Trust your instincts.

Turns out, I'm not a basket case.  More on that later. 

Pregnancy observations for the week.

• Today for lunch, I packed some leftover sausage balls (from last night's Super Bowl party) and a bagel with strawberry cream cheese.  One of my coworkers saw it and said she had never seen a pregnancy craving that strange.  Because she thought the sausage balls were chicken livers.
• I've been a basket case since getting over the stomach virus.  I'm over-analyzing every little thing that isn't normal...even though I know all those things normally occur to anyone getting over something like that.  And I still over-analyze these symptoms after they go away. 
• Liam has been told that if he wants to meet his grandma right after he's born, he has to stay in for at least one more week.  My poor mom has the flu. 
• My students keep asking when I'm going to go on maternity leave.  
• Amazon Mom is such a great deal!
• Yesterday I split part of my fingernail trying to put together Liam's swing.  Because, really, it isn't enough that I have to go through labor.
• For reasons unknown to me, I want a Toaster Strudel.  I don't think I've had one since high school. 

Making Valentine's Day Cards

This morning our Sunday School class made Valentine's Day cards for the children in the BMT unit at Children's Hospital in Cincinnati.  The scrapbooker in me might be a bit biased, but I think this might have been the best service activity we've ever done! 

Here's a peek at our creations.  It was fun to see people who didn't have a lot of confidence in their skills make some truly amazing cards! 

5 of 52

This week has been all about checking things off the "before Liam gets here" list.

• Make a call to make certain my short-term disability wasn't the victim of some poor financial management (it wasn't -- whew!).
• Clean Liam's room and organize his closet.
• Take the aluminum foil off of the crib, and replacing it with actual bedding.  (I promise we aren't trying to protect Liam from the aliens.  Cats apparently hate aluminum foil, so it was a good way to let Lola know that the crib is not for her.)
• Schedule a prenatal consult with the pediatrician.
• Preregister at the hospital.
• Put together the swing/bouncer...which I would already have done if I could carry it into the house.
• Buy a pump, mirror, and mobile. 
• Install the carseat.
• Finish packing.  I'm very close to having this one.  In fact, I could probably get by on what I've already packed.  It just seems like there's always something else that needs to go in the suitcase or diaper bag.
• Clean the house.  
• Get the guest room ready for my Mom.
• Hang curtains.

I missed a day of blogging...

It's been awhile since I did this.  But I have a good excuse. 

No, I didn't have the baby. 

I had a stomach virus. 

It started last night, and the worst was over by 3am.  I'm still feeling really wiped out, and my main goal has been re-hydrating.  I'm just happy the worst of it was relatively short-lived, only about 6 hours or so.  I'm always super-cautious about bouncing back from a stomach virus.  So far, I've managed to eat numerous popsicles, some saltines, and applesauce.  I threw caution to the wind a few minutes ago and ate a NutriGrain bar.  I know I'm on the mend when I start thinking about what I'll eat tomorrow...and right now I'm thinking about a nice, greasy breakfast at a local diner.  Liam will be happy.  I've gotten lots of "hey Mom, it's time to eat" kicks and punches today.  Poor little guy.  I'll make it up to him tomorrow. 

Mike as been really awesome...he made a trip to Walmart very late last night for ginger ale and popsicles.  He's the best!  :)

Meet Hagar Blaze

She was our stand-in child tonight during b-feeding class.  (Sorry, I'm afraid if I type out the entire word, I'll get creepy, icky comments from creepy, icky Googlers.  Sad, huh?)  She was able to get out for a little while tonight from her usual home in Mike's classroom desk.  Yes, my husband keeps a doll in his desk.  Apparently for laughs.  Oh, to be a fly on the wall of his classroom...

So what's with the name?  Hagar Blaze was our stand-in baby name before we knew that Liam was a boy...or that his name would be Liam.  The kind of name that was sure to bring a puzzled look to anyone's face who dared ask us what the baby's name would be.  The process for coming up with such a name was quite complicated and scientific:  Mike flipped through the baby book and blindly pointed at Hagar, I did the same to come up with Blaze. Thankfully, no one took us seriously and monogrammed the name on a onesie. 

Just a reminder

If you offered to write a guest post for me, you still have a couple of weeks.  (Hopefully!)  You can email it to me at bekkabess [at] gmail [dot] com.  Thank you to all those who volunteered!  And a big thank you to those of you who have already emailed your posts to me!  You guys are really going to enjoy what they have in store!

And if you're thinking to yourself, "I should have volunteered.  Now I'm bummed because I totally missed out..."  Don't worry.  I'd still love for you to guest post!  :)  Just let me know you're interested in the comments.