Right Now: there's no baby news, but...

Right now I'm...

Watching: Smash & Duck Dynasty could I be more torn between my country mouse/city mouse habits?

Craving: frozen yogurt. all the time. what's new?

Hoping: that this baby makes its grand entrance soon! I'm so tired of waiting. Normally I'm always the patient one...that virtue is testing me these days!

Listening: to anything that gets me movin'; I'm dancing this baby out! 

Thankful: that I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and we'll figure out some sort of baby at the end of the tunnel story-book ending for these last 10 months. More thankful though that Little B's friend Baby Reese is such a rockstar! :) 

Avoiding: naming our baby. It's so much pressure.

Feeling: anxious! excited! READY!

Needing: a nice cold Mexican martini!

Enjoying: the many tactics that have me laughing at myself and at Tim as we try and spark labor. My solo dance parties and the odd galloping around the house are pretty great if I do say so myself. To my yoga friend, I will be sucking it up and going back to on Saturday morning should I still have nothing to report tomorrow.  Maybe the pelvic floor needs some chanting?

Wondering: how we'll contain our laughter in this next chapter of our lives.  Life is funny in a Benton world. Way better then any reality show I could find on TV.  This morning from Tim,  "How will I still use an alarm clock without waking the baby?"  This is a prime example of the silly questions that Tim pops at the most random times. 

Reading: 50 Shades of Grey (yowza!) & Sisterhood Everlasting  (Just finished Bloom by Kelle Hampton if anyone is looking for a feel-good memoir about some amazing family-style love)

Wishing:  for magic. always.

Happy Mother's Day!

What I thought was going to be a Mother's Day spent meeting our Little B ended up being a day filled with trying everything I could to spark labor. May 12th was our official due date, but that has come and gone and now we wait. Meanwhile, I've galloped, gone for walks and done lunges up and down the hill in front of our house as google suggests.  I've swept, vacuumed and washed windows as my Grandmother suggested.  We've gone for spicy food, bumpy rides and I'm about ready to try standing on my head!  I know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, this baby can't stay in there forever, but I'm just so ready and excited.

In honor of Mother's Day though, I think I'll remember one of the biggest lessons that the Mom's in my life have taught me:  Children make us do crazy things out of love, even galloping around a house, and yet we love them unconditionally. Always.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you ladies that love and cherish someone as only a Mother can.  And to my Mom's & Grandma's, I love you and am thankful for all that you do for me.

*Little B, I think I'll always hold it over your head that we missed spending our first Mother's Day together, but I love you just the same anyway.

It's the Final Countdown

There's 5 days left and we're all waiting. Tim and I are receiving texts, emails and smoke signals from friends and family waiting for news. More and more people are asking to be put on a non-existent "phone tree" and we're all anxiously awaiting this baby. Neighbors want to know when they can decorate our house with "it's a ..." and I just want the waiting to end, but patience is a virtue. Isn't it?

There are some days where I feel like...hmm something is going to happen today or tomorrow; something of a gut feeling. Then there are other days where I think, "I'm going to be pregnant f-o-r-e-v-e-r"!

I think the anticipation of it all is starting to get to both of us in ways I can't describe. Tim and I are each thinking and managing what is coming in our heads, all while trying to maintain our "laid-back" baby ways to not over complicate things or overwhelm each other too.


(In no particular order) 10 things that are helping me get through these last 5(ish) days:

  
1.  Tom's shoes -- so comfy and easy!

2.  Sonic Happy Hour, preferably the cranberry slush but a blended rootbeer float without the whip cream is a pretty nice treat once in a while too. :)

3.  Maternity shorts & lounging by the pool.

4.  Summer dresses, especially for work -- it's hot in Texas!  Plus I've got some extra warmth going on in my belly (aka kangaroo pouch).

5.  Fruit, fruit and more fruit. I'm thankful for just about anything that is crisp and cold these days.

6.  My dogs. They know something is coming, and really love playing human too.


7.  Not thinking about what is really about to go down when this all comes to pass. I just think about the joy. No nitty-gritty details for me thanks!  I like the magical parts of it much better!

8.  Emi-Jay hair ties & headbands...so easy for a messy head of hair!


9.  Haircut - check...Eyebrows - check....Pedicure - check....
Who knows when I'll get the opportunity to have any of that done by myself again!

