Slacking

HI

I have received a few emails wondering why I haven't made a post lately and I don't have a very good reason other than I am a slacker. Matt and I haven't done very much of interest and I hate they way I am looking in pictures so I never want to take any. I am a little mad at the few people I am close with that have babies (Emily...I'm lookin' at you!) for not fully warning me what I was getting myself into. So I am dedicating this post to all those people without children who are thinking of becoming pregnant. Let's start from the beginning shall we...

1.) You may feel nauseous
      Truth: One day you wake up feeling like you have the worst hangover of your life and the most horrendous flu of your life at the exact same time. And it will last 12 weeks--or in my case 22-- (I will do the math for you that is 3 months--5 in my case--). You can't think of food or you throw up, you can't see a commercial for food or you throw up and if you smell food you throw up several times. Warning: several other smells may illicit the same response.

2.) You may feel tired
      Truth: You are so tired that you only take a shower once every 3 days because the simple act of getting wet and washing your hair causes you to take a 3 hour nap. Unless you have a personal assistant or groomer forget doing your hair and makeup.You are so tired that you try to rationalize closing your eyes while driving.

3.) You may have body changes other than a growing belly
     Truth: Your body looks like it is from outer space. Every vein in your body comes to the surfaces to form what looks like a road map of the Continental United States. Your abdominal muscles first disappear then split to form an attractive torpedo shape. You no longer recognize your face in the mirror because it is so swollen, your nose changes shape and you are plagued by zits that only a 15 year old would understand.

4.) You may have mood swings
     Truth: Personally, I lucked out for the first 5-6 months, I was so sick I couldn't force enough energy to form a mood swing. However, now that I have more time on my hands because I am not running to the bathroom, I have been able to fully enjoy all the wonderful hormone fluctuations of pregnancy. Anything and everything can cause an End of the World type of breakdown complete with tears, yelling, laughing and irrational outbursts. The worst part about it is, you know you are being ridiculous and you want to stop, but you can't!

5.) Your feet and hands may swell
      Truth: Feet and hands? Ha, more like nose to toes. I didn't even know it was possible to retain 20lbs of water. Your whole body is capable of swelling within a matter of hours. An outfit that fits in the house while you are getting ready to go out all of a sudden looks like it belongs on a doll because you have swelled to 2x your size between the bedroom and your destination. This is turn will usually cause an emotional breakdown and mood shift.

6.) You should gain between 25-35 pounds during the total 40 weeks of pregnancy
      Truth: You have limited control of how much weight you gain. I eat 1700-1800 calories a day and am boarder line obsessed with keeping track of them, 90% of the time I eat a high quality, fresh and balanced diet filled with lean protein, whole grains, limited amounts of processed food and very little refined sugar. I have gained over 30lbs in 29 weeks. While a friend at work eats potato chips, sweets, Taco Bell and loads of processed foods has gained 5lbs in 23 weeks. This also causes an emotional breakdown and mood shift.

7.) You may experience a fuzzy brain AKA Pregnancy Brain
     Truth: You may as well invest in a small note pad and write every thought, date, need or word that crosses your mind down because you will no longer be able to form a complete sentence or remember common nouns. Trying to ask your husband to put the leftovers in a container becomes: "Hey, you, guy, can you put that stuff we just ate into one of those things that we keep under the counter? You know, the things, in there? The ones with a lid so you can take it to work tomorrow." The frustration with being aware you can't remember something also causes an emotional breakdown and mood shift.

8.) You may feel the baby move around week 18
     Truth: It doesn't matter when you feel them move, it will be the best day of your life to know that you endured all these supernatural things and have a tiny person growing inside you. One small person is able to cause so many physical and emotional changes and at the same time fill you with so much love.

There are many more May's and Truths to pregnancy, but these are the big ones no one told me about. Now for those of you who have never been pregnant or who have forgotten what it was like: Never tell a pregnant person they look huge, like they are having twins or they look further/less along than they are. This all causes emotional distress. Also, please remember that we are pregnant, not severely handicapped and are capable of doing a lot of things on our own. It may take us longer and we may not look pretty doing it and we may not be able to bend over to do it, but we still want to feel like we are in control of the situation. Sometimes it is ok to ask if you can help but only after you have seen us try to do it first. Smile and tell us we are adorable, no matter what.



