Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Just saying hi...

25 was by far my best year so far. I thoroughly enjoyed my birthday yesterday and appreciate all the wishes and gifts. Special thanks to the out of towners and Bible study skippers who came to see me!

The storms in Montgomery and surrounding counties this morning were really something. At 4 a.m. Ali and I watched the lightening through the window and by 5 the thunder was cracking. By 6 there were sirens, heavy rain, and Tom Salter on WAKA saying not too worry the buses were still running because all of our drivers have been trained to drive in these conditions and school would go on as usual... of course. So I got ready and got through another day at BB. It is really getting cold and windy now. This is that time of year where the weather is back and forth between winter and spring. Just when I get excited about warm weather it rains and goes back into the 30's and 40's.

I am feeling great this week. 16 weeks now. Still no movement except when it is me trying to sleep at night. The babies are supposedly about the size of avocados now. I have found a few maternity pieces at Ross for less than $12 each. Maternity jeans are the best... someone at dinner last night called them "just like his turkey eatin' jeans" Nice. That's exactly what they are like. Someone at work said, "I can't remember, when is the baby due?" and of course I corrected her with a smile and said, "They are due July 19." And she said, "Oh! cool, (then switched to a really concerned inquisitive look and asked) We you guys trying for twins or were you on fertility???" Is this a normal question to ask because that is the second time someone has asked me that question... well the first time the person said, "what fertility drug are you using?" I was blown away both times. It just wouldn't occur to me to ask someone that. Maybe that is just me. One common comment I hear is "OOH double trouble, glad it's not me!!!" And I just smile and say, "Me too." Still pretty hungry by 4 p.m. without a snack. Monday in faculty meeting I thought I could eat the keyboard at my desk. And it doesn't matter that I'm "eating for three" - that doesn't make me feel better to hear that. I'm just HUNGRY! Besides, all the articles I have read say that that whole theory is really just an excuse women use to overeat during pregnancy. A healthy weight gain for multiples is 30-40 pounds as opposed to 20-30 pounds for single births. At my last apt. I had only gained 7 so I am hoping that I'll be on that low end of the spectrum. Someone else at work told me that to have "big healthy babies" I should be sure to "be drinking that water! Drink lots and lots of water for big healthy babies!" I chuckle at all the advice I get. One little boy at work told me that his mama ate a lot of hot sauce when she was pregnant and that is why he is called "Red" (he is Black and has reddish tones). I laughed when he told me that and then told him that I eat a lot of pickles does that mean my babies will be green!?!? He thought that was funny.

That is about it for now.
I heard that fried chicken was for dinner and I will be disappointed if it isn't true!!!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

7 Odd Things About Me...

In response to a recent TAG:

I'll preface this by saying that Nick tells me all the time how weird I am so he should be writing this post for me but I'll try to narrow this down. And what does "odd" mean anyway... peculiar or out of the ordinary?

(In no particular order)

1. I am carrying twins!
2. I love hot foods like jalepenos, banana peppers, zesty spices, etc.
3. I am the biggest cry baby you will ever meet. Oprah, Dr. Phil, commercials, books, music videos, all make me cry!
4. Being a passenger in a car when ANYONE else is driving makes me extremely uncomfortable - sweaty palms, heightened sensations, and sometimes even upset stomach.
5. I am extremely afraid of heights. I haven't always been this way. When I was little I loved to climb trees and brick walls and stuff but one day something just snapped and heights became my biggest fear! Three years ago when I was on a Mission Trip with FUMC I was asked to help on the roof of the church and I don't know what I was thinking when I climbed up but when it was time to climb back down I freaked out and started crying and couldn't do it. I was so petrified that the Mission Trip leader called Nick on his cell phone and threw the phone up to me for Nick to calm me down. I asked like 5 guys to come and hold the bottom of the ladder and 2 or three more to hold the top so I could climb down. I did NOT go back up.
6. I have a very keen sense of smell.
7. I truly never forget a face. Two examples: I can be watching a movie and place almost any actor from where I have seen them even if they were 12 in the movie 15 years ago. My junior year at Bama I was sitting in a History class of about 200 students and kept noticing this guy that sat a few rows ahead of me. I couldn't stop looking at him because I recognized him from somewhere. I guessed that he was in my preschool class at Green Gate by Huntingdon College when I was 2 years old. I asked him and he said that he lived in Montgomery for like 2 years when he was young but that his family moved away and that he doesn't remember anything about it. Sure enough, the next time I went home I dug through old photos and found my preschool class picture and there he was!

I TAG:
John
LJM - start a blog!!! it doesn't have to sound smart, funny, or even interesting... Just Do It!
Jackie

What are 7 odd things about you?

