The Worst Part

At 20 weeks, the worst part of this whole ordeal is not the random aches and pains. It is not the total strangers trying to give me advice. It is not the fatigue or the hunger.
It is the fact that I am starting to need maternity clothes and shopping for them is a completely disheartening ordeal. I don't want your gratuitous ruffles! I don't want your cheap fabrics! And I most certainly don't want your pants, because they are ALL too short on me. I also am not interested on spending a ton of money on something poorly made, which I will only be wearing for the next 5 months (give or take) anyways! I just need enough clothes to make it one week at a time,  for the next 20 weeks. Is there a "What Not To Wear" type show for pregnant women? Is there a thrift store I've been missing? I feel like there are secrets I've not been privy too, mostly because I'm living in a strange state and most of my friends haven't had kids yet anyways.
And one more thing. A note to the good people of ebay- No, I will not buy your pregnancy clothes from you at $10 less than the price you paid! They are mostly outdated and it's not my fault that you went overboard on your maternity clothes and only wore them all once or twice! You need to take that up with your husband and stop taking it out on me. Also, two shirts does not constitute a "Huge Lot!!!". (Yes, I really saw someone trying to sell two shirts as a "Huge Lot!!!"). And one more thing, did EVERYONE become a size large or XL when they were pregnant? Those clothes are designed to be flowy and stretchy, and they design them in your normal size... I'm still a small or medium.

There's my maternity clothes rant. I needed to get it out somewhere! I know the generations before me had their own maternity clothing challenges too! It really is a never ending dilemma!

On a positive note, however, our hot water heater is working again! They repair men came yesterday afternoon and were done with it in a half hour. I don't even know what was wrong with it, but I am SO HAPPY to be able to confidently wash dishes, do the laundry, and most of all take a hot shower! I am off to do the latter right now!

Pumpkin Spice

Today the high is 85 degrees, but tomorrow it's going to be 59 according to weather.com. This means that Starbuck's pumpkin spice lattes are even more tempting. I know I'm not supposed to have a lot of caffeine, but I've taken this very specifically to mean keep it to one cup a day, once (or twice) a week, maximum. I am trying to compensate my fall yearnings with the promise of wearing a sweater to work tomorrow and making pumpkin spice baked goods. I've already made pumpkin gingerbread cookies (I got some new cookie cutters from Target on sale, and I already had a few from the thrift store so I've been looking for reasons to use them) and I'm planning on making some pumpkin spice bread next. I ended up getting that bread machine I saw at the thrift store (only $9.99 and it's $60 on amazon!), and I love having one again! Stephen can have delicious home made toast every morning to take with him for breakfast, and I enjoy interesting flavors of bread all the time. My first loaf was a golden raisin and spice loaf. I think it's in my genes- special breads, jams, and teas are always a favorite. I read that the baby is drinking amniotic fluid for practice swallowing and digesting, and can actually taste it at this point, so I should be eating things I want her to eat. I suppose healthy, home made bread is an alright start. I still have 4 (5) months to convince her that she should inherit my love for broccoli.
Speaking of the baby, I'm 99% sure I've been feeling her kick every once in a while for the past week or two. And while sometimes this just feels like little bubbles popping on the inside of my tummy, sometimes this means pain in my ribs. When we saw the ultrasound of her, you could see already that she has long legs, so I'm not surprised. The manager at the other BCBG in my outlet mall is also having a baby, (a little girl as well!) and is due just less than a month after me. It's funny because she'll come over to talk about scheduling or other business-related things, and we always get on the topic of babies. Or finding maternity clothes. Or day care. Or any one of the thousand things that fellow soon-to-be mothers can find to talk about. Honestly, I am really glad she's there, as she's not only more experienced as a manager and can help me with any questions I have, but also is a few years older has a different perspective about the whole mother/family vs work discussion. 

