Mid-Week Confessions

Okay, so this is more like a mid-week,end of the week confession, but nevertheless, confessions shall be made!

1. After I cooked an entire meal for us last night, I decided it was an excellent idea to try out this cookie recipe that I had found on Pinterest ( I mean where else would I find anything?). About halfway through the process, I realized that this was indeed a terrible idea. My almost seven month pregnant body started to shut down. Seriously, I was spilling ingredients every where and dropping measuring cups and cookie batter as well. Thank goodness for my amazing husband who stepped in to finish the process. If it weren't for him the kitchen would be a war zone of hazardous cookie batter and spatulas.

2. Some mornings, this one included, I plan my morning routine around getting a yummy coffee fix at one of my many choices. Decaf. of course! Today it was Dunkin Donuts. An even juicier confession: I was once doing this three times a week.

3. I have a personal fashion adviser. His name is Mike. He is my husband. That man answers more fashion-related questions every morning that most men will ever answer in their lifetime. I think this morning's question revolved around my choice of scarf.

4. I adore filling out forms. I know, seriously, who likes that? I love using just the perfect pen and making my writing as neat as I can. For instance, I have a crib warranty form just waiting to be inked to perfection. I think there may be money to be made in such a fetish.

5. I have at least one dream a week in which people will not listen to anything I am saying. I am most certain that this stems from my profession as a high school teacher.

Well, I must say, these confessions are pretty darn fun! For more fun, check out a great blog: www.emyselfandi.com (see below).

Pregnancy Perks - Part One

Besides the ultimate perk of getting to welcome a little boy into the world in April and be his mom (wow, that felt strange), there are many, many, many perks to pregnancy that I did not realize until I was deep in its trenches. I had always heard a mix of stories, some positive and uplifting and others,well, others that were pretty downright frightening and horrific, prior to my pregnancy. While I have had my share of confusing and worrisome (cause that's what I do) moments, I have to say that my first experience with pregnancy has been a pleasant one so far. On a side note, I am currently ignoring the urge to knock on wood. Due to my experiences to this point, I thought I would focus this post on the perks of pregnancy that some of you may not be aware of....

1) Gap Maternity Jeans and Pants - remember those days in elementary school when you only wore pants with elastic in them because you were too little to be able to handle multiple buttons or zippers? Well, maybe that was just me. Of course, one of my best friends only wore dresses until we were in fourth grade, but that was just because she was obviously way more stylish that any other student at Rock Springs Elementary School (Love You, Rachel!). Regardless of Rachel's elementary fashion sense, when you are pregnant you get to relive those restriction free moments that you once had as you frolicked freely across the playground. I am almost curious as to why all pants are not made like these are!

In addition to the freedom, Gap is an amazing company - they allow me to still wear skinny jeans, corduroys, and cute dress pants all while sporting the bump! I think I may continue to be a customer after April, and no one, except you all, will ever know!

2) Feel the Love - suddenly, everyone you've even known or spoken to adores you. They think you are precious and want to feel your belly. Thankfully, everyone I know has excellent etiquette (would you expect any less?) and always asks before invading my personal space.You are completely drenched in wonderful compliments and smiles on a daily basis. I have thoroughly enjoyed this and I am in the process of learning to accept compliments more effectively. Thank all you who have been so supportive, kind, and caring!

Unfortunately, this "love" has not trickled down to my students. By this point in my pregnancy, I was expecting to get some "preggo pity" from my pupils. Hahaha - nothing phases them. Mostly it's just odd looks and stares at my ever growing belly as if little Hank is going to jump out and perform a quick song and dance for them. Alas, I suppose you can't have it all. :)

3)The Gun - if you have been wed in the wonderful days of the registry gun, then you know the excitement of walking through those automatic doors and saying, "Excuse me, we're here to register." You know the tingling that you get in your index finger as you prepare to fire that registry gun at everything that tickles your fancy. You completely understand the adrenaline that is flowing through your body as you peruse aisle by aisle, scanning bar code after bar code, or pointing at items as I do, because in this family, Mike gets the gun. 

Before I begin to sound like a total registry and shower snob, let me pause to say that I feel incredibly blessed to be able to register, knowing that my loving family and friends want to shower our little family with items of preparation. However, it was definitely a fun relapse of our wedding registry moments!

4) Grazing -the mini-meals throughout the day (or at least what I am classifying as mini-meals) have been wonderful as I adore eating. Speaking of eating, it is now time to go continue my grazing for the day. Stay tuned for more pregnancy perks in the near future.



Later Alligators,

Ash

Baby Brain

So, apparently I went on a long hiatus from the blog world. I suppose I should be honest and just say it: "My name is Ashley, and I suffered from blogging writer's block." It's true, I tried and tried to glue myself to the keyboard and force (what I considered) meaningful blog topics to flow from my fingertips, but alas, nothing. However, the times are a changing and so is our little family of two!

When people say that pregnant women suffer from "baby brain", they are not lying. Scientific research even proves that "surging hormones and high levels of oxytocin  combine to produce symptoms of amnesia" (CBS). I actually saw the words "brain shrinkage" in that article regarding forgetfulness as well - that would explain a lot!

Regardless, it is quite amazing to look back to how I felt in August when I first found out that our family of two would be expanding to three. Through the doctor's appointments and fun ultrasounds, it is so miraculous to think that there is a little life, a little boy, growing and thriving inside of me. I am sure, I will have different feelings in a few months when I am ready to pop, but I absolutely love feeling his little, sometimes big and painful, kicks and punches. What an amazing reminder of how blessed our family is! And as you read above, I need LOTS of reminders currently. With the brain shrinkage and all...

Therefore, I felt it was only appropriate that I celebrate my writer's block freedom by dedicating this post to my current obsession:

This is how we announced the news of our little man waaaay back in November!

Here's to the cure to writer's block (whatever that might be) and Henry Michael Holtzhower, a.k.a Hank, who will make is debut April 29th -ish!


Till then,

Ash