Hi there. Sorry I have been neglecting my precious blog this week. I have been on the road with work and generally booked in the evenings... so, alas, the blog got set aside.

Now, we all know about J's comments earlier about me constantly discussing how my pants don't fit, but I do just have to comment on it one last time (well, it really won't be my last time...). Last night I put on the jeans I had been wearing in my first trimester. I hadn't worn them for a couple of weeks because I have just been wearing my giganto-non-maternity-jeans. Last night I pulled them up just fine, but the button was about 2 inches from meeting! Geesh!

Wednesday night we took Tom's grandparents out for dinner because they left to go down south (Myrtle Beach) for the next 6 months. A good time was had by all.

Last night I finally got my Aztec back from the dealership. It's "not fixed but safe to drive" they said. They have some part ordered from Mexico (why did I care about getting an "American made" car?) - I believe it's the (I have no idea what this means) the drive shaft for the rear wheels..

I will definitely not being updating the good ol' blog tomorrow, as I will be in Livonia all day.
Back to eating pretzals! Happy Friday!

I am so cold this morning - which is something I rarely feel anymore. Ever since I got pregnant I have been so hot! Every time I walk in the house I swear Tom has turned the heat up more. I am drinking some chamomile tea right now to try and warm me up. The only problem is that I associate chamomile tea with sleep because whenever I was sick when I was little my mom always made me a teapot of chamomile tea. I would drink it then I would try and sleep of being sick. So chamomile tea is one of the coziest food/drinks I can imagine.

Today I am wearing what used to be my favorite charcol wool Gap pants. I used to have to wear a belt because they would literally fall off. Today I barely got them buttoned! But they're my favorites!! I want to wear them everyday this week because I have a feeling they may not fit next week! Yesterday I had a rubber band (Tom's sugestion) through the button hole of my balck pants to give me another inch. I may have to do that with these wool pants next week. So today I am wearing my first maternity shirt!! If I were much farther along it would be tight, or shall I say, form fitting. It's a striped sweater and it basically looks like I am wearing a sweater that's too big for me, but without the tent-effect of normal maternity shirts. I like it - it's cozy with my chamomile.

Tonight I go to Livonia for our Self-Expression and Leadership class. Then tomorrow night we are taking Tom's grandparents out to dinner before they go down south for the winter. Should be a good time. Last night at our Pampered Chef meeting I ate way too much - the baby probably didn't even have room to move.

Have I commented on the blog yet about people touching my stomach. The whole phenomenon of stomach touching is odd, but I do realize that it will happen - it's inevitable. So far one woman at work has felt my stomach. That was just wierd. Who does that at work?? Right now I don't look any different that I did before (except my outfits are recycling much more frequently because nothing fits) but she still felt the urge to feel my stomach. I suppressed my own urge to say, "Why the hell are you rubbing my stomach?! We're at work!!!" Really, wouldn't that be odd to start doing that to your co-workers?? My mom and grandma wouldn't stop touching my stomach on Sunday, but, while still odd, it was slightly more comfortable than my co-worker!!

I have a phone call so I gotta jet. Have a happy Tuesday!!

This weekend went by so fast, and we only got half of the house cleaned. Very cool though that Tom and a couple men from my family put up our last gutter back on the house. It had just been laying in the backyard like the classy white trash that we are. The whole delay with putting it back up was because it was too big (it was the entire length of our house) for just 2 guys to do. Plus Tom also put our deck back together yesterday, since it had also been missing some pieces because of the siding project.

The whole gutter shindig happened while I was at a baby shower for Tom's cousin, Traci. Traci, interestingly enough, happened to mention that I am always "next". At her bridal shower I was engaged, so my shower would be next. Now at her baby shower I'm pregnant. I told her I better be the first to know when she gets pregnant againII I need to know what I'm in for. The baby shower was fun though. I am really excited to find out what we are having so then we can start looking at things for real. It's going to be so much fun to register!!! Traci got so much cool stuff.

One of my faithful readers, J, called yesterday. While we chatted about some random stuff he also mentioned he reads my blog everyday. Flattering, really. But I also feel bad that I don't update everyday as well. I need to be more consistent with that, I think. But, J also admitted that there are only so many times I can talk about my pants not fitting. So true.

The ol' pregnancy is at 14 weeks now. Supposedly, people who have had a baby before can start to feel their baby move at about this time... I guess because they're all stretched out already. No, really, I have no idea why that is. One cool thing I learned on this week's pregnancy link is that amniotic fluid completely regenerates itself every 3 hours. Isn't that amazing? It's a good thing it happens though because now that baby is peeing in the amniotic fluid. Lovely.

Saturday we went to the cider mill with Kevin and Karen. I really ended up wishing that I had brought Chloe to play in the pumpkin patch, she would have had a blast! So while we were in the pumpkin patch I said I was going to bring her next year... then I remembered we would have a kid, so I thought it would still be a good idea to bring Chloe and leave the kid with my parents. Karen said no way. She said we were definitely bringing the kid for tradition's sake. We'll see. I will probably feel differently next year at this time. After donuts and cider we went to El Az for the best Mexcian food this side of the border!! For those of you Lansing-ites who know what I am talking about, I am sure that your mouths are watering right now at the thought of their outstanding chips and salsa.

It's so funny to tell people that the baby's hearbeat was 156 beats/minute. Most people have said, "156? Oh, wonderful, you're having a boy!!" There are a few others who have said, "156? Oh, terrific, you're having a girl!!" The lesson I have learned from this is that no one can tell. My cousin did an informal study on Saturday for me (subjects included her, two friends, and one friends' sister) and she informed me that it indicated I was having a boy. I have looked at lots of those little tests (chinese calendar, some other wierd calendar, the necklace test...) they all say boy. And for that reason alone I think it's likely to be a girl. Only a couple more months till we all know for sure!!

Well, your tax dollars have paid me long enough to write this blog. I gotta get working. BTW, my soccer mom Axtec is in the shop this morning for some lovely squealing. They gave me a "rental car" - and I use that term loosely. It's a '99 Cavalier that smells like stale smoke and someone definitely spilled a Coke inside of.

Vote no on Proposal 3! (Shameless political plug!) Later!!