Happy Birthday, Babe.

My hubby is 26 today. An old man, but still as handsome as the day is long.
Happy birthday, love.
This was fun to read, so I'm sharing with you too.

Your Birthday Year Forecast: A trine between the Sun and the Moon in your Solar Return chart this year is a fortunate aspect. It suggests that your domestic and career needs are not in competition with one another in the year ahead. Your inner needs tend to be mirrored by external events, and vice versa. This aspect is very powerful and rewarding. It suggests that you will be on top of your game this year, for the most part, and positive connections with others can be made fairly easily. A comfortable level of personal popularity helps to keep conflict to a minimum. With the ability to handle your emotions successfully, there is less stress on both your mind and body. Your self-confidence and positive attitude will reward you!

Mars trines Uranus in your Solar Return chart this year, and suggests bursts of creativity and energy that help you to further your goals. Healthy risk-taking is likely this year, as you are more able to spot an opportunity when you see one. It is easier than usual to break free from habits that have previously held you back from going after what you want in life.

Jupiter conjunct Chiron and Neptune in your Solar Return chart suggests that idealistic and humanitarian goals or impulses have more significance in your life this year. You may experience an increased need for greater understanding, wisdom, and awareness, as well as increased interest in the healing arts and holistic health this year. It may be a time during which you reconsider or revamp your personal belief system. Everyday, ordinary life may not always satisfy, as you hunger for a more idealistic life.

2009 is a Number Four year for you. This is a year of work and development. It's "nose to the grindstone" time. It's a time to deal with practical matters, and it's not a time to be lazy or especially gregarious. Sometimes, it can be a year that feels hard, monotonous and routine, and/or lonely. Advice - get yourself organized, work to build your resources, keep busy.

I'm bummed...

And I'm having a hard time getting past it, so I'm hoping that blogging about it will help.
Corey's work has picked up. He's got a couple more cases than before, which is really great. We found out not too long ago that he had been taken off salary because of his low hours and his paycheck was significantly lower than before. So more hours is good. He'll get back to full-time salary and we'll be able to pay the bills.
The bad thing is he's working till 8ish, not getting home till 830ish 4 out of 5 nights. And this tired pregnant lady's bed time is 9. I'm usually asleep on the couch by 830, and not by choice, I just can't help it.
So we're literally not seeing each other.
How do we cope? Any advice?

What a husband I have

Now that I'm pregnant and working full-time (not at a desk, but with a child with special needs), I get home and want to collapse. I just want to lay down on the couch in front of the t.v. for some mindless entertainment for at least an hour. Aaah, it's very relaxing. Drink, snack, t.v. aaaah.
And I can usually do this without shame because Corey is never at home when I get home. His day starts when mine ends since he has to wait on his clients to get out of school before going to their house for therapy. Yesterday though, his client cancelled so he had the afternoon off to spend with me. I was thrilled. A girl gets lonely coming home to no husband day after day. We talked a lot, planned dinner and were interrupted by a phone call for Corey. I figured and informed the dog, "Well, while he's on the phone, I'll go downstairs and start a load of laundry." I get down there, accompanied by the dog, and to my surprise...
there are loads in each machine. COREY DID LAUNDRY! and I didn't ask him to. So I start folding the clothes and Corey comes down to help. Needless to say, he got a big kiss, not only for starting the clothes but coming down to help. We go back upstairs and start supper. He's good at fixing chicken, so he starts on that and I go to unload the dishwasher. COREY HAD IT DONE!
And you know what he's doing today while he's at home? Cleaning the house for when the parent's come down this weekend.
Oh my gosh. I told him he rocks my world. And he does. He's making it so easy to be pregnant. :D
I was just so excited about him taking care of things around the house that I HAD to blog about how awesome my husband is. I would ask y'all if you need an awesome, helpful, supportive, thoughtful husband to loan out for a day or two, but I think I'm going to keep him all to myself.
Corey, babe, you're awesome. I love you.

straaaaange one-way conversation

Me and Corey were in Kroger the other day shopping for a meal to fix for a couple in our Sunday School class that just had a baby. And naturally, I get the urge to go to the potty. So I leave Corey in front of the freezer and go to the little girl's room.
I walk in, and close myself in the first stall (which by the way is reported to be the cleanest since no one typically wants to use the one right at the door; no charge for that bit of information). Two stalls down, there is this other woman, who just starts talking to me like we are friends that went in together. She talks to me about her cats she has at home, and how she needs to lay off the coffee if she wants to stay out of the bathroom, which apparently is extremely funny because she starts laughing really loudly. Meanwhile, I'm sitting in my stall with the craziest expression on my face and my hands in that palm up, shrugging position like "Why the crap is this woman telling me this?" She has came out of her stall and is in the process of washing her hands and is still talking about who knows what when I finish and go to wash my hands, quickly. She's a short, middle aged woman with a bad dye job and chipped hot pink lipstick, and she's leaning over the sink sweeping a wet papertowel over the corners of her mouth. She smiles up at me and starts telling me about her numerous cold sores that she just can't seem to get rid of. I smile courteously, throwing away my papertowel and smoothly gliding out the door.
The things people will share with complete strangers....

