Nursery Photos

We're almost done with the nursery. "We" mostly meaning John, as he has to hang up curtains and some shelves. I feel so sorry for guys who marry girls like me. :)

A lot of people are asking for pictures of Maryn's room, so here are a few. Sorry if this post looks stupid to you, as I can't really figure out this picture thing and don't feel like taking the time to fix it.

It was a serious team effort. John started everything off and taped off the entire room and helped me clean it out a bit. I drew up a plan and went to choose the paint and supplies. My friend, Alicia and her fiance Bradd came over to paint the two shades of blue. John went through and touched up everything around the ceiling and trim. Then I took a few days to paint the lily pads, dragonflies, and cattails (inspired by the bedding and the pictures, courtesy of Target). John put the crib and changing table together. I decorated the totes in the changing table because they were a bit ugly with some characters inspired by the bedding. And I'll have you know that I DID sew on those buttons on the turtle and it was a pain. And I'm never sewing again.

insomnia

It's three a.m.

I'm wide awake.

I've been awake for two hours.

I'm sitting in the baby room.

I guess my body's practicing.

Voting

Next Tuesday I get to vote! I am very excited and have just finished researching all of the candidates. If you are a Republican Collier County voter, I encourage you to vote for these two ladies in our primary:

Kathy Curatolo
Julie Sprague


Our snake is crazy! He keeps drinking water and spitting it out at the glass. It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen him do.

just us

This morning I woke up a few minutes before John and I carefully listened to the silence, reflecting on our nearly three years of marriage together. We've really had to depend on each other down here in Naples because of the lack of family and friends, and oddly enough, I am grateful that we've had this time, so much time, alone. To define our marriage, ourselves, and who we are as a family.

I loved when we escaped cheesy Easter celebrations to go to Key West on a whim. With a little girl, we probably won't be able to skip Easter because someone will always want to have us over for pagan rituals like egg hunts (smile).

I love that we go to bookstores after an already long evening at church and eating out just to sit and read books that we'll never buy. With a little girl, I'm sure we'll have to call it a night early...if we're even able to make it through an entire service.

I loved when we took two little kids from school to Magic Kingdom for a weekend and got to be their friends and not their parents (and we got to drop them off at home afterward, too!). Or when we went to Epcot and MGM all by ourselves and rode any crazy rides we wanted to. That we had enough money to buy season passes to Disney World was a miracle itself!

We're able to walk out the door at a moment's notice. Even though I usually have to walk back in a couple of times for something I've forgotten. We can go anywhere we want to and not have to worry about a babysitter. Or budgeting for babysitters.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Your life will never be the same." I know that. And I want to assure everyone, I loved these days. I mourn that they are almost over. But it was time for them to end, and we will be fine.

It had come to a point where I was lying in bed at night, in the wonderful silence, and imagining little feet running across the hall. And my heart would ache to hold a little body in my arms, crying or not. I know parenthood is exhausting. I know everything will change. But it is time for us to begin a new chapter, a new season. And we will be fine.

I loved this time with John. I honestly appreciated every moment. But now I say goodbye to these days, and welcome the ones to come. My heart is heavy but walking on clouds; it's difficult to explain. But we will be fine and our baby girl will be wonderful.

I love

Your eyes still closed,
Ready to open
Almost.
I love
To study your laugh lines
Before you have the chance
To smile.

When I wake up
To find your side
Empty
I love
To hear your steps
Coming
For a goodbye
Kiss.

When I think
Of past regrets
And sadness begins
To set in
I love
To be reminded
That it all
Led me to you.

Your hand reaches
Over to mine
For no reason.
I love
To melt
And savor
That moment.

I love.
I appreciate.
I cherish every moment
It’s been just you and me.

Don't worry, it's almost over.

Pregnancy has been such a blessing, and I have actually really enjoyed it. I grew up hearing a lot of pregnancy (and labor) horror stories from my very candid mother, aunts, and their friends. I expected hemorrhoids to be simply one of the worst things ever experienced, and honestly, it's not that bad. I expected terrible back pain and have had almost none (thank you, God, for that!). I thought that I would gain massive amounts of fat but still feel pretty good about the weight I have gained. Many women have shown me their delightful stretch marks and I haven't had any of those (and I'm sure John is grateful for that!). And then there's morning sickness, and though I sometimes still feel nauseous, it was never too bad either.

I am tremendously grateful that this pregnancy has gone so well. But some things have just really caught me off guard.

For one thing, I expected swelling. I always hear about swelling from pregnant women. My swelling hasn't been too bad so far, but when it happens, I get very emotional. Which I can blame the hormones for that. Yesterday I spent a lot of time getting ready for church because it's one day a week that maybe I can feel pretty for a little bit. And I did look like a cute little pregnant woman. But as we were leaving, I tried to put on my shoes and none of them would fit. I sat down on the couch and cried. Cried like a little baby. I don't know why swelling has such an effect on me, but one of the reasons might be that no one told me how it would feel. It doesn't hurt, necessarily, but feels awful, itchy, and makes me look like a troll or elephant foot. On the day I was supposed to look pretty. On the day where I have to sit in church for a few hours and can't elevate my feet. Oh, sadness.

They are still swollen today despite drinking massive amounts of water, elevating them, and wearing loose clothing. So I think I'm going to be swollen for the rest of the pregnancy. I guess I'm just going to have to get used to it.

Other things have caught me off guard, too, like the leg pain, the pain in my hands, the pain I feel in all my joints and muscles every morning. But I can be grateful that my back doesn't hurt, I don't have stretch marks, morning sickness wasn't so terrible, and hemorrhoids aren't that bad! Thanks mom, Cathy, and Cheryl for somewhat preparing me.

Goodbye Razr :-(

I received my new phone yesterday. Here it is, a Blackberry Pearl.

I didn't want to get a new phone because I love my Razr so much, but as texting becomes more and more popular, I'm finding I kind of need a keyboard of some sort, and the Blackberry Pearl has that. Plus, it's not bulky and ugly like a lot of the Blackberries. I'm having a really hard time getting used to it, though, so if you call me, please be patient. Also, it usually takes me a very long time to get to my phone (if I can even remember where I put it), so don't bother leaving a voice mail...I'll probably be able to call you back in five seconds.