Flying By

As I write this, I am 19 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I (give or take) am halfway there. That thought strikes me as almost unreal. The month of October has absolutely jetted by me.  I can't believe that November is just over a week away. My store's manager is leaving at the end of the week, and while I am not shaking in fear, I am not sure I'm ready. I know that our district manager is working on getting us a new manager, but these coming weeks could be tough. I asked Stephen if I could get a prenatal massage when my next check comes in, and he agreed. I am definitely looking forward to it! The worst part about the coming week is that I'm having trouble scheduling it. I have (until we get a new manager) taken over scheduling for the store, and, of course, no one wants to work on Halloween. I'm sure they all have plans, but I hope it will actually be a calm day for us. I made a pair of lace cat ears on a headband to wear (with all black- I'll be a cat), and we got a memo from the corporate office that we are allowed to participate in giving away candy to kids along with many other stores in our outlet mall. I think it will be fun, actually. I gave my fellow key holder, Crystal, the day off (we both are only allowed to work 40 hours per week, and have to have 2 days off per week), so I thought it would be best to have a bit of fun with it since I'm going to be there all day.
Today is my day off but somehow I have not taken the nap I was planning on. Before settling on the cat ears, I was going to be a panda (black/white dress, panda ears/hair buns), so I ventured out to the local thrift stores and was pretty disappointed.  Maybe it's just in Ohio that the thrift stores are cheaper, but I decided the prices were a bit much for me, especially with the lacking selection. I did, however, see a circus themed waffle maker (as well as a few other ones, including snoopy), a nice bread machine, and a new looking humidifier. All three of which we have been interested in getting sometime soonish (the waffle maker doesn't have to be circus themed, though). I didn't get any reaction to the texts I send Stephen about the appliances, though, so I didn't end up buying anything. By the end of two thrift stores, I just wanted to go home and eat something, so that is exactly what I did.  Then Stephen got home for lunch, which reminded me the water heater was not making hot water. I took a look, saw it was electric, then looked at the breaker box. Curiously, the water heater switch was off. I turned it on, then saw a blast of black smoke and a spark of electricity and it turned itself off again. Not a good sign... I immediately called the rental company and emailed them a maintenance request, so I'm hoping something will happen about that rather quickly. I may be heating up water on the stove and taking a bath tomorrow otherwise...
When it rains, it pours, eh?

Let's Keep The Pink To A Minimum

Our mammogram technician was a nice but somewhat in-understandable older gentleman, but finally we gathered that it's a girl!

Cool Down

Well I'm not sure if it's allergies or if I'm under the weather, but I am very excited about the "chicken" noodle soup I'm currently making. On sunday, it was actually in the mid 50's at the warmest, and yesterday was in the 60's. Today it's supposed to be warmer, but it's very cloudy and still feels cool to me. Weather.com also told me that the pollen count in my area is pretty high, so honestly it's possible that I'm feeling a bit of both.  Today is my day off, so I plan on drinking tea and eating soup and getting some housework done then rewarding myself with a nap.
My new job has been going amazingly well. I feel like I'm really getting the hang of all the key holder stuff I didn't have to do before, and my manager is very laid back.
Only a week till we find out if it's a boy or girl! Stephen and I are betting girl, mostly because we have a few boy names we love, but girl names have been more difficult for us to decide on.

Weekly emails

I get weekly emails updating me on the baby's progress and this week is kind of exciting-

My baby has a skeleton, and finger prints, and is the size of an onion! Wow. I told my manager that I'm expecting and she was excited for me and very sweet. Unfortunately, she's also leaving to focus on school at the end of the month.  Big changes are afoot! But hopefully not for me, I love my job and the amount of responsibility I have right now is perfect for me.
Stephen told me yesterday that he's really excited to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl and it was really nice to hear that from him. His excitement comes in bursts, so sometimes they seem few and far between, and I like to see reminders from him. I just generally express a small bit of excitement every time the subject comes up.
I think that for Christmas I'm going to ask Stephen if I can buy one really really nice piece of maternity wear off ebay. I ordered a catalog from a company called Isabella Oliver and their maternity clothes are SO beautiful- I am obsessed with the look. There is also a company called Hatch which does amazing maternity pieces. Everything from those two is made of beautiful materials, in incredible colors, and amazing cuts that work during and after pregnancy. I don't intend on buying anything full price, however, because I am not looking to pay that much for one piece of maternity clothing. But having something on sale or second hand to wear to my baby shower that made me feel spoiled and beautiful would be wonderful. Not to say that I don't LOVE my new topshop leggings and long skirt. They are fabulous and I already know I'll be wearing them all the time.