I haven't slept well in several weeks. Even if I take Tylenol PM to help, I still am not sleeping well. I get up during the night to use the bathroom at least twice, sometimes three times. Our husky shakes, our beagle snores, my feet itch like crazy, the baby kicks every time I roll over, and Chris, well, he breathes on me. Crazy, I know. I don't think I fully appreciated how well I was sleeping BEFORE I got pregnant. And then it occurred to me that my days of sleeping well have probably ended for the next twenty years or so. Maybe longer.
Don't get me wrong. I am not a very good sleeper anyway. I thought I heard "everything" and tossed and turned a lot. Well, I think I may have underestimated the quality of my pre-pregnancy sleep and now I am kicking myself for not getting one last hurrah! Although, I don't know how I would have done that anyway.
I think my body is saying to me, "you better figure out how to cope with less sleep now, because in three months or less, it's going to be even less than it is now." And that's OK. I am ready. Mostly. I think.
I am finding it very interesting that as I am crossing things off of the baby preparation list, I sleep a little bit better. In fact, last night, I only got up twice to pee and woke up this morning feeling refreshed and well-rested. Chris said I tossed and turned a lot, but I am not sure how he'd know that...he was snoring loud enough that he woke the beagle. And if I know this, I wasn't sleeping. Maybe I got an extra hour and that was enough to recharge my batteries.
Or maybe my feeling of being well rested is because the baby's room is ready, with the exception of putting the mattress in the crib (we are waiting for a mattress pad and crib sheet), and hanging the stuff on the walls. And we have hired a cleaning service that starts tomorrow. That's been stressing me out. I can't lug the vacuum up and down the stairs anymore, and I know I am prone to slack off a little when I am tired...which is most of the time. So, this makes sense. For now anyway.
Regardless, change is in the air. And walls. And beds. And bellies. And it's here to stay. Good thing I like change. A lot. Especially this one. It's going to be an exciting few months. Just think...by the time we are waiting for the trees to bud, my family will have fully blossomed. I cant 'wait!!
Hurry up, Nugget! Mommy and Daddy can't wait to meet you!!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The Crib is Coming!! The Crib is Coming!!!
And it will be here tomorrow! Thank you Mom and Dad! I can't wait to take a few pictures once it's all in there. Oh, and in case my life wasn't exciting enough, the painter will be here on Saturday to give us the price and schedule a time to have the room painted. Here's my inspiration:
Our crib and dresser are a similar color, but our flooring is mediocre white short-shag-ish carpet, but still looks OK. No red chair. That thing is smaller than it looks, I checked it out! I love Dr. Seuss and all the fun, yet educational, lessons his books teach!
I had my 24 week check up today. All is well. Baby's heartbeat is pumping away at 144 beats per minute. And according to my OB, it's easier to hear when my bladder isn't so full and if he could sit still for a minute. I guess he gets that from me. He's an active little nugget of me and Chris for sure!
To add to my excitement of completing the nursery, next week I am in Michigan for two nights for work (one in MP), then home for a week then back to MI for my first baby shower (HUGE thank you to Jessica and Sue for so generously offering to host a shower for me). Then home for a week, then in Dallas for a week for work and the Texas family and friends baby shower for me (Thank you to Chris' aunt, Vickie Rowland for offering to host one down there for me!). And I am trying to get a trip in before the end of February to Augusta, Georgia for what I hope will be my last client visit before the baby is here!! But other than that, I don't have any plans.
Our crib and dresser are a similar color, but our flooring is mediocre white short-shag-ish carpet, but still looks OK. No red chair. That thing is smaller than it looks, I checked it out! I love Dr. Seuss and all the fun, yet educational, lessons his books teach!
I had my 24 week check up today. All is well. Baby's heartbeat is pumping away at 144 beats per minute. And according to my OB, it's easier to hear when my bladder isn't so full and if he could sit still for a minute. I guess he gets that from me. He's an active little nugget of me and Chris for sure!
To add to my excitement of completing the nursery, next week I am in Michigan for two nights for work (one in MP), then home for a week then back to MI for my first baby shower (HUGE thank you to Jessica and Sue for so generously offering to host a shower for me). Then home for a week, then in Dallas for a week for work and the Texas family and friends baby shower for me (Thank you to Chris' aunt, Vickie Rowland for offering to host one down there for me!). And I am trying to get a trip in before the end of February to Augusta, Georgia for what I hope will be my last client visit before the baby is here!! But other than that, I don't have any plans.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Thoughtful gestures and amazing friends
This would have made a perfect Thanksgiving post. I wasn't thinking I guess. But I am glad I waited because it just just keeps getting better.
