Trying to Cover Everything...

Currently, I am sitting on my couch listening to Glee tunes as a tribute to Cory Monteith. These hormones along with my obvious choice to listen to his solo songs makes for a really emotional combination. I’m keeping it together though. 

For those who don’t know…Cory Monteith played my favorite character on Glee. I even tried to persuade PJ to call our baby Finn Hudson Pate if we were having a boy. He didn’t go for it, but you see that I was a fan. He passed away Saturday due to a combination of alcohol and heroin, which is both tragic and stupid, in my opinion. But, then again, normal people like me only get to see the on-screen person and not all the things they may be doing in the background. It’s a horrible way to die and it’s sad to think that he wasn’t able to get a hold of his drug addiction after so many interventions and trips to a rehab center. Regardless, he was 31, didn’t even get to live out a full life and it’s still very sad.

On the subject of heroin. I’ve been seeing signs around Marion that say “Heroin is Marion’s Economy.” When I first saw this sign (displayed outside the window of someone’s house), it shocked me. First of all, why would anyone not tied to that drug in some way have that sign so visible to the general public? And, if they aren’t tied in some way, that sign means something even deeper: that those people have pretty much given up on the good of humanity. Second, placing a sign anywhere in your yard means that you agree, to some degree or another, with what is being “said.” Third, even if that were true, why display it proudly? Why not try to do something about it, why just take it? 

Since that first sighting, I’ve seen more signs. Thankfully, I am not involved with people who are into that junk, at least not that I know it, but it is still unsettling that people in this community have such low hope. All I can do is pray.

I realize that I started this post off a little heavy. The light hearted things are coming…IN BABY NEWS!!

I go to the doctor’s tomorrow to take my glucose test. I’m actually kind of excited even though I’ve heard many bad things about it. Most of the bad things really only have to do with the taste of the liquid that I’ll be having to drink. If I can snap a picture of this “horrible goo,” I will. I also get to hear Paisley’s heartbeat again!! I love that sound!


I  might also have to get a flu shot, which I am in no way excited for! I spoke to someone through my insurance company and she said it’s a good idea and recommended that pregnant women get the shot so she’d try to set me up with one through my doctor. Yippee! I’m hoping though that I’ve gotten so used to getting poked that it won’t be a big deal. (I still get nervous when it comes to needles whether or not I’ve gotten used to them though.) PJ is coming with me too, so maybe he’ll let me hold his hand. J 

I went to the dentist yesterday. (This has something to do with baby because it’s also recommended that pregnant women see the dentist at least once throughout their pregnancy…which makes sense since you’re really actually supposed to see them every 6 months. Duh!) It was for a cleaning. I sat in the very “cold” waiting room for about an hour listening to some other patient get worked on. (I don’t advise building a dentist’s office in which waiting patients can hear what other’s are going through. All the dentist‘s offices I‘ve been to had a little bit of walk from the waiting room to the chair. Maybe it‘s a Marion thing.) I remember hearing one of the hygienists say “Believe me, I’ve seen teeth a lot worse than yours.” 

When I did get seen (the hygienist didn’t see me on her list until the receptionist went back and told her that I’d been waiting) we mostly chatted about Miss Paisley. I have no problem with this because Paisley is a lot more interesting to talk about than I am! I don’t like talking about myself anyway. I’m not much of an attention hog, never have been. Anyway, she took one look at my mouth and said “You have some gingivitis, which is common in pregnant women, but this isn’t bad at all.” She then proceeded to scrape out every bit that she could with those little hooked tools, which hurt like you don’t even know what. It wasn’t horrible, but it was very painful. Thankfully though, she didn’t SHOVE the floss in between my teeth like Dr. Smith did in Paducah. (He’s located on Broadway, btw.) The entire experience was as gentle as it could have possibly been. I did walk away with a very sore mouth though. Oh yeah, and the dentist, who looked at my teeth for less than 5 minutes, said I didn’t have any cavities. :D (I’m very thankful for a nice smile, healthy teeth and that I didn’t have to get an extraction like the guy in front of me did :/ )

For the rest of the day after I got out of the dentist, I was wiped out. I hadn’t gotten ANY sleep the night before and of course, my mouth hurt. I decided to neglect the errands I was planning to do, came home, crashed for about 20 minutes and then dragged myself out of bed to go pick PJ up from work. He hadn’t been feeling well either. (We think he has a cold due to going back and forth from AC to outside at work. He’s been all sniffly, sneezy and slow lately. ) 

When we got home, I ate a bowl of soup (failed at trying to eat some soup-soaked bread), a cup of banana pudding, and a cup of Trix yogurt. After that, I crashed again for a few hours and even drooled on my pillow!! (I find this alarming because I haven’t done that in YEARS!!) The rest of the day involved me drinking water, eating the rest of the banana pudding, gnawing at some watermelon and swallowing rice. I did sleep well though. PJ and I went to bed at 11pm and I woke up around 10:30am.

I feel much better today and was able to eat my Peanut Butter Crunch cereal this morning with no problem!

In more baby news, Miss Paisley gets to unofficially meet her grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, cousins, and friends in Paducah here shortly. (Before we left for Ohio, Pais wasn’t kicking and now that she is…a lot…I’m excited for them to feel her little dancing feet!) Her and I are planning a trip in early August for a week so that I can see my family before I can no longer travel far distances. I am super stoked, especially since I’ll get to play with my nephew and new niece!! We are also having a Batman-themed baby shower with my Paducah friends and church family. Boy, do I miss them! Words really can’t express how excited I am to see everyone!! 

Another thing about this trip that excites me is that I get to attend 2 FREE baby classes at the hospital that would otherwise cost me $60 a piece here in Marion. (I also get to swim in my mom’s swimming pool!!)

Well, I’m almost tapped out for information. The only thing I can think of to say is that I called the apartment complex that we’re waiting for and last week, they said we are 21 on the list, which could be a 2-month wait. Please be praying with me that we get in sooner because that will put us in the middle of September, putting me at about 37 weeks. We need time to set up for Paisley!!

Until next time, 
Mama Sherri

A Little Bit of An Update

This one will be short; I have a few errands to run before I pick PJ up from work. I’ll try to cover the most relevant things that have happened in the last few weeks.

To begin, I went to my first breastfeeding class today. For me, it’s never really been a thought in my mind to use formula simply because my body is designed to make food for my baby, so why not use what God gave me? I didn’t know about all the benefits though before becoming pregnant and now I see and continue to see how breastfeeding will be beneficial for both of us. I’m all for it!

The class was very informative. I learned the basics and I’m a lot more comfortable with the idea especially since I wasn’t sure how to go about it when we were found out we were pregnant. I’m excited to have this bonding time with Miss Paisley and I’m also very thrilled that breastfeeding helps mommy lose weight faster. :D

Another recent development has to deal with PJ. He was helping his brother cut down trees about a week and a half ago and stumbled upon some poison ivy. His first symptom was a swollen eye which got worse the next day. We took him to the ER, where he got a shot of steroids plus a prescription for more steroids. Since taking those, the rash spread and got bigger. He’s still dealing with the itchy red bumps today but we’ve been using calamine lotion to help him out a bit. I’m not exactly sure how that has been helping but he seems to be a lot less itchy. At the moment, he feels like it will never go away. I keep telling him that this is not permanent, it will go away and that he is not going back to where he was when he got it. He agrees.

