Pregnancy has its privileges!

I'm late I know. :-) But where do I begin? In my last post, I revealed the gender of Baby G. In case you haven't kept track, I'll catch you up. We're having a boy! An already VERY active baby boy! If he is this active now, I can only imagine what he might be like when he gets of age to get into something :-) Thankfully I feel some sort of movement everyday. While it used to be just after I ate, on some days, he is busy ALL day long. What is he doing in there?? I wonder. And the stronger he gets it seems the more active he is - or maybe it is the fact that I am just able to feel him more. Who knows! :-).

At any rate, Baby G is doing well. We do have a name, though I am not quite ready to reveal it to the masses yet. I'll probably save it for a later post. If you ask me privately I'll tell you though. It's just some thing about putting it in print that I am not sure I am ready for just yet. But its coming. If you've talked to me personally since we found out the gender, then you probably already know the name. But I do plan to blog about it later on.

As for me, well I am definitely enjoying being pregnant. I told a friend on yesterday that if all pregnancies were all like this one (so far) I think I can handle it. :-) And being pregnant DEFINITELY has its privileges. I think after Baby G is born, I am going to get one of those pregnancy contraptions that the men can wear (so that they can identify.. yeah right) so that I can keep the perks coming! LOL. You might be laughing but if you've been pregnant, you know what I mean. Everyone wants to do EVERYTHING for you. What do you need? Here - I'll carry that. Would you like to go before me? Don't get up, I've got it. And it goes on and on and on and I LOVE IT - Who wouldn't??

I was traveling from IL back to Nashville a few weekends ago and the line for the ladies room at the gas station where we stopped was pretty long. Apparently there was some problem with another restroom that is usually operating. Well I had to "go", but it wasn't that bad. So I had moved up in the line until there was 1 before me to go and a stall had come available. "Would you like to go before me", the lady asked. "You look like you probably need to more than I do". At first I was taken aback thinking why would she think that?? And then I realized as I looked down at my arms folded over my little protruding belly. OHHH thats why! "Oh no thank you! I can wait. Thanks though!" I responded. Wow.. I thought - that was nice. When I got back in the car, I told my husband what happened and said "I could really get used to this!" LOL

But the one that I enjoyed the most recently was at Cracker Barrel on Sunday. I like CB alot and enjoy it as regularly as I can. :-) It's like home cooking without me doing it. But as we all know CB on a Sunday mid morning is CROWDED. And this was the SECOND one we went to (what can I say, I had a taste for Cracker Barrel). Ok so to set up the scene -it's about 11:00am and its HOT outside. So NO, I was not going to be rocking in nobody's rocking chair today. Apparently everyone had the same idea because the waiting area was packed. Which is not hard to do considering CB has filled every piece of empty space where a person doesn't stand with knicknacks and miscellaneous items to lure you in. But I digress. Anyway, the wait was only supposed to be 15 - 20 minutes so I figured we could wait and I could stand... in my low heels... so I thought. I was doing well, keeping myself preoccupied with people watching and strolls down memory lane (we were standing next to the 'old school' candy and soda stand), when I realized that 15 min had come and LONG gone and we were still waiting. I had just told Ezra that I was about to create a seat on the soda box that was beneath me (I had already checked for it's sturdiness - LOL). Then the Customer service manager came up to me and said "Would you like a seat?" "Well Yes ma'am! If you don't mind, I sure would" I responded. "That is no problem at all", she said. So she goes into the dining area and grabs a seat and brings it back to me, as everyone looks to see where the chair is going. "Thank you SOO much!!", I said. "Oh no problem at all. Would you like a biscuit also, maybe some water?? I know how it can be." A biscuit??? Some water??? Ooooo Lady, you are making this too good for me. But I declined. The seat was great and I would be eating soon enough. :-) So now I am sitting (thankfully) and Ezra had gone to check on the wait again. While he was gone, an elderly man came by and chatted me up about how crowed it was. We laughed a bit and he was off (he had already eaten). But then another older lady came by (I was starting to get nervous that these elderly people would be jocking for my seat - HAHA. I would have given it up. My mother taught me well). The lady though leaned down and whispered something to the effect of "It's nice being pregnant now, isn't it" I laughed heartily and said "yes it is!" Yes, it is.