10. Warning: May be mushy!
Tim's sense of humor and our friendship definitely top the list, more so these days. He's the He-Man to my Sheera, the Bam-Bam to my Pebbles, the Charlie Brown to my Lucy. You get it.  Anyway, thank goodness that we have each other as we go through this adventure with Little B!  We take each others crazies on like no one else can!

   

Takin' it Easy on Him

Recently, Tim and I went to get a sandwich before running some errands.

We ended up at a nearby spot (Which Wich) where there's a bit of tricky-ness when ordering. It's not your usual ordering process.  You grab a specific bag and then mark your favorite toppings for them to make the sandwich just the way you like it. As I was looking up at the menu trying to decide what I wanted, I noticed a big picture featuring new sandwiches/salads that they were offering.  Well one of the sandwiches was a "California Club" - YUM! It said to use bag #9, so I found bag nine and noticed that California Club wasn't one of the choices. So I figured they just didn't have new bags printed in time and wrote California Club on the bag and continued to fill out my choices.  We got to the register just as a huge crowd of people were coming in.  Just as the guy behind the counter started to ring us up, he froze.  The guy asked me what I was trying to do and I explained the picture of the new sandwich. He then called over the manager and the entire place stood still. Questions were asked, and the manager walked over to the picture on the wall. He then explained that it was just a club sandwich with avocado. It wasn't technically a new sandwich. Meanwhile, Tim had gone over to sit down and wait while the manager helped straighten me out. The manager started laughing at Tim's expression and then said, "is this your first?" Tim responded, "yes, lord help me!" and then the entire sandwich shop erupted in laughter. So what would have been a 5 minute sandwich stop, turned into an almost 30 minute visit because now an entire line had gone before us.  Tim just shook his head, he was so embarrassed.

See up there? In the top right corner - it says California Club...

As we waited for our names to be called and the sandwiches to be ready, different people were coming up and asking us questions, congratulating us and smiling at the crazy pregnant lady. When the manager finally called our names, I went to get our sandwiches and he looked at me with kind eyes and said, "take it easy on him".

PSH! I mean I get it, sure all I had to do was add the avocado, but c'mon! Take it easy on me!  I couldn't stop laughing about the whole thing. Oh did I mention that on the back of Tim's bag he wrote, "excuse her, she's pregnant" with an arrow pointing at my bag.

Lucky for us we only have a few more days of all this. The brain comes back right? I think I'm going to do some extra reading while on maternity leave, maybe even do some trivia to get me back on my game.

10 Days...

Dear Little B,
10 Days. TEN!
We're so close now!

I watch you move around my belly like an alien and sometimes I get visions of the movie Spaceballs where the alien pops out of the guys stomach and starts singing with a top hat.

I can't wait to see your face, to lock eyes with you and to smell your new baby-ness. I am anxious to count your toes and wrap your sweet, little fingers around mine.   When I try to start picturing how it will all happen in my head I get so over-emotional that I tear up and have to think of something completely different so that I don't get too anxious and worked up.  I'm so excited for you Little B, so excited for the magic! When your Daddy and I got married I was the same way and when the moment finally arrived where I walked down the aisle it all poured out when I saw everyone that was there to support us on our big day. Now, with this milestone, I have a feeling I will handle my emotions much in the same way.  Sometimes you hold onto things so tight that when they finally reach the point of no return there's just no turning back.  Finally meeting you face to face will be more than heart-soaring; my heart may just pop.

Your Daddy has been getting on me about picking out a name for you, but I know that the perfect name will come to us once we see you.  Really though, you may always be Little B to me. Just think of it as a cool rap name.

We all went to the doctor today and there's not a whole lot of news to share.  You're looking good and it could be any day now, but for now we're just playing the waiting game.  This weekend is Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby and I think that Daddy of yours is going to try and make me do all sorts of crazy things to get you to start your journey into this world.  There have already been a lot of pep talks and every night he lays with you telling you stories and talking to you about all sorts of silly things.  I hope that tradition takes root for long after your born.

You've got 10 days baby. TEN! I love you more than words already...now get a move on! and don't make me tell you twice!