Comment you hear a lot when you are pregnant:

1.  Looks like the turkey is almost done! (as they point to the protruding belly button.)

If I hear that one more time I might scream.  HELLO!!!  I know my belly button is poking out.  There happens to be an approximate 3 pound human being occupying my belly region.  Don’t you think your body parts would poke out too?

So this morning I decided to put a band-aid over my belly button.  I will be on site walks this afternoon with clients (all men) and really don’t want to hear another turkey comment. 

But then I got to work and kept feeling guilt about the band-aid belly button.  How the heck could I allow myself to band-aid my belly button?  I mean, does it really matter what people think?  I’m proud to be pregnant and a protruding belly button is proof that life exist inside me.  Why in the world did I let those people get to me.

So I just ripped the band-aid off.  I feel much better now.  I just need to think of a clever comment next time someone says “turkey almost done.”  BESIDES THE FACT THAT I AM NOT CARRYING A TURKEY, I have three more months to go-it isn’t close to being done.

Wednesday evening I put our entertainment center up for sale on Craigslist.  I figured my post would sit on Craigslist for a week or two before anyone looked at it.  But by the next morning I had four request to buy it!  By Thursday night, less than 24 hours after posting the item for sale, it was sold!  Saturday morning, Michelle & Phil, the new owners of our entertainment center, came over and dismantled it into three pieces.   

I’m going to miss that entertainment center.  We had three good years together.  Wedding photos on the top and family photos on the side shelves.  On the center top I had the mother’s day gift Frank got me and the Waterford cross we got from my former boss as a wedding gift.  On the left I kept our Bibles, Bible Study material and a picture of my grandma.  On the right I had a vase that held all the love notes Frank wrote to me the day he proposed.  That entertainment center held a lot of great memories.

We took the money we earned off the entertainment center and bought a new one. 

It is so small that I won’t be able to store any of my “memories” here.  But now we’ll have room for the rocking chair, play pen and high chair.  I guess you can say we will be filling the wall with new memories.

But I’m glad that our former entertainment center went to good people.  Michelle & Phil were a very lovely couple who happen to be expecting their third child.  So keep their family in your prayers!  I hope that they will be able to hold their memories in the entertainment center the same way we did.

As of today, I officially own my Jeep!  No more payments to Chrysler Financial.  This gas guzzler belongs to me now.  

2 1/2 more years until we own Frank’s car.

Approximately 24 years and we’ll own our house.

Last night Frank and I went up to the local ice cream shop for a late night treat.  While we were in line, Frank frantically looked down at my hand and said, “you didn’t wear your ring either????”  I lifted my hand and showed him that I put my wedding band on but not the diamond ring.  I turned back to the menu to make sure I had enough money for the three of us (Sophie needs her ice cream too!)  Frank kept looking at his hand.  I didn’t think anything of it because it is pretty common for us to forgot our rings for a late night stop.  (As soon as we both get home we take off our rings.  For some reason being ring-less helps us transition into relaxation mode at the house.  Neither one of us can wear our rings to bed.)  We got our ice cream and sat down to eat.  Typical ice cream conversation as we watched Sophie literally inhale her treat.  When we got in the car Frank again mentioned not wearing his ring.  I reassured him that it was okay, we have gotten ice cream plenty of times together before we were married-not a big deal.  But then he said, “yeah but you weren’t pregnant then.  I don’t want people to get the wrong idea.”  So the whole time my good little Christian husband was worried about what people were “thinking” and all I could think about was what size to get Sophie so we would have enough money.  I guess I am so used to my protruding belly that I don’t even notice it sometimes.

 Third Trimester!  Third Trimester!  

Weight: 153

Signs of pregnancy: Just getting bigger by the minute.  Today I decided to officially retire my last pair of non-maternity pants.  I am officially all maternity now.

Baby Development:  Baby P weighs about 2 1/2 pounds and is nearly 16 inches long!  Baby P is learning to blink this week (I never was able to open my eyes under water-I can’t picture my little baby open his/her eyes in all the amniotic fluid.)

Thoughts:  I’m in the Third Trimester!  I can’t believe it.  I know I say this all the time but time has flown by.  It seems like just yesterday I was walking into the bedroom to show Frank the pregnancy test.  It seems like just yesterday we were handing my mom & dad a baby bib-our way of announcing our pregnancy.  And now here I am in the Third Trimester.  Time just needs to slow on down a tad.

The day we got our check we cashed it and paid off the credit card.  The credit card which we used to purchase the baby furniture.  We got an amazing deal on the baby furniture and only spend $500 so we decided to use the rest of the money for a new tv.  But we still haven’t bought the tv (see previous post) so we ended up paying off other random expenses on the credit card (gas, gas, gas.) 

But then we just read this story in the St. Louis Review.  Vincentian volunteer lets check stimulate aid for disaster victims.  And now God is calling us to spend some of our check the same way.

With that said, any good suggestions?  We’ve already donated to our favorite charities this year and we are looking for something different.  I’ve been thinking about this charity a lot lately, Nativity Inn, with Baby P on the way.  So this might be it.  But I am looking for other good places to spend my money.  We are open to any suggestions.

Frank and I own a tv, with rabbit ears, that only allows you to watch Channel 5 and Channel 11.  The quality is so bad that it goes from black ‘n white to color to complete fuzz.  Yes, we are living in the dark ages still.  Not sure what we will do when Feb. 17, 2009 gets here.

