It's BAAACK!

So, my first trimester was spent basically in a coma, or trying to make it home from work or errands to resume my comatose status. I was so relieved when I entered the second trimester, because my need for 14-20 hours of sleep daily was finally over. Well, here I am, at 30 weeks, in the home stretch, and that need has returned. I am exhausted, yet again. It comes at an inconvenient time because I have so much to do before little Carter gets here! In addition to the fact that I have not finished (or even really started) his nursery, I have a TON of work to do at work to prepare my files and clients and coworkers for my maternity leave. I want to settle as many cases as possible before I go, and get as much work done as possible before I leave for 6 to 8 weeks. The files I cannot finish up, I need to fully organize and make excellent notes for my coworkers to follow so that they can help me while I am gone. Like I said...it's not a great time for exhaustion to take hold, yet again. I am sure this is just preparation for the lack of sleep I will be getting when the little one gets here (at least that is what everyone keeps saying--much to my annoyance), but I feel like no amount of preparation will ready me for that, so I'd rather have my sleep right now, thank you very much.

On a semi-related note, why do people who have children think that they are the most knowledgeable and wise mothers that have ever walked the face of the earth? And why are they so smug and obnoxious about it? I mean, don't get me wrong, not all moms are like that, but so many people have snide remarks about motherhood like I have no earthly idea what I am getting myself into. Well, that may be the case, and my world will more than likely be turned upside down, but even if it is, I am not the first person to have a baby for the first time! Do they not remember when they were new mothers, and how they despised everyone who had annoying things to say such as..."just you wait, when that little one comes, you won't ever sleep;" or "I can't wait until you have to change a diaper;" or "you're going to have to loosen up when the baby comes." It's infuriating! I will figure it out. I am a smart girl...I'm certain that I am smarter than tons of people who have children, and they all seem to manage. The most infuriating of all of those who insist on imparting their wisdom to me are those who don't even have any freaking children! I can hardly keep my mouth shut when these people insist on giving me their opinion on child rearing or breast feeding or whatever. This is a bit of a rant so I will end with that...before I say something that I regret...but let me end with this: it is none of anyone's business whether a woman breast feeds or bottle feeds, or spanks or doesn't, or anything else! If you want to be the perfect mom, have kids of your own, and if you already have, then you had your chance to be perfect, and my guess is that you weren't, so lay off!

Please forgive the rantings of a hormonal woman :)

FINALLY

I do not want this to come off as a complaint, because I know how absolutely lucky and blessed I am to have so many wonderful, caring people surrounding me during this time of my life, but with that being said, I had about a zillion thank you notes to write from my shower last Sunday. I was really starting to feel the pressure to get them done because it's been over a week since the shower and I didn't want anyone to think I was rude, but man! Do you have any idea how hard it is to write thoughtful, personal thank you notes to 40+ people? Wowsa my hand hurts! I finally finished them today, though, so as soon as I get some stamps, they'll be on their way.

As a side note, people: WRITE THANK YOU NOTES. It is a simple gesture to show your appreciation for a gift but when people don't write thank you notes for gifts, I think it is SO rude. I don't know if that's the southern girl in me but I cannot stand when people don't write thank you notes! The only excuse really is if they are baby shower thank you notes and the baby comes earlier than expected...then, I guess you have more important things on your mind than sending out notes. Other than that, just suck it up and do it.

Learning to Walk

I decided today was the day that I needed to get my chubby pregnant self up off of the couch and take my sweet babies for a walk. It was Berry's first actual walk on a leash. We have had a leash for her for a while but we mainly use it to take her to Billy's baseball games and not lose her. It was interesting. Buster always loves walking so he was, of course, happy and well behaved. Berry really liked it but I swear, she could not get out from under my feet at first. Spoiled little thing wanted me to pick her up and carry her. Not today! I am way too out of shape to be carrying a 12+ pound puppy our whole walking route (even though we went the short route today). She finally started to get the hang of it after about 1/2 of a mile but she kept running back and froth from Buster's face to my feet, as if she were wondering why we could not all walk exactly side by side. Towards the end of the walk, she got tired, which equals perfect walking form! She did really well, all in all, but I cannot remember ever having a dog that could not walk on a leash. I guess it's been a while since I've had a puppy. She has been such a sweet little angel since we've been back, so perhaps walking is my new secret to sweet puppy behavior! I will keep you posted on whether or not it continues to make her a well-behaved baby or if it was a fluke. She is super cuddly and sweet right now so it was worth all of the pulling and jerking I had to do around the neighborhood!

