Cravings

A lot of people have asked me if I have had any weird pregnancy cravings. Do I want pickles and ice cream? Do I make my husband run out in the middle of the night to the store for some random craving? I thought I wasn't really craving anything. Mainly I've just been hungry, like really hungry. Like I'm going to be ginormous by the end of this pregnancy if I keep feeding my never ending hunger.

But I realized I was having two major cravings.

The first is hot dogs. I've always liked hot dogs so this is not that surprising; but I rarely eat them because, well they are horrible for you and who know what's in them. But now, I'm averaging a hot dog a week. I love them. I obsess about them. I have to have them. I know they give me wicked heartburn and I don't even care. I get my hot dog and my tums and I'm a happy lady.



My second craving? Dancing. Yep, dancing. I want to go dancing sooooo bad. I love to dance. DJs, live bands, karaoke, show tunes, I don't care. If it has a beat I'll groove to it.

Here I am dancing at Pechanga Casino after Jader's wedding. I may look like a fool but I look happy.





The only problem is that it's kinda inappropriate for a big ol' pregnant lady to go shaking her groove thang at the local club. Plus, Brady isn't really the clubbing type. I also do not want to go to a club and be forced to watch all the little 21 year olds try to find something to go home with. Or maybe I do, that might be funny. So no going to a club to dance for me. I am going to a wedding in March, hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a little dance there. In the meantime, I'm going to get a hot dog.

Comforting

Is there any meal more comforting than grilled cheese and tomato soup? I don't think so. And yes, I dip my grilled cheese sandwiches in ketchup, it's amazing.



This meal was one of my favorites growing up and remains a favorite today. When I was in college I couldn't make a grilled cheese sandwich. My roommate Erin used to make them for me. When I lived with Annalise during law school, I still couldn't make one. So I would microwave bread and cheese and dip it in ketchup. Then Annalise and I would drink a bottle of wine. Then we would run out of wine and walk across to the street to the liquor store in our pajamas for more wine. Then we would yell at the t.v. And then we would be in bed by midnight because if you go to bed by midnight you won't be hungover. Then we would text each other all throughout the day about how much we love diet coke, how bad our headaches were, and who was picking up the wine on the way home.

I'm very proud to report that I now can make a real grilled cheese sandwich all by myself. Brady actually taught me. And I no longer guzzle wine at night. I do still yell at the t.v. though, some things never change.

A Small Improvement

Today was decidedly much better than yesterday. Although unlike yesterday, someone actually went to the hospital today. The emergency room in fact.

You see, Stephanie doesn't get along very well with cabinets.

She appears to be having fun in a cabinet here. She's all blond curls, smiles, and cuteness. But cabinets don't actually like her. In fact they wish to do her harm.

Today while at work, Stephanie hit her head so hard on a cabinet, her supervisor sent her to the emergency room. The emergency room. For bonking her head on a cabinet. Stephanie had been bent over looking for something and one of the kids (she works at a daycare center) yelled that she could see Stephanie's tattoo. So Steph snapped upright to pull up her jeans and smacked her head into a cabinet. See kids, tattoos are dangerous.

Now she has to stay up all night and do laundry in order to avoid falling asleep with her mild concussion.

Poor Stephie!

Worst. Day. Ever.

Today has been the Worst Day Ever. Ok, it could have been a lot worse. No one went to the hospital or faced financial ruin. But still, it was one of those days where every little thing makes you want to scream bloody murder. Normally, I would deal with one of these days by crawling into bed with a bottle of Chardonnay and a straw to watch crappy reality television. For obvious reasons, I need another way to vent my frustration, hence this blog.

First of all, today is Monday and I woke up late cursing the fact that it was Monday. And my house was really, really cold. That is never fun, having to wake up on a Monday to a freezing cold house. The morning progressed well enough until I got dressed for work. Getting dressed at four months pregnant is not fun. Everyday something new doesn't fit. Things are getting tighter and more uncomfortable. But I had a cute dress picked out, that still fits and is flattering. I pull on my black tights to go with my dress and notice that there is a big hole in the leg. Crap. That was the last pair of black tights that I have that fit. All I had left was a pair of brown tights, but I didn't have a cute brown dress to wear. So I begrudgingly put on the brown tights and a brown skirt. The skirt fit fine. It's sweaters that I have a problem with because of my ever growing, motherly chest. I settled on a sweater set and went to work looking like an Ann Taylor sausage.