The other day, we filled out an application for income based housing. The lady said we should hear something back within 3-6 months. PJ and I are hoping it’s more towards the shorter end of things so that we might have a week or 2 (or none at all) to prepare for Paisley before she gets here. I will definitely be asking for some help because I am going to be much bigger, slower and I’m not going to want to unpack things and prepare the nursery. So, I’m not afraid to ask for help.

That’s all that I can think of right now. My mind has been temporarily fogged out – no pun intended- by the fact that someone with bad body odor just sat next to me. (I am at the library). It’s literally giving me a headache and I’d rather not have to suffer through the rest of my errands.

Until next time,

Momma Sherri

Be Nice to Everyone...

As promised in my last post, I am updating a lot sooner. Things have been going well, Paisley is a lot more active and I get to hear her sweet heartbeat on Monday. I am very excited to see how my little one is doing.

She is getting so big. I remember a few weeks ago when I would touch my tummy and I couldn’t feel much except what was already there before becoming pregnant. Now, there is a hard lump (my lovely lady “lump,” Paisley) and she likes to move around a lot! I feel her kick or move around at least every hour or two and then she tends to get really active when I want to go to sleep. Her kicks seem to be a lot more powerful when I want to settle down. Just last night, she went on a kicking rampage for a good while. Ya know, those kicks that make your tummy bulge out really quickly and then they are gone almost as soon as they happened. It’s amazing and I am so blessed to get to be this sweet little girl’s mommy. Both PJ and I are very excited to see what she will look like, as any excited expectant parents are, I’m sure.

Other times, she’s not as active as described above, but I can still feel her moving around. Those types of movements are really cool too especially since I’m trying to visualize what’s going on in there. The other day, she was moving around and I got this image of how it must be like for her. The image I got isn’t exactly plausible though, as PJ told me. LOL.

I imagine it to be like being placed in the middle of a big blanket that has been sewn up and filled with water. Obviously, to the average person who hasn’t spent their life in water, it’d be hard to do. Regardless, your space keeps getting smaller and smaller and you might not find one position to be the most comfortable…so, you move around causing almost every part of your body to the touch the blanket in some way, making it pooch out and in. I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to do this especially since I can’t even be in a bed with the bottom part of the blanket tucked in. But, since this is all Paisley knows, I can’t see that she minds it all that much.

In other news, PJ got a new job as a security guard for Whirlpool. Instead of having to do the laborious factory work that he dreaded, he gets to secure it. This is no doubt something that he wants to do and is therefore happy about. I’m happy for him as well because I know what working at a place you dread feels like. His first training day was today and he seemed to come home in good spirits about it. The other bonus about this job is that he will be able to attend Tae Kwon Do classes. He’s been talking about these for a while, even in Paducah, and I’m glad he is able to get a schedule that accompanies something he likes doing. (I also like the fact that he will be exercising. He doesn’t much care for monotonous workout routines, which I prefer, but would rather be doing something good for his body while having fun. A sedentary life is not fun either so I’m glad he will be able to do something specifically for him that he likes and can benefit from in more ways than one.)

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On another topic, I have recently found out that people are very tactless when it comes to a pregnant lady. I’ve gotten hit with a few “word jabs” from people that don’t even know my situation. It’s almost ridiculous! It’s crazy how people think they have the right to give you advice when you are expecting (and working hard to create a human life.) Granted, some advice is necessary and very helpful, but when it attacks you in a personal way, it hurts. For instance, I was having a MAD craving the other day for thick, creamy soup with a bread bowl (or some type of breaded thing.) And, I couldn’t seem to shake it. It’s all I thought about and I was driving myself crazy because I was so hungry and torn between this craving and whether or not to have a third banana for the day. I decided that I was going to do whatever possible to satisfy this craving. So, I made some potato soup and cheddar drop biscuits. It took so long to make, the onions were burning my eyes and I almost had to close up shop because I got real dizzy in the process of cutting the potatoes. I forged on after taking a water break and then brought my chair into the kitchen just in case I needed to sit again. (For some reason, this is how I’ve had to cook while being pregnant. Perhaps the smell of food plus being on my feet makes me dizzy…I’m not sure.)

Anyway, this entire thing took a while but boy was it worth it! I sat down to my soup and biscuits and it was like heaven opened up. It was exactly what Paisley ordered and I think she loved it as much as I did. (She started bouncing around shortly after taking the first bite.)

I said all that to say that someone had the nerve to criticize what I was eating. How rude! Just because I ate unhealthy that time doesn’t mean that everything I put into my body is like that. I’m actually really good with what I eat. I start every day with two slices of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, fresh fruit of some sort (bananas, apples, or strawberries) and a big glass of milk, which totals to about 2/3 servings of dairy that I was told I needed. Later on in the day, I snack on probiotic yogurt, more fruit, vegetables and then usually close out the day with another whole wheat product of some sort. I drink at least 60-100 ounces of water and I sometimes treat myself to a glass of 100% fruit juice or a glass of chocolate milk. All in all, I’d say that I am much more conscious of what goes in my body than most people are and therefore, don’t deserve to have my diet scrutinized by anyone. Yes, there are days where the above doesn’t happen, but that’s no reason to put me under a microscope either. (I do get at least 60 ounces of water a day though, that’s something I do not miss.)

Another thing that I and I’m sure most pregnant women get advice about is exercise. For one thing, I had a feeling I was pregnant when I couldn’t exercise to my full capacity on February 6, 2013 . I was huffing and puffing for air and severely confused because I had been working out almost on a daily basis since January 2012. Why in the world would I not be able to finish that workout? Hmm…pregnant! I was basically told that I needed to work out by someone who needed to work out more than I did. It might have been different if the person who told me was pregnant also, in good shape and cared about what she ate…but that wasn’t the case AT ALL. I think people shouldn’t give work out advice unless they know something about it or have been working at losing weight/becoming healthier for a while. That being said, I know that I need to be doing something. I haven’t been doing much because of the fact that even walking up stairs takes my breath away for several minutes but I do need to incorporate something, whether it be lifting weights or taking leisurely strolls with PJ. ( I hate strolls…I really do…) [If anyone has any good and nice advice for how to incorporate more activity into my pregnant life, please let me know.]

Regardless, there are ways to say something to a pregnant lady (and any one, really) that don’t have to sound so hurtful. Why criticize or rudely instruct a person who is working day and night to create life anyway? If you’re hell bent on giving unwanted, rude, advice, do it to someone else. Chances are they aren’t in as an emotional state as a pregnant lady.

Bottom line, be nice and think about what you say…to pregnant ladies and to everyone.

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Alright, well my library computer-internet time is dwindling and I really have to go to the bathroom. Paisley has been consistently jabbing at my bladder and I’m running out of “just a few more minutes and I’ll go,” time.

Until next time,

Momma Sherri

P.S. Remember, be nice to everyone!! (and, I would have added pictures, but facebook was acting dumb when I needed it not to be...the picture of the fantastic soup is on my facebook if you want to see how amazing it was :)

An Interesting Couple of Weeks

Things have certainly been…interesting…these last few weeks.

