Sunny days, sweepin' the clouds away...

10

This post is brought to you by the number 10.

**10 is our most important number because it is the base of our counting system.

**Lobsters and crustaceans have 10 legs

**Our counting system is based on 10 because we have 10 fingers

**The first four numbers added together make 10.

**The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights

**Thomas Edison set up his first laboratory in his father's basement when he was 10 years old.

**Human hearing reaches its peak at 10 years old

**10 pennies make a dime and 10 dimes make a dollar.

**Does the number ten start with the letter "T" or the number 1?

**10 is the number of weeks left until Baby gets here...hopefully.

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things...

Another doctor's appointment came and went. 29 weeks, it is. Next week begins the countdown:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

*ding*

Baby!

I was told by my doctor that anyone and everyone who plans on spending time with B must get the whooping cough shot. Whooping cough shot? Yes, a whooping cough shot. Grandparents and great grandparents especially. No one who whoops shall be permitted within close range of the sweet and precious babe. Consider yourself warned.

I had to drink the most awful, disgusting drink in order to take that glucose screening test. I was given the choice of orange or fruit punch flavor. I chose fruit punch. The only way I can describe it is to compare it to drinking the syrup of a melted popsicle. Except magnified in sweetness times 10. And it's not as if you can just slowly sip it and take your time trying to stomach it. The doctor gave instructions that the whole 50 oz. should be finished within a couple of minutes. So there I was, gulping it down, trying not to gag, and of course complaining about how bad it tasted. Wilson apparently didn't believe me and asked to take a sip, because, ya know, how bad could it be? It's just fruit punch juice and he is such a manly man. So I let him have a swig.

He didn't say another word afterwards and let me complain all I wanted.

School has been hellish but I must say that I am doing quite well. I gave the most awesome presentation in class today. My curriculum partner and I presented a draft of our elementary school curriculum which required 36 lesson plan outlines. We did amazing and went above and beyond everyone else. My professor, who is known to be a harsh critique, said that we deserve an applause.

Thank you, thank you very much.

(8 more weeks of school, 8 more weeks of school, 8 more weeks of school)

Apples, Belly buttons, and Egyptian theatre

This week has been an interesting one.

Just when I thought pregnancy couldn't get any more weird, my belly button popped out. Yes, my very intense innie has turned into an outie. Weeeird. Pre-pregnancy, my belly button was almost an inch deep. It is very interesting to see the bottom of your belly button suddenly poking out.

Wilson and I also became Apple users this week. I got a 13" Macbook Pro and Wilson got an iTouch. It's taking me a little while to get used to using Mac, but it's pretty sweet. I got a Macbook because I *have to* have one to be a teacher. My faculty advisor says that all the best teaching software is only made for Macs, so we were required to buy one. I think she just enjoys watching all of her students have a minor heart attack when we have to drop that much dough on a computer. I seriously had to sit down for a moment after I purchased mine.

It's weird when strangers come up to me and rub my belly. Just sayin'.

I had the weirdest, most awkward thing happen to me in one of my classes. I'm taking a Theatre History before the 18th Century class. It's a freshman class mostly and I'm in it because I loathe theatre history and waited until the last minute to take it. So, we're talking this week about Egyptian theatre. First, let me say that Egyptian theatre is very strange and unlike any other kind of theatre that exists in the world. Anyways, so we were assigned to read this essay about Egyptian theatre. It's mostly about certain rituals that take place, different gods that are continually mentioned in all Egyptian theatre pre-1800's, the type of music and dance that takes place, etc, etc. So my professor (who isn't really a professor, just a grad student) puts the whole class into groups and we're to pick a paragraph from the reading and put together a short skit or tableaux that represents this paragraph.

So I get put into this group that consists of 3 other girls and 1 boy. I have known this boy since high school and he is very odd. He offers up the idea of presenting a tableaux that represents the following paragraph:

"Music was an art form that touched all people. It was a sacred art in the temples, performed by royalty and gods and goddesses. There are papyri showing priestess-musicians; both royal and aristocratic ladies played instruments in the great religious ceremonies. Music was said to delight the gods, cheer men's hearts, soothe women in childbirth, and drive away evil."

Oh boy. If you think you know which person I was supposed to represent in our tableaux from the above paragraph, you are wrong. The boy in my group suggests that HE be the person representing the woman being soothed by music during childbirth. The other people in my group all think this is a great idea because it shows that women weren't really allowed onstage in Egyptian theatre and so men portrayed women, so it would be "interesting" to see the role reversal by him portraying a woman.

So, they put me in the middle to represent music, and everyone else in my group is in a tableaux around me acting out the various other things mentioned in our paragraph. We were only given 5 minutes to set this up so we really had to throw it together.

It's time to present our tableaux's. Our group gets called on to perform. So, I take my place in a chair in the center and everyone else is around me. The boy in my group lays down on the floor, legs spread wide apart in childbirth position and begins to make "pushing out a baby" sounds. Very loud sounds. So loud that you'd think we were all in a room full of women giving birth.

I. am. mortified.

I watched as the 45+ college kids in the room gasped and widened their eyes. Oh, I bet it was a sight to behold. Then came the laughter.

I'd like to think that they were laughing at what a FOOL he was making of himself and not at the irony of it all. Luckily, class ended right after our group performed so I was able to get out of there a.s.a.p.