His contracts clearly states he must appear in 90% of posts



Products of Our Production

Happy Weekend Everyone

Last week I was upset that nothing was becoming reality for the nursery (stupid nesting bug), but this weekend we hit warp speed and got a whole bunch done. **Warning: this blog entry is on picture over load**

We started out our Saturday at the DMV, I had to get a new drivers license with the correct address (yeah, I know, we moved in 7 months ago) I also had to get new plates for my vehicle. While I waited in line with everyone in the Indianapolis area that does not practice proper hygiene habits, Matt went to my favorite place in the world, Lowes (correction: my favorite place in the world would be a buffet, but Lowes is close) While I was getting a very unflattering license picture taken Matt was picking out a hand-held sander to sand down the antique dresser we got on Craigslist for a steel. Turns out that it was going to need more than a furniture restoring polish, the kids who had it before did not appreciate antiques and used green markers to draw smiley faces on the top

While Matt was sanding and I was supervising the situation, we got a delivery. It was a large rectangular box that looked like it weighed a lot. We had no idea what this could be, but signed for it anyways. Always a smart thing to do. We took it inside and tore it open.

And what to our wondering eyes did a appear???

That there is our crib that was supposed to be on back order until the first week of May. Amazon is going to be getting a glowing feedback response from these two satisfied customers. The crib was the foundation that the whole room was designed around so I was very happy that is came in, I think I even jumped up and down a few times. I copy-catted the crib idea from my sister in law, it looked so good in our nephew's room, I just had to have it.

Matt said the crib looked like a 2 beer kind of job only because it didn't come with instructions.....Which I replied to him with "then what is this thing hanging over here?"

Those would be the instructions in case anyone else does not recognize them.  Frazier was a big help of course and we were able to finish the crib with only 1 and a half beers (Matt drinks fast by the way).


Not the kind of bottle the baby will be hitting anytime soon

Sunday was a nice follow up to our productive Saturday, we were able to go back to Lowes and pick out a stain for the dresser. We chose Dark Walnut because it matched the rocking chair nicely. It needs one more day to dry and then we are going to apply a clear coat to seal in all the Walnutty goodness.

This next, and I promise last, picture sums up how I am feeling at 27 weeks nicely. A little overwhelmed, a little nervous, having cravings and just wanting to enjoy a nice beer after a long day's work.

Those are indeed real tears in my eyes, I blame those pesky hormones for making me so emotional over a beer. But it is my favorite beer.

Colie

Too Much Wait/Weight

Hi

I have been feeling like such a bad mom lately because I have made zero physical progress on the nursery. In reality, it has been planned out on a design bored since I was about 13 weeks, it is just slow to take physical shape. This last week we ordered the fabric to make the bedding, Ol' Baby Williams is getting custom Great-Grandma made bedding, but it hasn't come in yet (waiting). Once the fabric gets here we can pick out a paint color for the walls and once the crib gets here I can put the bedding on it...but the fabric has to get here first. So we wait.  The crib is on back order until May...we wait again.

 I have also been scouring Craigslist for a antique dresser to use as a changing table, okay, not scouring, obsessively searching far and wide about 10x a day. I almost had to check myself into a clinic for OCD. It was bad... And so we waited for a dresser that was the right look, the right size and the right price.

Yesterday was our lucky day, however. I found a post for antique dresser that MUST BE GONE TODAY, **yaaaaa, no waiting** but it had no picture and no description. I wrote the person an email and asked for pictures and measurements, she sent a shotty picture in response, but my keen eye was attuned to the treasure that was before us! Matt gave her a sob story about how we are first time parents and on a tight budget and we just need a dresser for our baby. She fell for it Hook Line and Sinker. She took 30 bucks off the already ridiculously low price! He didn't win Inside Salesman of the Year for nothing. All the dresser needs is a good coating of furniture restoring polish and it will be good to go.

We have also been waiting to paint our master bathroom. We just haven't had to the time, we've been too busy sitting around waiting, its a full time job you know. Sherwin Williams had a sale on paint this weekend so we decided NOW is the time and we quit our job waiting. I'm good at picking a color swatch and Matt is awesome at picking the exact color we should use. We chose a beautiful shade called Reserved Khaki.



Sorry Ladies, this handyman is taken



 A Crisp and Clean Finnish

I have also been waiting to buy curtains for our bedroom, I just haven't wanted to spend the money on them. TJ Maxx HomeGoods had a sale and I got 4 curtains for 30 bucks, I couldn't pass that up! Only 3 windows are pictured here, I couldn't squeeze the 4th into the shot.



They really soften up the room

And now onto the Too Much Weight portion of the post. Coincidentally, last night I had an emotional breakdown about how large I am getting and today my OB Doc told me I am gaining too much weight. Nice. I think I solved the World Hunger Problem, Soy Burgers and Soy Milk for everyone. That's all I eat and I have gained 30 lbs. I do eat every 3 hours though, otherwise I get sick (yup, still get sick). So there you go, even healthy food in moderation, otherwise your doctor tells you you're fat--apparently, 11 lbs in one month is not a good thing.

This is what 30 lbs looks like

Hope everyone has a good week,
Colie
CEO of Waiting/Weighting Inc.