So far, when people have called me, I haven't known what's going on. I've become slightly technologically challenged in my old age. The texting is great. It's still going to be tough to get used to, but I can see it will be much faster to type.

Razr, you'll always be special to me, and will probably go down in history as my favorite phone ever. Oh, the new Razr, which is almost exactly like the old one, is $200! I could get an iphone for that price. My Blackberry Pearl was $50. Good deal, I'd say.

John got an iphone. Spoiled! Let it be known that I made a sacrifice and should therefore be refunded $150. Which I would probably spend on a changing table. Oh, priorities.

Encounters

I took the kids to the park today and brought along a book to read in the shade like I suppose any normal fat woman would. The book was The Truth War by John MacArthur. John MacArthur is a conservative evangelical Christian--some may be more familiar with the word "fundamentalist." This makes him one of John's heroes and someone he quotes a lot, and our beliefs pretty much match up to his, at least on the very important things.

His book The Truth War basically speaks out against postmodernism and the Emergent Church as well as cults and the like, stating that the false teaching done by false teachers (apostates) is the worst sin of all.

Now if you have no idea what I'm talking about, bear with me because the story gets better.

So while I'm sitting there reading this book by John MacArthur (which is actually very, very ironic), this Mercedes pulls up, a guy in a suit confidently emerges and saunters over to me. He says he has a pamphlet for me about global warming. John MacArthur still in my hands, I am very overly polite, I'd say, commenting on the cute polar bears on the cover and thanking him profusely for the information. I'm not kidding, I really overdid it.

He leaves and I think, "That was weird. Such a Jehovah's Witness thing to do. Maybe the Going Green phenomenon will become all door-to-doorsy just like the Jehovah's Witnesses. Wouldn't that be interesting?!" I know, I'm such a dork.

I immediately go back to reading John MacArthur because the truth war is still more important than global warming. Half an hour goes by. The kids are being crazy on the teeter totter and I try not watch because I know someone is going to get hurt but I don't want to be overprotective and psychotic. I read about cults, Jehovah's Witnesses, sabellism, etc. It's getting extremely hot now and I fan myself with my global warming booklet and BAM! Out falls the Watchtower. And I laugh and laugh at the irony of it all, wondering why God didn't give me the opportunity to actually speak to them about His truth and the divinity of Christ.

So, to make it up, I figured I'd tell you all that funny story, which I'm sure none of you find funny at all. And I feel compelled to tell you a little about Jehovah's Witnesses, as I know a lot of you may just think of them as nice people who share their faith a lot, which in all honesty, we should do more often ourselves.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ is Michael the archangel, which means they strip him of his true deity, that he, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit are one. This cult's beliefs are nothing very new, as believing Christ is not fully God is an apostasy that keeps rising up again and again, when the Bible is quite clear that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one and they are equal.

"Jesus said to them, "Verily, verily, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am." John 8:58

"Whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father; he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also." 1 John 2:23

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John 10:28

Rosa

My beloved Rosa, my first child, how I adore her. This season has been rough. First we moved to a new place. There's no lanai, which was her favorite spot in the old house, but there are stairs. The stairs have led to some weight loss and many fun times. She likes to stare at us through the rails from high above, especially when intimidating company is over.

Also, we keep moving or replacing furniture. She loved sitting high up on the old couch when it was turned on its side, but we moved that to the garage. She was excited to see we brought her a new chair and ottoman only to realize it does this unusual rocking motion, which practically sent her into shock.

I started babysitting three little kids that don't understand her ways. They don't know how to read her expressions like we do. One says, "I want you to pet me," one says, "Feed me," one says, "Feed me immediately," one says, "If you pet me right now, I will bite you," etc. They don't know that you have to pet her from the side, starting with her head, with a firm but gentle stroke. But they try, and they're good kids, but Rosa is certainly overwhelmed by them.

Rosa has called dibs on two rooms in our house: the playroom and the baby's room. The playroom has obviously been confiscated by three young children and the baby's room has been nearly destroyed with hundreds of things scattered about, none of which are very comfortable for lying. She's not even allowed to lay on the nice firm bed. And what's more, there's another new chair in there that does that weird rocking motion.

Rosa has always loved to lay on our chests/bellies, but my belly has grown so much she can't lie there any longer, and if she does, some strange thing inside me pokes at her.

Poor, poor kitty! What will become of her? How will she deal with a new baby? I'm anxious to find out...

Countdown

Today is August 11, 2008.

My due date is September 11, 2008.

Let the games begin!

Olympics

It's Olympic time and John likes to watch every sport.

I like to watch swimming and gymnastics.

Don't worry, in 5-7 weeks, I'll stop whining about pregnancy stuff.

This week has been insane and I have no idea why. What did I do? Why was I so busy? Because everything takes me three times as long, that's why. I have to switch activities every 10-15 minutes like an ADHD child. I have almost no attention span. My back hurts if I sit for too long, my butt hurts if I walk for too long, and my legs hurt if I stand for too long.

The GREAT news of the week is that the chiropractor (who pretty much knows everything) told me I probably need to eat more salt because a.) the soreness in my legs could be caused by lack of salt and b.) my pancreas apparently feels swollen which apparently means I need more salt. And she also said I should eat less carbs and sugary snacks.

This works out really well because my cravings throughout the pregnancy have mostly been for salt. Cool that pregnant women crave what they need! But now that she told me this information, I've been wanting nothing but ice cream...which has not been a craving for me at all, until now.

I know, I'm a mental case.

Baby Showers and Tingly Hands

Yesterday Bethany and Alicia hosted a baby shower for me. It was phenomenal. The food tables were gorgeous (Alicia's family runs a catering business--lucky me!), Bethany came up with some super creative little keepsakes from the shower, and we were showered with love for about 3 hours. It was wonderful. We feel so blessed to have our little Florida family. I'll try to post some pictures later.

I woke up yesterday with numbness, tingling, and pain through my hands up to my elbows that lasted throughout most of the day. I knew immediately what it was: carpal tunnel syndrome. My mom had it while she was pregnant with my brother, Jordan. But she was a waitress at that time and surely I shouldn't have it so bad, right?