12 weeks

This appointment was so fun. The ultrasound tech did both an external and internal sonogram because we just wanted to play with the bean. This appointment was to check for signs of down syndrome (by examing a flap of skin on the back of his little head) so the tech pushed on my belly and did deep rubs trying to get the bean to turn certain ways for her. I laughed so much when the tech asked him to turn for her and he totally turned his back on her. Then for most of the pictures, he had his little fists in his eyes- refusing to let her see him. When she didn't quite get the pictures she wanted from the external ultrasound, she apologized for wanting to do an internal. Ya know what I said? "Doesn't bother me, this is the only time I get to watch my kid." We watched him squirm and wiggle and roll over. He didn't stay still for 2 seconds. We're in for a fun, but painful pregnancy with all the kicking and punching he'll be doing when he's bigger. And the tech said he's developed about a week earlier than most babies at this stage. In other words, I'm 13 weeks and 1 day pregnant today, but the bean has developed certain things that babies at 14 weeks develop. He's already ahead of the game. She did say that just because he's developed early doesn't mean my due date will be sooner. He'll just be ripe ahead of time, and have a week to just hang out. :)
The last but not least bit of news- I had my first bonding experience with the bean yesterday. I was in the shower and that's typically the time I bond with him the most since I can see my belly as it has changes, and I remembered seeing on the screen my uterus cave in where the tech pushed down on my belly. So I pushed there where the bean is and said "Boo". I did this a couple times, because honestly, it made me laugh. After about 4 times, I got dull pain where I had been pushing. When I stopped pushing on the bean, the pain quit. It was the bean, saying "Stop poking me!" It was fun. That's the latest on the bean.

first prego germies

For Labor Day weekend, me and Corey had a family reunion/campout at Corey's great Aunt Pauline's house here in Vinton, VA. It was nice to meet all these people we'd never seen, some of them we'd never heard of. But it was cool. We officially have so much family now.
The bad part is that I got sick. The smoke from the campfire and then sleeping in a damp tent...Yeah, colds and pregnancy does not mix well. I can't take anything to get over it for risk of medicating the baby as well (not good), so I spent my holiday isolated in the guest bedroom under a blanket with a vaporizer, or taking scalding showers to burn the germs from the outside in, or drinking freakin 100 cups of tea or lemon water.
I can be thankful. Every sore throat I've had until this weekend has turned into strep throat. It didn't this time. Hallelujah. And my congested nose has not turned into a sinus infection, which I'm more than prone to get. So thank you Lord for protecting me against these more serious conditions.
Me and the bean will fight this cold standing up, not laying flat on our back any longer. EAT MY SHORTS, GERMS! yeah.

and it starts...

I had my first "hello in there, baby" today. A co-worker, as she passed me, patted my lower belly and said a hello to the baby.
And it begins...
I think it's cute with people I know, people that I know love me and love this baby. My problem starts when strangers will undoubtedly come up and pat/rub/tap/kiss/tickle my big belly in public..or private...places. That's when I have a problem. I've been practicing my speech. Ach-hum, ach-hum...
"Can I ask you a question?," (this is to throw them off, get them thinking I'm a nice, polite person) "Would you be touching me right now if I wasn't pregnant? Excuse me, but I'm not public property, so could you please not touch me? Thank you."
How does that sound? It gets the point across, huh? But for real, what makes complete strangers think they can just come up to pregnant women and harrass them by touching them and baby talking to their belly? I've never understood that.
But like I said, my co-workers, my family, my friends, people who love me, pet and baby talk away, mama and baby will soak it up.
If you don't love me, much less know me, NO TOUCHIE!

new habits

When we first found out we were pregnant, there were so many changes and I wanted to share with you guys but couldn't. Now I can- if I can remember.

I knew I was pregnant from week 1. Those who know me know I'm really in tune with my body, so I knew. Convincing Corey without physical evidence was a different story. Y'all also know that I don't nap or lay around unless I'm sick. Naps and laziness are a waste of time when I could be doing something productive and accomplish something; the first 4 weeks, I was taking a nap every day for a couple of hours at least and was still ready to go to bed at 8 o'clock. Let me remind you, I'm not a lazy person, so wanting to lay down all the time, sleep so much more than normal, was so weird. And eye-opening. Now that I'm past the first month, I don't require as much sleep, at least not in the middle of the day, but with the pregnancy and working in the school all day in the "high risk special needs" class, my bedtime has been moved up to 9 o'clock. That's right, I go to bed at 9 o'clock, just like I did in middle school. I have to stop drinking liquids at 8 o'clock or else I get up twice in wee hours of the morning to pee, instead of the one, which still is kinda a pain, but twice is worse. I freakin' eat all the time- Corey likes to say in his speech, "It's not just she's hungry, her stomach is growling a little, it's 'if I don't eat right now, I'll die!'" Every two hours. Every TWO HOURS, I feel like I'll die if I don't eat something. And something's not a cracker and cheese; something's like a big can of soup or a big bowl of salad with all the toppings, or a double decker sandwich. I've had a few cravings, what we classify as minor and major. These cravings I have almost daily. The minor ones have been like salt and vinegar potato chips, pinto beans with baby onions, hot sausages, breakfast midday...these I've craved once, ate it, and didn't crave it anymore. The major ones have been tomato soup and hotdogs. These I've craved more than once.
My clothes are just now starting to fit a little more snug, mainly because I've got a little fat around my middle now from eating so much, and it's so much more noticeable since I started out pretty skinny to begin with. At our doctor visit, I had gained 3 pounds.
The last thing I can think of that's changed since getting pregnant is that I cry...a lot. I won't say every thing makes me cry but a lot more than usual. Corey likes to say "When I make dinner and I don't do it right, she cries. When I do fix it right, she cries." The other day, I spilled tomato soup and I cried because it burned my skin, but I kept crying for about an hour because I kept thinking "I really wanted to eat that soup...."