Words of wisdom and other news...

I was reading my "week-by-week" pregnancy book a couple days ago and came across a part that gives you "safety tips" while pregnant. These are things you should be doing at all times to prevent accidents like falling down and running into things and the likes of which most of us don't do on a day-to-day basis but could possibly become prone to once pregnant. After reading the first tip, a light bulb came on. I had never thought of this! In fact, I had an incident last night because I was not doing precisely this! Are you ready for the golden nugget of widsom???

1. Keep your eyes open and always be aware of your surroundings.

I wonder how many pregnant women have missed this eye-opening (pun intended) fact!! Obviously, if they weren't following this tip, they would have missed it because you can't read if your eyes are shut. duh...Anytime I see a pregnant woman out and about, I'm going to approach her and, if she has her eyes open, congratulate her on reading this book. She's obviously taking all the right measures to ensure a safe, sound and accident-free pregnancy. I myself have been more attentive to what I'm doing and have mentally taken note of the fact that my eyes ARE open when I'm walking around and driving. Those could be the more dangerous times to NOT follow this tip. Last night, when we were walking back out to the car after seeing Seven Pounds I experienced the effects of not following the tip fully because I tripped on a hidden tree root in the grass and almost fell. This was after Waylon had just done it and I was about to begin laughing at him for not "paying attention to his surroundings". Then I had to point the finger to myself. I will do better though. Another tip was to always use handrails and walls when going down stairs or walking on walkways. I've taken extra care to make sure that everytime I go down or come up the stairs of my apartment, I am holding on to the rail. Who knows how many times it has saved mine and my baby's life!

ok, ok...all joking aside...there WERE some good tips in there, I was just a little taken aback by the first one. Obviously there are women who don't keep their eyes open at all times or pay attention to their surroundings or they wouldn't have felt the need to put that in there. I'd love to hear the story behind that...

In other news...without jinx-ing myself, I am on my 3rd day of being without nausea!! I'm so excited!! It has felt so great to not have to rush to the kitchen and eat as soon as my stomach starts feeling queesy, or worry about going anywhere for fear that I will get hungry and start getting sick. I've also, believe it or not, gotten a little tired of laying down all the time. I mean, I love to sleep and lounge around, but it really does get old after a while. So today and yesterday even, I've actually gotten some cleaning and organizing done. It felt pretty good! There have been some major areas in our apartment that have been needing organizing and cleaning out. I haven't got it all done by any means but I've started, which feels good. I can do a little each day and feel like I accomplished something other than being a sick pregnant lady.

Yesterday I went to lunch with my friend Stefanie and we ate at Jason's Deli which is always good then went to Barnes & Noble to spend my gift card that I got from my aunt-in-law for Christmas. First of all, I have to say that B&N is one of my most FAVORITE places to go!! I could literally spend hours there. Needless to say, I was pretty stinking excited about getting to spend $20 there. We walked around for a while browsing and looking at all sorts of stuff. Then I settled into the section that currently has my interest: pregnancy. We looked through several books and pregnancy journals and stuff and I finally settled on getting this adorable journal called "The Belly Book". The edge of it is even rounded, shaped like a pregnant belly. It's a journal strictly for the 9 months of pregnancy with spots for belly pictures as it grows, sonogram pictures and lots of places to fill stuff in about cravings, aversions, mood, energy level, family experiences and many other things. I really liked it and have already filled lots of stuff out. I am going to put the sonogram pictures in today in their little spots. It's fun to finally have a book I can put pictures and stuff in. I'm really looking forward to getting bigger and feeling the baby move. Tuesday I go back for my 3rd appointment and will get to hear the heartbeat again. This time Waylon will go with me so he'll get to hear it too. I'm definitely getting more emotional so I predict I will probably shed a couple of tears of joy this time. I've been getting choked up over the smallest, silliest things lately. It's really been in the past couple of weeks that the emotional thing has hit. We went and saw three very emotional movies this week: Valkyrie, The Curious Case of Benjamine Button and Seven Pounds. I cried in all of them but I think the one that got me the most was Benjamine Button. I won't give it away or anything but the end had me almost sobbing! If I hadn't been with Waylon and my uncle Jamie, I probably would have completely lost it! It's been a long time since a movie has had that kind of effect on me. Anyways, if want a nice long drama with a lot of crying moments, go see Benjamine Button. It was very good.

It's almost 1:30 and I expect Waylon will be getting home from work soon so I want to go get my shower in. We have a party to go to tonight and I still have to go to the store and get the drinks and some sparkling cider and grape juice. I'm looking forward to spending some fun times with friends. Hope all of you have fun, safe New Year's plans!

love,
Steph