Not to mention the pain in my legs and butt that feels as though I lifted weights for 3 plus hours the day before. So after about three hours of this, I was nearly ready to cry in normal Amanda panic mode. This is what I was thinking:

"Am I going to feel like this for the rest of my life? I'm not even going to be able to hold my baby. I probably have osteoporosis. My bones probably have holes in them and are going to start breaking."

And I had flashbacks to the idiot doctor that told me in college that I should not have chosen to pursue a degree in Early Childhood Education because I had arthritis so badly throughout my body I wouldn't even be able to pick up my own children by the time I was thirty.

But then my mom called and told me it would pass and I would be fine. I ended up making it through the day and though it hurts again today, I know it will be better, Maryn and I will be fine, and I'm not going to worry about it anymore.

Thanks, Mom. :)

In the Womb

I watched an amazing program on National Geographic today called In the Womb. It showed a lot of 4-D Ultrasound videos and computer generated clips to give a very realistic picture of what it looks like inside the womb beginning at conception.



Because John and I have been reading so much during this entire pregnancy, we have been constantly overwhelmed at the miracle of life, and the stages of a baby's life, beginning at conception. That the heart is beating when the baby is three weeks, which is usually about three weeks before a mother even knows she is pregnant. That a baby opens his or her eyes as early as 18 weeks. That a baby decides if he or she will be right or left handed by the thumb he or she prefers to suck on in the womb.

It's incredible stuff. I was teary eyed the entire time.

But I warn you: If you think abortion is acceptable, you may not want to watch this program. You just might have a hard time sleeping at night.

Excited!

I am so excited about my Florida baby shower that's coming on SUNDAY!

By the way, if you didn't get an invitation, please let me know and don't be offended. I am a really super crazy insane forgetful person lately. And maybe Alicia just made a huge mistake and forgot to send you one! I'd love to see as many people as possible.

I love parties, especially when I'm the center of attention. I know that makes me sound really selfish. But it just makes me feel loved when others gather around for some life event of mine.

I'll never forget my favorite birthday. When I turned 21, my housemates at Muskingum College had a surprise party for me. I kind of caught on and knew something was happening, but I was SHOCKED when I saw how many people were there. That definitely made me feel special.

I really don't like surprises, though. So no one throw me any surprise parties. Besides, nothing will ever compare to that night. Thanks Kendra, Veronica, Kari, Crystal and Lindsay!

Summer Fun

This is me 33 weeks pregnant with only about 7 weeks to go! Not too bad, I'd say.


This is the pool!


Tracing Will's face with a wipe-off marker on the shower door. Such laughs.


The clubhouse I put nails in the wall to make happen.

John and I played Connect 4 with Maddie for an hour. She won twice. She's quite determined.

New links!

I added some new links! Now you can check out some of my friends' blogs. Many of my friends have stopped blogging, but here are a few for now. If you want to be removed or added, let me know :)

Nesting.

I've heard the word plenty of times, especially recently. When asked about the state of our baby's nursery, I've been replying, for the past seven months, "I've done nothing with it!" And this is still the case. We're in the final weeks and I am not, definitely not ready for a baby to live here.

John was a little more on the ball than me, and has constructed the crib. I went through and sorted her clothes, removed all the tags, laundered them, and folded them. But only because I had to. I didn't have a job or anything else to do.

Women keep saying, "Wait until the last month and you'll go into the nesting phase!" And her husband nods to John with wide eyes of warning that would send shivers down most soon-to-be fathers' spines.

Well, Saturday I woke up at 6:15 am, alert and enthusiastic, ready to decorate the baby's room. I did some research online, drew up a plan, figured out what colors we need, and I am ready to go. I even got John to go thrift shopping with me, since I can't do much with any of the clothes, toys and blankets we've received when all we have in the nursery is a bed and I'm a little bit freaking out about not having a rocking chair. Where will I put the rocking chair anyway? Everything seems more complicated with a two-story house.

I just found out that next week I will not be babysitting. So I think it will definitely be painting week. PLUS my Florida baby shower is this weekend and that means I'll have more fun stuff to go through. I'm so excited.

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was John's birthday. It went by hardly recognized because we've been so busy this week. Instead of going out for a special dinner and such, John chose to go to our Childbirth Education class.

My husband is the most godly, the most amazing man I have ever known or ever could have dreamed. I take the time to lift him up today because he doesn't nearly receive the recognition he deserves. He doesn't preach in front of crowds every Sunday, but his knowledge of the Bible and dedication to reading God's Word exceeds most others'. He doesn't write books, but his thoughts and interests are as complex as the several books he's read in the last year about swimming, running, history, theology...

John wakes up very early to be sure he can get in plenty of work hours to support our family. He'll do little things around the house like start the dishwasher even though it's five thirty and most of us would be brain dead at that time. And he never forgets to kiss me goodbye and say he loves me.

John is a leader of quiet strength who teaches me and holds me accountable but has almost never hurt my feelings or made me feel inadequate. And trust me, I am very susceptible to those feelings. I call him when I'm lost on my way to the mall and he doesn't laugh at my idiocy, despite that I have been there dozens of times.

After a long day at work, he will come home and run anywhere between 5 and 10 miles. Then he will help make dinner or sometimes make the entire thing.

John knows and remembers every little thing about me, like that I don't like to be frightened. So he'll make sure I know he is home and he won't jump out from any corners or try to come up behind me unexpectedly. This seems silly, but it means so much to me, to feel safe in my own home.

He doesn't torment me with disgusting guy things, like putting his armpits in my face (I hate armpits) and the other nasty things a lot of men do. Use your imagination for that one.

John truly loves me as Christ loves the church (see Ephesians 5:25-33) and I feel he gives himself up for me daily, loving me as he loves his own body and making me feel radiant.

Though John's discipline, strength, and his love for me isn't near the depth of Christ's, these qualities in John have been a concrete model of Christ in my life and His love for me. Because I am so overwhelmed by the grace God has shown me by giving me such an incredible lifelong best friend, I am better able to understand the unsurpassing love of Christ. I thank John for teaching me that, not with his words, but with every action he takes.

John, you are a blessing to me, an example of Christ and the grace of God, because I know I've done nothing to deserve this life. I truly thank God for you every day.

