Can you tell we are tired?

When things settled down from moving and Anthony's graduation, Anthony and I realized that we still needed to get Christmas gifts for each other. At first, we both couldn't think of anything that we wanted (aside from time off and and some sleep). We ( read: Anthony) has a bad track record with picking out gifts, so things usually aren't a surprise when we get gifts for each other. This year, Anthony let me know that he planned a surprise for me and that it was going to be good!! He meant to give it to me himself on Christmas Eve, but it actually came in the mail today and it looked like junk mail, so I opened it to make sure before I threw it away (!) Oops.

What did he get me? A gift certificate for an hour long massage in my home from a massage therapist that specializes in pregnancy massages!!!!!

What did I get him? A Homemedics Shiatsu massaging cushion with adjustable rollers and optional heat:


Can you tell that we are a little tuckered out?

Pregnancy Journal: 30 Weeks

I feel like someone has sprinkled miracle grow over my stomach! I am starting to feel big, although everyone still tells me that I don't look that big (which I appreciate and don't mind hearing!). All of the little day to day things that I never used to think about are starting to get...difficult. Things like bending over to pick up something off of the floor, for example. I used to just reach down and grab it up. Now, I take a deep breath and usually say something like "Dang it!!", like something really horrible happened, then I look for something to hold on to and then I squat down and pick it up as quickly as I can, but I usually still feel like I did it in slow-mo.

Speaking of slow-mo, I definitely am starting to feel sluggish. All I want to do is lay around and not move. Just thinking about small things (getting out of bed, walking to the bathroom, walking to the kitchen. etc...) can make me exhausted. Unfortunately, laying around still isn't the most comfortable thing in the world. On the bright side, I figured out how to sleep without getting bad back pain and hip pain!! I realized that not having enough support for my lower back was the culprit and as soon as I added another pillow underneath my back to my growing pillow nest I have been sleeping really well.

Funny pregnancy story: A couple of nights ago, the baby was really active, even more so than usual. I remember thinking he must be trying to do somersaults or something in there! I'm so used to it, that after adjusting myself in bed I went right to sleep. Anthony usually has his hand on my belly when we go to sleep and apparently after I feel asleep the baby was moving like crazy! Anthony was amazed at what was happening and thought it was so fascinating that he couldn't get to sleep because he wanted to see what the little guy would do next. Anthony told me later that he still can't believe that I slept through it :)

5 Years Ago Today

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary!! I can't believe that we have been married for 5 years already, it feels like yesterday. As I look back on that day, I am amazed at how happy I was without understanding how much it would only get better. Truly, each year I feel more and more in love with my wonderful husband and it makes me excited to think about what our life and relationship will be like when we have been married for 50 years!

Some of the things I love about my husband:

• He still gets excited to see me whenever we have been apart (like when I come home after being at work all day). After so much time together, we still prefer each other's company to anyone else's. When we are at home, Anthony will try to take whatever project he is working on into whatever room I am in so that we can be together. No living on separate sides of the house for us!


• He tells me how cute I am, how beautiful I am, how smart I am, etc.... almost every day! Every time he says it, it is so sincere, like he is still amazed that he gets to be with me and it makes me feel treasured.


• I have never heard him talk about, comment on, or even look at other women. Even celebrities! (Unless he is agreeing with me on something. And even then, I don't think he is really looking. I'm pretty sure he is just humoring me :)

So Happy Anniversary to us! I am happy that we had such a wonderful 5 years of just us in our little family and really excited to add to our family before our next anniversary. With both of us finally out of school, Anthony getting ready to start his new career, and both of us getting ready to be parents I really feel like we are moving into a new and exciting phase of our lives. We are so blessed!!

My Belly

Here are my most recent belly pictures, side by side. See how much this kid is growing???

Books and Food, What else do you need?

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I have started contributing to a new blog:

Cooking and Reading-The Perfect Combination

Me and three other gals will be posting regular book reviews of what we are reading and trying to share the best of the best of our healthy (or not so healthy but delicious) recipes. I will posting under the name "Gingerrose", so please add us to your favorites or subscribe to the blog through your reader if you are interested! So far it has been really fun and I already have a new recipe to try out this weekend :)

He Graduated!!