Unknown Bonus of Pregnancy

I know, 2 posts in 1 week, I'm on fire.

I just wanted to acknowledge an awesome perk of being pregnant. People want to do everything for you! Until the last month or so I didn't have a big enough belly to be unmistakably pregnant, plus it has been so cold outside that I have been bundled up in winter attire. Today I went to run some errands by myself, people held every door for me, got items off shelves that were 2 inches above my head, put dog food in my cart, pushed the cart and took it all out to my car. If that wasn't good enough in its self, everyone that sees me smiles or says HI. It is amazing what growing a life inside you can do to everyone around you. If we all treated everyone like they are pregnant all of the time the world would be a much nicer place. Time to practice what I preach.

Colie

Don't Cry Over Spilled Coffee

Hi

So far 25 weeks has been very uneventful here at Casa Williams. A quick recap would be I slept my life away because I worked all weekend, Matt got his coffee cup trampled on by Krum and we had to sleep in the basement due to a tornado touchdown.

Matt and I were enjoying a nice cup of coffee--mine was a wonderful 6oz cup-- on the sofa together at 4pm (cuz that's when I wake up for work) when all of a sudden a white blurr whizzes by in a barking furry and launches his front right paw into Matt's coffee cup. It all happened so fast no one had time to react until the hot liquid made its way through Matt's jeans. Krum instantly knew he had made a mistake. For those of you wondering what K-dogg was barking at...Nothing, absolutely nothing, there was nothing anywhere.



You wouldn't spank a poodle with a pretend broken foot would you?



Poor K-Woww

 In other news, there was a massive storm Sunday night with big lightening and shake the house thunder. Poor Krum is terrified of thunderstorms and spent hours huddled against me panting and drooling. At 2:30am the emergency sirens went off and we all sought immediate shelter in the basement. Matt was pretty crabby at 5am when he got up for work, he acts like it was hard to sleep in a sofa with 2 people, a 65lb dog and a drooling poodle.

And finally, here is the 25 week belly photo. Totally uneventful, just like the week has been.



Colie

The Big,The New and The Adorable

Hi All

24 weeks and still hangin' tough. From here on out I am only going to be getting fatter, peeing more and swelling to unusual sizes, which is fine by me. The baby is fully developed and all it needs to do is grow and get those lungs nice and strong (the better for you to hear me cry with, my dear). Now that all the eventfulness of pregnancy is dying down--until labor kicks in--Matt and I can focus on the really fun stuff. Like decorating the nursery, buying totally awesome things for no apparent reason and brushing up on nursery rhymes.

The Big- Here I am basking in my sweet tooth--that's right, that is a giant Hershey kiss in my mouth and yes, it does have 1,000 calories in it. No, I didn't eat it all. And no, the dogs didn't help me either, but they sure wanted to even though I explained chocolate kills dogs.

The New- We bought our very first item for the nursery yesterday. It is a faux-wicker rocking chair that hugs your butt in all the right places. We are going to get a big ol' fluffy feather pillow to promote good back support and we are still hunting for an appropriate ottoman. I am more than certain by now you have all noticed the fact that Frazier is in the majority of pictures taken. That is because he has a contract that specifically states he appears in a minimum of 90% of photos shot--he is such a ham-bone and loves the camera.



Krum on the other hand is very difficult to get a photo of, he is more elusive. This is what happens when you actually catch him on film--ridiculousness

Never Wake a Sleeping Poodle

Krum's official Don't Do Drugs poster



The Adorable- I saw this moo-cow coffee creamer and, well, just had to have it. She has become a permanent fixture on the counter, I think she really ties the room together. Or at least the coffee nook.

I hope everyone else is enjoying themselves as much as we do here!

Colie

Ahhh, Breathing Easy

This IS our Baby

Yesterday was the big day, we finally got to see our baby's sweet little face. The Tech went though the head/brain (proper size and ventricles), the spine (all intact and straight), the abdomen (stomach and guts on the inside), the bladder and kidneys (both proper size and placement), and finally, the biggy, the heart (thank God, 4 chambers with no concerns for kinks or vessels going to the wrong areas). There was instant relief to know that the baby is as healthy as the ultrasound can see. A giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can finally focus on becoming a mom (AHHHH, A MOM!) Matt was instantly transformed into a dad watching this tiny person with a face and hands move on the monitor. Without getting too mushy gushy on everyone, it was amazing to watch his face as he watched our baby. By the way, I don't think I have much hope for this kid to look like me, even it's grainy black and white profile looks like Matt.

Hope everyone is well,
Colie

P.S While I am concerned about heart chambers, everyone else is probably dying to know the baby's gender. Sorry Charlie, its going to remain a secret and a surprise!