Lessons Learned

This may not interest most of you, but I know some of you haven't had the pleasure of being pregnant yet but would like to be someday. So this is partly for you. It's also to remind me of how to do things better next time.

BEFORE getting pregnant...

I am going to do squats with two fifteen pound dumbells at least three times per week.
I am going to strengthen my back.
I am going to save money to visit the chiropractor more often.
I am going to become a great swimmer so that I can actually swim while I am pregnant, not just do strange exercises in the water that probably aren't doing anything. The pool is the ONLY place I feel absolutely comfortable. So this would be a great way to stay fit.

Everyone says "You need to walk while you're pregnant!" Walking is like slow and steady torture. Not only is it boring, hot and--boring, it hurts absolutely every single inch of my body. So I mostly just work out in the pool and do various Pilates kinds of things. And if you have anything to say about it, you can...

...sorry, pregnancy hormones must be surging right now.


:)

Summertime...

When I was little, my mom would pack ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread, some fruit (usually watermelon, plumbs or peaches), little Hugs drinks and soda, and we would go swimming all day at a place like Caskey's, which was a pond where little guppies swam near the shore.

I tried to recreate this wonderful memory a little bit by buying ham and cheese this week, along with some peaches and watermelon. But this never quite works for us because we get ham that has no preservatives and Publix doesn't cut it like Beuhler's does and the bread is always wheat and I never use mayonnaise anymore. The watermelon here never has any seeds and therefore is NOT the watermelon I grew up with and does not taste nearly as juicy and scrumptious. And I certainly don't drink little Hugs or soda. AND I definitely don't go swimming around in ponds in southwest Florida for obvious reasons. And I don't have a cute little cooler to carry everything in, either.

I can't even walk in the grass in my sandals, much less bare feet because of fire ants, prickly grass, and weird pesticides.

So I guess I'm a little homesick because summer in this place doesn't feel quite right. I don't want my baby to experience summer this way.

Crying

I had a crying episode today. Don't worry, everything is fine. I'll probably write about it tomorrow. If I write about it right now, I might cry again.

But it made me think of how easy it used to be to cry. We cry when we're little, and then we're done. Now I cry and my face gets horribly splotchy, my eyes swell up, my nasal passages become incredibly congested, I get a headache, and when the whole episode is over I have to wash my face and apply makeup to restore some sense of decency in myself. Crying has led to this whole embarassing, uncomfortable fiasco. So I try to do whatever I can NOT to cry (for instance, NOT seeing P.S. I Love You would have been a great idea).

The little girl I babysit cried today, too. But she managed to stay lovely and beautiful as she cried, like a little princess. Then she stopped and everything was fine. No stuffy nose, no headache, nothing.

Why does this happen to us as adults? What is the purpose?

What a relief.

I officially have the soon-to-be mom jitters. One of the things that jitters me most is the temperature of our house, especially at night. John and I both get very hot during the night, so we keep our house between 71 and 72 from 8:30 pm-7 am. I have been worried that this would be too cold for a baby because of what other people tell me. But all the while I'm thinking about people up north who I know do not keep their houses at 75 degrees all winter. That would be insane. Also, I am absolutely positive that if we were to keep the temperature at 75, I would NOT sleep well. I would not get used to it, either.

So being the internet person that I am, I did some research of my own. I looked at FIVE good websites and this is basically what they all said:

"Baby sleeps best when the temperature is consistent and cool. 'Most moms actually keep the nursery too warm,” says Ryan. Try to keep the room temperature between 68 and 72 degrees. Putting your crib in the right spot is also essential. “Pick a location that isn’t in the direct pathway of your air conditioning or heating vents,” says Herman. Sudden temperature changes will startle and disturb baby. Also, keep the crib away from windows to protect baby from drafts and outside noise."

So there! I was right and, to all the rest of the people telling me otherwise: you were wrong!

I can't wait to hold you, baby.

Today is July the 11th and we are about two months away from meeting our baby girl face to face. She is having a great time making herself known right now, though, by poking out her little body parts like a poltergeist. It's incredible to feel where her head is, and then think, "Oh, that's definitely an elbow," or an arm, a leg, a foot.

In the childbirth class, we are learning about pain management. One of the most interesting things Phyllis, the teacher of the class, said, is that we'll probably be in labor how we are when we are sick. So this is me when I am sick, all in a very whiny voice:

"Leave me alone!"
"Can you get me some water?"
"I want my mommy."
"Will you rub my head/back?"

So John definitely has a lot to look forward to.

We also found out that John is allowed to actually "catch" the baby, which he may or may not decide to do. But I think that would be an amazing story to tell.

Disturbed

I am so angry and disgusted right now.

It is really disturbing and heartbreaking to see teenagers' myspaces with borderline or actual pornographic images or language on them. Especially when I remember those teenagers being 3 years old.

If my 12-18 year old daughter was posting things making light of disgusting sexual encounters, she would be off the computer for life. But you know, there will be other consequences for their choices if their parents don't provide consequences for them. And there will be consequences for the parents, too.

Adventures in Babysitting

Day two of my adventures in babysitting is over, and I must admit it's a pretty easy job. If I can do this instead of teaching, I would be a happy camper. Yesterday we stayed at our house all day besides a trip to the neighborhood swimming pool. That caused some stir-craziness and the kids really started to get on each other's nerves. But today we went to a free movie at the theater, the library, and the ice cream shop and things went much more smoothly.

If I were a stay at home mom...

I know that babysitting for 10 hours each day isn't like being a stay at home mom, but from this experience I can predict some obvious things that would be benefits and drawbacks. I'm thinking the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

One big thing that I wasn't looking forward to was the extra mess and my house looking like a day care, but I have found it remarkably easy to keep things clean. Now this has a lot to do with the kids being older, but even so I think I could keep the house fairly clean. While I was teaching, however, not so much. If I went back to teaching with a baby or with any aged child, I can promise you our house would be a disaster Tuesday through Saturday.

Now about having my ideal four children...

I can not believe how much these siblings fight. It really drives me nuts. I am trying to teach them how to communicate a little better and work out their own problems instead of tattle taling, screaming and retaliating. Ha! If I had to deal with all the fighting during all the waking hours for at least a few years of my life, I would absolutely lose my mind.