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anthony graduated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ignore the "Athletics" sign in the background, it will be photoshopped out eventually :)

Anthony was listening to the baby go: "Go Dad!!! Good job on graduating!!!!"

And of course, there had to be cookie cake:

Go Ant-Dawg, we knew you could do it!

Pregnancy Journal: 28 weeks

You get a two for one in this picture: a picture of my 28 1/2 weeks belly and a small sample of one of our new bathrooms in our new apartment! Isn't it big?? :)

I had my 28 week doctor's appointment yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised. I feel like my belly has grown so much in the past month that I was certain that I put on a lot of weight! Luckily, I only gained a few pounds so I feel very relieved and I feel much better about the upcoming holidays (since I know I will be eating A LOT of yummy food).

The heartburn has been getting better. I think it is a combination of changing my eating habits and the baby shifting a little lower and taking some pressure off of my stomach. I definitely feel like I have gotten some more eating room in there recently :) Of course, with the heartburn easing up comes a new pain: horrible pain in my hips and lower back at the end of the day and when I lay down. I've been trying out different stretches and sleeping positions to find what works and it has gotten a little bit better. I must say, sleeping has become a very complicated process. I have a wedge pillow that goes under my torso to keep me elevated for the heartburn, a regular pillow on top of that, a pillow between my knees, and a pillow in front of me to hug and rest my belly on. I really need to get a body pillow, but the super walmart near our new place doesn't have one! Any suggestions on where to get one would be greatly appreciated :)

The Finals Week Curse

I have started to think that Anthony and I are cursed somehow: we always end up having crazy things happen to us and crazy amounts of stress right around finals week (which is seriously the busiest time for work for me). Last semester Anthony's car got stolen, I had two migraines back to back, and my car died on I-75 in the middle of the night the day before finals started (remember? crazy!).

Of course, this semester tops it all! Last Monday our apartment got broken into while I was at work and Anthony was fishing!! Luckily our upstairs neighbor was home and was able to scare them away, but they had time to steal our laptop. Since our alarm was going off (we put one of those noise maker alarms on our doors) and the front door was wide open, the office maintenance people came and relocked our door for us and shut off the alarm. And then left. Without leaving a note, calling the police, or calling me. They did leave a message on Anthony's phone, but he didn't even get it until after I got home at 6PM. What if the thieves had come back and were waiting for me inside????

When Anthony got home we called the police and an officer came out to take a report. He saw our television and all of our electronics and told us straight out that they would be back to take the rest of it, it was just a matter of when. He also told us that the crime in the area was getting really, really, really, bad and even he suggested that we move if we wanted to keep our things. At this point, I wasn't even willing to sleep in the house, much less live there for the next three months! So, we took our valuables over to friends house that night so that they wouldn't get stolen and I started looking for a new apartment pronto.

As a result of all that, I ended up finding a place that had an apartment available and we spent the entire week checking out the area and then filling out the paperwork. Monday we made the decision to leave and Friday we had keys to our new place! Saturday was the big moving day and it was pretty grueling. I was soooooooo grateful for our family and friends that were able to come and help, especially since it was such short notice. Plus, this 7 month pregnant lady over here can't really carry anything and tires easily, so I felt really helpless!

Now, we just have a few rooms left to unpack and some decorating to do and we will be settled into our new place. We really love the complex and the area and Anthony is beyond happy to actually have a garage now for his boat and kayaks. Our dogs are getting used to going up and down the stairs in order to do their business (we are in a 2nd story apartment) and best of all, I have my own washer and dryer now. No more laundromat!! It is kind of surreal that last week I was living in one place and this week my home is completely different.

Anthony is graduating on Saturday, 3 more days!!! After that, finals will be over and hopefully we will have more time to breathe. Plus, I seriously need to take some more belly pictures. This baby is getting huge!!