I came home that day and told Wilson about all of this and he assured me that everyone thinks I am such a cute pregnant woman and that everyone loves me. He did his best to calm my worries and turn my frown upside-down.

But sometimes, days are just hard.

And very, very weird.

Groovy, baby.

I love Friday nights.

Wilson and I went to Central Market tonight and listened to this really sweet live jazz band. Everyone was sipping coffee which smelled incredibly delicious and it was raining just a little bit so it wasn't hot and made your skin feel nice and soft. But it wasn't humid. Just a nice light, crisp sprinkle. The sights, smells, and noises were some of the best. It was the best Friday night ever.

B is doing just fine. She is growing real big and, consequently, so is my tummy. It's kind of frustrating to walk into my closet and not have anything to wear. But I know it's because I have a little human inside of me. And I love her.

School is just as annoying as ever. My days go by pretty slow and my nights go by too fast. Lame.

What I'm looking forward to the most (besides my little B) is Autumn. This topic has been the subject of many blogs lately but I just love Autumn so much that I can't help but blog about it myself. I love October, November, and December more than any other months. I love the sights and smells and noises. I love those scents that are associated with this time of year. Pumpkin spice, most of all. Oh, how I love pumpkin spice. And I LOVE Halloween. Halloween is probably my favorite holiday. I am going to be a basketball for Halloween. Or maybe a watermelon.


Or maybe the planet Earth.

Back To School Jiggity Jig

As much as I would have liked the summer to keep on going, alas, the time for school came. It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And I puzzled and puzzled till my puzzler was sore.

Boy, my puzzler was very sore by the end of the school day. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have 4 classes back to back from 9am to 3pm. It's pretty rough. Especially when a certain little someone is making me very hungry. I packed snacks to eat during class (which is allowed). I packed a sandwich bag of whole grain goldfish, some baby carrots and ranch dressing, and some Disney Princess Ariel fruit snacks. Wilson thinks that I have the taste buds of a 5 year old. This may be true, but I can't help it. I am what I am and that's all that I am.

It looks like this semester of classes is going to be particularly difficult. My professors have assured me that it's largely about time management and thinking logistically about how and when I will get assignments done and it's not really about how easy or difficult the assignments are. I have all the tools/skills I need to complete my projects and succeed.

Easy for them to say.

B got a lot of attention today. Not that she doesn't get loads of attention from me or Wilson talking or singing to her and patting my little belly. But today everyone was rubbing my tummy and asking about B and how she is growing (very big!), can I feel her kicking (oh, yes!), have I thought of any names (of course!) and so on and so forth. It was exciting to talk about my baby all day! I think I talked about my baby more than I actually talked about school and assignments. I have promised many people that I will bring my ultrasound pictures to school and show everyone how pretty she is.

Now I am at home relaxing after a very eventful day. Peace and quiet. I love my new home because it feels so...home-y. Wilson doesn't get home from school for another couple of hours so I will eat a strawberry jello cup and take a nap. Wilson says that tonight when he gets home we are going to go get a bite to eat and bond. He thinks it's no fair that B and I get to be buddies all day, everyday and bond all the time. He would like to do some bonding, too.


How sweet!

Sugar and Spice

Oh, the wonderfulness that is today.

I am having a girl.

And she is very beautiful.

After class today, I met my mom, cheli, nana, calysta, and jake at McDonalds for some lunch and then we headed over to the hospital for my appointment. Wilson met us there. It was cramped quarters in the ultrasound room!

The nurse took a whole bunch of measurments and at last spotted the little girl parts.

Oh, she is very sweet.

After the appointment we went to dinner and then shopping and got our fill on little girl clothes.

I got lots of ultrasound pictures of her and will post them as soon as I can get a hold of a scanner.


peace. love. baby girls.

Half...Baked

Hellooo, 20 weeks!

I am half way done being pregnant. The bun in the oven is mostly still doughy but is growing and rising.

It's rather odd because it feels like time has flown by. I'm scared to blink because I know that when I do, I will be in that labor and delivery room. It's a little frightening.

This week, B is about the length of a banana. A banana! I love bananas! But only when they are mostly still green. I refuse to eat a banana that has too many brown spots.

Countdown- 7 days until my next doctor's appointment. Oh yes. It's the one.

The child development class I am taking this summer is turning out to be one of the most beneficial classes I have ever taken. There are two other pregnant girls in my class and we sit together and share snacks and gaze haughtily down our noses at the other college kids in the class who could not possibly be getting better grades than we are because, hello...we are experiencing this class directly, in our womb's. Child. Development. The only weird thing is that the other two girls are WAY more pregnant than I. They look as if they might pop at any moment, whereas I just look like I ate a little too much for lunch and must unbutton the top button of my jeans to breathe correctly.

Speaking of which, clothes are incredibly uncomfortable these days. I'm not yet big enough to wear my maternity clothes but I am also too big to wear my normal, regular clothes. I am looking forward to being a cautionary whale. Then, at least, I will have something to wear.

Oh, btw, Wilson and I have moved into our new apartment. 2 bedroom, 1 bath. It is wonderful! We no longer have to hunt and scavage and hoard quarters in order to do laundry because we have our very own washer and dryer in our apartment! We also have some pretty snazzy tile and brand new carpet. Right now, B's room is sort of the dumping ground for all of the boxes and miscellaneous things we don't know what to do with or dont have room for. Wilson has promised that by the time there is a baby here, all the junk from that room will be gone.

Let's hope so.