12 weeks

Thoughts on the Weekly Photo: We are definitely bumpalicious these days.  Still looks like a beer gut but it's definitely there and it makes the pants not fit well.  

Marination Time: 12 weeks

Weight Gain: Haven't weighed.  Meh.

Clothes: I can still sort of button my jeans but they dig in and kill me after five minutes.  Maternity pants are much more comfortable, or I can wear regular jeans unbuttoned with a belly band.  I can wear almost all of my shirts, though some that were shorter to begin with are now way too short.

Fruit of the Week: Plum!

Name:  Still don't know if it's a boy or girl...still not sure when I get to find out...still obsessing constantly.

Moving: Sometimes when I get still at night, especially if I'm lying on my belly, I get strange rumblings in my tummy.  They're hard to describe and super subtle but I have a feeling it might be baby related?

Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty well lately....mom ordered me a pregnancy pillow that I am WAY excited about - it's this deal that's sort of U-shaped so it supports you from both sides.  Can't wait til it comes.  

Cravings: Tried to eat chicken tenders at Chili's, couldn't do it.  I can eat chicken salad from Mr. C's but that's about the only meat I can tolerate.  I can also do a tad of seafood (just shrimp or deviled crab, and I can't eat a lot of it).  Haven't had all that many true cravings lately, except maybe the one day I made a special trip to the Greek restaurant to get two delicious pieces of cheesecake.

Annoyances:  I've had a few headaches, but not bad ones like I got in the beginning.  They can usually be knocked out with a soda and Tylenol. No other major annoyances, other than that my belly itches sometimes (I guess from stretching.)

Highlights of the Week: We went to maternal/fetal medicine for our NT scan, and got to see the squirrel in there...it does not like that ultrasound sensor and I swear it looks like it's shaking its fist when the lady pushes on it with that thing.  It flipped all the way over while the tech was doing our scan, which was quite weird to see!  We also got to see it waving its little fingers and such.  Very neat.

Saying goodbye to Tallulah

Yesterday was such a hard day.  Yesterday morning, we lost our sweet Tallulah kitty.  And then I cried.  All. Day. Long.  I've only cried twice today, so that's something of an improvement.

Lula transitioned from being an inside kitty to a porch kitty because Lula had a hard time restricting herself to the litterbox, something that started a few years ago when I lived in Columbia with her.  It just got worse and worse, and last summer, it got to the point that nothing I did could solve the problem.  Vet visits, new litter, Feliway...I tried so hard. Eventually, we had to rip up all the carpet and subflooring in our hallway.  When she moved on to my bathroom sink, I just didn't know what else to do.

She stayed on our screened porch and started going outside when the dogs would.  I had tried keeping her confined but all the inappropriate peeing just started to be all over my wooden porch.  When she got to go out, it stopped.  

Lula was responsible for the demise of a few birds and chipmunks (and a large rat she found somewhere on the day before our wedding).  She and Peggy Sue used to tag team small animals they found in the bushes and flower beds.

She got really attached to my neighbor across the way, so much so that the neighbor called me to introduce herself and tell me that if I was ever looking for Lula, she was probably sleeping on her porch.  Lula knew the times that I'd get home, and she knew the times the neighbor would get home and she'd be over in the correct place, waiting for us.

In the last month or two though, I could tell her arthritis was progressing and she was moving a lot slower. I hadn't seen her stalking birds much or rustling chipmunks out of the hostas.  She'd eat, sleep in the chair on the porch and shuffle over to the neighbor's house for more of the same.

Yesterday morning after PB left for work, I heard the garage door open so I called him to make sure it wasn't a stranger danger because I couldn't imagine why he was back.  He wasn't going to tell me about Lula, but he ended up telling me and I sobbed until it was time for me to get up and go to work.

He found her on my neighbor's street, hit by a car.  She used to be really good about watching for traffic, but I just don't think she was able to move fast enough anymore.  Oh goodness, here I go crying about it again.  

We buried her in a corner of the yard yesterday and I bought a hot pink rose bush to put over her.  I feel so, so terrible about it.  Tallulah would have been 13 in October - I've had her since I was 12, half my life.  She was a big, pretty, but weird cat who loved to be rubbed under the chin and meowed in her own strange little way. We'll miss you, Lula.

Lula, back when she lived at my parents' house.

Then we moved to Columbia together when I started law school.  She was my buddy on a lot of rough nights when I hated that house and all of its palmetto bugs and the thought of getting up and going to class the next day.

Lula loved to lay on PB.  Or his clothes.  Or his shoes.

Going somewhere? I don't think so.

One of her favorite hobbies.  Deconstructing the Christmas tree.

