You know you're Pregnant when:

You feel as though your argument has merit:

J: (9:30 am on a Sunday morning) Ohhhh, Babe... you know what would be SO GOOD right now?
A: What?
J: A chocolate milkshake from McDonalds!
A: You don't even like milkshakes.
J: (irritated) Well (huff) I do now!
A: Okay, I'm going....

10 minutes later my phone rings:

J: Hello?
A: Hey Babe, McDonalds is still serving breakfast... they don't open for milkshakes until 10:30.
J: Well, (irritated that he wasn't thinking logically) WAIT IN LINE!

It wasn't until I was "sober" (after I had my shake) that I realized how terrible and bratty I must have sounded. At the time, I thought I was completely right. Looking back now... not so much. Good thing I have the best husband in the world!

Made with Love

I just wanted to take a moment to "publicly" thank the very best mother-in-law in the whole entire world for feeding us almost every day since Monday. Aaron and I have been pretty sick over the past week and even though Linda works full time, she still makes it a point to nurture us back to health. It seems every time one of us even sneezes, she makes up a batch of her amazing "feel better soup." We are so lucky to have the very best people in our life.

Thanks Mom Molloy. You are the best! (and please don't kill me for posting a picture of you!)

Menu Monday: Wholly Guacamole!

It's no secret that I am in love with avocado; it has been a major pregnancy craving and a huge staple of my diet as of late. I've always liked avocado and guacamole but not to the point that I have to stop myself from eating it at every meal. I dare say that for two out of the (almost) five months of my pregnancy, I have eaten it a couple of times per week. I am constantly thinking about it. It's pathetic.

One way that I'm rationalizing eating so much of it is that it has a myriad of health benefits for a developing baby (especially where brain development is concerned). It is packed with folic acid, and has more potassium than a banana. For children, it contains more vitamins than any other fruit. It's also great for Mom too (and those trying to conceive.) Eat up, Baby!

After scouring the internet I found a good recipe for guacamole. Normally, I would suggest using a food processor to make this delicious avocado based delight but, given that I'm making it a couple of times per week, I have just taken to using my Pampered Chef chopper (much easier clean up).

Ingredients

• 2 avocados
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove/ 2t garlic, minced
• 1 ripe tomato, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced (I use 2T of lime juice)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Peel and mash avocados in a medium serving bowl. Stir in onion, garlic, tomato, lime juice, salt and pepper. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill for half an hour to blend flavors.

This is a super easy and delicious recipe. There is much you can do with it too; put it on sandwiches, in fajitas, all over nachos, on a burger or, in my case, you can spread it on toast and eat it for breakfast!

Say What?

The other night we were sitting on the couch, looking at the Christmas tree and listening to Christmas music on one of the Comcast music channels (like nerds). Well, if you tune to channel 533 for "Sounds of the Season" not only does it offer a pretty good variety of Christmas music, it also has holiday related facts that pop up on the screen "The Babylonian New Year Celebration lasted 11 Days!"

One of the facts sparked a pretty hilarious conversation:

A: Oh, "in Guatemala, the Christ Child delivers the presents on Christmas Eve instead of Santa Claus."'
J: Baby Jesus does? Instead of Santa?
A: Looks that way.
J: Huh. That doesn't seem very safe.
A: What do you mean, "safe?"
J: Well, Baby Jesus slipping down the chimney in his diaper and all.
A: I don't think he wears a diaper and I'm pretty sure the chimney thing is just related to Santa so, "Baby Jesus doesn't slip down the chimney." It's Guatemala... I don't know if they even have chimneys; it's basically located on the equator.
J: So he apparates and disapparates? Like on Harry Potter?
A: Yeah, Babe. Exactly like Harry Potter.

You know you're pregnant when:

You threaten bodily harm to whoever dares to touch your Chinese food leftovers.

*I'm horrified to admit that these were kept in my own fridge at home BUT, in my defense, my dear husband has pretty sticky fingers when it comes to food.