Since we made the big announcement about our expanding family, so many of my friends have reached out to me with such generous offers, gifts and hand-me-downs. This blog is in now way a replacement for the Thank You note, but more of a list of "I can't believe how wonderful people are."
A close family friend, Rebecca, not only sent me a box FULL of baby boy clothes in all sizes that her son wore, but she sent me a second box FULL of maternity clothes. Which is incredible. I haven't seen Rebecca since she was married in 2001 or maybe 2002! For most of our childhood, Rebecca's older sister, Nicole sent me her hand-me-down clothes. Then we would send my clothes to Rebecca. And now we have come full circle. Rebecca's clothes have saved me on several levels...not just financially, but also in peace of mind (it's cute stuff!!).
And then there is Christie. We were friends in middle-school and early high school, but she moved away in 10th grade. I hadn't seen her in years, but shortly after Chris and I moved to Colorado in 2006, Christie found me on our class reunion website and realized that we both lived in the Denver area but on opposite sides of the city. Last year, when Chris and I bought our home, Christie and I reconnected (again) and realized that we only live about 2 miles from each other. And she too shared a bag FULL of maternity clothes with me. Many of the pants are too short, but the tops and skirts fit perfectly.
And one of my best friends, Tanya, was the first one to send Baby Boy Rowland a gift...Tanya sent the cutest little outfit from a European company that has a fabulous monkey face on it. It's blue and white striped and deserves a picture, but I want to wait until the munchkin is inside of it!
Lisa (my sole mate - aka running buddy) gave me great advice on which pregnancy books to read and which to avoid, what I should expect from my doctor, and has been a great sounding board for all things pregnancy related (and the crazy emotions and feelings that come with it all). I can't wait for our first long run with jogging strollers! Or maybe just another beer and half-marathon contract!
There have been many congratulatory emails and phone calls and text messages. And friends who are willing to drive for HOURS to get to a baby shower. The love from all these women just overwhelms me.
Today we received a pretty precious gift. Our friend Jessica from Austin is a teacher, a student, an at-home culinary expert, a socialite, an aunt, and so many other things. She took time from her ever-busy schedule to knit our son the most perfect, tiny, green hat. She knitted it herself. I couldn't even dream of doing that.
I guess all the pregnancy hormones have me a little more emotional than usual and are causing me to reflect more on all this cool stuff.
I moved away from my family in 2004 and landed in Dallas, Texas where I knew only one person well enough to consider a friend. Finding a sense of family in other places is not always easy to do. And over the past several years, I have been blessed with so many close friends, some geographically close to me, and others two time zones away. Some I have known since before I could drive, and others I've only known a few years. But regardless of time or distance, it's a time like this when I realize how fortunate I am to have such an amazing network of girlfriends who, no matter time between conversations and distance between homes will always be a part of my family.
Since we made the big announcement about our expanding family, so many of my friends have reached out to me with such generous offers, gifts and hand-me-downs. This blog is in now way a replacement for the Thank You note, but more of a list of "I can't believe how wonderful people are."
A close family friend, Rebecca, not only sent me a box FULL of baby boy clothes in all sizes that her son wore, but she sent me a second box FULL of maternity clothes. Which is incredible. I haven't seen Rebecca since she was married in 2001 or maybe 2002! For most of our childhood, Rebecca's older sister, Nicole sent me her hand-me-down clothes. Then we would send my clothes to Rebecca. And now we have come full circle. Rebecca's clothes have saved me on several levels...not just financially, but also in peace of mind (it's cute stuff!!).
And then there is Christie. We were friends in middle-school and early high school, but she moved away in 10th grade. I hadn't seen her in years, but shortly after Chris and I moved to Colorado in 2006, Christie found me on our class reunion website and realized that we both lived in the Denver area but on opposite sides of the city. Last year, when Chris and I bought our home, Christie and I reconnected (again) and realized that we only live about 2 miles from each other. And she too shared a bag FULL of maternity clothes with me. Many of the pants are too short, but the tops and skirts fit perfectly.
And one of my best friends, Tanya, was the first one to send Baby Boy Rowland a gift...Tanya sent the cutest little outfit from a European company that has a fabulous monkey face on it. It's blue and white striped and deserves a picture, but I want to wait until the munchkin is inside of it!
Lisa (my sole mate - aka running buddy) gave me great advice on which pregnancy books to read and which to avoid, what I should expect from my doctor, and has been a great sounding board for all things pregnancy related (and the crazy emotions and feelings that come with it all). I can't wait for our first long run with jogging strollers! Or maybe just another beer and half-marathon contract!