Lula and her "WTF?" look when we fostered a homeless kitten for a few weeks.

Lula making sure everyone understood that the food bowl is hers.

Lula and Twyla the night we adopted Twyla.

Teaching Twy how to be an expert at laying on the bed.

Oh, did I mention she loved PB's clothes?

Lula and Twyla having BFF time.

Pretty girl.  Wish you were still with us, Tallulah.

11 Weeks!

Thoughts on the Weekly Photo: WHAT in the world?! I woke up Sunday morning and all of a sudden, there it was, overnight. Feels so strange!  Y'all see that?  I went down to see my parents at the lake and let the weenies swim while PB worked on the rental house, and it was just crazy apparent like it hadn't been before!

Marination Time: 11 weeks

Weight Gain: Up a pound and a half from last week.

Clothes: Jeans might be getting a tad tight, but everything is still totally wearable.

Fruit of the Week: Lime! 

Name: Ira? Frances? We shall see.

Moving: Well, up until yesterday, I'd just been relying on The Bump to assure me that the lime can move, but we went for my OB checkup yesterday and BOY can it! It does gymnastics in there, to the point that she couldn't even really get a good picture for us because they were all sort of a blur.

Sleep: Up until last night, it was great. And then last night I either couldn't sleep or had horrible dreams in which I was a participant in a Hunger Games sort of scenario and knew I was being hunted....by someone in my workplace, who sort of filled the role of President Snow. It was strange. And then I dreamed I had to shoot some guy who stole my grandmother's iPhone and identity and turned out to be a total nutbag. It was not so restful.

Cravings: I've been eating a ton of Mexican lately! The baby might come out with a sombrero. Still pretty much no meat whatsoever. Can't see it, smell it, definitely can't eat it.

Annoyances:  My lower back has been hurting a good bit, especially at night or if I've been doing something strenuous.  Other than that, I'm still feeling really good!  

Highlights of the Week: Mom and I went to Rock Hill to pick up a crib on Saturday that we found on Craigslist, which turned out great and was a total steal. We stopped by Buy Buy Baby on the way back, and WOW.  If they don't have it, you don't need it. Baby wonderland. PB put up the crib on Saturday night and we started moving around a little furniture in the nursery/guest bedroom.  PB said putting up the crib would "make it feel more real" and that we "needed to get a feel for it in the room."  Someone's a little excited!

 It's Peggy Sue approved!

10 weeks!

Thoughts on the Weekly Photo: Well first, sorry that you have to see my naked belly. But in the interest of documentation, there it is.  And I am starting to think there might just be a little tiny bit more roundness than there was, and you couldn't tell at all when my sort-of baggy Target t-shirt was in front of it.

Marination Time: 10 weeks - though technically this is 10 weeks, 2 days, because weeks change on Mondays for our purposes.

Weight Gain: Back up to pre-pregnancy weight. It's just sort of a yo-yo effect these days depending on how much I feed my face vs. how many miles I manage to run.

Clothes: Based on my awful $10 stretchy capri pants, you might think Oh poor Meredith's clothes must already not be fitting! She is relegated to the horror that is Wal-Mart capri pants! You would be wrong. All pants still fit. I have no justification for the pants. It's couch time, that's all I can say.

Fruit of the Week: This week, it's the size of a prune.  This was accompanied by a quite ugly picture on thebump.com.  I'm ready to change to a cuter fruit next week!

Name: Ira? Frances? Time will tell...

Moving: Again, The Bump says the prune can move, but I can't feel anything yet.

Sleep: Not awesome. I tend to wake up and then not be able to go back to sleep for hours.  Hopefully some of that mess will resolve when I go back to work and have to stick to a real schedule and do something besides sit on the couch all day.

Cravings: I've been tearing up some peaches we bought on the way back home from a little beach weekend I took with my mom and grandma. Also, I ate a whole loaf of sourdough bread from this little place in Locust, NC called The Fresh House.  Oh my word, you have never ever had bread like this, I promise.  It's like a cloud.  And now I have no more, and it's all I can think about.

Annoyances: I feel bad even putting anything here because I feel like most folks are super sick at this point, but I have zero feelings like that.  In fact, most of the time I feel like I could run a marathon.  But if I had to pick something, I guess it's that I still have a huge aversion to most meat.  I don't want to smell it, I don't want to see it, and I sure don't want to eat it, yuck yuck yuck.  This is difficult when you live with a man who eats two hot dogs for breakfast and two more for lunch if he's at home.  I feel like my kitchen perpetually smells like hot dogs and I cannot stand the smell of hot dogs.  I may never eat another one.  