Freud on Friday: Paging Dr. Robert Downey Jr.

I've heard rumors that pregnant women have bazaar and vivid dreams. It wasn't until I started to experience these dreams that I truly understood just how strange these dreams could be. I am going to start documenting some of them here.

Being someone who loves to do research I, of course, started to comb through articles posted on the internet to find information that aims at explaining the bazaar pregnancy dream phenomena. Here are a few theories:

• The increase of pregnancy hormones
• Anxiety, caused by all things pregnancy (women who have been pregnant-- you KNOW what I mean when I say "pregnancy anxiety")
• The lack of restorative sleep
• Fears about the future

A few days ago the following conversation took place:

Aaron: (over breakfast), "You sure had an interesting dream last night!"
Jessi: "I did?"
A: "Yes, I woke up to hear you yell, (mimicking a high pitched squeal) 'Ohhhhhhhhhh!'"
J: (blushing) "I have no idea what that was about!" (horrified, because I really didn't!)
A: "For some reason I think you were dreaming about the sex of our baby."
J: "Hmm."

It wasn't until later that morning when I was walking the dogs that the brisk air brought my dream back into recollection. Below, find the strange details.

I was at my doctors office to have "the big" ultrasound (the one where you find out the sex [Aaron was so right!]) So, when I arrived the nurse asked me to completely undress, including all jewelry. I did as I was told. Having anxiety about my wedding rings (as I do in real life) I put them on the table in the ultrasound room but, to keep them safe, I stored them in the cup I keep in the shower which I use (in real life) to rinse the shampoo out of the dog's hair when I give them a bath. There, I knew my rings would be safe! Then the doctor, Robert Downey Jr., came in to perform the ultrasound. When he put the thingy on my belly to see the baby he said, "It's a girl!" To which I exclaimed, "Ohhhhh!" And then the baby waved at us.

I was so excited that I got up, threw on a hospital gown (opening in the front), slipped on my Uggs and ran outside into a blizzard to find Aaron in the parking lot, where he was changing the tire on a car that belonged to one of his student's parents. I told him it was a girl and then I ran back inside to get dressed.

Well, at some point while I was outside, they had let another family into the ultrasound room so they could have their procedure done. I was so upset because I was convinced they would find my rings and steal them. So, outside the room I began pacing... until a nurse (who also happens to be one of the people on the reality show Full Throttle Saloon) came by to see why I was lurking in the doorway. I explained the dilemma and she said it was okay if I barged in to get my things. So, I did. Once I got in there, naturally, I had to dig through a giant garbage bag full of treasure trolls to find my wedding rings.

How I wish I could explain this dream to Sigmund Freud so he could do some dream analysis work with me.

Am I the only one who?

Today isn't a "oui". Right now my entire life is a oui! But, clearly, I'm feeling pretty darn creative lately.

Blame the pregnancy hormones or lack of sleep but, not only am I creative, I am finding that I'm more curious than I have been in the past (if that's even possible.) So, tell me the truth... am I the only one?

Am I the only one who: uses Google as spell-checker?
Am I the only one who: gets annoyed that people think the word congratulations has a "d" in it?
Am I the only one who: shuts off the lights in my house to properly spy on neighbors at night?
Am I the only one who: would secretly love to be a cashier at a grocery store?
Am I the only one who: uses nightlights?
Am I the only one who: says things out loud like, "Well, aren't you special?" or "Who cares?!" When you sign on to Facebook and look at the newsfeed (although, I'm sure I get some of those reactions when I stream my blog right to FB)?
Am I the only one who: thinks they could be a winning contestant on Jeopardy?
Am I the only one who: likes the smell of their dog's ears?
Am I the only one who: loves to check the mail?
Am I the only one who: has to smell sour milk even though you've been warned it smells disgusting?
Am I the only one who: misses the postal stamps that you could "lick"?
Am I the only one who: after saying something clever thinks, "that will be my next Facebook status"?
Am I the only one who: thinks it's unrealistic that the "commercialized Jesus" is fair-skinned?
Am I the only one who: considers ice cream without jimmies or sprinkles sacrilegious?

