14 weeks

I think I've been really lucky. And I DO NOT take it for granted. I'm not just talking about the fact that SuperFutureDad and I are actually going to have a baby. A baby!!! I'm talking about my pregnancy journey so far.

Unlike some of my best friends, I have not had a terrible amount of nausea. I'm very thankful for that because it was really tough to hear and watch them feel so sick for, seriously, 9 months. Ugh.

But I haven't been without some side-effects. Here's a quick breakdown of what Butterball has been up to:

First Two Weeks (I found out within the first week of conception that I was preggers): Energy burst and extreme hunger. Like, every two hours hungry. But only for super healthy stuff. Carrots, cheese, almonds, fruit, granola. Yummy!

Latter Half of First Month and Second Month: Extreme aversion to meat. No chicken, fish, beef. YUCK!! This was really difficult to deal with because I had two trips planned during this time; Las Vegas (with the girls) and Belize (with the hubs). Needless to say, it was super hard to keep nugget a secret during Vegas but we told everyone in Belize because we were there with all my besties from high school! Love you guys!!!

There was also a lot of fatigue during this time. I became the queen of cat naps in my car, on the couch at work and in the living room chair. These areas have never seen so much drool in all their existence!!

Third Month: This is where things get weird. Like I said, I've been very lucky, but two of my side-effects have been painful and annoying to handle. Headaches and insomnia. I get pounding headaches about 3 times a week. They start with a mild but persistent pain on the left side of my forehead but within hours erupt into a crescendo of full-scale, wrinkle-inducing agony encompassing my entire cranium. OUCH! I end up having to lay down in a darkened room and trying to sleep it off, which can take hours. If I don't do this, I end up nauseous with major dry heaves. Nothing ever comes out, but the dry heaving leaves me teary-eyed with snot rippling from my nose. Pleasant, no? I think this is why SuperFutureDad hightails it out of the room when the "hwaph" chorus begins.

The insomnia is a whole other mess. Virtually every night I wake up around 3:30 and am wide-eyed for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. This is not a good thing, especially the days I have to work. The days I don't work, I can handle it by taking a fabulous cat nap. There is really no rhyme or reason to what I think about during these pitch-black hours and most of it I can't remember anyway. Although I do remember crafting a nasty letter in my head to someone (or something) that shall remain nameless. It was good, too!

This all leads me to my desires as I continue with my fourth month of pregnancy:
No more headaches!
No more insomnia!
Back to better eating - I know I need more protein so will vow to find someway to stomach meat products
Find a consistent exercise routine - I'd like to get back into yoga
Create a plan for how to prepare for Butterball over the latter half of pregnancy - nursery, finances, day care, registry

Enjoy this time!!!!! I am anxious to feel nugget move... I think that is the biggest step I want to experience next.

For your reference, here's a handy guide from BabyCenter.com on how Butterball is developing:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Planning a Bodacious Baby Shower

So... one of my besties here is almost ready to pop with her first nugget! I am so excited! I get to be an Auntie (by location default, of course).

Several months ago a couple of her good friends and I decided that we would throw her a bodacious baby shower - or at least try to. Well, now the day is almost here (tomorrow) and I am stressing!! I want everything to be perfect! It's her first baby after all... you don't get baby showers after the first one, do you??

I just keep imagining what I would want my baby shower to be like and I'm hope, hope, hoping that we are giving our friend the shower she deserves and wants!!

So... although there is not much time left... I would love your opinions on whether or not we are on the right track.

Location: Chez moi... in our basement... where the fireplace is. We have 2 couches, 2 arm chairs, 2 ottomans, and countless other random chairs for gals to sit in. There is also a bathroom on that floor so no need to go upstairs.

Time: 2 pm.

Decorations:
Baby Shower banner hung above the fireplace
Shiny foil Baby Shower banner hung across the big screen TV
Mummy-To-Be gets to wear a sash that reads... you guessed it... MOM-TO-BE

Theme:
She is not finding out the sex of her baby so I went with a Noah's Ark, multi-color theme. We have Noah's Ark plates and napkins and cups... as well as plates, cups and napkins in pale yellow. That's gender neutral isn't it?
I bought a green tablecloth because her nursery is painted green. The invitations were also designed with her nursery's color in mind.

