47...

...that is the number of stairs i have to climb each time i go to my classroom on the third floor. i love it! it's great exercise, and i enjoy being up on third floor up in my own little world. i figure that i am up and down the stairs at least 10 times every day- so theoretically i should be in top-notch shape, however i am carrying a few extra pounds in the tummy area. "top-notch" shape may not be the best description right now. my prego sista and i get slower by the day as we climb that mountain of stairs together. we can hardly carry a conversation because we're gasping for breath. it won't be long and we'll both be skinny moms, rather than enormous pregnant ladies!

FLASHBACK:AUG1;WHAT DO 2 LINES MEAN?

it was august 1st, and eric and i had been married just over a month. which most of had been spent on our honeymoon, and in milwaukee. (not a bad way to start, huh!?!) we wanted to start a family sooner than later because... hey, we're no spring chickens. after having afton around, it made parenting seem even more amazing. it was something we couldn't wait for. apparently, God was feeling the same way...

so anyway, we were doing respite care, and had taken the kiddos to the pool. on our way out i mentioned to eric, "ya know, i should have gotten my period today." so, it was only 2 in the afternoon, and really that didn't mean anything. BUT he said, "let's go get a pregnancy test." i started to get excited, which was completely rediculous. we had seperate cars because i was at school tutoring in the morning before respite, so i hopped in mine and headed for wal-greens. i picked up a test, a white chocolate kit kat bar (those are hard to find), and headed home. i went to the bathroom and peed on the little stick, and let it sit for those 3 agonizing minutes. (i did pass the time by eating that kit kat.) when the timer went off, eric and i headed upstairs to check the results.

i held the directions and looked for the results section, and when i saw two lines, i thought... "doesn't that mean PREGNANT??" but then i thought maybe the second line was a figment of my imagination, because it was kind of light. i read the directions again and it specifically said, "the second line may appear lighter than the first." WHAT!?! was it really that easy? am i really pregnant? this is where shock set it, and i don't really remember what happened for the next minute. eric decided that we should take another test, so he hustled to wal-mart and picked up that "clearblue easy"- the one that says either "pregnant" or "not pregnant". you can't get more CLEAR than that. (must be where they got the name) well, i squeezed out a little more pee, and sure enough it read PREGNANT. i was bursting with joy, and couldn't wait to tell my family!!

eric got on the phone and started telling his sister and parents, who were all elated. i had a hair appointment that afternoon where i was going to chop my hair. (the bridal butch) al had promised that she would come with me for moral support. we met at the barnes and noble parking lot, and she hopped in my car. we said our "hello's" and started driving towards the mall. i said, "so, do you think afton would like a cousin?" she screamed, and then shouted, "are you f-ing pregnant!?!" this was the funniest reaction that i got from anyone, since the girl doesn't ever say a bad word. we were screaming and laughing and celebrating all the way to the mall.

eric was at a softball game, while i was getting my haircut. al and i were trying to think of a creative way to tell my parents. our first job was to get them altogether. we schemed a plan to get them to meet at clint & al's for dessert that evening. we were brainstorming ideas, and then i said, "i wish afton could just tell them." well, this gave me an idea- she would be the one to tell them. we pulled out a onsie and wrote on the front, "Grandma & Grandpa, Guess what..." and on the back it said, "I'm going to be a cousin!" we put this on under her clothes, and waited for everyone to arrive. al asked mom if she would change her diaper, so she did. (of course, without taking off her clothes) al mentioned that afton might be hot, so mom should strip her down to her onsie. mom started reading the front... (the grandma/grandpa guess what bit) and seemed to be amused, and then flipped her over and was like, "WHAT!?!" (in a happy voice, not an upset voice) soon, clint and my dad looked over and realize what we were telling them. it was time to celebrate!! it's hard to believe that it is almost time for this little one to arrive. it has been such a crazy year, i can't believe that in the course of a year we can go from being engaged, to married, to parents. WOW! we are so blessed!

32 IS DONE/COMPLETE/FINISHED

it must be a sister thing because al said that her week 32 was her worst week. i don't know what it was last week, but i was totally down in the dumps. something as simple as rolling over in bed is more of an act of pure athleticism, than a simple movement. my lungs must be half their previous size, because climbing up to my third floor classroom 10+ times a day leaves me winded. i feel like one of those morbidly obese people that is so out of shape that they are winded just by standing up. i am just ready to start working out and getting all those "baby pounds" off!

eric and i are still negotiating names, which tends to put me in a foul mood. we just can't seem to agree. i have a name that i have had my heart set on for approximately 8 years, and i just haven't been able to sell him on it. i'm not trying to be a whiny baby about the whole thing, (and wanting to get my way), but it's just so hard when you have had something in your head for so long, and then you realize it may not happen. the thing is, it's not like choosing what restaurant you're going to go to some night, it's the NAME OF YOUR CHILD that you are sure to say millions of times, and that she has to live with for the rest of her life. it is SOOOOOO important! oh man, i feel my pulse racing-- stressing about this whole situation!!