On the good side of things, I started to feel Paisley’s little kicks; they are awesome even if some are ill timed (like when it’s way past my bed time…which happened last night or when she‘s positioned close to my bladder…which was probably just emptied. She‘s either lying on it or kicking it making me have to go again.) PJ has been able to feel them too. His first reaction was “That’s depressing…she’s growing up too fast.” (I think he was secretly shocked. How many times do you feel something in your wife’s tummy kick you?) His second reaction was a little different and much more welcomed by me (Afterall, who wants to hear “that’s depressing” when you think it’s one of the greatest things ever?) Paisley kicked him really hard last night and his “That’s crazy,” response made me laugh. I’m glad PJ can now get in on some of the action that I’ve been feeling for about a week now. I’m just so relieved to finally feel it. A lot of people who I know that are pregnant said that they felt the flutter of their babies at around week 18-19. Here I am in week 21 and just now feeling her kick. It was hard waiting but I’m finally glad that she had made herself known.

So far, the only ones who have experienced these little joys are PJ, his cousin Katie, and myself. I’m not sure I’m completely comfortable with many people touching my tummy. Katie is an exception because I feel comfortable around her and I thought she might enjoy feeling those little flutters that make me smile all the time. Feeling those kicks makes it even more real though I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that PJ and I are gonna have a baby.

On the not so good side of things, I still haven’t made that mental transition from living in Paducah to living in Marion. It doesn’t much feel like a homey atmosphere. Hopefully that will change when we find a place to call our own. We’ve lived with my parents before and it was hard then to establish some independence even though we felt more comfortable to roam around the house. Here, we are living with PJ’s parents and I don’t feel as comfortable. Grown men and women who are married are not meant to live with either set of parents. Period. 
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As far as church is concerned. We have been going to a church called Genesis for the past 5-6 Sundays. They don’t have a Wednesday service, which is kind of sad for me since I’m used to and fond of them. I don’t have a solid internet connection either to catch the service from Paducah. The Sunday services are good though, I’ve been learning quite a bit. We haven’t really met anyone yet. I’m trying to get over my shyness of meeting new people and PJ’s not too fond of meeting new people either. But, we need to get over it. It seems a lot easier when your parents introduce you to people (like it was when my family started going to Grace Church International. You automatically form friendships with the people they hang out with, especially as you get older.) Hopefully we will meet people over these next few weeks. The church has a lot of fellowship opportunities and I’m hoping that PJ is as eager to try to make friends as I am. I’ll keep you updated.

I did go out of my comfort zone this past Tuesday. There was a Ladies Night with ladies from the church and I figured I would try to get connected with some. It didn’t exactly work because it was more of a Pampered Chef party except with different product and for the most part, no one talked to anyone else. I was rubbing my belly right before we began eating and a lady came up to me and asked me if I was feeling okay. Lol! I told her that I was pregnant and we talked a little bit about that. The conversation then ended and that was about the extent of conversation I had the rest of the evening. It was a bit saddening but I’m not giving up. I literally need to meet new people with the same kinds of viewpoints as me or I will burst. So, with that in mind, I’m willing to put myself through more awkward moments to find one that isn’t so awkward. 
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Onto a different subject matter. I’ve been sort of a recluse lately (to the room that is ours) and I’ve used my time to do a variety of different things. Some of which include watching informational movies or movies that are “need to see. I was watching this one last night called “The Miracle of Life,” and they got a lot of inside footage of the female and male reproductive systems. When I mean inside footage, I mean the entire enchilada! I got to see the DETAILED details of an actual ovary, egg, testicle, sperm cell and the entire (and laborious) journey a sperm cell takes to get to the egg. All the detailedness made me think I was looking at a bunch of under the sea life. If I was a sperm cell, I don’t know if I’d have the energy to go through all of that to fertilize an egg the size of a grain of sand. But, then again, God created sperm to have a certain task and they don’t have a mind of their own (like I do). After watching that movie, all I can say is “Wow!” I already knew God was awesome, but seeing that video makes me know he is even more awesome. There were so many things that I was trying to wrap my head around especially seeing the process with the great amount of detail that it had. But, to think that God created us knowing precisely the function our many cells accomplish is beyond my comprehension!! And, us humans do a lot more than reproduce!! It’s mind boggling and amazing at the same time!!

Today, as I was laundering our clothes and cleaning up the room, I was also watching “Bully,” a documentary of children who have been bullied at school or on the school bus just because they look or act different or have a different sexual orientation. (I’m not for homosexuality, but picking on someone for a choice they made is wrong no matter what. They are humans too!) I would recommend this movie to anyone, especially school aged children. 

My overall response to this movie is that bullying is mostly a result of bad parenting. (Just my opinion though I do feel that children inwardly know the difference between right and wrong and are therefore wrong too.) But, if parents actually did their job as parents, the children wouldn’t think it’s ok to pick on someone because they are different in some way. Being a parent is a big responsibility and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Some parents don’t need children.

Upon watching this movie, I’ve done a lot of thinking about how and what to teach Paisley. I want her to know that just because someone is different doesn’t mean that they aren’t important. God created us equal and we shouldn’t be using the differences God gave us as a focal point to torment someone. I’ve been bullied before and it’s not fun. It wasn’t necessarily to the point of harming myself but it doesn’t feel good regardless. I’ve been made fun of for being fat, someone actually sat on me and put their hands around my neck in the back of the bus, and a lot of the “more fortunate” kids in high school would break and steal my things just because they thought they had the right to. It never got horrible but it shouldn’t have happened at all. 

I guess I will sail this ship. I’m hoping to submit my next post sooner than it took me to post this one. (With the lack of internet, it’s hard to update my blog as much as I’d like too.) Everyone, be blessed and have a fantastic weekend. 

 

Momma Pate

It's a GIRL!!!

A lot has happened since I last posted an update. But, no doubt the most exciting is that I got to see our baby!!

We went to the doctor on Tuesday, May 14th so that we could find out the sex. And, as most of you already know, we are having a Ms. Paisley Ann Pate!! Yep! We are having a precious baby girl!!!! The most exciting thing I think I witnessed during the ultrasound was that she was lying on her back and opening and shutting her mouth like she was a little fishy. We got to see her spine and apparently her kidneys, bladder and some other things that I seriously couldn’t make out. The ultrasound tech could though, so I guess that’s what matters. My eyes are trained to see that kind of stuff. We also saw her heart; the tech saw four chambers, which is a good sign. Paisley was checked for brain matter as well as head size, femur length and tummy diameter. (I think that is what the tech did with her tummy.) She didn’t say anything that would suggest abnormal growth or slowed growth, so Paisley is doing well, healthy, happy, and I’m sure she’s absolutely gorgeous!!

Later that day, PJ’s aunt and I went to the store to get some things for PJ to announce that we are having a girl. PJ was working at the time of the ultrasound and wasn’t able to get off for it. So, Trish (aunt) and I bought some pink baby clothes, a little door hanger that says “Daddy’s little princess,” a package of “It’s a Girl!” mints, a stuffed bunny, some Extra bubblegum, and a few other things. 