Yes - Pregnancy has its privileges and great for me, I still have about 4 more months to enjoy these perks!! :-)

Until next time.....
Marcia

The Last Airbender

As promised, this is a special edition of the Baby G Chronicles! :-) If you have been following the posts, you already know Baby G's gender from the title! Yes, my friends, I lost the bet and we are having a BOY! :-)

I had originally written this up at about 11:00am - right after my appointment. But my computer died on me and I lost everything. So instead of the lengthy response I had before, you'll get the quick and dirty version.

Yes Baby Boy G is ALL Boy! We saw proof :-) He moved around SO much that the Ultrasound Tech said "he thinks he must have somewhere to go". Every since I felt recognized his movement, I told Ezra that he was a "mover". Well today he was everywhere, flipping and all. She even showed us once where he was "standing" on this head. A busy body already!! He will definitely keep us young - chasing after him! :-)

But now that that part is over - I am relieved. I will have to use another post to tell you how I kinda knew deep down inside that it was a boy - just from some things that happened to me over the past few years, but I was still hoping for a girl. I am VERY happy though. Everything looked good and that was really all I needed to hear.

Until then, on to the next phase - SHOPPING!! Oh and I guess I need to check the local movie listings to find out the next showing of the Last Airbender. I am not a sore loser. I pay my dues.. Plus I get to eat movie popcorn which I love. So I guess this is a win-win for everyone. 1 Big Man, 2 Little men and me. Is this the "prequel" to my life's movie??? LOL

Later!
Marcia

Movement in the strangest places

The day was Thursday, July 8th and the time is around 12:00 noon. The day was a preparation day. I had just come back from Augusta on Monday and spent the next two days working through a laundry list of activities to complete before we headed out of town again on Friday. I was mostly done with my list. Thursday was going to be relatively light which I was happy about. I just needed to do a few more things - one of which was to get my hair cut for the trip. I like to keep it shaped up and looking nice - especially for a business trip. I had an appointment for 11:30am.

I was running a little late but I got there around 11:40am. No worries, because I knew I would have to wait a bit anyway. There was someone in the chair before me and another guy waiting. The guy waiting was holding the CUTEST little baby girl! She was a little "chunky" baby with a head FULL of curly black hair. She actually belonged to the guy who was already in the chair. She was a sweet as she can be. She didn't notice me until he was getting ready to go and was putting her back in the car seat. She had to be about 5 months old I guess. Her car seat was close to me and that is when she noticed me. She put on the sweetest smile. I thought "surely, I'm having a girl - after all this HAS to be a sign right???" LOL. The father noticed that I too was expecting an asked me when I was due and I told him. Even once he put the baby in the seat, she would look back up at me. See, she's staring at me - that's proof... LOL Anyway, her name was London - which I thought was very pretty and seemed to fit her. They packed up and were off.

I waited a little longer until my turn and when it was time, I was called to the barber chair. I took my sat and settled myself as my barber finished up his conversation with the last client. He had turned on some music and I sitting waiting patiently when I felt IT. THUMP! WOHHHHHH What was that??? Was that what I think it was??? BUMP! BUMP! EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK That IS what I think it is!!!! I finally feel it moving AND I AM IN THE BARBERSHOP!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????? LOLOLOL.

I always thought when that magical moment happened, I would be at home or in my car, or just somewhere else actually. Never did I think, it would be the barbershop of all places. But I didn't let on that anything happened. I just sat there with a goofy smile on my face thinking - "I'm finally feeling my baby move.. HOW SUPER COOL!!!! :-)

So how did it feel to me??? . Butterflies - NO (Who has ever had actual butterflies in their stomach????) Popcorn popping - NO (I read this on BabyCenter.com and thought unless you are a bag of popcorn, how would you know how that felt????) No, it felt like it was supposed to feel - like there is something MOVING inside of you. I knew exactly what it was when I felt it and have loved feeling it every since!