I'm thinking if we have four children, they will be spaced apart a bit more. And definitely not three. The same little girl always gets left out.

4th of July

This Florida 4th of July actually turned out to be a nice one. I wish I had taken more pictures. Sorry about that. My camera doesn't take night pictures very well, and I forgot to take them while it was still light. On Thursday, we went to an outlet mall where they had food, a waterski show, and fireworks. We met our friend Bethany and her two kids there, Jaxon (3) and Jovie (about 3 months old). So here you see me and Jaxon, both with uncertain looks on our faces.

On Friday, we went to a friend's house, who lives near the Naples Pier, on a canal. So here you see a very fuzzy picture I tried to take of the hotel across the canal. I'm sure that though the picture isn't great, you can imagine how beautiful it was with fireworks.

Thank you Alicia and Bethany for entertaining us!

Pleasure Me Pink

Next week is Pig Week in the Erdman house! It's a great way to kick off my little summer day care for three kids, all siblings. You wouldn't believe how excited I was to get on the computer and make plans for the week and a menu. It probably isn't normal. It's probably pretty scary. And that's why I am going to tell you about it.

We're going to make pigs in blankets and read the books Pigsty and If You Give a Pig a Pancake. We're going to re-enact the Three Little Pigs in a silly version and we're going to make Three Little Pigs houses out of straws, pretzel sticks, and blocks.

I think I'll just die of pleasure.

Power Up!

I am so excited about this iron supplement the midwife gave me, and think you should all try it! I didn't know that iron is a big energy mineral. When you're anemic it means you have an iron deficiency. I thought my exhaustion was due to pregnancy, but apparently it wasn't because now I feel so much better. I was even already taking extra iron in my prenatal vitamins, but this iron supplement is more effective because it's in liquid form.

It is called Spatone, and it comes in these little packets. It's just spring water with a lot of iron in it. You put it in your orange juice and it's tasteless. To me, anyway.

42% of women and children are deficient in iron. Iron deficiencies can cause fatigue, dark under eye circles, paleness, migraines, shortness of breath, etc. But a lot of people can't take iron pills because they're so big or they cause many side effects, especially in the stomach. But this spatone stuff doesn't really have those side effects.

Get it here: http://www.hbees.com/spatoneiron.html

I wouldn't recommend it if it wasn't working wonders for me!

The Birth Center

I had an appointment with the midwife today and found out that I am anemic. This isn't really a bad or surprising thing because a lot of pregnant women become anemic. So now I have to not only continue taking iron supplements, but this other liquid stuff for faster absorption. I have to mix it with orange juice. I'm sure it tastes super yummy.

John also just found out that he is anemic, which is common in distance runners. So that's kind of interesting. Neither of us has ever been anemic before.

The best news is that Maryn is developing just fine. We are taking a childbirth education class at the Birth Center. It's going pretty well. Last night they showed us a video that is kind of trying to reshape our idea of childbirth. Because of TV drama, we're accustomed to the panicking, rushing to the hospital, cussing at the father, etc. But some things from the video are kind of weird. So this Mexican lady on the video had a homebirth and gave birth in the tub, which is OK by me. The weird part was that her husband and her two sons, approximately 6 and 4 years old, jumped right on in there with her. All naked. Weird.

I thought you guys might like to see some pictures of the birth center, where Maryn will be born. We're going to try to video tape some of the birth (not the actual birth because I'm just a tad too conservative for that), and maybe we can encourage more women to give birth with a midwife.






The first three pictures show the bedroom where I'll actually have the baby, maybe in the tub, maybe not. The last picture is the kitchen where I'll be free to EAT, DRINK, and walk around. Some of you may not know this, but they keep women in labor from eating or drinking in a hospital just in case she has to have a C-section, which is crazy to me. How can I do ANYTHING for 12+ hours without eating or drinking?

OK, that's all I will go into for now.

Music and Little Miracles

OK, so no one cares about Avon. Whatever. I do have some slightly good news that means I won't have to depend on my Avon earnings for much. I just may have a babysitting job starting next week, watching an 8, a 6, and a 4 year old every weekday from 7:30-5:30. It's a long day, but I've discovered that I actually feel a lot better when I am busy. Plus, school starts August 18th, which means I'll still have almost a month of vacation until little Maryn comes along. It'll be just a little extra money to help carry us through my months of not making anything.

Maryn is developing a little personality in utero. She moves a lot unless John has his hand on my belly. Either she's stubborn or John has a calming effect on her. She also loves music and moves any time she hears it, especially drums and our favorite shows' theme songs. I heard about a study done on "fetuses" and music. I don't like calling my baby a fetus. Anyway, the study said that babies don't respond more to one music type than another, but they do respond to the theme songs of their parents' favorite shows. They think it has to do with the positive feelings the mother emits as she sits down to watch the show and familiarity of the songs.

Needless to say, Maryn's favorite show is So You Think You Can Dance! I love it, too!

Woohoo!

I received my Avon stuff and have been doing my makeup every day first thing even though I am not going anywhere because I LOVE it so much. I am normally an exclusive Revlon/Maybelline/Loreal girl, and was not expecting to be impressed with Avon, but I seriously am. And it's cheaper than the other products, so I am quite proud of myself to have stumbled upon something that will hopefully save us some money.

Some of my favorites (which is everything I got):

Jillian Dempsey Professional Mascara: If it was taller, and I was single, I would marry it. I was using some M.A.C. mascara someone got me for Christmas. And this stuff is better. Much better.

Glimmersticks Waterproof Eyeliner: If my eyes could pop any more, I would be a bush baby. This stuff is great and I can finally put eyeliner on my bottom eyelid and I don't look like a vampire (and there's a sale right now where you can get this eyeliner and the mascara, or two eyeliners, whatever, buy one get one for 1.99).

Skin So Soft Facial Hair Remover: Don't be shy. You know you need some, too. This stuff is THICK so I can walk around without it sliding off, and it works. Any time I can avoid waxing is good.

Footworks Athlete's Foot Cream: It's a pregnancy thing. Apparently with pregnancy comes itchy feet. They're not itchy anymore!

Avon Solutions Hydra-Radiance Lotion (SPF 30): I wish I could drink this stuff. I only got samples of this, and it's to die for. I have such dry skin, and couldn't stop touching my face all day.

