Getting Ready

Right now I am washing baby clothes. Tiny little clothes and socks that barely take up a quarter of my washing machine. Tomorrow I will be 36 weeks pregnant aka 9 months pregnant. It is so surreal that I am in the final mode of preparation for Baby Brady. I know my life is about to change dramatically but it is such a weird feeling to not know how that change is going to affect me, Brady, and the bullies. There are so many unknowns right now and, of course, that drives me crazy!

I just want to meet little Baby Brady already, I want to see if he looks like me or Brady, I want to bring him home and introduce him to the bullies. I want our life as a family to start! And I'm sick of being pregnant. I feel guilty for saying this because I have been so blessed with an easy pregnancy. But I feel huge, my back hurts, I want a glass of wine, I want to sleep on my stomach, and I want to wear my regular clothes again. And I'm getting sick of the unsolicited pregnancy advice and the "you look like your about to have that baby any second now!" I have four more weeks people!

And in a weird way, I want to get my maternity leave over with and go back to work. Not that I'm excited about leaving my baby early but I'm so nervous about how being a working mom is going to work logistically, I just want to do it so I can relax and know that it is doable. Of course, first I need a baby, and to take my maternity leave, so the working mom thing will have to wait. In the meantime, I am going to read all they baby books I keep buying and continue to watch youtube videos on how to swaddle a baby and such.

I'm Back

And I'm back, back to blogging at least. I had to take a temporary hiatus while my computer wasn't functioning. I finally took it to Best Buy today and the guy fixed it in like two seconds and didn't charge me anything! I think he was taking pity on the poor pregnant lady who screwed up her computer by trying to download some update.

So, you haven't missed much since I last posted. Work has been keeping me busy, same with prepping for Baby Brady. I'm 35 weeks today, only 35 more days to go! I'm starting to look and feel huge. Please note, in this picture I am not wearing a maternity dress. I might be huge but I can still squeeze myself into non-maternity clothes. I'll pass on telling you what size the dress is and why is my face so red?



I am just about done with Baby Brady's nursery and here it is. It is a jungle/lion theme. I feel like I didn't really keep the theme going throughout the room but I think its pretty cute. I still have a few more things I want to do and I'm waiting for some kind of inspiration for a great idea to really finish the room. I feel like it still needs something more.



Here is his crib and the wonderful letters by Breanne at Artzy Alphabets.



Here is the dresser/changing table. Obviously I still need a changing pad. After my shower on Saturday, I plan on hitting Babies r Us with a vengence and buying every little last thing I need.



Here is Frank, waiting patiently for his new best friend. He's sick of that brat Mickey, she's always stealing his toys.

Baby Brady's bookcase. How cute are The Lion King animals? A very lovely gift from a very lovely cousin. Please note the Petunia Picklebottom diaper bag on the door handle. Another lovely gift from more lovely cousins (and these cousins are sisters, lovely gift giving must be genetic).

My newest obsession is buying baby clothes. But they have to be on sale. I have yet to pay full price for any baby clothes. And baby clothes are so cheap! They are way cheaper than grown up clothes! You can buy so much for so little. I love it. I'm styling Baby Brady's wardrobe to be basically a mini-version of Brady. Except Brady isn't allowed to wear jean shorts. Baby Brady can, Big Brady cannot. Although Big Brady assures me that he rocked the jean shorts in junior high. Um yeah, we'll just leave those in the past.

So that's what I've been up to. I'll refrain on updating you about what I've been doing at work, you know that whole attorney-client confidentiality thing. Although I will say that at a meeting last week, I was complimented for being pregnant and still running around in heels. Yep, I'm almost nine months pregnant and still rocking the heels. I think they really elongate my legs and minimize my rotund shape.

Such A Brat

Today was one of those days. A no good, very bad day. It all started with me snagging my super cute polka dot tights. The second pair of super cute polka dot tights that I have purchased because I snagged the first pair. It seems that my bad days always start with snagged tights or a run in my nylons. The next time this happens I'm going to take the hint and go back to bed until the day is over.

I'm not going to go into the details of why my day was so bad because it was kind of personal but if you are dying to know you can always just ask me and I'll probably tell you because I tend to overshare like that. Anyways, this post is not so much about what made my day bad but more about how I handled the bad day.

I tried to do lots of little things to make myself feel better. I ate some cookies. I went to Chick-fil-A just to get a lemonade. I complained to my husband and my sister. But I still felt myself spiraling into the whiny, bratty, "why me?" "Why is life so hard?" "It's not fair." "Why can't things be easy like they are for everyone else?"

I hate this whiny, bratty version of myself. I realize that we all need to whine at some point but I hate when the whininess turns into comparing myself to others and deciding that everyone else has things easier than me and why does everything have to be so hard for me? I hate this attitude because deep down I know that everyone does not have it easier than me. I know sometimes it seems like people have things easier but, in reality, everyone is fighting their own battles and everyone has things that are hard in their lives. And it does no good for me to compare myself to other people. It doesn't make me feel good, it doesn't accomplish anything, it isn't productive. It's a waste of time.

