Ch-ch-ch-changes.

If you want to continue being stimulated by my overly-hilarious drawings and writings, please visit this link from now on:

http://somekindofemily.blogspot.com/

Excuses, excuses.

Four pounds o’ love.

Well, it’s been over a month. I thought that forcing myself to write every week would get my creative juices flowing, but writing when I don’t feel like it actually makes me not want to write ever again. So, here I am, with a whole month of thoughts saved up, finally feeling like writing.

I’m 32 weeks pregnant today, which means little baby R weighs 4 whole pounds (give or take)! I wanted to gauge the weight so I picked up my Mac Mini at work today and it felt super heavy. I figured it was like five or six pounds, so I googled it and it’s only three pounds! Riley’s a whole pound heavier than that, maybe even more since I’m measuring a few weeks ahead, which could probably definitely explain why I’ve been so exhausted lately.

I’m just so tired. I’ve been lazy and loved sleep my whole life, but this is a whole new realm of exhaustion. I had to stop by the store on the way home last night and I didn’t want to be there for very long so I rushed through, out to the car, onto home and into the house. When I got home, I was standing in the kitchen and felt like I was about to pass out! I’ve really been noticing the diminished lunch capacity lately, too. I crawled over to the other edge of our queen bed to pick up the phone charger cord off the floor and by the time I laid back down I was huffin’ and puffin’ like I’d taken two or three flights of stairs. Not only that, this belly is starting to get in the way of bending and leaning over – and, from what I hear, it’s only going to get bigger. I can’t imagine adding another three pounds of baby.

Every time Riley rolls around in my belly I feel a surge of reality. There’s going to be a real baby here in a very short amount of time – a baby that’s going to be my responsibility, a baby that’s not going back to it’s parents in a few hours when I’m done watching it. And I’m kinda scared – scared that I’m not that scared. I’m not under any illusion that caring for a newborn won’t be difficult and crazy and I can’t even imagine what it’s like, etc., etc. But I also feel like I was always meant to do it. I guess what I’m saying is, some people make it sound like I should be trembling in fear, crying myself to sleep and already reduced to pile of blubbering nothingness in anticipation of how awful this is going to be. Maybe I should be – but I’m not. I fully expect to be exhausted and overwhelmed, but not suicidal or anything. I guess we’ll see what happens.

Things I Wish I Liked

Blueberry Muffins

They also look so good and I imagine slathering them in more butter than anyone should really ever consume at once. But then I eat one and it’s all tart and blue-tasting. Yick.

Getting dirty

Life would be so much easier and also probably a lot more fun if I was cool with being covered in muck, not to mention the money I’d save in napkins.

Exercise

Obvious reasons, health, wellness, weight loss, blah blah blah – plus, I could have played sports at some point in my life. Then again, I don’t think a love of exercise would have entirely made up for a complete lack of athletic ability.

Baking

Mmmm, breads and cakes and cookies and pie and dishes. I watch a lot of Food Network and get these lofty ideas of creating yeasty, culinary magic in my kitchen but the freshly baked souffle of my aspirations always deflates when I imagine cleaning up all the flour that I would inevitably spill on the floor.

Spicy Foods

My delicate mouth is scorched quite easily, but there are so many delicious looking things out there that happened to be covered in hot peppers, chiles and otherwise capsaicin filled ingredients. I feel like I might be missing out on entire genres of cuisine and realms of travel where I would be scorned for asking for a milder sauce.

The Story of Why I Never Get the Dishes Done.

Personally, I feel that Hulu is a modern miracle. I remember all the times when, out at dinner, one or all the members of my family would almost die choking on french fries when someone remembered we’d forgotten to record Friends. (This was also during a time when used an ancient device called a VCR). Unfortunately, with the advent of Hulu and Netflix and the like, TV has taken up even more of my life, causing me to watch shows I would never have bothered with otherwise. For those of you who would like to waste as much time as me, I thought I would give you a run down of the good and bad of what I’m currently watching.

What Would You Do?

PREMISE: This is kind of a “Candid Camera” type show, although instead of being funny, it’s more designed to make people feel terrible about themselves. Hosted by 20/20′s reporter, John Quinones, the show sets up scenarios in which actors pretend to be the word people you can imagine to see what innocent bystanders will do. Some of my favorites include various races and genders stealing a bike (the black guys got the cops called on them, but the hot blonde had a guy help her steal it), a waiter telling a plus sized woman not to order a cheeseburger, and a super old man who could barely see trying to drive a car.

REVIEW: The first few scenarios you watch are kind of interesting, especially if you can relate to the situation or feel strongly about the issue (racial discrimination, for example.) However, after a while, it becomes repetitive. There are three or four different scenarios each episode and they’re all set up the same way – with actors pretending to do something awful. But, for some reason, for EVERY  scenario the producers see to think it’s necessary to have the voice over explain the situation as if it were real, and then explain “Actually, this person is an ACTOR, and this is fake!” As if the viewer, after watching the rest of the show, is suddenly unsure if the show is real. Also, I don’t know if they realize, but they totally stole the show name from an 90s Nickelodean game show that was probably definitely way better. I think this show could be improved if some of the douchier bystanders got slimed.

