My Top 5’s of Pregnancy

In case any of my readers have never been pregnant or been around many people who are pregnant, here are a few highlights of my experience.

Likes:
- Enhanced sense of smell
- Feeling the baby move
- People are more eager to help me (even when I don’t need it)
- Baby shopping
- Seeing my baby on the sonograms

Dislikes:
- Decreased energy
- Sore hips
- Calf cramps
- Food aversions (beef and bacon - which are things I normally love)
- Extra Bathroom Trips

Pregnancy Things That Made Me Laugh:
- Forgetting that I can’t fit in smaller spaces
- Feeling the baby have hiccups
- Watching the baby kick the dog or Dan when they would rest their faces on my belly
- Crazy hormones (suddenly being protective, the “oh I love everything” feeling, etc…)
- Random food cravings

Pregnancy Things I didn’t know, that I know now:
- Baby car seats expire, and they have to be replaced after a crash
- It is common to get nose bleeds during pregnancy
- Your skin gets super itchy as it expands
- The majority of women do not have their water break before going to the hospital
- All the aches and pains that come because of pregnancy

What I was looking forward to most post-pregnancy:
- Seeing baby Jax (duh)
- Sleeping without hip pain/calf cramps
- Doing an actual work out again
- No more food aversions
- Being able to travel again (once Jax is up for it)

Things have been great since Jax arrived. I did have crazy days when he would not stop crying, and I did break down in tears in the Kohl’s parking lot because I couldn’t find the PJs I wanted for Jax. However, overall, being a parent has been great.

The hip pain/calf cramps did go away, and I love bacon cheeseburgers again. Mmm! The work outs still haven’t happened yet, but I have learned that breast feeding (if you are able to do it) is a fantastic way to drop your baby weight quickly. :)

I am not someone who wishes they could always be pregnant, but I am glad that I had this experience. I learned a lot, had some laughs along the way, and got a cool little boy in the end.

Cheers!

Jax and I after he was born

A Room for Baby Jax

Way before we were even pregnant, Dan and I knew that we wanted to have a pirate-themed baby room – whether we had a boy or a girl. There were lots of reasons why we wanted this theme, but the most prevalent one was that pirate stuff is just down right cool.

As with most first-time parents, we went a wee bit overboard with decorations – it didn’t help that we are both creative, artistic people.

We started by painting the walls. One wall has a big mural, and the other three are a sprawling pirate map (complete with an “X marks the spot” and a compass). Then, we added furniture, pirate-themed mobile and curtains, and stuffed animals. Luckily, we had some help with the stuffed animals and other wall hangings, as our family is just as excited to buy things for our little munchkin as we are.

Here are some pictures of the final product!

PS: Did you spot the Batman signal? :)

2014 Election Day

Election Day was always a sort of holiday in my family. We did not decorate or cook anything unique, but if my brother and I were lucky, we would get to go to the polling stations with our parents. I have many memories of getting to push a button or fill in a circle for one of my parents.

Voting day reminds me of the men and women (especially women) who fought for my right to vote. Rather than being a piece of property, I have a say in the administration of the country, state, town that I live in. It is an opportunity that I never want to squander and feel very strongly about.

This year was my first opportunity to include a child of my own in the voting process. Jax did not make it to the actual polling station with me (because I did not have time to pick him up before). However, I did tell him all about it when I got home, and I picked up an “I voted” sticker for him.

Here we are together, rocking our stickers.