Distant memories

We have been taking a picture of me every week since 7 weeks. I remember we waited until then because that's when I started to show. Ha! I just looked back through them, I don't even look like the same person. My stomach looks like a purplish red tiger now. My belly button looks like it is about to rupture and I'm pretty sure I have a double chin. I know many ladies who returned to their former selves, so I have hope but it looks like a hard row to hoe from where I'm sitting right now. Monday will be 39 weeks and I'm really hoping for a 2010 baby. Fingers crossed!

Back when I started to "show"!!

I've been tagged

Melissa tagged me so here are my lists of fours:

1. four shows that you watch:
(1) Dexter
(2) Desperate Housewives
(3) Glee
(4) Tosh.0


2. four things you are passionate about:
(1) Cooking and baking
(2) Elephants
(3) Breast Cancer Awareness
(4) Teaching


3. four phrases you say a lot:
(1) Seriously?!
(2) You are the worst dogs ever!
(3) If this is a tattle I don't want to hear it.
(4) You have go to be kidding.


4. four things you've learned from the past:
(1) everything happens for a reason
(2) When you get going on the right path, life becomes easier.
(3) I am a strong person.
(4) It's not always black and white, sometimes there are shades of gray.


5. four places you would like to go:
(1) Africa
(2) France
(3) Key West
(4) The elephant sanctuary in Tennessee


6. four things you did yesterday:
(1) Went to Pig and Chick
(2) Laundry
(3) Complained about being uncomfortable
(4) Made 72 cupcakes and a birthday cake for Keith


7. four things you are looking forward to:
(1) giving birth (actually just having a baby the physical birth not so much)
(2) Time off work
(3) Being skinny again
(4) Eating blue cheese and Sushi


8. four things you love about winter: This is tough because I hate Winter
(1) Not seeing overweight people in tube tops
(2) Sleeping with lots of blankets
(3) Snow days
(4) not having to shave my legs as often



9. four bloggers who should share their list of fours:
They have all already done it :)

Something came over me today

People have been asking me if I'm nesting. I have to admit that I literally HATE housework. If I were rich I would throw out dishes and clothes and buy new ones instead of clean them. I don't like my house to be dirty so I do clean it, but I hate every minute of it. I hear people say that they like to clean and step back and look at it, not me. As soon as I'm done I just think, "and I get to do it all again next week".

Now back to the point, I think I am in the baking mood instead of the cleaning mood. Today is Keith's birthday so I made homemade pancakes (ie not with Bisquick) and sausage for breakfast. Then I made his cake- four layers of chocolate cake with raspberry mousse between topped with chocolate ganache. I made him this cake last year or the year before and it was delicious but not beautiful. Again it is not beautiful. I guess I don't work slowly or patiently enough to get the mousse even between each layer so it ends up not being level on top with mousse leaking out the sides. But since it's just family coming to eat it, I guess it's okay.


The next project to tackle was some kind of treat to put in a box that all of the first grade teachers are making to give to our office, custodians, etc. This is how I know I'm crazy. Instead of saying, "I'm 37 weeks pregnant, I'll make chocolate chip cookies." I said, "I'll make mini cupcakes". Granted mini cupcakes with buttercream icing are not that hard to make so here is where the crazy comes in. I decided to make chocolate cakes with peppermint icing. I then decided that the icing had to be striped like a candy cane or a peppermint candy. They turned out cute, but why do I do these things to myself?


Finally after 3 hours in the kitchen I was done. I went to take a shower and noticed that I had swollen feet, ankles, and hands. Luckily after putting my feet up and drinking 2 glasses of water the swelling has gone down and I'm fine. However I already have another baking project lined up for a Christmas Eve party..............

It's getting hard

So I don't think I have complained too much during my pregnancy, my husband might disagree but I think I've pretty much just dealt with it. Now that I'm just 32 days away from my due date, I feel like complaining. This week it has started to feel like the muscles at the top of my giant stomach are ripping apart. It literally feels like at any moment there is just going to be a huge rip right below my boobs and Jackson is going to start waving at me. I have heartburn pretty much constantly from about 4pm until I go to bed, regardless of what I eat. I cannot sleep, I either have to wake up to pee constantly (last night it was literally 5 times in 2 hours) or I get leg cramps that I have to stretch out. I have also started having these sharp pains in my legs/hips. It's not in the back but in the front and down my leg. It makes me limp which makes all 23 of my students and many of my colleagues ask "what's wrong". Since I'm in pain it's really hard not to respond "LOOK AT ME, I'M ABOUT TO EXPLODE. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS WRONG?" I usually just say something like, "I'm okay" or "he must be moving around today". Today I did lose my poise a little when a substitute said "wow you got big really fast" I said in a very flat tone "I'm due in 32 days, I'm 9 months pregnant, I did not get big fast" and shut my classroom door!

