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Throughout the week, I usually think of creative topics to talk about. But thanks to pregnesia, I can never remember what I wanted to say..

First- I've been a bad Baby Mama lately. Quiznos. Honeybaked Ham. The best delis that I'm supposed to avoid. I did, however, eat a banana and an apple yesterday. And a lot of cookies. And mashed potatoes.

Umm.. second?? Oh I'll post a picture of my expanding stummy.


I feel so thick! And I still look really awkward. Marshall is going to start P90X and I want us to take body pictures together.

My aunt sent me her friend's belly progression album. The neatest album ever. Momma-to-be is a graphic designer and created a really neat layout for pictures and comments. Let's see if I can post the link..

Extremely Cool Album right here.

Enjoy :)

I've already received my first bag of hand-me-down maternity clothes. There are some XS, S, and M sized clothes, but everything looks so huge right now. I'm scared of how much I'm gonna grow. No stretch marks please!! Would I be really selfish if I went and bought tons of new maternity clothes? I plan on getting pregnant again.. they wouldn't go to waste! And remember, Marshall, I'm a petite little girl and no other women I know are my size...

Congratulations, Baby Moore. You're 12 weeks today. You might be 2inches long, but I think you're "taller" because you take after your Daddy (you give me headaches). I'm gonna eat some carrots for you so your eyes are strong and you won't need corrective lenses/surgery like the 'rents. I think I might wear a retainer for you, too.. so you won't need braces one day (but screw that, you probably will). Baby, I'm sorry that Sassy likes to walk and sit on you. She's special, that's her way of loving you. She won't come near you once you're out my belly, though. Bye Baby, we'll see you on Tuesday!

successful weekend.

This weekend was the weekend for us. We were sharing the news publicly. We were going to Columbus to celebrate the twin's birthday. Family would be there, 'nough said.

I knew aunts, cousins, uncles, etc. would be excited for us. Momma and Jim already knew.. the biggest critics to face were my dad and brother. I'm not one to just blurt out important news, I like to preface.. especially with these two.

Background: My brother had twins last year. They (Brian, his girlfriend, his girlfriend's son from a previous relationship, and TWINS) live with my dad.. and my dad doesn't really have a choice because he doesn't say no to them. Prior to the twins coming, he didn't want any grandkids. He didn't want to be the one to take care of them.. tell Brian and Amanda how to parent (cause believe me, he thinks he knows everything).. whatever. I was plainly aware of how he felt about grandchildren.. although he says he loves them and they're his pride and joy.

Aww, cute grandkids before they dig into cake. Now.. back to the story.

So, we had been at the party for a little bit. Not all guests had arrived, things were still quiet and Daddy was sitting by himself on a glider for two. Well, here goes..

So, Daddy.. what have you learned the past year about grandkids??

I don't want anymore of 'em.

[burn.. but I had expected this.. so I had prepared dialogue ahead of time]

Well, they wouldn't live with you. You wouldn't have to take care of them.

Then I'll never get to see them.

No, we'll come visit y'all when we can. And you can always come visit us.

So your mother already knew about this?

[he gets pretty jealous when it comes to the closeness between me and Momma]

Well, Daddy, yes. I've needed to talk to her about female stuff.

[he saw me taking medicine one day and asked if I was sick.. I told him I was taking birth control.. he didn't want to hear about that.. I'm sure he wouldn't want to hear about how big my hooters are getting]

So.. eventually he calmed down and told me he was proud and shook Marshall's hand. And then he felt my stomach. Awkward.. and then he wanted my aunt to feel my stomach.. and then I heard them talking about me (how I'm gonna need to eat more, blah blah blah). And.. yeah..

One down, one to go.

Oh Brian...

So I heard you were getting morning sicknes..

Yeah.. are you pregnant!?

Yeah. I am.

Are you serious? Really? You swear on everything?!

Yeah..

MOMMA!! I told you.. you lied to me!

Whew.. that's over with.

On to the twins!!

These babies are so different. Emma was the happiest baby.. Jayden not so much. Momma got their outfits for the party.. and Emma's was the cutest ever!

Jayden is so funny, though. He's very observant and loves to watch people. We went to IHOP this morning and whenever people would by our table, his eyes would just follow them. Emma just likes to eat.

The babies have recently started swimming. Emma is sooo good. One of the happiest babies, just make sure you have food nearby if she gets fussy..


Grumpy Jayden, again. He really just wanted to take a nap. He about fell asleep here.