Highlights of the Week: I'm getting together with some of my teaching friends both tomorrow and Friday.  We're going to see a sweet new baby tomorrow, and then to hang out with another of my friends and her adorable baby and three year old on Friday.  Beats sitting on the couch and watching dressage and water polo all day!

Sunday Social!

We're going to try something new this week - I'm linking up with Ashley for the Sunday Social for the first time!  I'm kind of sad that Ten on Tuesday is no more, so I was kind of excited about stumbling on this!

This week's questions are all about fall, which I am never as excited about as other people.  Fall makes me sad to see summer go!  But I'll admit, this whole marinating-a-baby thing does indeed make you super hot (temperature wise) so I might be looking forward to it more than I have been in years past.

1. What is your favorite fall activity?  Halloween, hands down.  I love costumes, I love handing out candy, I love listening to my same favorite Halloween songs on repeat ("Superstition" by Stevie Wonder, anyone?)  It's just the best.

2. Do you follow a football team? If so which one and why?  I "follow" a football team in that I endure football when PB has it on the TV and I glance up from Pinterest/Facebook/Twitter/my Kindle from time to time.  I do like going to UNC football games when I get the chance, but I just like basketball a whole lot more than football.  Can't help it. Just don't have the attention span.

3. What is something fun about fall in your area? Hmmm.  Can I say Halloween again?  I mean honestly, I don't know of anywhere else where people decorate their yards more than they do for Christmas and thousands of kids go out to trick-or-treat.  I cannot emphasize Halloween enough.

4. What are your favorite fall outfit staples?  BOOTS!  That is one thing I adore about fall.  I'd wear boots every day if I could, and that becomes socially acceptable in the fall.  Boots to work, boots with jeans, boots boots boots!

5. What things are you looking forward to most about this coming fall season?  I'm looking forward to finding out whether this baby is a boy or a girl!!!  I must KNOW!  

6. What is your favorite fall holiday? Traditions?  I don't know if I mentioned...Halloween?  I always hand out candy at my parents' house because there are SO many kids who show up.  Literally, over a thousand kids.  I just can't get enough!

In which I discuss baby names...

...and hope not to offend anyone.  Seriously, if I knock the name of your niece/cousin/best friend, I'm really sorry.  I might actually like the name on them, but I am REAL funny about baby names for my own particular chicos/chicas.  In ways that may not make sense to you.  See below.

So, as mentioned, I have a set of criteria regarding baby names, if you will.  

1.  We gotta call the baby what we name the baby.  No naming the baby Hortense Kelly and then saying, "But we're going to call her Kelly!" Also no naming the baby Katherine and dooming her to a life of "But I go by Katie."  The kid's name has to be the kid's name, end of story.

2.  On the note of Katie - I know a lot of them, and that name brings up an interesting point.  I never know how to spell your gosh darn name.  Or what it's short for.  Is it Katie? Katy? Caity? Caitie? Is that short for Catherine?  Katerina?  Katherine? Caitlin? Kathleen?  I can't.  No names with ambiguous spellings.

3.  Also, no names with spellings you make ambiguous yourself.  I don't need you to throw a "y" in there, an "ae" where it should just be an "a," and so forth and so on.  First of all, for girls, I think it makes your name way too frilly and precious and I need it work for you if you decide to be a brain surgeon.  For example, why does it need to be Alysyn instead of just Allison?  How many times will that poor girl have to spell her name?  

4.  Nothing, and I repeat, nothing in the Top 100.  Make that top 500, really.  Or anything rapidly on the rise.  I really do like a lot of the names in the top 100, especially for girls (I'm thinking of Emma, Aubrey, Lillian, Vivian)...but I can't do that to a kid.  I don't need her to be one of five girls named Ava in her class.

5.  Nothing for a boy that ends in "n."  Is it me or is every other little boy you meet these days named Aidan, Brayden, Hayden, Jayden, Austin, Colton, Grayson, Landon, Lawson, Logan, Rylan, Tristan, or Weston?  Maybe just here?  Because I feel like soon, we'll be able to write one long rhyming poem with all the boys' names of kids under the age of 5.  

So what do I like?  Well, with all these darn rules, I'll admit it's tough to come up with something!  I really like old names though.  But I get a LOT of snuffling laughs when I tell people our names.  

If it's a boy (which I'm convinced it is)....it's going to be:

Ira

And if it's a girl, it's going to be:

Frances

I know.  Not the usual.  Ira was PB's great-grandfather's name, and I just really like it.  And Frances was my great-grandmother's name.  Both of them are safely outside the top 500 (not that you're surprised about that).  So there you go  - I know most other people wouldn't pick them but that's sort of what I like about them.  

Now I have to wait until September to find out which one it's going to be....I may lose my mind before then.