It was SOOO very exciting though! A day I will never forget for various reasons - (location being one of them :-)) And I love feeling it every day which seems to be when I am sitting still, right after I eat AND when music is playing. I noticed that over the weekend. We don't play much music in the house and I mostly listen to Talk radio when I am in the car - so maybe it may have happened long ago - if I were playing the right tunes.. LOL. But from Thursday through the weekend- there seemed to have been a pattern that many times music was playing - he or she was getting their "groove on"in there. I don't know - maybe I am carrying the next great music star!!

Speaking of He or She - Don't forget Thursday, July 15th is the day we find out!! I might cheat a little and do the blog that day or maybe I will make you wait until Sunday :-). Ezra and I have a friendly wager going. If it's a girl ( my thought), he has to go see Toy Story 3. I figure its only preparing him for things to come. :-). If it's a boy (his thought), I have to go see The Last Airbender with him and my nephews. I guess this one is preparing ME. LOL

Until Thursday!
Marcia

There is no place like HOME

A trip to the old stomping grounds proves you can go home again

Whoever said "You can always go home" was absolutely right! At least for me they were right. I'm a little late on my post because I was actually out of town on Sunday. I ventured down to Augusta, GA - my hometown - for the July 4th holiday. It was good to be home. I slept in my old bed (well not completely but it is in my old room and in the same spot as my old bed - you get the idea :-)). All was going well until it was clear that I wasn't 10 anymore and Baby G would require a little more space for tossing and turning. I ate some GOOD food - grits, eggs and sausage and toast for breakfast one day, a shrimp omelet on another. BBQ ribs, BBQ Chicken, squash puffs, shrimp and wild rice, cold slaw, collard greens, baked beans and a homemade peach cobbler (read it and weep :-)) to top it all off. Yes, Yes, Yes, it was SO good to be home.

Not only did I eat well, I spent some nice QT with the folks. My folks are tickled pink that I am having a baby. Mom just kept giggling. Dad snapped a picture with his phone as soon as I walked in. Baby Girl is having her own baby. I think they are probably as shocked as I still am LOL. But it is all good. :-)

While there I started to reminisce of my own childhood. The games we played in the yard, the friends I had growing up. Everything seems so much smaller now - but I know that is only because I am bigger! We rode by my grandmother's house (Dad's mom), which had been torn down completely. It is just brush and weeds there now but ohhhh what memories we had from that house. It was sad to see that it was just an empty lot. I will just point to where it used to be for my children, but I can definitely fill them with great stories about our time at Grandma's house. It was really the only way to get me out of bed on Saturday morning - literally. We also went to my other grandmother's house (mom's mom) which we are trying to rent out. Many great memories still came flooding back again. Yep! It was good to be home.


Thanks to Mom and Dad, I have my first two baby items. Never did it become so apparent that I am really having a child than when packing up the playpen and the "cadillac" (3-wheel walking stroller) as my parents call it. This time I wasn't taking this to my house to hold it for my sister (who has the kids in the family) or to give it to one of my friends. No, this playpen and cadillac were going to my house and staying... SAY WHAT?????? LOL Yes, they were staying. Now THAT started to make it real for me! Ezra took it out of the car on Tuesday morning and put it in the office for now. Tux (my pooch) went immediately to it to sniff it out. Yes Tuxy, it's staying and so is this person growing in my tummy. But how he will adjust is for a later post.

Yes, Home is definitely where the heart is - Home in Augusta and Home in Nashville. It was good to go home and it was good to come back. November will be here soon enough, when Mom and Dad will come to stay for a spell to prepare for Baby G's arrival.

Until then, as it all settles in that I will soon be a mother myself, I'll let the time with my parents linger with me, creating exciting thoughts of my child who will create their own fond memories with my parents. I only pray that I will instill in them the values that my parents instilled in me - one of which is the fact that yes, you can always go home!


Marcia