31 weeks!

It's amazing to think I'm 31 weeks along now! There is so much that I am thankful for. This pregnancy has been a miracle and amazingly hasn't been all together that miserable. Mostly, it's been wonderful. After my complicated and difficult pregnancy with Carter I didn't think any pregnancy could be tolerable. I'm so happy that I can't remember the last time I lost my lunch and the biggest pain has been feeling very tired. Even my leg muscle cramps are not as bad as they were with Carter. I must admit though I'm pretty nervous about labor and delivery. Nervous about how it will happen (since with carter I was induced and never had to worry about how close the contractions were, when to leave for the hospital, etc). With Carter I had to be induced because of high blood pressure (preeclampsia) but with this pregnancy my blood pressure has been low (110/70) ish so I don't think I will need to be induced and since there are more risks associated with being induced I will not do it unless I need to.

Yesterday was pretty good as far as getting stuff at garage sales. We got a School of Rock dvd that has every song from the series (score!) and a couple Land Before Time computer games, a few video games, a table and chair set to sell, a shelf with lined baskets for Cricket's stuff, a new Geronimo book that I immediately gave Carter since he absolutely is obsessed with the series, some American Girl Samantha books, box set of junie b's, a magic treehouse book, and a ton of glass bottles (another big score). All the games and most of the books we've hidden away for Christmas. Obviously, Carter won't notice that they are used and it's a much better use of money since we can get great stuff for a lower price. We keep stashing stuff away to save for Carter's Christmas and I love the fact that I won't be stressed trying to do Christmas shopping and that we won't have those infamous Christmas bills everyone talks about. Besides, Carter scores a lot of stuff from grandparents so we don't feel the need to go crazy with presents. Matt and I don't exchange presents because it just seems silly. We both get presents from our parents and we really try to not accumulate "stuff." No reason to just go out and buy something just to have a gift to give. If there is something we really want we save up and get it when we want. For instance, I'm really looking forward to buying wii fit next month so that I'll have it for after Cricket is born. I read some stuff about it and there's all kinds of activities even including yoga and you can customize it to your level. That'll definitely help get some baby weight off when it's winter and we're stuck inside.

Before the snow falls I am seriously looking forward to walking to pick Carter up from school everyday. We really enjoyed the days when we walked last year and wish it were more but it was complicated by my work schedule. This year I won't have that problem. The walks home were so perfect because we took our time and had time to really talk. There wasn't the distractions of home like homework, toys, friends, etc. It was just time for us to talk about what happened at school and all about the nature we were looking at and whatever else Carter wanted to talk about. It was great for us and I'm really looking forward to having those walks again and pushing my stroller along the way! I'm really excited about my stroller. I have this thing where when I see something I want I'll invest a bunch of time looking for the best deal so that I can have it without having the guilt. I decided that I had to have the Peg Perego Venezia stroller. It's pram style with a reversible bar so you can push with the baby facing you or facing forward. It has like a zillion features. I scoured all the websites until I found one at a reasonably price in Beverly Hills of all places! My brother works in downtown LA (currently at TV Guide right across from Manns Chinese Theatre) and he went and picked it up for me on his way home from work on day. Then to make things even sweeter, his wife told me not to pay them back that it was their baby present to me! SCORE!!!! So anyway, it is the stroller of my dreams and is going to make the walks very nice. It even has a winter boot to keep the baby warm on those colder, crisper days.

So Friday we left for PC very early to help with mil's garage sale. We got there at 10:30 and started setting up, pricing things, matt put up signs, etc. We slept over and since I was on the couch in the living room I was up at first light which had brought the first customers (6:15am I believe). At 7:30-10:30 we went out garage saleing and left the sales up to a niece and my in- laws. Returned to help out a bit and then left. It was a chaotic 26 hours but overall it worked out since a lot of the items sold. The biggest accomplishment was getting this 9 foot steel basketball arcade machine out of their garage. It required 2 dollies in fact. It had been in there since the 80's I believe and was taking up an enormous amount of space and wasn't being used since the area in front and to the sides had been piled up with other stuff that my brother in laws who live in the home dumped there. Not only did the machine come out of the garage but some person who was clearly not in their right mind actually bought it! LOL I think everyone would have paid to have it hauled away. Anyway, I felt like I had helped and mil says that she is motivated to get everything out of the house and only put back what she wants. As she says, she will be basically moving back into her house, reclaiming it. I hope it works out for her though having 2 adult kids still at home could put quite a wrench into the plan without laying down specific boundaries, expectations, etc. Oh well. I did come home very tired due to not sleeping well at all and with a headache from all the chaos and noise that comes with Carter having so many cousins. As maybe only some of you know, I come from a very small family and wasn't raised around many kids. My aunts and uncles are older than my mom so my cousins were in their late teens or married with kids already when I was still a child. The result was that I am definitely not used to a lot of people in a house and completely overwhelmed by lots of talking. It makes me feel completely unsteady and annoyed actually. Even in college I was known to find a corner and read a book or fall asleep at a party. Large gatherings are just not my thing. I probably come across as annoyed or mad or something at Matt's family get togethers. I usually am not (though admittedly sometimes I am depending on a host of variables) . It's usually just that I am uncomfortable and trying my best to acclimate. When Matt and I first got married he would talk about how quiet our house was. I had never noticed. That to me was normal. No noise to him was eerie. For me, it's comfort. It's interesting trying to mesh 2 different upbringings and 2 persons ideas of what is comfortable. I hadn't ever really thought of it before. I feel like I'm still recovering actually. Just taking it very easy today. Finished off some squash that was delicious but I really am craving a chocolate banana shake. It's really too bad it's Sunday. If not I'd already have it in my hand.