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Saturday's News

This morning Nick and I had breakfast with my friend Celeste & her husband Sha, their son John Clifton, and Cel's mother Ruth. It is always so good to see them and reminisce. We laugh for hours each time we visit. I told Nick on the way back home how neat it is to have "lifetime friends." Cel and I went to school from Kindergarten through high school graduation and kept in touch through college. I was at her wedding and also at her house the week her first born came into the world. Now she is looking forward to our babies coming in July and our kids being friends. By the way, I ate 4 pieces of deer meat sausage and it was awesome.

It is just neat to me the many different "categories" that friends come in. Childhood friends, church friends, college friends, work friends, couples' friends, random friends, his friends, my friends, our friends, friends' friends...etc. You get the idea. And I'll say this too: it is always refreshing when one of your own friends marries someone you can consider your friend OR you can be friends with one of your spouse's friend's spouse. Lately I have been doing a lot more with my and our friends and it is really nice; contrary to the personality test I took online last week that I felt was pretty accurate...it said that I don't make friends often or easily but the friends I do make understand that I am extremely loyal to them and expect the same loyalty in return. It also said that once my trust is broken it is very hard to get it back and that I rarely forget when I have been wronged. I do see a lot of truth to both of these statements about me but I feel like that makes me sound really mean. I don't think I am mean... I think just most of the time I am really lazy. For example, if I don't call you back it's not because I don't want to...I'm just lazy. Or, if I don't make it to every coffee date or dinner, it's not that I don't want to see you...I'm just lazy. But I am aware of my laziness and have gotten a lot better...LJM I think can speak for that. And of course there are the the occasional days where it is just nice to be ALONE. But I think being alone means you can be friends with yourself. I you need to spend time with yourself every once in a while. Friendships, like any relationship, or plant, need nurturing or they will die.

Speaking of new friends...I am 15 weeks pregnant today! Nick and I visited our friend Dr. MP on Thursday for our Feb. checkup and everything was fine. Our babies' heartbeats are in the 150's and in the 140's. Wives' tales would say that this might be boy/girl but we won't know for sure until March 20th. The next ultrasound will be that morning at 10:50 followed by a checkup. Nick and I opted to not have the babies tested for Downs Syndrome. The doctor gave us the choice but I had already thought about whether or not to go through with it and decided I didn't want to do it. Nick agreed. What good would it do to know that you have a 1/200 chance of have a child with DS or a 1/300 chance of having a child with DS? Abortion is not an option we would ever consider and there is absolutely nothing you can do to reverse or prepare for DS. One girl at work just freaked when I told her we weren't going to do all that because she was like, "WHAT!? I'd want to know! I wouldn't want to have to wait ALL that time and then have to be surprised that something was wrong with my baby!!!" That is just one of those situations where you just say, "Hmm, well, we don't want to know." Maybe it is because I work with mentally and physically challenged kids everyday that I understand the reality of disorders in kids. Of course you pray for healthy babies but healthy babies are just not gaurenteed unfortunately. But you can imagine this conversation with a coworker:

"So how was your checkup?"
"Oh, well, we had to wait like 2 hours because the doctor was behind schedule...he had two deliveries today. But we did finally get back there and they just weighed me and we listened to the heartbeats.."
"AWWW! That's SO awesome!!!"
"Yea, and then we got to see them on the ultrasound..."
"OH! I want to see - do you have them with you!?!?"
"Yea, hang on...then we had this blood work done and it said that the baby might have Down Syndrome but we don't know for sure..."
" (GASP) Oh my gaaa, wuh- when will you know!!?"
"I guess not till they are born, but it'll be fine whatever happens happens..."
"Yea, but, oh my ga, my aunt had a Down Syndrome child and it was the hardest thing in the world...she was like so depressed about it but he was really cute but then he died."

WHO WOULD WANT THAT CONVERSATION EVERY TIME YOU MENTIONED YOU EVER HAD TESTING DONE IN THE FIRST PLACE!?

(I think I'm supposed to write BUT I DIGRESS here...)

Nick is at a soccer game with Corey right now and I am watching this week's episodes of Dr. Phil and Oprah. I need to be cleaning and doing laundry but I think I would just rather watch TV, snack, and nap. Isn't that what I am supposed to be doing before the babies get here since according to the world "You'll never sleep again! Say goodbye to alone time!!!"

One more thing, Ooooooon Tuesday night???? I think? Nick and I were watching TV and I think I felt two flutters. It was too low to be my stomach and plus I hadn't eaten in like 2 hours anyway. It was very quick and it came and went but it felt like a bubble popped in the place where the babies are and then it felt like another bubble popped. I have tried paying close attention since then but haven't had any other feelings. In the second trimester now, still craving chocolate milk like its my job, and finally over the cold I had all week.

Not checking for typos, eer, sorry.
Have a nice weekend!