46

For the last few years I have been a part of a Wednesday morning women's Bible study hosted by our church. It's been a great social and personal time for me. This fall I gulped and cringed as I signed up for the class on the book of Titus. The reason for the gulping and cringing was that the main point of this class was to memorize the entire book. Fortunately it is a short book as far as books of the Bible go, a mere 46 verses. But me and memory haven't gone along lately, hence my terror. I have lists and notes for myself and my calendar has absolutely everything we do on it and I still miss things!

WHAT WAS I THINKING?!!!

I haven't done any real memorizing since trying to cram my head full of useless knowledge for college classes and that was basically crap in, crap out. Honestly, I never have done much in the way of Bible memorization, even as a kid. As I walked into the class for the first time, I was scared.
It turned out to be a great challenge for me. I was relieved to discover that my memory does work but requires a lot of repetition and effort. I have pretty much made it through committing the entire book to my memory. The last six verses need a little more work but I can basically stumble through all 46and I must brag a little and say that I feel very accomplished. Will I remember it past the next couple of weeks? Probably not, especially word for word, but basic ideas will always be with me.

BJ

Mmmmm, pretty - no?
I'm not usually one to swoon over celebrities but I just can't help myself with Jon Bon. Especially when he smiles. And being a music buff that grew up in the 80's I love his voice, the guy can sing!
Trevor and I went to see him in concert two and half-years ago when Sierra was a mere month old. That concert was my motivation for learning to pump my breast milk and ensuring that she would not suck solely from me but also a bottle. The concert was in a city 2 1/2 hours away and not a good scenario for nursing! I was successful on both accounts and with the exception of exploding breasts by the end of the concert and adventures in trying to pump discretely in the car while driving through a brightly lit city I thoroughly enjoyed his show. And his smile.
Guess what?
He is coming again!
I have to go.
Trevor has gotten me into concert going during our 11+ year marriage and 90% of them are for band/groups that he has gotten me into. Not this one, Jon Bon is all mine and one of the few concerts that I really, really, really want to go to.
But there's a problem.
Tickets are of the astronomical price range and seeing as we are a tad tight in that area now....I need to be innovative.
I have to go.
Anyone know of a way to score some freebies...or a fantastic deal at the very least?

C is for...

I had a prenatal check up today and my mind is a bit awhirl. You see, I have not one but two joyous conditions that will create a challenge for a natural delivery.
First of all, five years ago I learned that my uterus thought it would be a good idea to grow these masses called fibroids. Fibroids are nothing more than nuisances made up of uterine tissue. When they are large enough they can put pressure in the wrong places and provide one with wonderful discomforts such as constipation and extra nasty menstrual cycles. Large ones often result in eventual hysterectomies for their hostesses. Although I have two rather large fibroids they have not really been a problem for me - until now. One of those lovely suckers has positioned itself to nearly block my cervix. Translation: no room for baby to pass through. I was told that there is a chance it could move as baby grows and moves.

Second, this baby has decided that breech is a comfortable position. These days they pretty much don't even give the mother the option of a natural delivery. As with condition number one, I was told things could change and baby could do a flip.

Two for two on what "could happen"?
My doctor isn't very optimistic.
Therefore: C-Section.

I will be seeing a specialist at the end of December but for now I was encouraged to get my head into that very real possibility.
Is is my preferred method of delivery?
No.
Do I want as risk free as possible delivery for myself and baby?
Yes.
Am I terrified of the recovery along with having a newborn and 2 1/2 year old?
Yes.

At least it is completely out of my control. It is what it is and I'm thankful for the health care system and professionals we have and I will deal with it.

Finished?

Well, not quite finished because there are no shrubs or anything in the flower beds but here is finally a picture of our house with grass, a tree, and the front rock complete. Slowly but surely!

25 weeks in this picture, although I am now 26 weeks.
I routinely go between feeling as large as a whale and not able to imagine where three more months are going to fit to feeling not so bad and maybe even a little cute occasionally.
Would you believe that I actually had a female customer at work tell me I looked as pregnant as her full term daughter? I nearly fell of my chair because I'd seen her daughter the day before and there is NO WAY I am close to as big as she was. What really gets me is the absolute nerve of strangers to comment on the size of a pregnant lady. What gives them the right? They wouldn't say anything if I was simply overweight now would they? It's all I can do to bite my tongue with these people.
Other than than my size insecurities I feel....pregnant.
Moody, not myself, awkward, sore hips, low energy and enthusiasm, unattractive...yada, yada, yada. Not every day is like this but many are and it's hard. My weight gain has been moderate, however I've had to stop running and I still eat too much crap so we'll see how long that lasts. While there is no chance I would trade the blessing of being pregnant for the alternative it certainly isn't easy on me.

As a side note: I've decided that I need to improve my blogging skills. I've been rather sporatic lately and feel boring and I want to change that. I'm going to try and post every other day or so and see if I can get the old brain and writing skills moving again. Happy reading!

Green Tongues and Ballerinas

Dressed up as a ballerina and ready to go Trick-or-Treating. The fuzzy pink headband thing? Don't ask, my mom bought it for her and she likes wearing it, it really has nothing to do with the rest of the costume! She absolutely loved going to the different houses for candy. She made Halloween fun for us where as in the past we've just hid with the lights off or gone out. Certain things are really different through the eyes of a child - this is one.

Enjoying her loot from last night and thinking her green tongue was the neatest thing ever!