A friend of mine recently blogged about how hard it is to be a new mom and took some heat for it, so just to clarify: I'm so thankful that I was able to conceive and carry a child to full term without any complications. I cannot wait to meet my son and see what he looks like, I'm thrilled to add a baby to our family but being pregnant is hard. There is truly no way to understand what it's like until you have done it.

I would post a picture but I can't bring myself to. It is truly unbelievable that I look like this. I really appreciate my lying friends who keep telling me that I look cute and that I don't even look pregnant from the back. That's what friends are for!

I have a stroller!

Not that I have a baby to put in it but I got a stroller today. I went to BuyBuyBaby thinking that I wanted either the BOB Revolution or the Phil and Ted sport buggy. I ended up with the Baby Jogger Summit XC. I liked it a lot better than the other two. It seems more durable and had more padding. I still need to buy the kit to attach the car seat. Now I'll have no excuse to not get back in shape after he's born (yeah right I bet I think of a few)!


By the way, if you haven't been to Buy Buy Baby I suggest you check it out. It's huge. It's owned by Bed Bath and Beyond and is set up pretty similarly. They have everything for babies and a huge selection to choose from. Today was my first time there but I think I'll be frequenting more often, plus they send out coupons like Bed Bath and Beyond does so you can save $5 off one item or sometimes 20% off one item.

Our Christmas card

Peppermint Dots Christmas Card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

coolest thing since sliced bread

What could it be, you ask. Why it's Shutterfly, which is basically my favorite invention ever. I have loved Shutterfly for years. You can just share pictures if you want or you can order prints to be delivered to your house or a local Target. You can make photobooks, which I am obsessed with. I made one for our wedding and then duplicated it in a smaller size and gave them to people as gifts. I seriously have about 10 photo books from Shutterfly. I also used Shutterfly to make our Save the Dates for the wedding. It was so easy and they turned out really pretty.

You can also make really cool personalized calendars to give as gifts or keep for yourself. I am already planning to make baby Jackson a calendar model next year :)

Well the folks over at Shutterfly have decided to bless bloggers with 50 free holiday cards. I am planning to send out our holiday cards soon. This year they will also be serving as mementos of our pregnancy for family and friends who haven't gotten to see the bump grow. I am really excited about them. I am planning to use this design, because pregnant ladies are supposed to "glow":But there are so many fabulous ones to choose from on the website that you can find one to fit any style.

I also really like this design
which you can find here.

So if you are a fellow blogger who also loves Shutterfly or you just want to give it a try now is the perfect time! For more details about the 50 free cards visit the Shutterfly site here.

Couples' shower

Not the best picture of me but I guess at 8 months you get what you get!

On Friday my three best friends threw an awesome couples' shower for Keith and me. Candace, Kristin, and Amy worked really hard and made it a very special evening for us. We had about 15 people there and we got some great gifts.

Candace's daughter, Lizzy, snuck herself into our girl photo. She's so cute, so I guess she can stay.

Lizzy posing with Keith.

The girls suggested baby photos of Keith and me as well as a sonogram for a center piece. It turned out really cute.

I could have eaten that whole pan of mac and cheese myself!

The cute cake my mom made.

The diaper cake made by Kristin.
Opening presents

my first mommy project

I wanted a sewing machine for my birthday, in August. This is my first project, it's October. In any case I think it went well. I still have a few things to do but since the bad dog ate my red thread I'll have to wait until I get more red thread to finish them.

Now Jackson can spit up in style with his Georgia Bulldog and green monkey burp cloths!

Fabulous Fall Dinner

I have been wanting to make cabbage rolls for a while but I thought they would be really hard, I was wrong. These were delicious and fairly easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 head cabbage
3/4 pound ground beef (I used Morning Star meatless crumbles)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
15 oz can tomato sauce
1/3 cup long grain rice ( I used brown rice)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil or oregano (I used Italian Seasoning)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Start boiling a pot of water and preheat oven to 350
Brown the meat and chopped onion and drain.
Since I used the meatless crumbles I added some water,
and garlic to the "meat" to give it some flavor.