There have been many congratulatory emails and phone calls and text messages. And friends who are willing to drive for HOURS to get to a baby shower. The love from all these women just overwhelms me.
Today we received a pretty precious gift. Our friend Jessica from Austin is a teacher, a student, an at-home culinary expert, a socialite, an aunt, and so many other things. She took time from her ever-busy schedule to knit our son the most perfect, tiny, green hat. She knitted it herself. I couldn't even dream of doing that.
I guess all the pregnancy hormones have me a little more emotional than usual and are causing me to reflect more on all this cool stuff.
I moved away from my family in 2004 and landed in Dallas, Texas where I knew only one person well enough to consider a friend. Finding a sense of family in other places is not always easy to do. And over the past several years, I have been blessed with so many close friends, some geographically close to me, and others two time zones away. Some I have known since before I could drive, and others I've only known a few years. But regardless of time or distance, it's a time like this when I realize how fortunate I am to have such an amazing network of girlfriends who, no matter time between conversations and distance between homes will always be a part of my family.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Looking back to look forward...
2011 was no slouch of a year in the Rowland house. While we failed miserably at the monthly date-night dinners, we have so much to be proud of. We traveled more, celebrated five years of marriage (in Seattle no less), finally got all of our furniture to match, bought a grown-up bedroom set, laughed more, worried less, managed the budget better, and socked money into savings. And that's just the stuff on the "we" portion of the list.
As for me, well, I completed the summer of run. After signing the contract on December 19, 2010 I immediately began to run. A lot. I ran my first-ever 5K in February, and never looked back. Then in May I ran a half-marathon. 13.1 miles of pure happiness (and pain) and the greatest sense of accomplishment I've ever felt in my life. But I didn't stop there. I rounded out the month of May with the second-largest 10k in the United States. Me and 50,000 other people ran 6.25 miles through the streets of Boulder, Colorado in the Bolder Boulder. And I kept going. The running of the Bolder Boulder marked 12-weeks pre-Diva's Half-Marathon in Vail, Colorado. 13.1 miles at 9,000 feet above sea-level. But, as the Bolder Boulder has trademarked, sea-level is for sissies.
Then, on Monday, August 8th, everything changed. That was the miraculous day that I found out I was pregnant. The following Saturday, I had to pretend like everything was OK and finish my last long training run with Lisa...10 miles knowing I was pregnant. We were only a few steps in when I had to tell Lisa why I was so slow, felt so sick, and kept crying. It wasn't the run. It was the munchkin! And so the summer of run concluded. I went to Vail, but walked 8 miles, took a shortcut, meet Lisa at the 13 mile mark and ran her across the finish line.
And now, this morning as I reflect on all of the little things that have happened since the end-of-august, all I can think about is how I am pretty sure our son is going to come out a dancer, acrobat, hockey goalie, boxer or some other thing that mandates quick movements and spinning. And that's when everything falls into perspective.
And so, with that, I am very much looking forward to 2012 and all the amazing things that will come with it. But most of all, the birth of our son. Happy New Year.
As for me, well, I completed the summer of run. After signing the contract on December 19, 2010 I immediately began to run. A lot. I ran my first-ever 5K in February, and never looked back. Then in May I ran a half-marathon. 13.1 miles of pure happiness (and pain) and the greatest sense of accomplishment I've ever felt in my life. But I didn't stop there. I rounded out the month of May with the second-largest 10k in the United States. Me and 50,000 other people ran 6.25 miles through the streets of Boulder, Colorado in the Bolder Boulder. And I kept going. The running of the Bolder Boulder marked 12-weeks pre-Diva's Half-Marathon in Vail, Colorado. 13.1 miles at 9,000 feet above sea-level. But, as the Bolder Boulder has trademarked, sea-level is for sissies.
Then, on Monday, August 8th, everything changed. That was the miraculous day that I found out I was pregnant. The following Saturday, I had to pretend like everything was OK and finish my last long training run with Lisa...10 miles knowing I was pregnant. We were only a few steps in when I had to tell Lisa why I was so slow, felt so sick, and kept crying. It wasn't the run. It was the munchkin! And so the summer of run concluded. I went to Vail, but walked 8 miles, took a shortcut, meet Lisa at the 13 mile mark and ran her across the finish line.
And now, this morning as I reflect on all of the little things that have happened since the end-of-august, all I can think about is how I am pretty sure our son is going to come out a dancer, acrobat, hockey goalie, boxer or some other thing that mandates quick movements and spinning. And that's when everything falls into perspective.
And so, with that, I am very much looking forward to 2012 and all the amazing things that will come with it. But most of all, the birth of our son. Happy New Year.
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