So last night instead of trying to watch Nashville Star on our tv we went to the local coffee shop and watched the show with people from our church.  The coffee shop had a grass area in back set up with a camp fire (to cook Smores) and chairs and tables set up in front of a large projector.  The group Pearl Heart are three teenage girls that are former members of our parish.  It was really exciting to watch the show with people from our parish that knew the girls.  When the girls came on stage everyone was clapping and really focused on the show.  During commercial breaks the owner would put the tv on mute and would play games (hot potato with a rodeo hat, ride the donkey, etc.) with the kids and give out prizes. 

And then the mosquitoes came and we had to leave.  But it was a fun night.  Frank isn’t really interested in doing it again (I just realized he was the only guy outside besides the waiter and Father Stanger) but I’m all for it next week.  Go Pearl Heart!

I have started talking in my sleep again.  I used to do this a lot when I was a kid but I thought with age I grew out of it…until pregnancy.

One night last week Frank came running in the room to see if I was alright.  I woke up and told him yes.  He said I was screaming.  SCREAMING???  I was screaming in my sleep???  What the heck.  Apparently I was telling someone to leave me alone, loudly.  I put two and two together and realized I was yelling at my baby.  Baby P was in the middle of an intense workout (probably trying to copy cat my Boot Camp routine) before Frank got there.  I do remember dreaming about this little baby beating me up.  And in reality it was really happening but not to the extent of my dream.  I talked to Dr. Gosser about this and mentioned that I felt bad for yelling at my kid already.  He laughed.  Probably thinks I’m a goof ball.

Last night I woke myself up because I was tossing and turning and saying, “quit kicking me, quit kicking me!”  It was another dream where I was getting beat up by a baby.  But again it was Baby P kicking away.  Seriously I am a dork. 

At this very moment Baby P is protesting my entry and sending be headbutts above the belly button.  Come on kid, it’s all in good fun!  I love you really!  I don’t mean to yell at you in my sleep.  It’s my subconscious self talking.  That person doesn’t know squat.  Just let her sleep a little at night and it will all be okay!  You can get your workout in right now while I’m at work.  Really I don’t mind it right now.

As much as I love my husband and enjoy spending time with him, sometimes it is nice to have a weekend apart.  I’m sure I won’t be feeling this way in a few months when I have a little baby on my hip but for now I enjoy our occasional alone time.

Frank left Friday night for the Lake of the Ozarks with some friends and he won’t be back until late tonight.  He asked me to “relax” while he was gone, but seriously, how do you do that? 

Friday night I picked up my little sister and we played some miniature golf, cooked a pizza, watched Transformers and then went to DQ for some ice cream.  That should justify as relaxing.

Saturday morning I woke up at 7 a.m. and went for a two mile run with Sophie.  At 9 a.m. I met my old running buddy Joanne at Forest Park for some good conversation.  Joanne gave me great advice about breastfeeding and going back to work after baby.  I feel much more confident in both so thank you Joanne!  At 11 a.m. I met my other running buddy Sharlene for a pedicure.  The definition of relaxation!  At 1 p.m. I went to my best gal Laura’s house for her son’s birthday party.  Her little man turned one!  It seems like just yesterday I was visiting her at the hospital after delivering her little baby.  How time flies.

After the party, I came home and took an hour cat nap.  And then my work began!  Two loads of wash, cleaned the bathroom, organized our cd collection, played in the baby’s room, clear out the entertainment center, vacuumed, dishes, dinner and a dog walk.  I got so much accomplished in just a few hours.  I fell asleep like a baby.

This morning I was up at 7 a.m. again for a boot camp workout with my best gal Nicole C.  We did more talking then working out but that’s okay.  My legs and arms will feel like jello in a few hours so I know it is working.  And now I am sitting here, listening to my Chris Tomlin CD, playing on the computer.  In two hours I’ll head off to Mass, then grocery shopping and I’ll try to catch my brother’s softball game.  I’m going to try and relax for the rest of the night until Frank gets home.  But I’m sure when he walks through the door I’ll have a broom in my hand or some other cleaning instrument.  So overall, I might have relaxed only 35% of the weekend but in my eyes this was a great and productive weekend!

Dr. Gosser walked in the room and the first thing he said was, “How is Luke Francis Mary Rene doing?”  I’m sure he wrote the names in my files but I loved the personal acknowledgement.  Have I mentioned yet that Dr. Gosser is the best?  He truly is.  If you live in the St. Louis area (or Jeff City area-ha!) and need a good OB/GYN give Dr. Gosser a call.

According to his records I have gained exactly 25 pounds.  (It would have been 15 pounds but if you recall from a previous post I corrected his records!  He had me at the wrong start weight.  Silly me.)  My glucose screening came back and he said I am doing great-no concerns.  He just said to keep up the good work and keep truckin’ along. 

When Dr. Gosser put the instrument up to my belly we heard the heartbeat for about two seconds and then it stopped.  Dr. Gosser said, “I think she moved away.”  He moved the wand around and found the heartbeat again.  But the heartbeat stopped again and Dr. Gosser said, “she moved on me again.”  He moved the wand again and this time Baby P didn’t move away.  It was a consistent sounding heartbeat-music to my ears.  This time Dr. Gosser said, “I guess he or she wanted to play a little game.”  Hmm.  I didn’t want to point out that he said she twice but I thought it was quiet funny.

Have I mentioned that Frank thinks Baby P is a girl?

Have I mentioned that when I talk to my belly I call the baby “Buddy” which makes Frank think that I think Baby P is a boy? 

Have I mentioned that my mom has “accidentally” bought Baby Boy clothes?  

I have no feeling either way.  But the further I get along I am getting more excited to find out.  I’ll be happy either way but having a girl would be precious because that is Frank’s gut feeling.  I would love to see his smile knowing that his gut feeling was right.  Although I know either way Frank will be smiling.