Baby Gifts Galore

This weekend, Carter had his first baby shower. Friends from church threw this shower and as I have gone to the same church my entire life, there were lots of people there to shower our little one with love and gifts. I have never seen so many presents at once--all for one little kiddo! He is definitely lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive church family. We brought the gifts home and set them on the floor of the nursery (if you can call it that...more on that later), and they literally take up 1/2 of his bedroom! I mean, I still have a couple of showers to go! I am not complaining. Don't get me wrong. I am just starting to rethink this whole nursery thing and think that Carter may need to move into the master bedroom or take up both of the spare bedrooms to accomodate his gifts. Honestly, though, I felt so lucky to have grown up in such a wonderful environment and to have that kind of support and love in such an exciting time in our lives is just amazing.

As for the nursery, we have made little to no progress. It has yet to be painted. I cannot decide on a paint color. I have painted three different shades on the wall in hopes of aiding my decision. We have no furniture. Billy's wonderful parents are buying us a crib but we have yet to pick said crib out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. After the crib, though, we still need a dresser and changing table (or one of those nifty 2 in 1 numbers) for his room, and from the looks of his shower loot, he will need his own bookshelf, if not a library! All of my sweet friends and family know what a book nerd I am so they saw to it that Carter has an acceptable book collection for his arrival. Yay! I hope he loves to read like his mommy :)

That's all for now. I have to iron a shirt for the husband. Before any of you criticize me for being a 50's housewife, let me just say...he got me Baskin Robbins, so I couldn't refuse. He knows the way to get what he wants from a preggo.

So I haven't blogged in a while

I should be working, preparing for a settlement conference I have tomorrow, but, instead, I decided I needed to update my blog. I haven't updated in a while, and needing a distraction from the work I need to be doing was the perfect motivator. I am watching Julie & Julia, and although it just started, I can totally identify with the main character, Julie. Not in the way that she loves to cook, because I would never fancy myself a chef, but in the way that she does not want to be defined by her depressing job. She uses her cooking, and then her blog about cooking, to escape the troubles that plague her mind in the day. Perhaps I need an escape like that, instead of heading home and straight for the couch, after my particularly rocky days.

I would love to use my blog as a release of stress, but I have tried my best thus far not to use this as a medium for complaining. I do enough of that every day and I do not need to put my complaints out there for all the world to see. After all, there are probably millions of readers waiting for me to update my blog each day. Haha.

I read my sister's blog a few minutes ago (www.blissfullytheirs.blogspot.com), and she blogged about her love of summer, so I will too. We share this great love for summer, probably due to our endless summers spent swimming away. I swear not a day went by in the summers growing up when we did not swim. We used to have to use special shampoo called Ultra Swim to keep our blonde locks from turning green from chlorine! (After all that swimming and sunning, you would think that the two of us would've been bronzed beauties, but sadly, it just added to our millions of freckles). Anyway, I LOVE summertime. I love the smells, sounds and sights of summer. I love the smell of cut grass and sunscreen. Whenever I smell either of these delicious smells, it takes me back to my carefree summer days. Ahh. I can feel the sunshine on my face. I also love the smell of honeysuckle. I love the sound of the warm summer breeze through the trees, and soft chirps of the insects and creatures of the night. I love the way all of the green lawns look, and how everything looks more alive with the sun shining down on it. I feel like when spring finally comes, and the last of the cold is gone for the year, a sort of depression that has been covering the city lifts, and people are noticeably happier. It may be my imagination, but I really think people are truly happier in the summer. Maybe that's why people who live in the Caribbean always seem so happy and carefree. They are on perpetual summer time!

I have wondered on more than one occasion, considering my passionate love for the summer, why I did not become a teacher. I so miss having the entire summer off, and I don't think there's another career that allows you to have summers free to swim and play. I initially thought that I could never be a teacher because I thought they didn't make any money and I could not deal with the constant stupidity surrounding me. Turns out, the joke is on me. I am still surrounded by idiots and jerks every day, and I envy a teacher's salary, benefits and retirement! I envy teachers. It does not help that my husband is a teacher, and I have to leave him in bed every summer morning while I head off to work. In fact, it makes me want to suffocate him with a pillow, but it's my own fault. So I continue to suffer through the summers, gazing out the window of my office at the beautiful sunshine, with the knowledge that my husband and all the other teachers are getting tans and lazing the days away.

My advice to everyone, including myself, is to head outside with a glass of sweet tea (or crystal light for my calorie conscious readers), let the sun shine on your faces, and take in the wonderful smells, sights and sounds of summer. Don't forget your sunscreen!