When I got home today, I discussed the cause of my bad day with my husband. I laid out the best case scenario, the worst case scenario, pros, cons, and options I could consider. Now that is how to handle bad news. That is productive. I felt better after that conversation. Much, much better than just being a whiny brat about things.

So while I am annoyed that I spent a lot of my day wallowing in self-pity, I'm glad that I recognize that this is not a positive attitude and have tackled the problem with a new attitude. Also, enjoying a dinner of all-can-eat sushi with your best girlfriends and topping that off with a fudge brownie helps the situation as well.

Staring Contest

All weekend long Mickey stood at the door of the nursery, staring into the room. She would stand completely rigid and not move an inch when you called her name. She would not leave that doorway. But why is she staring so intently? Is she that excited for the arrival of her human baby brother?



No, she knows that these are in the room. Stuffed animals and lots of them. And she wants them, she wants them bad.

I had my baby shower this past weekend and received many wonderful stuffed animals. I made the mistake of letting Mickey see them. I put them inside the crib where she couldn't see them. But she still knows that they are there. So she stands and stares, hoping someone is going to give him a delicious stuffed animal to destroy. She's going to be staring a long, long time.

I'm So Weak

I was laying on the couch, right where those pillows are, until the bullies jumped up and kicked me off.



And this is right after I had a long talk with Brady about how the dogs are not allowed on our couch anymore because they are ruining it with their dogness. And here they are, in my spot, using my blankets, completely passed out. I am such a pushover.

A Reflection

Tonight in Stephanie's confirmation class we talked about what the Holy Spirit is and how we see it in our lives. According to Galatians 5:22-23, the Holy Spirit is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." We talked about what aspects of the Holy Spirit we saw in our lives and what we needed to work on.

Whether or not you believe in the Holy Spirit, the above traits are good ones to have in your life and I'm sure we can all stand to work on some of these traits.

Sidebar: I got called on in the class to read from the Bible and share my thoughts and I turned bright, bright tomato red. I do not know why I turn so bright red when I get called on, it's embarrassing. I mean, I'm a lawyer, I talk in front of people for a living and yet I can't read two lines without gallons of blood rushing to my face.

Ok, back to my original thought, here is my breakdown of the above-described traits, the ones I see in my life and the ones I need to work on. Call them traits of the Holy Spirit, traits of a happy life, important traits, whatever you want:

Love: I've got a lot of this in my life. I love my husband, my family (even though they drive me consistently crazy), my bullies, Baby Brady, my friends, my job, the $1.99 piece of carrot cake I got from Albertsons, my maternity yoga pants. I love lots of things in my life. I think the thing that I would need to work on is making sure all my loved ones know that I love them.

Joy: I am very joyful about being pregnant. Even though my back hurts and my heartburn is about to sear a hole in my chest, this is a very joyous occasion. I think with joy it is important to remember to find the joy in the little things in life when you are having a bad day. That is what I need to work on.

Peace: This is one that needs work. I often question my decisions even when I know I am making the best, informed decision I can make. I need to find peace with my decisions and trust myself.

Patience: Ok, this one needs a lot of work. I have zero patience for stupid people, people who come to a complete stop before making a turn while driving, people who stand in front of the Redbox machine at the grocery store forever choosing a movie, bad service at restaurants, and for my husband when he doesn't do what I ask right when I ask it. I definitely need to work on being more patient.

Kindness: I would like to think that I am kind to others around me. I try to be as kind as possible (unless you are one of the people that I have no patience for). I definitely have a lot of people in my life who are kind to me and for that I am very grateful. I think that we could all stand to be a little kinder in our daily lives.


Goodness: Oh goodness, sometimes it is just so hard to be good. I try to be a good wife, sister, daughter, friend, employee. I try to be good when eating. Goodness is present in my life and I'm always trying to be better.

Faithfulness: I have lots of faith in my life. I am faithful in my religous beliefs, to my husband, family and all my loved ones.


Gentleness: Ok, this is another one I can work on. I don't know that anyone would describe me as gentle. I can be very demanding and have high expectations of those around me. I am typically not afraid to tell people what I think and not always in the most gentle of terms. I probably could stand to be a little more gentle in my life.


Self-Control: This one is both present in my life and needs to be worked on. I have demonstrated massive self-control lately with spending. I have been budgeting and saving and spending money wisely. That is definitely new for me. I didn't even have a savings account until I got married in 2008. Now I have one and it even has money in it! I could use a little more self-control when it comes to desserts. Although after I am done typing this I'm going to go eat some of that carrot cake, but I think that counts as a vegetable.

So there you have it, the things I see in my life and the things I need to work on. I feel good after that little reflection. Sometimes it just feels good to take a hard look at the important things in life and whether you have those present in your life.