Come on... Fess up, people.

You know you're Pregnant When:

Remember when I said I was not going to let this blog become a forum where I only discussed my pregnancy and the baby? I'm starting to think I lied.

Without further "ado" (or apologies for my pregnant banter), the latest edition of "You know you're pregnant when:"

• Your favorite person is, arguably, inventor Jim Howe.
• You wonder, "Where did that entire sleeve of Fig Newtons go? They were just here."
• You drive off with your emergency brake still on... something you used to be so vigilant about.
• You cry for 25 minutes because of the dead squirrel on the side of the road; "that squirrel had a family!!!"
• Soup tastes great at every meal.
• You make a cup of tea and leave the burner on for an hour.
• You wonder if you could spruce up your yoga pants with a smart sweater and get away with it being work appropriate.
• You don't see anything wrong with Doritos, a peanut butter cup, a box of raisins, a tootsie pop and anything else that's not nailed down for your morning snack.
• You can imagine eating an onion... like an apple... but drenched in mustard... without so much as flinching.
• Your normally immaculate vehicle is littered with discarded Happy Meal boxes and you keep $4.14 in cash in your wallet at all times.

Photographic Friday: Postcards from "The Bump"

Today I'm officially 14 weeks and 2 days. I have about 180 days to go. Looking at the difference between my 10 week picture and my 14 (+) week picture, it looks as though I've popped. It really happened in between my 12th and 13th week.

For now, I'm not walking about "sporting the bump" nor am I really trying to "hide it." I think when I wear certain clothing people just think I got a little carried away at Thanksgiving. I haven't had a chance to tell my Department Head at the college nor have I told the owner of the practice I work in so, until they know, I'm going to refrain from wearing my tube-tops to work to proudly display my new superpower... growing humans.

At 14+ weeks I'm feeling much better than I did in the first trimester. I was VERY lucky in that I didn't get morning sickness (or nausea really at all) but, the fatigue... man, the fatigue. I'm so used to being able to push myself; work 12 hour days then come home and work some more. Not anymore. I was seriously concerned all of my muscles were going to atrophy with the amount of time I spent riding the couch! Every day, if I wasn't working, I could be found laying on the couch. Aaron would come by every few hours and hold a mirror in front of my nose to make sure I was breathing, and roll me on to my side to avoid getting bedsores.

Now my energy level is slowly coming back but, in exchange, I'm getting terrible bloody noses (which the doctor said is normal), I need to go bra shopping, (AGAIN), and I'm starting to get a pregnancy appetite (which is scaring me, a tiny bit.) I'm one of those people who really has to monitor every morsel of food I put in my mouth or else I'll pack on the pounds like it's my job. Right now I can't deprive the baby (and let's face it, I'm hungry and I have cravings) so I'm trying to make really healthy choices. For instance, instead of a bag of Heshey's Kisses, I might make some trail mix with nuts, raisins and throw in a few chocolate chips. Luckily a lot of my cravings have actually been for really healthy things (avocado, pineapple, green apples, soups, and MILK! MILK! MILK! (I'm a milkoholic). I do, however, refuse to discuss my love affair with Doritos!

I couldn't have asked for a better person to be by my side for this pregnancy. Aaron is extremely supportive, helpful, and tolerant. I don't know how I would have survived the first 12 weeks without him doing everything for me. Seriously, laundry, cleaning, walking the dogs, filling my car with gas, dishes, cooking, grocery shopping and well, anything else that is supposed to be done. It doesn't hurt that he thinks pregnant women are delicious looking so I take comfort in knowing that if I completely let myself go, the sun will still rise and set on me in Aaron's eyes. ;)