Planet Spa products: People keep staring at me because I can't stop smelling myself. I also only got samples of this stuff, but my skin stayed soft all day, with a very light scent. Heavenly.


So what I am trying to say is, if you don't look at my website and get some of this stuff, you're crazy. Or call me. www.youravon.com/aerdman

I made it!

Two 14 hour bus rides to and from North Carolina,

4 days of playing with 50 kids between the ages of 5 and 12,

1 day of shopping,

6 nights of sleeping between five and seven hours per night,

5 days of two-a-day amazing preaching and worship services,

6 days of being surrounded by teenagers,

Lots of ice cream, fried food, and crackers...

And I made it through! I'm pretty proud of myself. No real issues, just sore legs and feet, a cold, and quite tired.

During the day, we left the conference center in Ridgecrest, North Carolina, to play with kids in Rec. Centers in Asheville. Here are some highlights in pictures, where you'll see me 28 weeks and 3 days pregnant, some of my favorite little kids (including the little girl who had to be touching my belly for most of one day), and a great chocolate box that two of the high schoolers bought me.

Long trips and salesmanship

I have been selling Avon for a week now. It's actually been pretty fun, and I'm surprised how much I want to buy the stuff myself. It's way cheaper than the makeup I already buy and probably of equal quality. I will let you know how that goes. There's also a branch of Avon called mark that is a little more stylish, hip, young, whatever. I like it a lot, too.

If you want to order Avon, you can go to my very own online store at www.youravon.com/aerdman. If you type in the code REPFS at the check out, you will get free shipping. OR you can call me with your order, but that would involve you giving your credit card number over the phone and all that.

If you want to order Mark, you can go to www.meetmark.com and type in my phone number at the check out (239) 682-2544. Also remember the free shipping code.


John and I are leaving for the Lightforce trip tonight at midnight. Lightforce is our church's student choir, made up of 62 students grades 7-12. The place we are going seems kind of like our youth conference when I was in high school, but for this camp we are going off-site every day to do some ministry in inner-city Asheville, North Carolina rec. centers. This should be great for our Naples students, as they kind of live in a fairy tale land down here. Plus, it seems the most bonding happens on trips that provide some type of challenge, and I'd really like to see our youth group bond a bit more, across the cliques.

I'm a little bit concerned because I've been feeling rather nauseated, uncomfortable and restless lately, especially in the car (I'll be on a charter bus for 14 hours). And the baby wakes me up every few hours, and I have to pee every few sleeping hours, and it is very difficult to find a comfortable position that lasts long enough to fall asleep. Other pregnancy symptoms include sore feet, boiling blood in the heat, weird brown spots all over my face, yummy spider veins popping up everywhere, sore muscles...It's quite unpleasant. But I don't have any stretch marks yet! Wee!

Thank goodness I have only three months to go. Oy.

I am at the seven months mark though, and I knew it would start to get rough.

I have been sleeping 9 or 10 hours every night because I am so tired. I feel kind of lazy, but I figure there's no harm done. I might as well sleep now before the little terror REALLY wakes me up all night. :)

We will be back late Saturday night. I'll update you then. Keep me and all those going on the trip in your prayers.

The new furniture

Here's Rosa on top of her favorite sleeping spot,

which we moved out last week.

She did NOT want to let it go, especially since we had it on its side

like this. She loves high places. She thinks she's Mufasa.

Just like Jordan and Sara used to do, Rosa will get into

any cabinet or closet she can.

Here's our view, sort of from the kitchen area.

Notice baby's new little bouncy seat. Cute!

And here is the new furniture. No more coffee table!

It's always been my goal in life not to have a coffee table,

as pretty much all I remember about my childhood

is Drew constantly bashing his head on them. But now we have

this leather ottoman that is soft with trays on top. So it serves as

a coffee table and an ottoman. And it doesn't seem as disgusting

putting your feet on it as it does with a coffee table. I am LOVING this idea.

Sorry about the fuzzy pictures. Our camera is horrible. Or maybe it's just me.

The Mysterious Creature

This is the mysterious creature I've been seeing in our backyard. See? I'm not crazy. Now that I've had a better look at it, it just kind of looks like a giant squirrel with funny coloring. I guess I'll have to look up different squirrel species. It stands about a foot tall. The picture below kind of gives you a better idea of how big it is. And it does run and stand like a squirrel. So, I guess I'm going with giant squirrel. What do you think?

Modern Fairy Tales

I watched Shrek 3 last week and was rather disappointed. I'm not sure why everyone likes Shrek movies so much. They're funny, but they sure aren't the whimsical, dreamy fairy tales I loved as a kid. I decided that I actually despise Shrek 3 when it came to a part that was obviously making fun of Sleeping Beauty, my all time favorite movie. Really, what's wrong with a beautiful princess singing to bluebirds and deer? What's wrong with a prince rescuing her from a tower guarded by an evil sorceress that turns into a dragon? Little girls like that stuff. I remember quite a few little boys liking it, too.

Beauty and the Beast was a perfect fairy tale because the beast saves Belle, but Belle saves him, too. She saved him without being crude or acting like a man. In Shrek, it appears the only way to be a female hero is to act manly, with some ninja moves to top it off. And you see this is so many movies. It's getting boring and predictable. If to be a hero, a woman has to be manly, I am doomed!

Disney is working on their next princess fairy tale, the Frog Princess or something like that. I hope they consider giving the princess a stereotypical female role and the prince a stereotypical male role. I think most little girls understand that they can be heroes, too. But what most little girls dream of is a heroic prince, and to me, there's just nothing wrong with that. Many of these movies are robbing boys of their desire to be the hero. What kind of fairy tale has a princess with the attitude of, "If I want something done, I have to do it myself?" If the sleeping princess waiting to be rescued is teaching girls to be helpless and wait for a rescuer, what is this new attitude teaching them? "Honey, if you want to be a hero, you need be loud, obnoxious, and kick down some doors! Plus, be paper-thin with enormous eyes and gorgeous hair." It's all screwed up.

Just don't write fairy tales if you majored in Women's Studies. The end.

Desperate Housewife

I've been a "housewife" for a week now and it's a bit boring and depressing. I know that having a baby at home all day won't be very boring, and I hope that it's not too depressing. I either need to find a job or volunteer somewhere, because this is just getting ridiculous.