Oh, Emma! She ate practically all of the cake.. well most of it ended up on her. But she had a ball. What about Jayden?

Considering, Amanda shoved the cake in his face.. he wasn't too happy. The next few poopies for Jayden were blue.. Emma's were grayish brown.. and she managed to tee tee all over the changing table in IHOP for me..

But we had a good weekend. I'm enjoying growing up and going through marriage/pregnancy and sharing these experiences with my Momma. Never would I have imagined being so close with her, but it's nice.

She bought me my first maternity outfit. A very comfortable black skirt and stretchy top. I even invited her into the dressing room to watch me try them on (that hasn't happened since I was 11). And she couldn't get over how big my boobs were getting. Oh, the first thing she did when we got to her house- pulled up my shirt and looked at my belly. I had NO warning!

I really enjoyed my time this weekend. I can't wait til Momma and Jim come visit us in Brooklet.. and when we have Baby Emory or Baby Hartley (??)..

moments of pregnancy.

This pregnancy thing is becoming more and more real. We'll be revealing the news this weekend with my family and then letting it loose on Facebook (that's kinda pathetic, the FB part).

Marshall finally agrees with me this week. I'm showing, a little. It's just really pudgy. Yay! And ugh.. people who don't know (or don't know me) will think I'm a fatty. So either I suck my gut in when out and about, or hold it out so it looks more like a pregnant belly. Oh the dilemma!

Cravings: donuts.

A week or so ago, I was really wanting some powdered donuts.. I didn't get any. On Saturday, I caved in and bought Krispie Kreme from Bi-Lo. Sketch. But soooo good!!

Aversion: strangely textured/tasting cantaloupe (I totally dry heaved in my car on the way to work this morning); Mexican (still).

Weight: I don't know.

Mood: irritable.. I feel so sorry for Marshall, sometimes.

Energy level: looooowwww.. I'm trying not to take naps as much because then I don't sleep well (or much) at night. And it doesn't help Marshall has taken up snoring.. Oh, is it bad that I still sleep on my stomach?? It's really comfortable!

I've been getting headaches lately. I think it's food related, though. Not getting enough food because I don't feel like making anything.. but donuts definitely help!


Maddie has been most responsive lately (in this picture, she's underneath me with her head and paw on my footrest). I like to test her. I'll stand up, she'll get up IMMEDIATELY.. no hesitation. I'll walk a few feet.. stop.. she's right behind me. I get out of the shower.. she's right there, sometimes poking her head around the curtain. She's always been good about keeping me company around the house.. but she's been extra close lately. I'm gonna train her to put her nose to my belly when I ask "where's the baby?"


Funny short story: Our new friends, the Downies, are also friends with Marshall's brother and his family. Our niece Bess plays with the Downies' 3-year-old Bella, and Bess has rubbed off on Bella. We ate lunch with the Downies after church on Sunday. When we arrived to the restaurant, Mrs. Downie informed us that Bella asked if "Uncle Marshall" was gonna be there. And for the remainder of our time together, Bella called my husband Uncle Marshall. I'm just Amanda, though.

Bella is quite possibly the cutest kid ever. As we were finishing our meal, Bella asked if I was having a baby, too.. there were two other noticably pregnant ladies at the table. And I informed her that I was indeed having a baby. She was not buying it.. I don't have a big belly!

Really?!

Yes, really.

Nuh-uh. You're not having a baby!

Yes, I am. It's really tiny right now. [measures a 1.5 inch long space]

You're not having a baayyyybeeey!!!

[And she can get really loud]

..

So finally she believes me. And I'm pretty sure she petted my stomach sometime during that discussion. When we were out in the parking lot saying goodbye.. she kissed both my and Uncle Marshall's hips (??).. and then she kissed my belly.

We love Baby Bella!!

and most importantly..

The highlight of building the wall..

Marshall was explaining that the wall is not a load bearing wall. That means I can't lean on it (how the heck am I supposed to shave then?!).. and that we can't "do it."

Darn.

it's a glass wall.. and i helped.

After 2 months of procrastinating, Marshall and I accomplished our first DIY project together.. without any fighting. The following picture is of our shower before the mighty wall was built (and before we painted.. twice).


The shower in our master bathroom was a dilemma. It's butted up to the garden tub, with half of a wall. Not designed very well for a shower rod and curtain. Marshall decided a long time ago, before we even moved in, that a glass block wall would be perfect. Now, it's almost fully finished. He's grouting it as we speak.