After the meat is done add the can of tomatoes, don't drain, 1/2 cup water,
uncooked rice, Worcestershire sauce (I added a little extra to give the crumbles more flavor), 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring this mixture to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15-20 minutes until the rice is tender. Stir in 1/4 cup cheese.

While the meat and rice is cooking cut the big vein out of about 10 cabbage leaves.
Leave the leaf whole just take off the big, hard part of the vein at the bottom. When the water is boiling, put about 4 or 5 cabbage leaves in and boil until they are limp, about 3 minutes. Drain and then rinse with cold water. Repeat for the other leaves.


When the meat mixture is done, scoop about 1/3 cup into a cabbage leaf and roll up like a burrito. I wasn't really particular about it, just try to keep the meat inside.




Put a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of Italian seasoning into the can of tomato sauce and stir it up. Pour half the can into the bottom of your casserole dish or 9x13 cake pan.
Lay the cabbage rolls in the pan with the flat side up, so that they don't unroll. Then pour the other half of the can of sauce evenly over the cabbage rolls. Bake, covered, at 350 for 30 minutes. When they are done sprinkle the rest of the cheddar cheese over them. I did half with cheese and half without, both were really good.



If you give this a try let me know what you think and if you make any creative substitutions.

New Camera

We ordered a new camera to take pictures of the baby when he comes. We don't have a car seat, a baby tub, or diapers but we have a camera. Clearly we have our priorities in line. The new camera is pretty cool. It has a special setting for child portraits, which is great because I am a point and shoot kind of girl. Since we don't have a baby yet we have been trying out the other settings.

The food setting:
These cupcakes were voted the best cupcakes in Atlanta. I bought 12 for $29. I do not know who voted in this contest. I make cupcakes that are 100 times better. So if you're in Atlanta don't stop at Sweet Pockets for overpriced cupcakes.

This is another really exciting thing to take a picture of: homemade pizza. It was good but I wouldn't normally take a picture unless I wanted to try out a new camera setting.

The pet portrait setting:
Caesar the chihuahua. He was good for the first 7 pictures I took.
Then he started ignoring me and eventually hid behind the couch.
This is Brewster the mutt we got when someone found him wandering in a campground.
This is the strangest face I've ever seen a dog make.

I'm hoping to borrow some kids this week from my friends and try out the child setting on them :)

crazy?

I may or may not be completely crazy. I am still planning to walk in the 3 Day for a Cure in 2 weeks. I will be 30 weeks pregnant at the time of the walk. It is 20 miles each day for 3 days. I am not sure if I will make the whole 20 each day but I will be giving it my best! Visit my team page to see photos from last year and make a donation

Under Garment Avengers our team is University of Georgia (UGA) themed :)

25 weeks

I'm 25 weeks now and I'm feeling movement all the time. He seems very active. If Keith puts his hand on my stomach, Jackson really kicks hard. It's like they are playing together. Here is a picture of my giant belly.

the wonders of pregnancy

I finally started feeling well enough to not take Zofran every day around 20-21 weeks. I thought that the toilet hugging was behind me and life was going to be grand. Fast forward to last Tuesday, 23 weeks, at lunch. I was sitting with some teachers in a classroom eating my lunch and feeling great. All of a sudden I knew I was going to throw up. I got up to head to the bathroom and calmly said, "I'm going to throw up" well apparently that calmness didn't relay to the others how immediately I was going to throw up. I told one of them to give me the trash can and she said, "it's right there" I was like "I can't get it" so then she realized that I was in fact going to throw up right then and gave me the trash can. I threw up in the trash can as I walked down the hall to the bathroom and then projectile vomited my lunch (spaghetti) all over the toilet in the staff bathroom, my dress, my whistle, and my lanyard. So here I am surrounded by spaghetti with tears streaming and a dirty dress. I wiped the toilet the best I could, thank God the custodian was already on her way in to do her scheduled cleaning, cleaned my dress, threw away the whistle and lanyard, threw away the trash bag from the little can, and headed out. I passed 3 people who looked at me like they had seen a ghost and asked if I was okay. By this time another teacher had brought my kids back from the lunch room so now I'm surrounded by 22 1st graders who are expecting me to entertain them. I buzzed the front office and an AP came to my room. I explained that I needed to go home and change because I had thrown up on myself. She let me leave and I was back within 20 minutes in a clean dress. It was not the best day and I think it will be a while before I eat spaghetti again!