Menu:
Build-your-own sandwiches with a choice of turkey or ham, white or wheat cocktail buns and Colby cheese.
I'll put condiments in little dessert bowls so people can choose what they want.
Tortilla chips and queso.
Veggie tray.
Fresh, air-popped popcorn using SuperFutureDad's movie-theater-type popper
Crackers, pretzels and cheese
Fruit pizza
Cake - chocolate with chocolate frosting decorated with same green as her shower. It reads: "Oh, baby! Congrats, (her name)!
Candy - placed into hurricanes for easy grabbing

Drinks:
Box 'o Wine
Bottle of champagne
Fruit Punch

Games:
I am not in charge of games but I think we are planning on having 2 different games. The traditional melted chocolate bar in diaper game... I think a microwave is involved.
And a 'guess the M&M count' game. Her friend filled baby bottles with green and brown M&M's (again, her nursery colors) and whoever guesses the correct amount of candy wins the bottle as a party favor.

Whew!!! I think that's it. We are expecting about 25 people. If you have any suggestions of how we can pull this off better, I'm all ears.

Choices

One of my goals in life is to be a good person. In fact, above all my other endeavors, this is the one I think about most often. I want to be a good person more than anything in the world.

I don't always succeed at being good, but I like to think I try pretty darn hard.

I'm a loving daughter. I respect my parents and visit them at their home in the Sunshine State as often as I can (especially when one of them is recovering from a nasty accident - love ya dad!).

I say 'please' and 'thank you.' Even to strangers. And my husband.

I work hard. I hold myself accountable at my everyday job so other people don't have to.

I call my out-of-town besties often and I plan regular get-together's with my local gal pals, too.

But sometimes (more than I'd like to admit) I fail miserably at achieving 'goodness.'

I swear. A lot.

I'm quicker to speak than I am to think. 

I don't answer emails in a timely manner.

I get frustrated by slow talkers and interrupt them.

I belch. Out loud. Sometimes I do this in public.

I speed. And if you drive slow in the left lane on the interstate and I have to pass you on the right, chances are I will salute you. Not in a nice way, either.

I (usually) think I'm right. And presume others (yes, you) are wrong.

The world I live in is black and white. Filled with what's right and what's wrong. Lawful and unlawful. I believe that everyone makes choices. You choose to be good or you choose to be evil.

Perhaps, this view, too, makes me not as good as I'd like to be.

I often find myself wondering if I'm truly good. Am I doing enough to be the person I want to be?

Most pressing on my mind as the 'Baby Jones' continues to rule my life, is what will my future children think of me? Will they notice the things I take pride in? Will they recognize my faults? Will they think I'm good?

Maybe they won't notice my pluses and minuses straight away, but at some point they will be all too aware of them. I believe that when you have nuggets, you are not only accountable for your behavior, but also (to a certain point) theirs.

You help them understand right and wrong. Lawfulness versus lawlessness. Good from evil.

I just want to be good. And I want them to be good, too.

No pressure, right?

Redux: Word of the Day: NIPPLE!

I've updated this post to include pictures!!!

Well, howdy-doo neighbors! It's been a while.

I hope you are enjoying a stellar start to 2010. These first few weeks of January always bring about a bit of self-reflection for me... look for an upcoming post on that topic soon.

But what I'd like to mention now is an old Spice Girl's mantra that I really love - Girl Power!

 

Today, me and a bestie (see her cute nuggets here) threw a baby shower for a dear friend of mine who is expecting her first child. What a wonderful experience!!

It was my first time hosting a baby shower and boy (that's what she's having), was I nervous!! My lovely co-host and I decided on a Sunday afternoon affair with light desserts, coffee and lemonade, and tasteful favors. We used a Noah's Ark theme for the plates, cups and napkins. What's really unique is that we held the shower at local store - Pout Baby Boutique.

 The store's owner, Kris (meet her munchkin here), was kind enough to come in on her day off and open up her fabulous establishment for all of us baby-crazy ladies.

A big THANK YOU  to Kris and Pout for offering us the perfect location! If you're looking for unique clothing, nursing and feeding items, cloth diapers, wooden toys or any other cool baby products, Pout is the place to shop. Look for online shopping on Pout's Web site, soon, too!

The soon-to-be-mother-of-honor is due in about a month. She wore a beautiful Liz Lange silver velvet dress and looked smashing - I wish I had pictures to post!!! If I get some emailed to me, I'll repost this entry so you can see all the fun we had!

About twenty gals showed up for the shower. And immediately, for some odd reason, everyone was saying the word, 'nipple.' Maybe it had something to do with holding the shower in a baby shop or the numbers of bottles that were being unwrapped, or perhaps it was simply the number of nipples in one location, but everyone kept saying nipple! It's like the penis game you used to play in junior high. You know the one... where people would randomly shout out the word 'penis!' during class? Some people would say it all high-pitched and drag it out, like PPPPEEEE-NIIIIIIIIISSSS! Others, would start low, peeeeeeeee and then end with a bang, NIS!