PILLSBURY IS STILL KICKIN'

for most of my "solid foods" eating life, i have honored a tradition started by my mom. it is a sacred family tradition that i just don't want to see die, EVER! and that sacred traditions is...(drum roll please) the weekend consumption of pillsbury cinnamon rolls. (sometimes the orange ones, too!) my sis and i would crawl out of bed on saturday mornings, and snuggle up in the orange chair with the afghan wrapped around us. of course still in our jammies. we would watch cartoons and eat rolls. we would take turns dining on the coveted "middle roll". the middle roll was always the best because it was never touching the sides of the pan to have a hard edge. if you got the middle roll, then the other one got to make the next selection. it was kind of like a draft for rolls. well today, as i type, the rolls are in the oven. the great thing now is that eric has no idea about the power of the middle roll... so i get it every time. there goes the buzzer- can't wait!

BUNKO/BUNCO...

...either way you spell it, it's loads of fun! my sis and i have talked about starting this "bunko" club for approximately a year and a half. well, about a month ago, i decided to avoid some work at school and send out an email to some people to see if anyone was interested in starting a group. well, what do ya know... they were! there are 6 couples that were "drafted" from the long list of applicants. ha ha! last night was our first meeting. we hosted it at our house, which was fun, however, i turn into a panic-stricken psycho the hour before people arrive and i realize that it will be virtually impossible for me to be ready on time. it doesn't matter how "prepared" i think i am, there are always these lingering things that have to get done. the whole food prep kinda freaks me out, too. since i spent the first 26 years of my life afraid of the kitchen, i'm still a novice when it comes to making certain things. oh well, live and learn. anyway, we had a fantastic time! we ate, played two rounds, ate again, played two more rounds, and ate again. people stayed until midnight-- that is like 3 hours past most of our bedtimes. i think people had more fun than they expected! what a relief... i was kinda stressed that it would be mediocre fun with some odd pauses in between, but to my utter relief, it was more fun than i had imagined. we all brought our planners and set up a march date. sweet! twenty years down the road, when i'm (gulp)49, maybe we'll still be doing this. hey, it could happen.

GROWING PAINS

yesterday was valentine's day. a day of love, togetherness, and passion. or in my case, a really l o n g day. the problem begins that i woke up to go to the bathroom at about 1:30am. i hopped back in bed (well, i'm not really hopping these days) but, i get back into bed, get my "snoogle" all comfie... and I lie there for the next hour. finally, at 2:30 i decided to turn on the t.v. hoping that it would send me back into slumber. i am usually confined to "boy meets world" and "sister, sister" when i'm up at this hour, but it just so happened that there was a "growing pains" marathon on nick at night. a pleasant surprise! unfortunately, i had to watch 2 episodes before falling back asleep. so, two hours later- i'm snoozing again. it seemed like minutes later the alarm went off, and i was blessed with one of those horrific calf cramps. i also fell up the steps, and nearly died trying to put on my boots. you see, when you're 32 weeks pregnant it isn't the easiest thing to lean over and put your shoes on, particularly when they are tight anyway. fortunately, the day got much better! despite the fact that the kids were held hostage inside by the FREEZING temperatures, we had a fun valentine's day party at school. eric and i had decided to treat ourselves to macaroni grill, and fortunately arrived at 4:58 because it was already a 25 minute wait. somehow, we managed to get seated in less than 10. not quite sure how that happened since there were a room full of couples that arrived before us. maybe they saw my enormous belly and thought that we were more desperate to get food. hey, just go with it! since we're so broke, eric and i agreed that we would just do cards this year. we cleaned the house for bunko, and then watched a movie. well, he watched it... and i dozed off. so all in all, it turned out to be a pretty good day!

DO I REALLY WANT TO DO THIS?

Blogging seems to be the next big thing. First it was email, then it was myspace, and now it's blogging. Do I really want to jump on this bandwagon, too? Sure, why not! Once upon a time, when life was much simpler I used to actually keep a diary- okay, that was like 4th grade. I did manage to keep a journal during my time in New Zealand, and it is so fun to go back and read about all the random things that happened. (many of which I would have otherwise forgotten!) So this is my attempt to have some type of memory of what is going on in my life. So here it goes...