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.

Pregnancy Milestone!

I bought my first pair of maternity pants lastnight, which are the first official piece of maternity clothing I've bought. I've gotten a few longer shirts to make sure my belly stays covered, but it was time to get some comfy, stretchy dress pants for work before I acquire a permanent indentation around my waist from wearing my normal size 2. It was like putting on a little piece of Heaven in the Target dressing room.

When I came out of the dressing room, John had a fabulous suprise for me! A Boppy pillow for moms, which will help me sleep a little better. Sleeping has just started to get uncomfortable. Lastnight was my first night with Boppy, and it was like a big slice of Heaven. I have been very impressed with John during this whole thing so far. He's even become slightly forgetful and clumsy...I think he's having sympathy pregnancy. :) And he pretty much does whatever I want him to do. I fall asleep, he does the dishes. I say my back hurts, he cooks dinner. It's great! Next, I think I'll ask for some new living room furniture.

A Lesson from Dr. Seuss

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

from Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss

Love this song: Letter to Me by Brad Paisley

Why do I do the things that I do?

I felt ambitious today. I decided to put my cake baking and decorating skills to the test. It all started yesterday with my Good Housekeeping magazine that randomly gets sent to me sometimes. I didn't order it, but maybe God is sending me some kind of message. Anyway, there was a good sounding cake recipe in there, and since I haven't used my skills learned in Cake Decorating 101 since last year, I wanted to give it a whirl. We are having John's brother, Mark, and his new la la la lady over to watch basketball. So I made a basketball cake. This is what it looks like:

Crap.

I did everything wrong. I frosted it when it was still warm, I used too much batter and it didn't cook correctly, the edges got burnt and broke up when I tried to trim the top, I made the frosting too runny, I used too much frosting around the edges, I didn't line the cake board correctly, and I drew the lines crooked. This is because I really, really don't care what a stupid cake looks like. As long as it tastes good. And my friends, it does taste good.

So it's a winner, just like the Jayhawks. UNLIKE Duke, who I eternally hate forever and will never pick to win another game as long as I live. I'm still ranked in the 92nd percentile or something, so that's good, and I am very happy for WVU. But I'm in it for the money, folks. Let's be honest.

The Madness has begun

Yes, it's that time of year. I have submitted my bracket and I am officially beating all the guys because as I've tried to tell them before, my woman's intuition is much better than their knowledge. And it's really all a guessing game.

As much as a I hate Duke and as much as I would have loved to see Belmont win lastnight, I was regretfully cheering for Duke as I have them going all the way to the Final Four. I sure hope they start to do better. If not, I think Mike Krzyzewski should be out of a job. John says no one would ever fire him, but I would.

Dear Starbucks, I miss you. Love, Amanda.

I saw some very famous people yesterday. I saw Heather Turco from NBC-2. She's our local news anchor and I watch her every weekday morning. She was at the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure at Coconut Point Mall, where I walked three miles with my friends Bethany, her mom, and Betsy. It was fun. There were real high school cheerleaders cheering me on. It was kind of strange to be cheered on to walk. John ran it, though, and he did well, but he started off too fast and didn't get the time he wanted. He's not used to running such short distances.

Then we went to a conference called Transformed, which was led by the guys from Way of the Master radio and television: Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort and Todd Friel. Kirk Cameron is so cute. He looks almost the same as he did on Growing Pains, without all that ridiculous hair.

I have a lot to do today and am procrastinating way too much. I exercised and read my Bible first thing this morning, which always motivates me, but today it didn't work. My brain is fried from a crazy week and there's nothing Starbucks can do about it.

Working Till Seven!

I am at work right now for "Report Card Pick Up Night," which was someone's invention to replace parent teacher conference nights. It's pretty retarded, but it kind of makes sense, since it's impossible to have enough translators for all teachers in one night.

PTO was selling tostadas, rice and beans in the cafeteria. You should taste this Mexican food our PTO makes. It's incredible. I didn't buy any, though, because I spent $18.00 at McDonald's today. As a reward to two students (and myself) I bought Happy Meals and milkshakes for them for lunch. It was a good time.

I haven't eaten any fast food, at least from the big three (McD's, Wendy's, Burger King), in almost a year. I broke my record for some cold fries and a flat Coke. It just figures. At least my chocolate milkshake was good. I didn't know small milkshakes cost more than $2.00. That's kind of pricey for McDonald's, isn't it?