The trick was to keep it going long enough that no teachers would ever catch on to what you're saying. However, now that I'm older (and wiser??), I'm guessing that teachers have always known about this game since every woman at the shower had heard about it.

Anyway, enough about girl and boy parts. The point I'd like to make, although it sure has taken me a while to get to it, is that It was so much fun to get together with a bunch of chicas and talk and laugh and gossip and catch up on each other's lives. Growing up, I always had a large support system of girls around me and that comeraderie is something I crave all the time. There is nothing like a group of girlfriends whom you can call at a moment's notice who just... get you.

And who don't mind when you get the urge to shout out NIPPLE!

That's true friendship. Congratulations Andey!!!!

BABY BRAGGIN' WEDNESDAY: Camden

Welcome to this week's edition of Baby Braggin' Wednesday! I am SO excited to share this nugget with you... he's been on the waiting list for a while now. And he is very much worth the wait!

But first, I want to say THANK YOU for making BBW such a smashing success. I think we have featured quite a handful of super cuties and I hope we can continue the trend! One thing I've noticed, though, is that most of our BBW munchkins are boys. And while I love me some baby boys, if you have a girl on your hands, please send her info my way. I'm an equal opportunity blogger! LOL!

If you're not sure what Baby Braggin' Wednesday is - click here.

Just shoot me a quick email (patriciacarlsonfreelance@gmail.com) filled with info about your nugget or a little story, plus some pictures. I'll be sure to put together a BBW profile for your precious one when they get to the top of the list!

This week's munchkin has waited several weeks for his turn and I am thrilled that it is finally here. He belongs to my maid of honor, Becky and her lovely husband. Get ready for:

CAMDEN

Camden was born June 5, 2009 at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Women's Hospital. He weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. He clearly wanted to make his entrance into the world on his own terms because he showed up 12 1/2 days late! Poor Becky!

SuperFutureDad and I had even made plans to visit the little guy, thinking he'd be a couple of weeks old by then and the bringing-home-baby craziness would have calmed down a bit. WRONG! Camden was (I think) two days old and there we were, interrupting the special bonding time that should have been just for his mum and dad and G-Rents. Sorry about that! As always though, Bex was a gracious host and I was so glad to be a part of her life as she made the transition into Mommyhood! And like all my besties, she is a superb mummy!

Bex and Camden have been going to a playgroup since he was 10 days old. All the babies were born in May or June 2009. "We meet every Tues at someone's house, an indoor pool, a park, go for walks, coffee shops, etc.," says Becky.

But big changes are on the horizon. Bex, her hubs and Camden will be moving this spring to Baltimore (any Maryland readers out there who can offer them some advice?). They're on the hunt for a new house and a new playgroup! Becky says it will be really sad to say goodbye to her current playgroup pals!


Of course, at 6-months-old all Camden cares about is discovering sitting up on his own, rolling all over the place ("It's very difficult to keep him confined to a blanket now," Becky says), grabbing everything and putting it in his mouth. Camden spends the rest of his time laughing hysterically at his 4-legged brothers and sister!

Becky and her hubs are trying to do things as naturally as possible with him - breastfeeding (or pumped bottles) exclusively, cloth diapers, babywearing, modified co-sleeping (in his own bed up against the side of ours).  They even plan to make homemade organic baby food in a few weeks when they begin trying out solids.

Becky loves being a mother - despite having a hectic life! "Camden's so easy going and far surpasses every expectation I ever had about having kids.  He was definitely worth the months and months of sickness!," she says.

And boy was she sick - that's no joke! It stretched long into her pregnancy but she was such a trooper.

Congratulations, Bex, on your munchkin - I can't believe he's 6 months old already!

*One final note - I'll be taking a break from BBW next week because of the holidays. But I have a mega-cutie on the way... so please check back in a couple of weeks! Merry Christmas to you all!

Christmas Comes Early Surprise! BABY BRAGGIN' WEDNESDAY: Griffin

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been! Apologies to all the Tales readers out there who have been waiting to meet last week's Baby Braggin' Wednesday nugget. And a huge I'M SORRY to his mummy, too!

My schedule has gotten out of whack lately... is it the holidays? Work commitments? Volunteer efforts? Travel arrangements? Baby shower planning? Christmas shopping? This whole baby-making thing? Well, I can tell you one thing - whatever it is, it is keeping me busy.  TOO BUSY! Good thing I've got a vacation coming up! Whew!!

