Our mennonite neighbors didn’t seem to appreciate my outfit today. Maybe it’s because they were burning up in their ankle-length denim skirts?

*shrug*

Today, I feel like I got hit by a bus. A bus called pregnancy. I barely slept last night thanks to tossing, turning and heartburn. This morning, like most mornings, I woke up with Nick and had breakfast and then assumed I’d go back to sleep. No such luck. My eyes are killing me, begging me to sleep, but it just won’t happen. I give up!

My mom just called and I swear she could sense something was wrong. I was like, “You can tell I feel like utter shit, can’t you?” She said yes, of course she could tell, and it means I’m getting close — “You’re at the point when you want to lay on the floor and wail. We’ve all been there. Your organs are squished to a point that shouldn’t be humanly possible.”

I give her a virtual round of applause.

Let me assure you, this is a total 180 from yesterday! I felt great. Took a huge nap and was in generally good spirits all day. Handsome Nick and my coworkers surprised me with a baby shower! Nearly everyone I work with showed up in one big bunch with gifts and well-wishes and it was just awesome. They even parked a few blocks away and crouched down as they passed my living room window. They’re the best. I can’t believe Nick kept it a secret! He told me he was taking me out for dinner and to dress hot — I would’ve been PISSED if they’d all seen me in my non-fitting pajamas and messy hair! Big kudos to him.

Sooooooo maybe I look a little pregnant.

Handsome Nick took this yesterday at our favorite drive-in. I refused to smile in the first seven shots but finally gave in. I was grumpy as heck.

Now, EVERYTHING is funny. We’re heading to Walmart where people are weird so I’ll probably laugh til I pee.

This has been bugging me for entirely too long. I need to get it off my chest.

Pregnant ladies, did you not realize when you became pregnant that it’d make you bigger?

That your body would change?

Since it’d be holding a human life for nine or ten months?

Which makes the baby bump worth it?

If you walk around feeling like a Fatty McFatFat, lacking all confidence, the unhappiness shows on your face. It’s a never-ending cycle of unattractive. And who wants to be around a sad person?

Don’t you realize you’re going to miss pregnancy, and that this is so very temporary compared to raising your awesome kid?

One of my favorite people just sent me this, an article from The Atlantic about childbirth. Specifically, it’s about seeing the process as scientific but not technological, and discusses the difference.

I’ve always felt that moms/couples should birth where and how they feel most comfortable, as long as they do research to get to that point. Blindly listening to your health care provider without seeking your own truth and conclusions is a bad idea, especially if they base their advice on seeing you for 15 minutes per month and testing your pee. There’s more to it than that!

• My grandma is a pregnant-hater, I swear. I take what she says with a grain of salt but GOSH she can really take digs at me. For instance, if I touch my belly in her presence, she brings up her deceased sister-in-law who “got pregnant all the time just to touch her belly.” She implies it’s embarrassing to be pregnant. It’s awkward as hell because I’m only embarrassed about the gross stuff, like sweating and gas. Last weekend, she told me I need to dress better to hide my bump. Really? Does she not know who she’s talking to? So strange. I’m not going to dress in a tent and make people guess if I’m fat or pregnant, thanks!
• Speaking of the baby bump, Handsome Nick mentioned to a co-worker that I’m getting really big. She told him to never ever say that. As sensitive as I can be, him calling me “big” as a pregnant woman has never offended me. Maybe that’s because he’s never meant it in a bad way — it’s always as if to say I’m big and pretty or doing a good job of growing a little baby. *shrug* Just me, I guess. I love knowing that if I didn’t like it, he’d never say it again.
• I still haven’t fully grasped the fact that soon I’ll have a daughter. I don’t think I will until I have her. When I really put the facts together and think hard about what’s coming and how soon, it blows me away. I’m so excited!

Happy 24 weeks, PJ!

The weather was gorgeous today. And by Idaho standards in March, that includes sunshine, mild warmth and no snow. Those are the keywords. No snow. There was a snow storm less than a week ago, yet today, it was about 55 degrees and beautiful. Handsome Nick and I went for a half-hour walk to the edge of town.

We visited my mom, grandma and sister yesterday, and they got to see PJ swimming around my belly! My mom thought it was awesome — she misses being pregnant. A lot. My sister also thought it was pretty stinking cool, but I don’t think she’s ever seen it before, so her eyes got reeeeeeal wide and she gasped! It was hilarious. We were in a dressing room at Ross so I bet people wondered what the hell was going on with us …

In other news, our Bradley class starts tomorrow! Nick’s mentioned more than once how excited he is. I like that it’ll turn into a nice little date night, too — forces us to get out of the house and have a little bite to eat first. And I finished our taxes today! We did most of it a few weeks ago but didn’t like the outcome so we refused to finish. Until today. Glad it’s done, though.

Random emotional/hormonal moment: Nick is the best.

Handsome Nick took me on an impromptu date night Friday!

We went to a movie at The Garland, a really awesome encore theater about an hour and a half away on the north side of Spokane. We had free passes (and the movies are super cheap to begin with) so it was an excellently inexpensive evening. We saw the sequel to Sherlock Holmes. As with most action movies, I didn’t quite get it — OK maybe I wasn’t paying too much attention — but I was still entertained as all hell. Adventure! Jumping! Fighting! Yay!

The Garland’s bathroom is still pretty vintage with lots of neat mirrors. I couldn’t resist. Please ignore my trouty mouth.

Then, we went to Stop n’ Go Drive In, which I’d just heard about that day. It’s cheap, it’s all-natural beef and it’s delicious. They even have those touch-screen Coke machines with 100 choices. So basically, if you live in the Coeur d’Alene/Spokane area and you haven’t gone, you’re missing out.

Most of the rest of the weekend was spent painting and relaxing, rinse, repeat. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to not get my belly painty when I walk through the nursery. Go figure:

kudos to hubby for new boxer briefs

My favorite baby in the whole wide mundo is 23 weeks along now! And why am I up so goshdurn early, you ask? Especially on a Monday? I can’t sleep. She was just kicking away in there when Nicky got up for work, which made me happy, and then I got sad, because pregnant women get sad a lot, and then I asked Nick to re-tuck me in (at 5:30 a.m.) hoping I could get back to sleep but I cried instead. I know I’ll hate myself for saying this later, but I cannot wait for the third-trimester sleep-for-12-hours thing (humor me by pretending it exists). I’ve never slept worse in my life! I know there are reasons for it and it’s totally worth it, but I’m really missing out on the deepest of deep sleep. I can’t even nap.

Hey body, aren’t you working overtime making a human? Don’t you want to just crash, snore, drool and wake up entirely too late? Think about it and get back to me.

EDIT: To anyone dying to tell me, “If you think you sleep poorly now, just wait!” Please eat a rock. Most every pregnant woman you’ve told that to would say the same thing. Being awake at crazy hours and not getting much sleep because I’m taking care of a baby is totally different and much more worth it than being awake because I just can’t sleep and/or I’m bitchily uncomfortable.

PJ is 20 weeks along and is the size of a small cantaloupe.

Estelle is about 6 years old and is the size of a rather large and demonic house rodent. In this photo, Handsome Nick had just threatened to send her to boarding school. She’s been a real charmer today.

PS Nick found a super cute little pink and white dress today for PJ. His reaction was precious. On the drive home, he talked about how he’s going to take her all over town once she’s born. She’s basically destined to be a daddy’s girl, and I love it.

19 weeks! Hot damn, kid, you’re growing like a weed!

PS It was decided recently that PJ must have a unibrow in addition to a full head of hair … so much heartburn going on …