In other news Jackson is kicking away like a soccer player. Last night Keith was listening to my belly with a stethoscope and every time he put it on the baby would kick really hard in that exact spot. It was really funny and felt very strange. I have also started having heart burn. I have never had it in my life but I quickly became friends with Berry Tums and it's not so bad.

Today my doctor said my weight is good and everything looks great. I go back in two weeks for a glucose test and a shot. Since I have A- blood I have to get this injection now and then take some medicine after he is born to make sure I don't make any antibodies that could cross the placenta in future pregnancies. Fun!

a shameful admission

Today I decided to clean out our fridge. I am ashamed to say that I threw away a garbage bag full of food. As I was reading expiration dates and purging old items I started thinking about how bad it really was that I was throwing out all this food. When I was little I remember people saying, "there are starving kids in China who would love to have that food" and I just ignored them. But there really are starving kids and adults all over the world and I'm throwing away food.

You should know that we try to save money in every way possible. We have new windows, new furnace, and new insulation to save on electricity and gas bills. We use Netflix to save on movie rentals. We clip coupons. We shop at outlet malls. (Now I will admit that most of this is because of Keith, he is the saver and I'm the spender. ) Keith Boddie does not like to waste money!

But now with a baby coming I have been trying to be more conscientious about spending, asking myself if I really need things before I buy them. I am good at this everywhere except the grocery store, and Target but that's another story. I am Kroger's favorite shopper. Those 10 for $10 deals get me every time. I don't really need a box of macaroni noodles but for $1 I might use them, Campbell's soups on sale for $1 better stock up. So we end up with a fridge and pantry full of unused items that I just had to buy. I think that I have enough canned soup to last a life time. We don't really even eat canned soup! So I made a list today and actually bought only what was on it, except for 2 things but I am really going to use them. I also decided to whip out my phone and add things up as I went so I could actually see what I was spending. I spent about half what I would have normally spent!

We have had conversations with friends in the past about grocery spending, because that's how exciting we are, and it is always determined that the Boddies spend more at the store than almost everyone else. Now I know why, I'm throwing it away three weeks later. So from this day forward Kroger will not be tricking me with their fabulous 10 for $10 sales, I am making a list and sticking to it!

Halfway

This week marks the halfway point in my pregnancy. I can't decide if it has gone by quickly or slowly. Sometimes it seems like I just found out and other times it seems like I have been pregnant forever. I keep thinking that I'm over my sickness but just when I tell someone I'm feeling much better I throw up the next time I brush my teeth. So I'm not going to jinx myself anymore. I refilled my Zofran today after dry heaving and almost peeing my pants at school so at least if I feel sick I'll have my saving grace.

I keep saying that I need a baby book to document all the things that are happening in my pregnancy. I guess a blog will work too. I started to feel hunger like nobody's business around week 17/18. Like literally I would be fine and then be so hungry I would sell my soul for some food, within seconds the transformation occurred. I started taking lots of snacks to school for just such disasters, and it's been pretty well under control since then. I have also noticed a change in my belly button. I have always had a really deep belly button, now it looks like a normal shallow one. I am wondering how long it will be before it pops out all together.............

Around the time of the intense hunger my belly also seemed to pop out. Coincidence? Probably not. So at my 20 week appointment my doc, well not my normal one but one of the men in the practice, said I had gained more weight than he wanted me to. I thought, "really because you don't actually know me, so how did you know before meeting me how much weight you wanted me to gain?" Also he said to drink more water and eat less fruit. I have been drinking more water. As far as eating fruit goes, I'm hungry pretty much all the time so I can either eat an apple or a pizza and I'm still choosing apple. Here is a picture of my fruit eating belly:

Pretty scary!

My first graders provide a lot of laughs related to my pregnancy. This week I heard:

two kids talking about teachers they know, both of them are in my class. One boy listed a few teachers and the other said, "what about Mrs. Boddie" reply: oh yeah 1st boy again "what about her baby" reply: Yeah and her baby too

"I hope that baby is a boy so I can tickle him on the stomach"

I was carrying some papers and apparently resting them on my belly. The papers left tiny little paper shreds all over my dress so I was trying to wipe them off and one my kids said, "is your baby itching?"