[side note: he lied to me about bringing the dog food bags from the garage to the laundry room, so I lied about not being to help grout because the fumes are bad for pregnant women.. I lied.. possibly]


The bathroom isn't fully finished, so I don't want to put before/after pics up yet.. but soon. I just need to clean the bathroom and get a shower rod and some towel racks. We have another dilemma with the shower.. The opening for the shower is now 36 inches. And I think a curved rod would be best.. since the shower is small already. I've always had normal sized shower/tub combos.. this is weird.

We've had a hard time finding curved shower rods, especially for the size we need.. and at a decent price. The winner, so far, has a oil-rubbed bronze finish and is only $55 with free shipping. Yeah, neither Lowe's nor Home Depot have anything.

In pregnancy news, I figured while I was taking pictures in the bathroom.. take one of myself. We've been slacking with the weekly pictures. This is 10 weeks.

This happened to be a few hours after three trips to the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday. I had too much cheese.. so.. ya know.. You can see Sassy's head in the background.

Unfortunately with my pregnancy, I get blah in the evening. So when dinner time comes, I want to eat. But what? It takes me a while to decide on what doesn't make me gag. Meanwhile, Marshall wants to eat as soon as he gets home (I spoiled him, briefly). The aftermath of corn is from a few weeks ago. I actually picked fresh corn from a field! He ate 8 ears in one setting.. in addition to 2 hot dogs. Glad he has an appetite.

The in-laws are bringing watermelon and cantaloupe from Cordelle tonight.. and I'm so hoping they stop by here before going home!! And for the record, I had no idea that I've been spelling "cantelope" wrong my entire life. Looked and sounded right to me.

the sibling bond

I was always known as Brian's little sister. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school.. and still to do this day. To Brian, I'm either "dork" or "lil bit." When we were hating one another in middle and high school (he's 3 years older than me) he, unfortunately, called me "lesbo."

Among other names...

Since having kids he has been nicer. We got along much better now.

When we were both in elementary school, before he was exposed to drugs (seriously), we were actually friends. I remember summertime. We would stay up late playing basketball, video games, wrestling on the trampoline.. and weird as it sounds, we would sleep in the same bed. Those were my favorite times.

But he grew up. He didn't want to play with my barbies anymore (with me). He changed.

Maybe it was our closeness when we were little, but something has to explain our sibling bond... which is..

I was talking to my mom the other night. Brian had visited her earlier that evening and brought the twins to swim. Out of the blue, he asked Momma if I was pregnant. Momma played it off. Good job.. I get my lying skills from her.

So Brian explained that he had been having morning sickness. And they know "his" Amanda (girlfriend) is not pregnant.. and the only other girl that could be pregnant was me. So.. he really thinks I'm pregnant. If only he knew.. and we'll tell him soon.

Apparently, he got morning sickness when his girlfriend was pregnant. And our uncle got it too when his wife was pregnant (and she didn't).

So, this is God getting back at my brother for terrorizing me throughout my life.. and rekindling our siblingship.

eight weeks and counting

It's so neat how two weeks can make such a difference. At 6 weeks, our amoeba-like child was only .31cm. Now, our "kumquat" is a ginormous 2cm!!

Rumor has is... girls tend to have higher heart rates than boys do.

Our Baby's heart rate was 178bpm. According to the wives' tale, 140+ means it's a girl, less than 140 it's a little penis. We shall see..

But Marshall really think it's a girl. I had a dream about pink a few days after we found out we were pregnant, but other than that I have no intuitions as to what we're gonna have.

I want a healthy baby.

The doctor's visit was, to say the least, painful. Marshall was there to laugh at me and enjoy watching me squirm on the table. I told him I was going to kick him afterward, so he could feel the pain too, but I forgot.. later though.

They took my blood, and the nurse did such a good job. One prick, that's all it took. But it still hurt like heck!

We had an "interview" and it kinda surprised me what the first question was. Any guesses??

..

..

If it's a boy, will you have him circumcised?


That was that.. and then they asked about our family health history. And about STD's that I had never even heard of! Trichotilichondroherpes..... umm pretty sure I've never gotten that one.

Another surprise..

I have a little yeast infection, which I was completely unaware that I had. So each night for the next week.. yeah, you know the rest. At least, now I do.

It was a painful day. And Marshall may never go back to the doctor with me again.