I get in my car and realize I have zero gas. But I woke up super late so I have no choice but to drive to work on fumes and get gas on my way to my afternoon meeting. I drive to work getting emails on my blackberry the whole time from my boss to come talk to him when I get in. Great, now he is going to know just how late I am.

At work, I'm just frustrated and crabby. I was tired, I looked like a sausage, my tights were cutting off all oxygen flow, etc. In this crabby, frustrated state I start to think of all the little things Brady did over the weekend that pissed me off. Like not carrying the vacuum cleaner upstairs the second I asked him to. You know, important stuff. So I bombard Brady with bitchy text messages for a couple of hours. And, gasp!, he doesn't immediately respond. What the hell? What, is he working or something? How rude. This makes me even more crabby.

Then I heat up the leftovers I brought for lunch and they smell like feet and I can't eat them. And my apple slices were brown. Now I'm crabby, frustrated, and starving.

I go about my work and then suddenly realize that I need to haul ass out of my office so I can get gas and get to my meeting on time. I drive to the gas station and circle and circle and circle waiting for an open pump. I finally get one and realize I don't have my wallet with me. I had to switch my hot pink Coach purse to my neutral Louis Vuitton purse because I was wearing a red sweater. There was no way I was going to look like a sausage and carry a clashing purse. The gas light is on, so I pray that I make it to my meeting.

I go to my meeting and get into a huge yelling fight with opposing counsel. He was rude and I refused to back down. Funny thing was, back when I was in law school I interviewed for a position at his firm and got it. I turned it down because of his reputation for being an asshole. I clearly made the right decision.

My meeting ends and I head up, praying, begging, that I make it home without running out of gas. I get off of the freeway, I'm so close, and my car begins to slow down and jerk, then it starts to seize up. I'm running out of gas. I manage to get over to the right lane and turn down a side street before I completely run out of gas. Luckily, even though I didn't have any money on me, I randomly had my Triple A card. So I called and the tow truck comes. He informs me that there is a $7 charge for gas. I explain that I have no money because I left my wallet at home. Hello, if I had $7 I would have bought some freaking gas! He says he will give me a little bit. I barely get home, get my wallet and fill up my tank.

I'm finally home, eating a snack, wearing comfy clothes. I sit down at the computer to review the file for my meeting tomorrow and realize I have forgotten the important part of the file at my office. Ugh, I give up. I'm off to bed to watch reality t.v. and eat oreos. Oreos are no Chardonnay, but they will do.

Renewals

Today at church we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord so the homily was all about renewing your baptismal promises and recommitting yourself to the Church. I was baptized in the Catholic Church when I was 7 years old and have renewed my baptismal promises several times over the years (you do it at baptisms, when you are confirmed, at certain masses, etc.) I always try to pay attention to the promises that I am making to the Church, the rejection of evil, and such. But tonight I paid extra special attention and really affirmed my baptism with a special kind of gusto because it felt so much more important to do so while being pregnant. My faith has waxed and waned over the years, but I feel it is really important to raise my child in my faith and for myself to have a strong foundation in that faith if I am going to pass it down to my child. When my child is old enough to make educated decisions, I will allow him to choose his own path, but until then I consider it my job to lead him down the path of faith.

While I was sitting in church, thinking about renewals of promises, I started thinking about an episode of Real Housewives of Orange County. Ok, I know I was supposed to be concentrating and I swear I had been all along but this episode just randomly popped in my head. I am a good Catholic, not a perfect one! Anyways, in this episode Vicki and Don renew their wedding vows at this awesome beach location. So I started thinking about renewing my wedding vows with Brady. Not necessarily having a ceremony, but going away for a little romantic vacation before the baby comes to renew our promises to one another and have some fun.

When I got home from church, I asked Brady if we should go on a "babymoon." He said yes immediately! Today I reaffirmed my faith to my church and decided to renew my promises to my husband on a "babymoon." Now we just need to figure out somewhere to go. Not bad for a lazy Sunday. Oh and we went to Ikea and bought a bookcase today. Super productive.

Things I Heart

I heart my friends (note: there are some key people missing from this photo but it's pretty hard to get everyone in one spot at the same time. ) I have known these girls since U.C. Santa Barbara (note again: I met Raeanne after college but she went to UCSB too and she's such a kindred spirit I'm shocked I didn't know her in college.) I've been through lots with my girls, lots of fun, lots of craziness, lots of life changes. They are just the best.