much better.  I actually cleaned much of the house and reorganized and cleaned the fridge.  I felt completely different from when I had woken up in the morning.  THANK GOODNESS.

Oh, and I packed the kids because we are going away for a three day weekend to visit my sister and her family.  We are all so excited.  I can’t believe it’s our final trip as a family of four.  I just can’t believe it and probably won’t until this tiny baby is snuggled safely in our arms.

Oh and speaking of tired…my sleeping sucks.  I can’t get comfortable.  I mean, look at this, this is what I looked like last night, looking down at my belly:

bedtime belly

It’s REALLY hard to get comfortable with that being attached to you, you know?  Either way, I wake up often and just feel this beautiful boy moving and dancing and punching his Mom and I’m reminded of what a gift he is, even now, before we’ve even met him.

Speaking of gifts, the sun is shining today and it’s painfully cold.  All of  the twigs and branches are covered in icy snow that looks like they’ve been dipped in glitter.  On one tiny tree on the side of the road sat two perfect birds, the sun shining behind them.  Oh, that was such a beautiful sign.

Anyway, before I head out to the Chiropractor and come back and clean and pack, I wanted to tell you about my best friend, my SOUL SISTER (of 15 or 16 or 17 years, I can’t keep track!), the girl who I have experienced everything with – she has done something so powerful and amazing that I need to tell you about it.

Awhile back, she told me about a dream that she had to bring women together to create balance in their lives, a balance between work, family, spirituality, etc.

Last year was her year to get the wheels moving on this phenomenal idea.  I am one of the lucky people who have been involved with this since the fall, I am an architect of this forum.  Back in September we had a Beta version in Chicago, it was a small overnight workshop and it was LIFE CHANGING.

And now?  Her dream?  IS REAL.  Yesterday was her brand launch for Triple W Forum, an awesome workshop built for busy women who need to achieve and maintain that fine balance in LIFE.

So, I had to share with all of you, not just the Triple W Forum, who you can follow on Twitter (PLEASE DO!  I may or may not be the voice behind @triplewforum) and become a fan of on Facebook (YOU SHOULD!) and go to the site to sign up for future email newsletters (HURRY!), but I wanted to share with you this person who had an idea and who trusted in her idea enough to create something that WILL be changing lives for women everywhere.  I am so proud of her, mostly for believing in her idea, for believing in herself.  I wish we would all do that.

(if you do any or all of these things tell me in the comments so I can come by and say “hi!”)

TripleWAvatars2

Who do you want to show up when you look in the mirror first thing in the morning?

Friday Morning Coffee

February 5th, 2010

Hi friends!  I’m sitting on my couch, drinking coffee and I just finished a bowl of Cocoa Puffs.  (have you tried Chocolate Cheerios?  They are so good!)  I have a call in a few minutes, then I’m heading out for my appointment with my chiropractor.  Tonight, Erin, Lovelyn and I are going to dinner.  I am so excited to have this girl time tonight.  It has been way too long.

So, the Superbowl is this Sunday which just happens to fall on MY birthday which I find to be incredibly rude that the NFL did not check their calendars to make sure it coincided with my birthday, but they didn’t.

But I think I’m okay with that, I actually look forward to spending the evening at home, maybe eating SPICY chicken wings, LOTS OF THEM and just relaxing with Brian and the kids.  I do live in Indiana, but I am a Bears fan (I live very close to Chicago) and I do like the Colts, however, the Colts just won the Superbowl (when they beat the Bears), so I think the Saints should get a turn to win this year.  Don’t you think?

Also?  I do not understand football AT ALL.

My pregnancy is going very well.  I am growing a lot, I am really, really hot almost all of the time and I continue to have several Braxton Hicks a day.  Also,  I am already tired of people staring at me.  I want to come out with a line of maternity shirts with various things printed on the belly, like:

“Really?  You think I could be having triplets?  SHUT IT.”

or

“No, YOU look like you’re going to give birth any day now.”

or

“Life will be so much better when you stop staring at me.”

or

“No, I’m not pregnant, I just ate the last person who stared at me for too long.  YOU ARE NEXT.”

Not that I’m angry or anything.

Last week, Brian, the kids and I went to the mall and I felt like a circus act.  Maybe I’m just self-conscious (as per Brian) or maybe people wonder how I walk without falling over, or maybe they’re just expecting a baby to fall out of my vagina right at that moment, whatever it is, it’s just not fun.  So friends, if you can’t say anything nice to a pregnant lady (and you should) don’t say anything at all.  m’kay?

End rant.

Tomorrow, after I receive a long, luxurious spa pedicure (courtesy of Crooked Eyebrow!), we are painting the baby’s room.  I can’t even imagine what that is going to feel like.  It’s been a week since we’ve officially named our boy and it’s been so fun.  Although, Anna continues to forget his name and call him other random names but that’s okay, I’m glad we decided now and not when he’s born.  The other night she referred to him as “Isaac or whatever.”  (nowhere near his name.)

I’m not going to lie.  WE LAUGHED SO HARD.

Which has been our theme this week, it seems, watching our kids soaking everything in, laughing whenever possible and just living and loving with their whole selves.  It’s been beautiful.  (I wrote more about that here.)

Gotta go – time for my call to begin!

Happy Friday and thank you for reading!

His name

February 2nd, 2010

It happened, just like one would think it could only happen on TV or in daydreams.

On Sunday, the four of us, Brian, Anna, Noah and I had gone out to lunch, something we do not do very often at all.  Brian and I had purchased a baby name book the day before, I had gone through it and picked out the names that I loved or maybe even liked.

The details are so daunting, I can remember Anna, our seven year old, pointing to Noah and saying “do you love this name.”  A name I had approached both of them with, separately, earlier in the day.  He replied with an enthusiastic “YES!”  She asked Brian and I the same question.

I looked at Brian and said “is this his name?”  And he said “yes!”  The kids celebrated “THE BABY FINALLY HAS  A NAME!”  and I quickly covered my face with my hands to hide the tears that were stinging my eyes.  Brian laughed at me.

It reminded me of when we found out he was a HE.  It was just us.

It reminded me of how LOVED this boy is, that these four people were celebrating this day, his NAME day, a day that is etched in our hearts forever and I do believe that when this baby is born, this baby with this PERFECT name, he will know nothing other than love which already makes me the happiest person on this planet.

I just keep thinking about Sunday and how excited we all were at his name.  What’s it going to be like with his presence?  With him actually in our arms?

{please don’t be upset, but we are going to keep the name private for now…until he’s born…only 7.5 more weeks!}

quickly.

February 1st, 2010

Right now, as I type, I am having Braxton Hicks.  A nice big, long one.  Last week during my NST I had to be checked because I had so many during the hour I was there.  By the way, being checked is not fun.  Unless you enjoy someone tickling your ribs from the vagina area.

I don’t particularly enjoy it, though.  I do, however, love hospital ice.  I would choose it over cupcakes and pizza.  No lie.

Anyway, I posted over here today.  and last week, too.

Also, I plan to come back later today to share my famous (but not famous) chicken noodle recipe that is so easy I’m pretty sure you’ll want to send me presents and hospital ice.

Now, I can’t think about anything but hospital ice.

And next month?  WE ARE HAVING A BABY.  Happy February, friends!

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