PJ wanted a boy and has wanted a boy ever since we found out we were pregnant. I initially wanted a boy too because I always thought that having a boy to protect our baby girl (2nd child) would be perfect. Inwardly, I knew it was a girl though. It was a gut feeling even though I kept calling it a boy. (I was doing this because PJ wanted a boy and it would kind of irritate him anytime I said we might be having a girl.)

Needless to say, PJ was surprised! He saw the pink and thought we were joking. He was a bit shocked and still kind of is to this day. He’s still trying to let it sink in because he was so sure we were having a boy. He said he had planned to do so many things with our little boy. I told him that he could still do those things with a little girl. He’s still getting used to it. 

We’ve had a pretty busy week this week and it will continue to be busy.

PJ started his job on Monday. Tuesday was baby reveal day. Wednesday, I went to a birthday party with my cousins, JJ, Katie, Devon and their friend (cousin in a sense) Kalene. We had a nice time, got some sun exposure, and ate some food. Thursday, I chilled at the house while PJ worked. Today, I’ll be helping JJ prepare for his graduation party. Tomorrow is the graduation party, which lasts from 11-8pm. PJ and I are helping with it so we will be there almost all day.

So, yes, busy week for us. AND…AND…AND…I think I’m starting to feel Paisley’s kicks. They come at random moments and my tummy feels weird all of a sudden. Weird as in I could feel out of breath all of a sudden, or sick, even though it doesn’t last long, or just like the only sensation I can feel is in my tummy. They are starting to get stronger though, I think. I’m still not sure of what to expect.

Before I end this post, I must say that my weight has increased since moving to Marion. PJ and I aren’t used to having people to hang out with and eat with and have therefore gained weight because of it. So, I decided that I was going to be more conscious about what I eat and drink. I’ve been making good decisions. If it was the choice between an orange and a poptart, I’ll choose an orange even though I really want that poptart. Or, I’ll choose water even though I really want a soda. It’s definitely helping me and I have a lot more will power especially since I am thinking more and more about Paisley.

It’s all a matter of will power. And, I’m actually quite hungry right now. I think I’ll go get a yogurt (with active cultures ;)

First Post In Ohio

In the days prior to moving (and actually up until this particular moment) things have been hectic! PJ and I have been busy running around all over the place trying to acquire what we need in order to be “Ohio citizens.” I’ve made about 350 phone calls to various places trying to get the information we need, we’ve made about 50 trips to and from places to get the right documents at the right offices, and we will have several more especially since some of our important documents are nowhere to be found. (I still don’t understand how our marriage license just randomly disappeared.) I’ve had to order a few of those things, which could take up to 30 days. 

PJ and I have decided to get a filing cabinet. I’m tired of having to order these documents when we need them, which is a very rare occasion. It’d be nice to know where the heck they are when the time arises. Plus, we will be bringing a child into this world and it’s important to know where his stuff is too. A filing cabinet is a necessity.

Apart from all the stuff that we don’t have, we DO have: Ohio license plates, bank accounts and debit cards to that account (they made them while we were there which is something I’m not used to. Usually, you have to wait for two pieces of mail: the one with your PIN and the one with your card.) We paid our license plate registration fee (which was $170 LESS than the one we would have had to pay in Kentucy. <<I like that!!) PJ has an interview for Whirlpool, and I have sent out for those lost documents. 

We still need our Ohio licenses, which requires a whole list of crap…stuff in order to get them. I don’t see how 10 days is enough time to transfer that stuff if you need to send in for documents. I’m kind of aggravated at the entire situation just because transferring PJ’s license from Ohio to Kentucky was SO EASY. In Ohio, we have to have our marriage license to prove that my Kentucky license with “Pate” on it is my correct name (I guess,) we need our birth certificates, proof of address, social security cards, retaking the written part of the test AND our first born child. Well, I’m just kidding about that last part. But, they are needy! I probably wouldn’t be as upset if we actually had what we needed on hand.  I’m more heated about the written test. It’s been years since I took that test and while I’ve been driving for a while, Ohio might be different in a few things. PJ got a book for us to study and to say that I am not excited about going through it is an understatement. 

Oh well, once all of this is transferred, it won’t be a big deal, we will have the documents we need for just about anything that ever comes our way and we’ll be focused on something else to do. I’m excited for that day because I will be able to cross things off my list! (I dislike an unfinished list.)

In other information, the immediate preparations for the actually transferring of us three to Ohio was easy, practically stress free, and FULL of the Lord’s favor! On Monday, we returned our internet modem to Comcast. I actually thought I might have had to “fight” with them about our contract. Nope, it was simple, she accepted the modem, gave me a receipt and wished me good luck with the move. (I like when things are simple.) We went to the consignment shop that we frequent and got the balance out in order to help us with moving expenses. It turned out being about $15 more than what I was estimating. AND, PJ bought me some mace in a pretty red case. 

That day, we also cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and laundry room. I’m very thankful that PJ was so willing to do the oven because the fumes were powerful! I would not have been able to do it, especially with the little ventilation that we have in the house. I was cleaning the bathroom as he was doing that. The finished result of all three of those rooms was pristine perfection. My toilet was like a porcelain masterpiece!!!!!! 

After all the cleaning was done, we dined and chatted at my mom’s house for a few hours. The food was great, the conversation was let’s just say entertaining and the goodbye wasn’t as emotional as I thought it would be. (I think the reason for this is because I was able to I’d accepted everything about the move. I was no longer in fear or nervous about it and I know I will see them again. Sure, it won’t be every week, but I will see them again.) 

On Tuesday, “Go Time” came. We went to pick up our 12’ truck without a ramp and were surprised with a 16’ with a ramp (no extra cost because they didn‘t have it available in their lot.) We chose a 12’ because we thought it’d be easier to maneuver on the roads. As it turns out, the 16’ truck was much better than what we originally picked out. It had JUST ENOUGH space and a ramp!!! When we got back to the apartment to start loading, I had the brilliant idea of asking the maintenance guy if they had a dolley. They did!!! PJ was very thankful that I had asked for one because it saved his back and many trips to and from the truck. 

For much of the loading, he would put a bunch of boxes in and I would organize them like a puzzle. Let me tell you…we had a perfect puzzle. Nothing moved, broke, shifted, fell, etc. I made it so that we had an even layer of stuff throughout and it was all snug. That was a proud moment for myself.

The truck got packed, we blew up our air mattress and left for some nom noms from Parkers. The food was fantastic and PJ and I got to have a nice conversation. After that, we did some last minute errands and headed home for some sleep. (This was extremely difficult without curtains because the sun was illuminating the entire room and closing your eyes and not seeing black is hard to sleep through.) After a while, I turned around and was able to get some sleep. PJ tried but was unsuccessful. He eventually got up and left to go walk or something. All in all, I got about a 3-3 ½ nap before getting ready, packing the car with the mattress and trying to track down PJ. We left shortly after 8pm.

To cut out extraneous details, the drive was great! There were barely any cars on the road, only a few construction areas, and lots of dead animals on the side of the road. I only had to stop for a pee break about 4 times and one of those times, PJ was CRAVING a cheeseburger. (I asked him why and he said “I don’t know, I just want one.” lol). I  also saw two deer ON the left side of the road. Thankfully, I was on the right.
The only bad thing was that my neck and shoulders was starting to ache. They still do, but we were both alert the entire drive. Needless to say, we crashed as soon as we got in.