Wipeout

PREMISE: This is a game show with relatively impossible obstacle courses. Contestants mostly get smacked, shoved, shaken or bounced into various degrees of muckery. Oh, and if they make it to the end, they win $50,000.

REVIEW: Another extremely repetitive show. People fall down and get dirty, and the hosts try to be funny and mostly fail. Having said that, I have to admit I love it. There’s something so great about watching people flail as they fall to their muddy doom

Ru Paul’s Drag Race

PREMISE: Think America’s Next Top Model with Drag Queens. Contestants compete in various drag-related contests and in each episode the bottom two competitors have to “Lip Sync for their lives,” the worse performance leading to elimination. The winner of the show gets … I don’t really know, money? I did see one where a sub-prize was a high-end pair of fake boobs.

REVEIW: This show is awesome. The fights are hilarious and there’s way more drama than even ANTM or The Bachelor/Bachelorette. The drag performances are super entertaining and the transformation from man to Drag Queen fascinates me. Ru Paul makes a totally gorgey woman and always has amazing wigs. However, I usually have to watch this show on my own, as guys dressing up like ladies seems to make my hubby a little uncomfortable.

One Born Every Minute

PREMISE: Over 40 cameras are installed in a hospital’s labor and delivery ward to capture the best (and, luckily for us, the worst) moments of child birth.

REVIEW: Okay, so, I probably shouldn’t watch this as a pregnant woman, but my hormone’s are drawing me like a magnet to anything that involves images of cooing babies. I could go in to all the unnecessary medical interventions and uniformed consent problems displayed at a modern hospital, but I don’t wanna. The entertainment value of screaming mothers, annoying fathers and the indescribable moment when the baby is placed on the mother’s chest is undeniable. Call me pregnant, but I love it.

Alright, get out of here. I know you’d rather be watching TV.

Lisa Rental

PREGGO INFO

TIMELINE: 23 weeks 6 Days pregnant
BABY SIZE: 11.8 in, papaya, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen one.
BABY WEIGHT: About 17 ounces

So I missed a week, my bad. But, according to the growth chart I follow, things are only changing drastically by month from now on, so we’re good. Still all the same on the symptom front, with lots and lots of movement. A little bit of a new development is that I can’t sleep and my nose is stuffed. Or maybe I can’t sleep BECAUSE my nose is stuffed. I can’t figure it out, but all I know is I just lay there for hours in the morning and then at night I’m not even that tired. I guess I’m preparing for having a baby keeping me up? Oh well.

In the financial realm, things are looking up! We’ve decided officially not to buy and also where we’re going to rent. We’re planning on staying at the same apartments we’re at currently and just move up a bedroom size. They pay all the utilities but electricity, including cable and internet. If we decided to use cloth diapers, the laundry costs won’t be an issue since water is covered. Plus, the square footage is about the same as some houses we were looking at to rent or buy. Since we’re renting, we’re going to be able to use some of our savings and tax refund to pay off some debts, which will make things easier. That way we can spend the next year saving up for a down payment as well as paying down some of our student loans. I think we’re in a good place – now we just have to move! Oh, and there’s that whole labor thing.

One other symptom I’ve been having is weird dreams, detailed descriptions of which I’ll be posting soon, so look out for that!

Nearly a pound …

PREGGO INFO

TIMELINE: 21 weeks 6 Days pregnant
BABY SIZE: 10.5 in, a banana … a banana?
BABY WEIGHT: 12.7, nearly a pound

So I haven’t been doing very good at the two blogs a week thing, but I have been insisting to myself that I keep up with writing a blog about each week of my pregnancy. I’m getting this one in just under the wire.

I figured out that I can switch one of my student loan payments to an Income Based plan rather than a standard plan, so that should help some in the money realm. We’re also meeting with a mortgage guy on Thursday, so we’ll see how that goes.

In other news, I thought I might be getting promoted, but it looks like they’re going with an outside hire. I’m dreading having to help train someone who is in the position over me. Oh, well. I didn’t really want the job, I just thought it might pay better. I don’t know if I could handle the pressure that came along with a technical editing position.

Speaking of positions, Ryan got a job interview tomorrow! It’s for a position at AG Headquarters, the same building I work at, which would help us save on gas, give us more time together, and save us from needing another car. Also, it would put us on the same sleep schedule, which would be great for when the baby comes, not to mention also giving Ryan vacation time to spend at home in July. AND the daycare we will likely use is right next to Headquarters, not to mention the fairly significant pay raise. But more than that, it’s a position that would mean something, that would let Ryan use his degree, not to mention his creative abilities, which are abundant and squandered stocking the shelves at Wal-mart. That’s what I care about the most – I want Ryan to be proud of his daily work, and to feel accomplished. I’ll be proud of him no matter what his job is, but I want him to be too. So we would REALLY appreciate your prayers, whenever you think of it.

SYMPTOMS: I’m covered in pimples. This is not normal for me and I don’t like it at all. Other than that, I’m hungry as a freaking horse. I had to get up in the middle of the night to eat because my stomach was growling so loudly. Other small things: my nails grow quickly, but break easily, and hair is still falling out, but only on my head. The rest of the hair on my body is out of control – and so is my heartburn. On the plus side, I get kicked all the time. It’s nice to know he’s getting to be nice and strong in there.