I'm not a very good housewife. The cleaning isn't bad and I'm all right with that, but buying groceries by myself with no input is pretty a much a disaster. I spend way too much money when left to shop on my own. This was no surprise to either of us.

John is also too helpful. Since he's working all day and I'm at home, not even with any kids, you would think I'd be in charge of dinner most nights. But it's been him in front of the grill or stove 3 of the 5 nights this week. Yes. I suck. Must learn grilling and stir frying techniques.

The positives of being at home are that I've gotten a lot done around the house that needed to be done, and there are still some things I need to do. I've also been exercising every morning and do get up at a pretty early hour.

I could go places but that costs gas money. I could get some books at the library but I owe them $100 in late fees. Seriously. $100.

Mysterious Visitor

I was collecting laundry today and something interesting caught my eye outside. It was an animal that partly walked on two legs, but mostly walked on all fours, coming out of the woods. It sniffed around and ate some things, very jumpy, like a squirrel. It had mostly brown fur with a huge bushy tail and stood about two feet tall. It looked like it had a masked face.

Since it had a masked face, I thought maybe it was a species of badger, but I looked that up and found nothing that resembled this animal, and badgers apparently don't live around here. It was not a racoon.

Any ideas?

I'm trying to get him to come back so I can take a picture.

Sad, sad days

Today is Monday and I have no job. The one lady I was supposed to babysit for has backed out. So I'm spending the day cleaning. And tomorrow I guess I'll clean some more.

It hasn't been a totally unsuccessful day. I woke up at 7, ate a very healthy breakfast (I had time to make eggs!), and did some running in the pool for half an hour. Then I laid out for about 15 minutes, came home, showered, did a bible study, and started cleaning. And cleaning is good because our new house has not yet been completely clean all at the same time yet. We have more bedrooms but for some reason can't find places to put all of our stuff. With baby stuff and stuff from my classroom, we're a little bit overloaded right now. We need to invest in a desk with a lot of storage space and a dresser (or two!) for our little one.

I am eternally hot and I still feel nauseous all the time. I thought this nauseous feeling was over at 3 months, but it's come back to haunt me.

SO, I guess I'm having an OK time just staying home. Getting ready for the stay-at-home mom stuff I guess. I've inquired about plenty of other jobs and no response yet. I just kind of feel worthless right now.

Well, back to work!

My classroom is all packed up in boxes scattered throughout the house. 10 kids in my class were crying on the last day as we said goodbye. It was very sad.

I only have one kid to babysit this summer. Maybe I'll work at Pizza Hut.

Our new kitchen

It's not very exciting. Much smaller than our other kitchen. We're struggling with space a bit. Not a huge deal, we just don't have a junk drawer or anywhere to put our cookbooks. Drama, drama, drama.

I'm going to take more pictures once our new furniture comes and we have some pictures on the walls. So this will be it for a while.

Rosa's Favorite Spots

Here are two of Rosa's favorite spots in our new house. It's very sunny with all the windows and she loves to lay anywhere with sun.

A walk to our new home...

Here are some pictures of our neighborhood, house, the little gate leading to our side door and the backyard. More pictures later.

Completely overwhelmed.

I have so much to do. So much to do! And all I can do is go to the bathroom. All the time. How can I get anything done when I am always in the bathroom?

I just can't stop talking about babies.

John finally felt Maryn move! It was so exciting. He was getting quite frustrated and jealous, and it was so neat to finally see him experience what I get to feel all the time. You should have seen his face. I'm really going to love that proud father look. When she colors a beautiful picture. When she writes her name for the first time. When she graduates from high school. And college. When she walks down the aisle.

Anyway, I was thinking about why pregnancy is so great. And here's what I came up with:

1. I get to carry my baby around with me 24-7.

2. She doesn't cry.

3. I don't have to feed her.

4. I don't have to change her diaper.

5. I might not be able to see her, but every kick and movement is still cute.

6. She's in the safest place she'll ever be. I really don't have to worry very much.

7. I feel like she's mine. All mine. No one else gets to feel her like I do. I know my baby first. I loved her first.

Itchy :)

Sorry I haven't written in sooo long! We have been very busy. We moved this past weekend and are still in the process of unpacking. Work is hectic and I'm trying to pack up my classroom as well. I will post some pictures of our new house within a few days...maybe.

The new house and the old house were both very good, and there are a lot of things I'm going to miss about the old place. I'll miss the corian countertops in the kitchen and restrooms, the upgraded tile and fabulous appliances, the quiet dishwasher, washer, and dryer, and beautiful view of the sunset over the lake and golf course. But our new house is in a slightly better location, has four bedrooms, and an upstairs and downstairs. It's much better suited for babysitting and I won't have to carry a baby and groceries up three floors. The new house is a townhouse, which is of course more mom-and-kid friendly. Otherwise I'd be leaving the baby upstairs for a few minutes while I went down to get the groceries. I don't know if I'd be really happy with that. The new house has a great garage, a huge driveway and lots of parking spaces available for our guests.

We're going to start hosting our "home group," which is like a Bible study. It contains 8 people total and we really don't have the space or furniture for them. Although the upstairs in the townhouse is huge, the downstairs is very small. I like that it's cozy, but it's not going to be great for a big group. It's making me itch for new furniture that will take up less space but seat more people (like an L-shaped couch and a new dining room table). I hate it when I want something I can't have.

The new house also smells like new carpet. It is almost entirely carpeted, which is disturbing to me. Especially since I will be babysitting four year olds. Carpet is good for babies, though. It's much softer. I just need to get this carpet smell out of my house. Toxins, toxins, toxins. Sigh. We're probably going to get some plants, but how much can a few little plants do?

This is me, 20 weeks, 2 days pregnant:

This is John 20 weeks, 2 days pregnant:

The Skinny on Pregnancy: Transformers

I have heard a million stories of pregnancy and birth. I thought I had seen or heard it all. But there's a few things no one really told me or talked about. And just because some of you read this that have never had a baby before, I figure it's my duty to tell you some things you may not know or read about in What to Expect When You're Expecting. Other good books I've found, however, include The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and A Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. But in none of the books did I read about this.