Once we woke up, we got ready and started the process of transferring from Kentucky to Ohio, unpacked the truck with the help of my amazing cousin, JJ, and unloaded boxes and set up our room. It’s kind of like an apartment in a room. We have our bed, a “closet” made out of a bathroom rack that goes over the toilet. (The bars are high enough to hang clothes.), a desk with my sewing machine and my beautification process products, a dresser with our tv on it, our couch with our coffee table and that’s about it. It’s comfortable and I’m thankful my in-laws were so generous to let us live here until we found a more permanent place. 

One thing I also want to highlight before I go is that the room we are living in has 10 windows in it. I’m not much for the sun and had asked for measurements of the windows so I could make curtains for them. What I didn’t know is that my father-in-law was apparently planning to make them himself. He even borrow Katie’s sewing machine (Katie is PJ’s cousin) to try to do it. He wasn’t able to figure out how to work it and keep it working but just the fact that he tried means a lot. He stayed up late the night be were driving to clean the carpet and try to figure out the sewing machine. He ended up taping the fabric together and sticking it on the curtain rods. I appreciated the gesture because I wasn’t expecting it at all. He also picked out a really pretty purple fabric to make them out of. 

I decided to help him out a little, break out my sewing machine and I have two curtains done already. My machine was getting a little hot so I took a break from it for a little bit though.

In baby news. I am 17 weeks today. Little Poppy’s cartilage is starting to harden into bone, he weighs about 5 ounces, and he is starting to move his joints. I think my lower abdomen is starting to firm up a tad. It’s a squishy kind of firm, but I did notice it hanging out of my pants yesterday. Lol. It’s also more round on the bottom but I think that’s mostly after I eat something, not necessarily because of Poppy. I haven’t felt any movement yet either and I really think Poppy is using my bladder as an air mattress to sleep on. I have to use the potty so many times, it’s ridiculous!

I suppose I’m done for the day. I’ll update y’all when we figure out our doctor, date of our first Ohio appointment and if it will be the one to tell us the sex. (I’m pretty sure it will be because I’ll probably be closer to 20 weeks when we get everything situated.)

Until next time, have a great day!
Momma Sherri

P.S 
This was written a few days ago. Since then, we were able to get a doctor, schedule an appointment and find out about how long it would take to figure out what the sex of our baby will be. We still have three weeks, which is a big bummer, but at least we have a doctor and have set something up. I should be able to find out by the time my birthday rolls around, the 24th. <<At that point, I will be one day shy of 20 weeks.

I Recommend Lists!!!

This will be a relatively short post because our internet is due to be cut off today. And, since I don’t know when that is going to happen, I should just act like it will be any moment now. Thus, short post.

Anyway, I woke up this morning feeling quite refreshed. Yesterday, I decided not to take a desperately needed nap. So, needless to say, I was well and ready by the time I actually did settle down.

This morning starts the busy two days of preparing to move. PJ and I are planning to clean the bathroom, kitchen and laundry room so that tomorrow we don’t have to stress ourselves out by having to do those dirty jobs. I’m gonna try and see if I can get him to do the bathroom ;) I don’t and never have like bathrooms.

We were able to do a load of laundry last night, as opposed to this morning, so I was able to fold all that stuff when I woke up and disassemble the dryer. 

Things are progressing and with the help of my lovely lists, it will be a lot easier to get my mind on track. (Even though my list making makes PJ insane, I’m sure he appreciates it too. It keeps me organized and there’s a lot less “uh, I gotta try to figure out what was next.” It’s like “boom, boom, boom, this is what we have next.”) It also helps for when we go across town because we can accurately determine the route we need to take to get things done quicker. I highly recommend lists if you don’t already believe in their magical powers. (JK about the powers but for real though, they are awesome.) 

^^BTW, I prefer to have my boxes AFTER my task, but whatev. This is a good example except for the fact that they are spaced out way too much, gotta save room so you can put more things on that list!! (I like lists < I need a T-shirt with that on it.)

Ok, I said I was going to keep this short. Have a blessed day and make those lists!! :D

Momma Sherri

P.S Do something good for yourself today, fitness wise. Let your body know that you love and care about  it. :D 

It's Almost "Go Time!!"

I can’t remember when I last updated, but lots has progressed since that moment. After all, it’s almost “Go Time” and I need to get my rear in gear if we want this moving thing to be successful. 

The whole packing process started out pretty well. In fact, it actually started the night we decided we were moving. PJ was all gung ho and decided that we should pack the kitchen. Lately, he has mentioned several times that perhaps it wasn’t the best idea. I agree, but personally, I like not having a sink full of dishes to clean. All of our dishes fit into our literally mini dish washer and I can do a load a day and have clean dishes for the next day. Regardless, he has needed a few things that are just too inconvenient to get to. So, we improvise a lot of the time. And, it works.

The next day, I packed up the majority of everything that we don’t use or that we just forgot we had. I can’t honestly say that I missed much of it. I do get a thrill of going through it though to see what treasures I don’t use and probably still won’t. It will have a use someday. By the way, I have no problem with throwing stuff away. I am not a hoarder, honest. I’ve thrown a TON of stuff away in this packing process, taken many trips to the dumpster and expect to take at least a few more within the next 4 days.

Yes, we only have 4 days, not counting today until we move. Truthfully, it seems like forever away. Thankfully though, I am more prepared for it than I was 2 days ago. I put a fire under my own tushy and made an extensive list of what needed to be done each day that we still had time to prepare. Mostly, I wanted some personal reassurance that by it getting done, it would release the “oh my word! The house is a filthy wreck! We have stuff everywhere!” And, it did!

When I got up yesterday, I ate breakfast and then almost immediately started my To-Do list. First on it was the car. I was pretty crummy and I wanted to get it all spiffed up before we moved. I spent about an hour plus some vacuuming it out with my mom’s vacuum cleaner that she lent me. It has a hose, unlike ours. I personally think I did a better job that if I was to go to the carwash place. You pay $1.00 to use the hose for 4 minutes. I’d typically use $5.00 worth and then have to settle for the little crumbs that I just couldn’t get and didn’t need to spend another $1.00 for. This time, I was able to spend as much time as I needed to get it clean. I wanted to save the seats and plastic stuff for the next day.

Later that evening, after my nap, I spent about 5 hours cleaning which mostly consisting of cleaning the smudges off the walls that I could reach, cleaning the baseboards (with a dryer sheet, which I got from Pinterest), cleaning the edges of every place I could reach (there were A LOT of dead buggies shoved in those crevices…even some with PAINT on them, which means that the previous owners forgot them and the maintenance people just painted over them…yuck.) I also packed some loose stuff that had been bugging me, vacuumed the carpet that I could get to, reorganized everything so that it looked better and less like “the house is a disaster, we are in the process of moving,” and cleaned all the shelves and drawers in the house, which included the kitchen, bathroom and closet. 