Back to Childhood

Now that John and I are super thrifty (we were already pretty thrifty before), we planned some very cheap meals this week. Guess where I got my ideas?

I thought back to my childhood...what did my mom feed me when she and my dad had a little kid? What did my aunt Cathy fix for dinner when she and Kent had just had their first baby? And so here is our menu for the week:

Soup and Grilled Cheese
I chose the Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup that comes in a box and probably has tons of MSG. But it was very cheap and it's one of my childhood favorites. No one makes grilled cheese like my mom. What in the world does she do to make it so good? I've never figured it out. We have to make our grilled cheese with wheat bread, which is definitely not nearly the same. But it'll do. And we don't use butter or Country Crock like she does. It's Smart Balance spread instead. We may need to eat cheap like our parents did, but we can make some healthier choices.

Spaghetti
My mom and grandmother got off really easy with this one, because it was always my favorite thing for dinner and practically the cheapest thing in the world to eat. We make it with no meat but get multigrain noodles with extra protein. Score.

Tater Tot Casserole and French Cut Green Beans
This was my favorite thing that Cathy made, and my uncle Kent would trick me into eating gallons of green beans. Since I have been pregnant, I suddenly can't stand fresh or frozen vegetables and can only muster eating vegetables from a can, which is repulsive to John and kind of makes me feel guilty now that I know how bad canned vegetables are. But, it's either canned veggies or none at all. I finally found a recipe for tator tot casserole because Cathy insists she doesn't really have a recipe. I need recipes. I can't just guess.

Totino's Pizza
Not a childhood favorite, but John's favorite cheap meal. These frozen pizzas cost $1.00. They were on sale this week for that price, but usually they're only 1.20 or something. Great deal. They taste like elephant ears with pizza toppings. Not the healthiest choice, but we're going for cheap here, folks. It may be a good idea for those of you that have starving teenage boys at home. :)

MY FAVORITE!
John hates tuna and is kind of appalled by my "Let's eat macaroni and cheese everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!" attitude lately. So, for lunch this week I am eating My Favorite. That's the title. I ate it for lunch all the time when I was little. It's Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with a can of mushroom soup and a can of tuna. It's good hot or cold or lukewarm and it's good for any meal, any snack, at any time of the day or night. It's the best food in the world.

If you have cheap meal suggestions for next week, please send them my way!

Baby Erdman: Future Olympic Swimmer

I'm at week 13 now and everyone said I should be feeling better and less tired. The good news is that I do feel much better, my brain seems to be functioning again, and I have more energy, but it only happens in spurts. My back has been hurting quite a bit, but I think that's more work related than pregnancy related.

We heard the heartbeat for the first time yesterday, which was really great and a big relief because we hadn't heard it two weeks ago when we were supposed to. It sounds ridiculous, but I was starting to wonder if I imagined the whole pregnancy thing. But no, there's really a BABY in there. I can't believe it.

Another very cool thing is that our baby has essentially everything right now. Now all it has to do is grow. But it looks very much like a baby. It can open its mouth and swallow amniotic fluid (gross). It can open and shut its eyes, suck its thumb, and John is pretty sure he or she is already practicing the breaststroke and butterfly. It can even pee!

Which really is making me sad that people have abortions at this stage. Seriously. If that isn't murder, I honestly don't know what could be. It's a perfectly innocent, beautiful baby. A miracle.

John and I are looking for several ways to save even more money than we already do--beginning with our grocery list. If you guys have any tips for finding good coupons, please share. We don't know where to find them or get them. For our baby shower we might just need Publix gift cards. Publix is our grocery store. :)

I don't think a Ramen Noodle diet would be very good for a breastfeeding baby...

Mood Swings Schood Schwings

This pregnancy hormone thing is awesome.

I have, in about two weeks time, learned how to speak up about how I feel and actually, ACTUALLY speak my mind.

I may now be on the bad side of an administrator at our school, but was awarded the Employee Recognition parking spot by my principal, who appreciated me stepping up for the good of the first grade team.

I may also be on the bad side of a pastor at our church, but feel good about sticking up for my freshmen girls that I love and cherish.

And in both situations, I know I was angry for good reasons and handled it exactly as I should have (though the sobbing uncontrollably could have been left out).

Here's to you, Amanda! You're becoming more like your mother every day!