Anyway, I'm really sorry that I missed a BBW post - especially because I've got such a great little nugget to share with you. He is the adorable son of one of my besties from high school, Olivia. So without further ado, hhhheeeerrrreee'sss:

GRIFFIN

Griffin is a 16-month-old (going on 6!) cutie-patootie born July 31, 2008. He lives in Portola Valley, CA so that means he gets to play in the sand with the Golden Gate Bridge as his backdrop. What a lucky kiddo! Isn't that the most gorgeous pic you've seen in a while??!!

His mum and dad have lots of nicknames for their little guy: Griff, G-Dawg, G-Diggity, G-Man, G, Griffy. Olivia says Griffin LOVES to eat - I think the tasty turkey and juicy watermelon in his mouth is proof positive! When he's not chilling at the dinner table, Griffin loves to swim and take a bath. So much so that his mum finds him in the tub if she doesn't close the door to the bathroom - even when there is no water it it!

 

Griffin's new favorite thing is working on his walking and running. And he's got a thing for older kids, especially older boys. He isn't afraid to walk right up to them and try to play with them. He loves his music class and listening to tunes on his Lightning McQueen cd player!

One of the coolest things about Griffin is that he's becoming bi-lingual (at such a young age - that's fabulous)! His nanny is from Peru and speaks pretty much only in Spanish to him, so he has learned to give "besitos", not "kisses" - Olivia thinks that is really sweet (mí también)!  Olivia says, "Sometimes I think he understands more Spanish than English - which has helped my Spanish, too!"

And here is the cutest picture yet of Griffy and his mummy:

If I didn't have the 'Baby Jones' before seeing this, I sure do now!! Thanks for sharing your little guy with Tales of an (Almost) Mommy, Olivia. You've certainly got a precious one on your hands!

For all of you other Tales readers out there, don't forget to send me your nuggets so they, too, can be featured on Baby Braggin' Wednesday. Simply send a few pics, a cute story or some general info about your kiddos to patriciacarlsonfreelance@gmail.com and I'll take care of the rest! It's a great way to share your munchkin with the world - I mean, who doesn't want a little brag time for their babe?  Besides, this way I do the braggin' for you!

BABY BRAGGIN' WEDNESDAY: Jack and Owen

Drum roll, please..... it's time for another edition of Baby Braggin' Wednesday! So glad you could join me because this week, we have some major cutie-pies - twins!

JACK AND OWEN

Jack and Owen are 2 1/2 year old twin boys who belong to one of my besties here in Fargo, Heather. They are adorable little nuggets, each with a personality all his own. And boy do they give their mum and dad a handful! Check out this full-moon-fever story Heather sent me. She writes:

"What I remember is the horror of that night. We were getting Jack and Owen ready for a bath. We lived in a condo on the northside of Fargo and I think the boys were about a year and a half. On bath nights Nick would run upstairs and start the water and I would get the tots ready for their bath. 

Most moms agree babies need a chance to "air out"...which means, take off all clothes, including diapers and let kids run around "free" for a minute or two. Looking back, bad idea. We took off the first baby's diaper and let him run free while Nick ran the tub...yet another bad idea.

As i'm wrangling the 2nd baby, baby #1 poops on the carpet!! I scream in horror, Nick runs back downstairs to check out what's going on...and as I'm cleaning up poop from baby #1, I hear a whizzing noise...baby #2 is peeing on the carpet, then squatting to poop. This had never, I repeat never, happened before....and although they've peed on the carpet several times since (including last night), no one has ever pooped on the carpet again...and my carpet probably never looked the same!"

Heather, her hubs and fam eventually moved out of that condo and I'm guessing the new tenants are none the wiser! I love it when Jack and Owen stop by the newsroom and I hope you enjoyed reading about these precious nuggets. How cute are their pictures?! Angels!

Don't forget - you too, can submit pics and stories for Baby Braggin' Wednesday! Just send your submissions to patriciacarlsonfreelance@gmail.com. I'm doing it on a first-come, first-serve basis so please be patient if you haven't seen your nuggets' posting yet. I'll get to everyone, I promise!!!

Next week, we're heading west to meet a California baby!

One final thought, I want to wish all my Tales readers out there a wonderful Thanksgiving. I appreciate your friendship so much. I hope one day I can say that to you in person, instead of over the World Wide Web Highway. To Nai Nai, Ricky and my family who is gathered in the Sunshine State, I love you all and wish I could be there. Much love to eveyone and please make time for a nap after eating all of the delicious turkey Ricky is cooking!