Today, I woke up, ate breakfast, and got ready to go to Dollar Tree. I needed a lint brush. If you know anything about our car, then you’d know that our seats are much like a pair of black pants that attract EVERY LITTLE hair and fuzz it comes in contact with. (I really dislike that aspect of our vehicle especially since I shed like a cat and because the red hat I donned this past winter sheds even more! My seat, the passenger seat, was littered with little red fuzzies! What a mess!!) 

Anyway, I got the lint brush, came home and braced myself for the rainy situation I was about to subject myself to. It wasn’t pouring, only a little more than a sprinkle, so I figured I just needed to get it done. For the plastic parts of the car, I found a Pinterest recipe about how using 1:1 water to vinegar was a good way to get the job done. I knew we had vinegar (from all those red velvet cakes I’d make) so I found PJ’s empty body wash container, cleaned it and filled it with the stuff. 

Upon using it in the car, I realized pretty fast that I’d need to open the windows and doors if I wanted to come out smelling relatively decent. This was a challenge considering it was raining. I opened the windows though and just accepted that I’d have to clean up the water. The plastic got cleaned and smelled like salad. I took that stuff inside to get myself ready for part 2. Onto the seats!

I got my lint brush, a bag for the used pieces and headed back outside. I couldn’t really sit on the seats and do the job like I could with the plastic so I decided to just get wet. The lint brush was of shabby construction and the roll wouldn’t stay still on the handle so I ended up cutting up my right hand pointer finger knuckle pretty extensively, not to the point of blood, but it’s sore and I have a skin flap. Still, I continued because those seats really get under my skin. I spent a good while on my seat because it was CAKED with red fuzzies, hair and other fuzzies which I wasn’t able to identify. The rest wasn’t so bad but I did make a discovery that I thought was weird.

The back seat was covered in a small layer of white cat fur. Hmm, that’s odd. We don’t have a cat and I don’t EVER remember letting a white feline frolic about in our car. As I was getting all of that up, I realized it was from JJ, PJ’s cousin in Ohio. We had him as out guest in June and he has several cats, some of which have white fur. I never sit in the back seat so I never thought about it until yesterday. I got all of that up and secretly swore to myself that we are NEVER having cat owners in the back seat unless they go through an extensive de-fur process. That mess gets STUCK in the fabric and I had to pull it out before it would stick to the lint roller. (Just kidding about the cat owners, but I will definitely more observant if we do have other people in our car. I’m thinking a weekly check with the lint brush will help keep the fur and fuzzies down.) <<this is something I’ll need to be thinking about anyway since we will have a baby back there.

The seats got cleaned and then I febrezed the fabric stuff to try to get that awful vinegar smell at least diminished. I think it worked to an extent. (I don’t have to get into the car until Sunday for church so maybe it will have aired out by then. I told PJ he gets to drive a salad for the next few days. Hehe).

By the way, if you are wondering, during this entire process of cleaning the car, my skin didn’t get wet. I was wearing a hoodie and the rain wasn’t strong enough to soak that. The hoodie took all of the water! 

Not too much else has happened today. PJ made some funky flourless oatmeal, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that he ended up liking. I didn’t. I ate something, took and nap and woke up to another To Do list. I only did about half since my back has been hurting after yesterday’s busy-ness.

This included cleaning out the laundry room, cleaning the fan…it had sticky dust on it, not that stuff that easily comes off, vacuuming the floor again, and taking out the trash. At that point, I was ready to stop and eat and relax my back muscles.

Here I am now, listening to some music and apparently talking a lot about cleaning and moving.
Apart from all of that, I’ve recently come to realize something really important and helpful.

Last Sunday, we had a Covenant Keepers meeting at our church. (CK is a group of married people; we learn to strengthen our relationship with our spouses while focusing on God’s principles for married life.) We were talking about fear.

I realized that I was in so much fear about moving to Ohio that I was letting it rule my emotions toward EVERYTHING, even PJ. I may have said this a while ago, but when it comes to change, fear comes to me and makes me a stressed out, unsure mental wreck. I used to experience this a lot when we would go into different quarters in college; I was so used to the last one that changing everything made me fearful. 
In regards to moving, I let the Devil attack my mind with fear of the unknown, fear of not being able to figure things out when we moved, fear of being where I needed to be. All this fear came to me EVEN THOUGH I felt COMPLETE peace about this when we made the decision. I was SO in fear that I was freaking out about whether or not this was the right thing or not. 

The lesson taught me that almost every fear that we have is linked to death in some way. People who are afraid of heights aren’t afraid of being high up, they are afraid of falling. People afraid of spiders are afraid of getting bitten and having something bad happen to them (which I totally understand; I’ve been bitten before.) I was afraid of driving 7-9 hours, I was afraid that PJ wouldn’t find a job, I was afraid almost every aspect, which does have it’s connections to death. 

I also learned that we really shouldn’t fear death. If we have Christ in us and believe that he died for us, we 
are going to wake up in heaven. Death really shouldn’t be feared if we know where were are going. I may die on earth, but I’ll wake up in a much much much better place! 

We know the presence of God by peace. Much the same, we know the Devil’s presence by fear. Fear is used to keep us from living, from going to places that God has ordained for us. If I keep myself in fear about moving to Ohio, I could keep myself and my family from something God has for us. 

Moreover, fear seems HUGE when we keep it all bottled up within us. We think about the details, we imagine the things that could happen, we build this entire scenario in our minds that makes the fear even worse. In reality, facing the fear makes us realize that what we were afraid of was so small. For instance, with the college situation. I was so afraid to start another quarter (perhaps it was because I didn’t think I would do as well as I did with the previous one) but once I actually got into it, it wasn’t any big thing. It’s important to resist the Devil and face your fears.

I said all that to say that my mind is no longer troubled with fear about moving. 

Jimmy Evans taught the message (How to Overcome Fear) and gave 4 points on how to do so:

1.) Admit your fear without shame - anything in the dark will only get worse and a lot of times, married people are fighting over what they fear. (Fear that they won’t have enough money, fear that one of them won’t be able to provide, etc.)

2.) Submit your fear to God - God already knows what’s going on but once we realized that our feelings are not our master, we get one step closer to being freed. We have emotions, yes, but it doesn’t mean that they are right emotions.

3.) Focus on God’s presence and love - Peace comes from God, as stated above, focusing on God will help us get out of fear.

4.) Face your fears by faith and you will not crumble - once we decide to face our fears, we are set free. It no longer keeps up bound and immobile. We also realize that it’s not as bad as we thought it would be.

As you might have observed, this past Sunday helped me TREMENDOUSLY!! I’m so glad I went to the CK meeting, even though PJ couldn’t go with me. I can definitely say that my mind has been eased and I am ready to take on this new adventure.

***

In baby news, I am 16 weeks tomorrow. I haven’t heard his little heartbeat in over 5 weeks and haven’t seen him in 7. It’s been kind of sad. He didn’t have fingers or toes 7 weeks ago. I’m thinking that our next appointment will be the gender reveal appointment. I am SO EXCITED for that!!! I’ll be posting a belly pic tomorrow…even though it doesn’t seem like my belly is going anywhere or getting bigger for that matter. 

Until next time, be blessed and enjoy your night!!

Momma Sherri 
^^PJ’s roommates used to call me that since I would clean their apartment (they were nasty slobs and I didn’t like to visit unless it was clean…and I liked to visit ;)

Is It Real?