First grade and Michael Jackson

I've been in school for 4 days now. I'm teaching first grade this year and I am so happy to be back with the younger kids. My class is really sweet, most of the time.

These are the highlights so far:

Mrs. Boddie why are you having a baby? How did it get in there?

Justin Bieber is dead. Me: No he's not don't say things to scare people. Kid: Why didn't he die?

The following day: Well if Justin Bieber isn't dead Michael Jackson is.

Mrs. Boddie what are you naming your baby? Me: Jackson Kid: Oh, like Michael Jackson. Me: Yeah, just like that.

Do you want your baby to be a boy or girl? Me: He's a boy, I already told you that. Kid: Oh, I just thought you might want a girl.

So as you can see they seem to be fixated on my baby and Michael Jackson! We'll see what the rest of the year brings. For now I am worn out everyday but very happy to be with such a fun group of six year olds.

Nursery

We are pretty much finished with the nursery. I knew with school starting I would be too tired to work on it so we went ahead and got everything done early.
Uppercase Living letters above his bed.
This elephant looks lonely but I have a few white frames from Babies R Us that will be keeping him company soon.

I took this before I put the mattress in but it's in now and the sheet is on it instead of hanging over the end of the crib.

I love this nursery and I hope Jackson does too!

Nursery in progress

We have been working on the nursery this weekend.

I am waiting for this bedding to arrive.


And this crib.

It's a Boy!!

I have always wanted a little girl, so when we saw (without a doubt) that I am carrying a boy I was surprised. The doctor told us that he was very healthy and that I am in the lowest risk category possible, but I still felt tears welling up. In my head I was saying "if you cry because you are not having a girl, you are a jackass. you have a perfectly healthy baby." So I did not cry. It is not that I don't want a little boy, it was just that I needed some time to adjust my vision of my child. When you spend so long picturing your little girl with bows and dresses, and you have more hormones than you know what to do with, it's kind of like losing something to find out that she's not going to be arriving at the end of the pregnancy.

Keith was smiling more than I've ever seen him smile. We left the office and I began the mass texts and phone calls. By the time I called my friend Kristin the tears were about to fall. So we ate dinner and talked about our little boy. By the time we left the restaurant I was happy. We have been working on the nursery and creating a registry. I'm very excited to meet Jackson Keith Boddie in January!

15 weeks

I can still wear my cotton shirts from before, no button ups though. I am still wearing my pants with the Bella Band. It's hard to know if I'm too big, too small, just right so I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it.

Hygiene takes a hit

Many things in life change when you become pregnant. You can't drink alcohol or caffeine, no fish, no undercooked meats, and the list goes on. I knew that working out was going to be harder and that I probably wouldn't handle the Atlanta heat as well as before. I was even prepared for a little morning sickness. What I was not prepared for was a fetus that hates good hygiene. I end up throwing up almost every time I brush my teeth or take a shower. I can somewhat understand the teeth brushing, I mean it does involve my mouth/gag reflex. I do not, however, understand what it is about the shower that makes me sick. I think that it might be the heat combined with bending over to dry my feet/legs.

Hawaii Recap

Hawaii was a great vacation! It is a place that everyone should visit at least once in their life. We stayed at Milolii, a small village at the bottom tip of the big island. It is on the Kona side of the big island. Kona is the "sunny" side of the island, it doesn't rain very much there so the landscape is mostly lava without many trees or plants. So our landscape looked mostly like this.


Down in the fishing village there was a trail to a black sand beach. It was absolutely beautiful. Most days we were the only people there. On our final trip there Keith was snorkeling and saw a large shark!
We took a dolphin swim trip. I got really sick but Keith had a fabulous time. He took a lot of pictures, some turned out really well. I did have the opportunity to see a few dolphins and get pretty close to them before the sickness set in. It was really amazing to see them so close up!
We took a few trips to the other side of the island. This is the Hilo side. It is the home of the volcanoes, and is much more tropical. This side gets more rain and looks more like the Hawaii you see on TV.

This is me in front of a giant crater left behind after a volcanic explosion.
This is Keith in the lava tube we walked through.
We hiked a little to this waterfall. It was really beautiful.

The final highlight of our trip was the Luau we went to on our anniversary. It was very fun and something everyone should do if they have the chance. It was hard to get good pictures in the low light but I'll post a few.