Stretching

Stretching during pregnancy is a phenomenon that is like no other, unless you've experienced botulism or some disease that makes you gain over 15 pounds in a matter of months. And no, it doesn't just feel like I ate too many cookies. The stretching sensation occurs in different areas of my body every week, sometimes switching daily, sometimes more uncomfortable than other times.

Even in month two, when I first found out I was pregnant, I felt the worst stretching feeling across my diaphragm area for two days. Then suddenly my diaphragm was gone. I could feel it no longer. How did my body change so quickly?

Then I felt my hips growing outward. That threw my back a little bit out of whack. Now the stretching is low, under my little bowling ball belly. It isn't painful, really. What does it feel like? Stretching. Really. Like my skin and ligaments are tight rubberbands being pulled and pulled. It's so strange, but so miraculous. I swear I feel like a Transformer.

Let's just hope my skin doesn't stay permanently stretched. Not too much.

It's a girl!

We had our ultrasound today and my instincts were correct...it's a girl! She's so cute. We saw her little fingers moving and her legs kicking and at the very end, it looked like she was sucking her thumb. Cute, cute, cute.

Green Bags

I have had so many ideas for things to blog lately. My thoughts are racing constantly and I feel mentally and physically exhausted at the end of the day. Not tired necessarily, just stretched out and heavy. I'm realizing what a strain just a little extra weight has on my legs and feet. This is why it is my goal to never weigh over 130 pounds unless pregnant. My legs simply can not take it.

John and I took our routine grocery shopping trip on Sunday morning. Both of us have been rather forgetful lately. I blame the pregnancy and John, I don't know what he blames. First, he forgot the list in the car. Then, we realized that we forgot our green bags.

Gasp. Sigh. Hit myself.

Green bags are simply the best invention by grocery stores ever. For those of you who live in wasteland and may not know of them, they are these very lightweight cloth bags that expand to an unbelievable size, accomodating a week's groceries in as little as 3-4 bags. John loves them because they make carrying groceries easier. I love them because they're easier to unpack, I don't have to deal with dozens of stupid plastic bags with ONE item in them, and I feel like I'm doing a small part to help our planet.

You can find Target's version of the green bag as well, but they are red. Very handy, let me tell you.

Anyway, we shopped without our green bags. I watched the bagger double bag all of our meat. Sigh. I watched the bagger use one bag for each box of Cheerios. Double sigh. And when we walked out of the store, the guilt and shame that tore through my body was almost unbearable. I wanted to cover my face and run to the car. Everyone was looking at our cart, I know it, thinking of how wasteful we are. Young, wasteful people who not only don't care about the future of the planet, but the future of our baby and grandchildren and great grandchildren. And I thought about my friends in New Zealand who wear hats and sunglasses and sunscreen every day, all the time because it just so happens that the hole in the ozone layer is right above the most conserving (non-third world) country on earth, probably.

So, as my debt to the planet Earth, I am telling you to invest in green bags. They are more convenient for everyone and help conserve energy and lessen waste. What more can I say?

19 weeks pregnant

We got a camera card hookup thingy. So I can post pictures now. I don't look my greatest here, but my mom was bugging me for pictures, so here you go.

I can't believe it's been so long! I seriously have not been online in about four days, which is a record for me since the year 1996.

We found a townhouse to move into! It has four bedrooms (our room, nursery, playroom, den)and a garage. Almost the whole downstairs is carpeted, which we don't like because of the stain factor, but is good for babies I guess. The kitchen is smaller and doesn't have as nice of appliances as we have now. There is a giant laundry room, though, and it's upstairs. I like stairs. I think Rosa will like the stairs, too. It's in a much better location.

Well, John is feeling neglected so I have to go.

PS: I skipped a mandatory staff meeting at work today. I'm declaring illness. Mental illness. I'm so stressed at work, I can't even tell you what they're putting me through. It's madness.

Must...invest in...more...stretchy pants.

Sorry, I can hardly breathe.

There was this lady at work last year. The whole time she was pregnant, she made a point to do her hair really nice every day, wear cute clothes, and just basically look her best. I thought, "I hope I do that when I'm pregnant."

Pshh.

I was jealous of the kids who had these stuffed animal glo-worms, made by

Playskool. Their faces lit up with a squeeze to the belly.

Here are what I believe were the first Glo Worms as well. They each came
with a sleeping bag and would glow in the dark

when charge by light.

Drew had this Bert and Ernie puzzle and this Sesame Street pop-up toy as well. We just loved these things. But I cannot find the Glo Worm Tree House. I did see a message board though where a girl claims to have one. I wish I could at least see a picture of it.

One of the saddest days of my little life

I didn't know it then, but it was at a yard sale where my mom talked me into selling my most prized possessions. My Fisher Price dollhouse was one of them. I still remember opening and shutting the door, putting the little people in and out of their little holes in the chairs, in and out, because they fit so perfectly every time, just like a little autistic child might do.

I remember the lady who bought my Fisher Price dollhouse. She seemed reluctant to take it. She knew I'd regret it someday. She looked at me and asked, "Are you sure?" at least twice. I said yes. It was five dollars in my pocket. How could I resist?

As I was looking for children's toys on ebay since Goodwill Naples is a big bunch of jerks, I decided to check out Fisher Price. All the memories came flooding back. How I loved that garage. What would it be like to have a garage? Collecting parsley at Ponderosa to serve as shrubs around my little house. Pretty much my whole life revolved around gathering little items to pair with my little house and my little people.

Then I found something I had forgotten. The little town. Again, I loved opening and shutting the doors. So perfect, such a nice pleasant sound. Maybe I really was a bit autistic. The mailbox came with little plastic letters to mail and there was a mail truck, too. Ah! Such good, good times.

I also found the little playground my cousin, Drew, had. Again, I loved the way the little people fit in the holes. But on the playground, you could spin the people out on the merry-go-round or bounce them out on the springy bouncy toys. Then they would vomit or have to go to the hospital. You could press a button to make the people go down the slide, and the little people could climb (well, bounce...no legs, no arms) the little tree stumps up to the slide. And they fit so perfectly on those little stumps.

I love toys! And I keep having the strange urge to open and shut those doors. Open and shut. Open and shut.