These last few days have been pretty uneventful. I’ve had a throbbing headache since Wednesday morning and it’s still lingering today. It really sucks and I’ve been trying to limit my activity. 

Basically, I’ve been lazy when it comes to packing (even though I’ve had ideas of what else to pack.)  A bunch of nothing has been accomplished except for the fact that I was able to do the dishes. (We’ve packed up 95%  of our dishes and if I want to eat off of plates or with spoons or forks, I have to wash the dishes.) So, there you have the recap of the last few days.

Oh yeah, I’ve watched a few episodes of the first season of Full House and some other movies, but other than that, not much. It stinks; I’m used to moving. I’m hoping this headache goes away soon especially since tomorrow OFFICIALLY starts my 2nd trimester and I’m supposed to be feeling better and more energetic. I’d love to feel normal.

Other than the fact that nothing has happened lately, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. (When you’re alone 75% of the time, it just tends to happen.) Mostly about the future and how none of it seems REAL. That’s my thing. I always ask myself “Is this real?” And, yes, it turns out to be real, but for me, life tends to throw things in my direction (and probably yours too) that make you ask that same question. 
For instance, Is it really real that PJ and I am having a baby? Well, yes, obviously, I’ve seen our little Poppy, I’ve heard his heartbeat several times, and I feel a lot different, have a crazy sense of smell, and have been avoiding foods and such because they look, smell or sound unappealing. Yeah, we are having a baby. I can deal with that reality, but it still doesn’t seem real. 

Another thing that I’ve been categorizing as “unreal” is the fact that we are moving to Ohio. I’ve never really thought of leaving Kentucky and up until a little while ago, had no desire to do so either. I’m also the type of person who likes to know details before I do something and with moving to a new place, those details are undefined (with the exception of knowing the most important details like where we will live and what churches are in the area to go to) but all the little things are so uncertain and I don’t like that aspect. It’s unsettling to my flesh (we are not supposed to be led by our flesh though.) Still, a lot of our boxes are packed, I’ve received the confirmation for the moving truck, we HAVE to be out of this apartment May 1st, yeah, it’s real…but it still doesn’t FEEL like it. 

Call me crazy, but the moments in life that are the most important or MAJOR are the hardest ones for me grasp as reality. Some past experiences where I felt like this include when my sister moved away to Georgia, when I went to college, when I said yes to Pj’s proposal, when we got married, when PJ went to Ohio for 2.5 months, when I realized that I wasn’t going to give up on myself (when I started my journey to lose weight.) Yes, all of these things were hard to accept as reality but I made it through that uncertainty and I know I will make it through these ones too. 

Hopefully I’m not the only one to feel these kinds of feelings. I know they pass.

With Thought,
Is It Real…

Decisions

Today is one of those days. At least, it has started off that way. I woke up from a weird dream to reading comments and opinions about Pj’s and my move to Ohio. I don’t think people understand that I feel peace about this. It’s weird, yes. Very weird, in fact, because I used to get furiously angry at people when they’d suggest we move to Ohio. The simple thought of it made me so irritated I’d have to leave the room.

Now, for some reason beyond my understanding, I don’t get mad and I don’t get frustrated. Perhaps, I just needed time for the desire to be brought up in me. I do actually want to move to Ohio. I have for a little while now but didn’t want to tell my husband because it might have been a false sense of hope. He loves Ohio and rightly so, his family live there. I understand that completely. But, we are not moving to Ohio for that reason. Mind you, we wouldn’t move to that part of Ohio if his family didn’t live there, but we will have our own individual lives to assume once we settle in. After all, we have a baby on the way and I’m not going to entertain guests 24/7 just because they live nearby. I have my own identity, I enjoy my own personal space at times, most times, in fact, and I want to create a life there that is specific to me. I’ll be the same Sherri in Ohio as in Kentucky, still wanting my time alone, still wanting to keep my house clean, still wanting to do the same things I do here, just in Ohio. A different surrounding, new opportunities, but still the same me.

Two of my first priorities are church and baby doctor. I’m not sure if I mentioned this yesterday but church is my main goal. I want to find a church that we both know we should be planted in and one that will feed our spirits. I’m not about to rid myself of my church life just because we change location. I’ve been looking online for churches - full gospel churches - and I plan to visit them as soon as we move down there. I don’t want to leave Paducah and forget all that I’ve known and stood for. I want my baby to grow up knowing who God is, what Jesus did for him and accept it with open arms. I promise, we are not moving to Ohio so that we can engage in sins of the flesh (which, honestly at one point, I thought that’s all that Ohio symbolized.) I know better now, especially since my husband has proved to me that it isn’t. 

My second priority is a baby doctor. I’ve called the only lady Ob/Gyn there is in Marion and is she doesn’t work out, I will look toward the others (there are 3 other male doctors). I want my baby to have a good start in life and this is one of those decisions I kind of have to make on my own because my husband won’t be the one delivering, obviously. I’m not going unprepared, I’m looking at every possible thing I can think of that will need to transferred, changed, shifted, released, what have you. I’m not just moving willy nilly. If anyone knows me, then they know I just don’t do that. I am a planner; I don’t like things to be done in a sporadic fashion and I won’t start now, just because we are moving to Ohio.

I know some people don’t understand. I, too, don’t really understand why a year ago, I was so against this and now, I have the desire to make this move, while pregnant, especially. I realize this is a giant decision, but we have made it and we feel peace about it. 

The First Official Pregnancy Bog Post

Apparently, pregnancy makes you super sleepy throughout the day and wide awake in the morning. I took a 2 hour nap around 4:45 yesterday, woke up, ate because I felt like I was starving (another pregnancy symptom) and resumed packing. I said all that to say that I woke up around 8am today and am now bored after catching up on The Celebrity Apprentice and browsing through all the pictures on my computer. So, I decided to write a blog post after about 8.5 weeks. This was on purpose, yes, but I wasn’t doing it maliciously. 

I’ve known I was pregnant since February 9th. (Test to the right)
And, trying to blog about fitness when you feel like someone ran over you with a bulldozer (ok, maybe that’s not EXACTLY how I’ve felt these last few weeks, but you understand) is pretty impossible. I noticed a change in my body on February 6th when I was so out of breath trying to do the Brazil Butt Lift routine for that day. I think I actually documented that on my blog because, at that time, I didn’t know I was expecting. That was the day I was expecting something else. Needless to say, it didn’t arrive and I’m 12 weeks and 4 days pregnant as of today.

Before I bum you out with the knowledge that I haven’t done squat since Feb 6th, I do plan on getting back into the whole fitness thing. This time, though, it will be centered around pregnancy. I’m not supposed to do anything that I can’t carry on a conversation throughout. So, Insanity and P90x are saying goodbye for a while and it’s on to pregnancy yoga, walking and toning. I haven’t decided when I am going to begin because my husband and I are in the middle of a MAJOR move and I’m pretty much getting the exercise I don’t want by having to pack and move these boxes around. I’ve already packed up my 8 pound weights, but the other fitness stuff is still around. I might wait until the last few days to pack those so I can use them. 
Oh yes, I did say moving. PJ and I have decided (and we feel peace about, which is most important) that we are moving to Ohio, where his family is from. It was a hard decision in the fact that I am pregnant and I know that my family here will be bummed. I also understand that if we stay here, the family there will be bummed. I guess it comes with the territory when you fall in love with and marry someone who lives seven hours away from your hometown. That part was hard, and pregnancy doesn’t help the emotions one bit. I’ve cried and cried…and cried about this because I don’t want anyone to miss out, but someone will have to, at least in some degree. It’s also not my place, as wife, to be selfish when it comes to my husband’s family. His family has as much a desire to see him as mine has to see me and marriage is about commitment, compromise and ultimately, making decisions based on what is best for him or her (plus the kiddos, if you  have any…which we do…in the making) and not necessarily what’s best for the in-laws. I cringe while typing because this is really a lot harder than it sounds. I know there will be many more tears but I’ve thought through this several times and I feel peace, which I believe is the most important. 

Now that you know all of this, I can get back to the most exciting part. I’m pregnant! It’s been tough having to keep this from everyone, but we did it and now that it’s out, it adds to the excitement! We weren’t even trying (or even planning for at least 2-5 years) but were pleasantly surprised after the initial shock and OMG wore off (which only lasted for about a day.) I figured something was up when I could smell a guests breath the morning of February 6th as I was getting ready to leave work. Later that night, I could also smell another person's breath a fair distance away. Not to be mean, but both smelled like rank garlic and while my uniform in the morning wasn’t slack enough to cover my nose, my hoodie I wore that night was and I DID!! Unfortunately, since being pregnant, I can smell rank garlic breath increasingly well and it is HORRIBLE!! It literally turns my stomach!

I’ve had a few issues since becoming pregnant, but nothing that has affected the baby. Poppy, his nickname because he was the size of a poppy seed when we found out, is doing well and growing fast. He is now about the size of a lime this week and will be even bigger in just a few days. It’s absolutely how miraculous this process is to witness!! I can’t feel him yet, but I’ve been told that if I press on my abdomen, he will move in response. So cute!

Some of the issues have included fainting (PJ caught me with no ill affect to me or baby, as stated above), I’ve visited and stayed a night in the hospital because of not being able to keep liquids down. (Only happened one day and hasn’t happened since) and inability to sleep. Thankfully though, the fainting and dehydration only happened once and my sleep pattern has resumed. I am most excited about the sleep, because it affects everything else! I’m healthy and though I do have occasional nausea, headaches, and the pain of my uterus growing, it’s really not all that bad when you think about what the end result is. I’m so excited!

Oh, before I leave you, I want to make mention that the move will be occurring May 1st. This works out almost perfectly because our lease is up April 12th. I no longer work for the Fairfield Inn due to unreliability (pregnancy) and some other things that my husband and I have discussed and he has a possibility of transferring his employment to Columbus, Ohio. So, like I said, we have peace that everything will work out. I’ve already called Ob/Gyn’s in the area, signed my release form for the doctor I am currently at, looked up churches to visit when we get there, called insurance companies about transferring, etc, etc. We must move fast, literally. We have a great start and enough momentum to continue going strong. Thankfully, I am almost out of the first trimester, going into the one with the increased energy and don’t have a significant enough bump yet for it to get in the way. The one bonus of moving while pregnant is that I don’t have to lift any of the heavy stuff. (*Fist Pump*) My job is to lift the light items and delegate where everything goes. I get to take breaks often and no one can tell me to stop being lazy…afterall, I’m making the baby and that’s hard work as it is. :D (For real though, I will help with as much as I physically can.)

Our first appointment in Marion, may even be the gender reveal appointment. So, that is definitely something to be excited for!!!

Until next time, 
Mama Sherri

Proud of My Spinach!

Today was a lot like today, minus the four hours of window shopping. I slept, the hubs and I ventured to a few places, and I was in the kitchen for a long time. Oh yeah, and we both made time to take a walk together. We both had a really good day.

My sleep was a little weird though; I woke up twice before 2:20pm (designated wake up time) feeling energized enough to wake up and do stuff. But, I made myself sleep until the annoying buzzer sounded. (And, that didn’t even happen! I woke up at 2:18pm. I’m quite good at waking up a minute or two before the alarm sounds. Maybe it’s because I hate the sound of my alarm and would rather not hear it…who knows.) Regardless, I got up and suggested that PJ come with me to Michaels to get some cake boxes and to Aldi to get some sugar and eggs.

Upon returning home, I headed straight for the kitchen and began making another batch of white velvet cake, another half batch of red velvet cake, chocolate chocolate chip banana muffins with pureed spinach, making the cake ball batter and covering them with white, milk and dark chocolate, and frosting the white velvet cupcakes; PJ started on lunch. (In a tiny kitchen, this is very hard!) He wanted soup and chicken, turkey bacon panini’s with pepperjack cheese so he added more vegetables to the leftover soup from yesterday creating yet another full pot of soup for us to dine on; it was still quite yummy except for the very surprising and unpleasant taste of the lima bean or pea that I bit into. The kitchen had a lot of action today.

The main thing about the previous paragraph that I want to highlight is the review on the muffins with spinach. Ya see, I don’t typically get a lot of iron in my diet unless it’s through the broccoli that I eat every other day. I knew we had some spinach in the fridge and I had the idea to put that in with my muffins. If you read the post yesterday, you knew that PJ wasn’t fond of that idea and was a little grossed out. Haha. I still wanted to try it so I pureed about 1 ½ cup of spinach in with ½ a banana and the amount of unsweetened apple sauce it called for. It pureed very well and I just added that to the creamed mixture of butter and sugar (1/3 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons butter). Once the batter was done and ready to be poured into the muffin tins, it looked a lot like baby poop. The green shredded leaves weren’t very appealing to the eyes but I figured it would look a lot different once baked. It did.

In fact, the ones with spinach looked almost EXACTLY like the ones without. And, the best part, they tasted the same too. I was hesitant at first because I tasted the batter before hand and it left a really funky aftertaste. Surprisingly, it was delicious! I’m excited to make more! I might experiment with kale too!

As far as my nutrition goes since being on exercise restriction, I’ve been eating healthy foods, snacking on lots of carrots, eating a lot of our low calorie veggie soup, and drinking a lot of milk. It seems that I’ve been getting hungry a little more frequently (apparently soup doesn’t fill you up for long) so I’ll grab a banana or much on some more carrots. I’ve also been trying to drink more water too because my desire for it has gone severely downhill (which I don’t like!) The only things I’ve been drinking are milk, water and caffeine free sierra mist. (More milk than water, and more milk and water than the sierra mist.)

After I finished up in the kitchen, I told PJ that I wanted to go walk for at least 15 minutes before I had to take a nap for the Audit shift. I wanted to get something in for the day even if it wasn’t much. We walked for about 25 minutes in the neighborhoods close to our apartment complex. We even saw 4 deer! It was fun and we enjoyed the time together.

I guess that’s the only information to update on. I don’t anticipate much sleep tomorrow, however, because I have 3 orders to deliver throughout the day, more things to make, church to go to J and at least 30 minutes of walking to do, plus some other household things. So, until next time. Be blessed!!

Singing Out,

SP!

Click here for the muffin recipe!