The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

A few years ago, someone gave me a picture frame that said "It's Official, I've Become my Mother".  It was a cute frame, so I put a picture of me and my mom in it and put it on a shelf... little did I know the reality that I actually am turning into my mother... one day at a time...

The evidence is piling up, and since getting knocked up it has become MORE and MORE obvious that I am turning into my mother... Here is my list of Top 5 Realizations that I have become my mom:

5. I freak out about cleaning for the cleaning lady. I remember being a little girl, laying in my twin size bed playing with Teddy Rupskin when my mom came in and told me that I had to clean my room. I asked her why and she said that we had a lady coming to clean the house (by the way, my mom did this MAYBE 2 or 3 times in my childhood. I don't recal if there was a specific reason for this, maybe she was hosting a party?). Anyway, I thought it was ludicrous to clean for the cleaning lady, yet there I was yesterday, trying to get things picked up and the dishes done before my cleaning lady came today (Then again, she does put our knives in the dishwasher which Drives. Me. Crazy!!).

4. I am all of the sudden afraid of heights. My mom and my brother have always been the ones afraid of heights, and I was always the one to make fun of them! Over the last year or so I have realized that I, myself am a little freaked out by heights... not to the point where I would hide in the floorboard of a suburban while going over Engineer's Pass... but none the less... kind of weirds me out...

3. I think the new heights phobea is linked to #3... worry... I. Worry. About. EVERYTHING! I can't help it! I worry about normal things like money, childbirth, my hair falling out after the baby gets here.  But then I also worry about silly stuff, like if I will have fun on vacation, what we are going to eat for dinner, and OMG What is my cleaning lady going to think about my house being SO DIRTY!?!?!? I will say, that my Gran may have been a bit more of a worrier than my mother is... so maybe it comes more from her... but I never really considered myself one to worry. Until... Baby... I guess babies make you crazy... that's the conclusion I am coming to!

2. Mom's gonna love this one... (It's probably going to make her cry - I love you mom)... but my mom has a bit of passive aggressive in her (And I still love her for it!!!). This was most obvious to me when I was getting married. She would ask what color bridesmaid dresses I wanted and I would answer... and she would reply with "Really?!?!? You think that will be a good color?!? Do you think that color would look okay on (insert bridesmaid name here)?!? I mean, it's your decision, but think about it".  And I would reply with, "Well mom, what color do you think I should choose?", and her response was "Oh honey, it's your wedding... it's up to you!".  That conversation happened with just about every decision about my wedding. It cracked me up and drove me crazy at the same time.  And now I am doing the SAME THING to Eric.  I mean substitute wedding talk with baby talk, and you have daily conversations between Eric and myself. It. Is. Scary! The scarriest part?!?! I didn't even REALIZE it until one day Eric looked at me and said, "You sound just like your mom!". EEK! Good thing he likes my mom!!!

1. The Disappearing Purse: The straw that broke the camel's back happened to me Saturday afternoon when I ran to the grocery store. I purchase my groceries, take them out to my car, load them in the trunk, take the cart to the cart return, go back to my car and drive off. I get home, pull into the driveway, reach over to grab my purse and.... OH MY GOD WHERE IS MY PURSE!?!?!? I must have put it in my trunk when I unloaded the groceries. I go check the trunk... No.Purse.  Well crap... At this point I realize I have done one of 2 things... Left my purse at the cashier or in the cart... I still managed to get home with my keys and my phone... but no purse! I rush back to Kroger, and thankfully as I pull into the parking lot I see 3 women holding my purse walking it to the guy that is picking up carts in the parking lot. I frantically jump out my car yelling 'It's Mine! It's Mine!" fortunately they believed me... because it's not like I could show any proof of ID!!!  If you haven't heard, my mother is NOTORIOUS for leaving her purse places... fortunately, Kroger is only 3 minutes away as opposed the the 3 hours trip my mom took before realizing she had left her purse at a fast food restaurant in Marshall, TX... Good times...

I guess in the end, it's a good thing that I am ending up more and more like my mom. I love her to death and she has been such a great role model over the last 27 years (give or take a few of those teenage years ;))! She really is a blessing in my life and I don't know where I would be without her.  She has always been so loving, nurturing and protective of us. I could have never wished for a better mother, and  I will be extremely happy if I end up half the mom to Andy that she was to me.

(PS I hear a few people are having trouble leaving comments... Sorry but I have no idea how to help you! If anyone else has had trouble leaving comments and figured it out, feel free to leave a comment on what they may need to do!)

Lazy Saturday

There are few things better on a hot Saturday in July than hanging out with some good friends, and doing a bunch of nothing!

This morning, our good friends Chrissie and Brent came over and hung out with us. Chrissie is a few days past her due date (bless her soul!), so they brought breakfast and they boys played video games, while Chrissie and I vegged on the couch, watched some Harry Potter and hung out with our puppies!

After grabbing a late lunch, they went home and Eric and I ran to get some last minute supplies for the quilt I am putting in the nursery.  This afternoon was topped off when we made some Tropical Watermelon Sorbet, thank you, Giada! We saw her make this the other day on the Food Network and knew we had to give it a shot.

I have to share the recipe and I think everyone should try this! It is so delicious and so easy.

Ingredients:
Watermelon (3 1/2 cups chopped up into about 1 inch pieces)
Juice from 3 limes
3/4 cups Ginger Ale
1/2 cup Grenadine
1 small can (6 oz) pineapple juice

Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.  Then pour into your ice cream maker and make according to your ice cream maker's directions!
(Apparently the ginger ale can be replaced with dark rum, so we may have to try that one next summer!)

It is delicious and refreshing - and gluten and dairy free! Give it a try, and then thank Giada!

What once was lost has now been found!

Well, I found my original post that I tried to post originally!

Can you believe the year is already halfway over? July is probably my favorite month of the year (at least so far, October should be pretty fabulous as well)!

Here are just a few fabulous things about July!

• Every year since Eric and I moved into our house we have thrown a party for the fourth of July. We debated on if we would do a party this year, since Little A is on the way, but this is actually the first (and probably only) year that my two best friends will be able to join us, so we decided it was a go! Eric will smoke a brisket and some ribs on the grill and we will have our annual washers and horse shoes tournament... Hopefully we won’t run out of daylight this year!


• HARRY POTTER!!! If you don’t know, I am completely potter obsessed... Eric and I even went to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in February. I just finished re-reading the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was a good thing because with the preggo brain I had totally forgotten some pretty important plot lines! We bought tickets to the midnight showing at Studio Movie Grill several weeks ago, and now the countdown is on! 
Also, obviously with the title of the blog, even little baby Andy has been nicknamed after good 'ol Harry!

• Another ultrasound! I found out at my appointment last week that every appointment from here on out I will get an ultrasound to make sure everything is going well with Little A. I love getting little sneak peeks at what our little guy is starting to look like, and our OB office has 4D ultrasound machines so hopefully I’ll get to see his little face on the 21st! 


• Every year since I was a little girl, me and my family have spent the last full week of July in Lake City, Colorado.  Eric and I have continued the tradition after we got married, and actually now his brother and mom even go with us. We are going back again this year, even thought I’ll be about 29 weeks along. That means this year I won’t get to fish or go hiking, or drink... but it will be very nice to get out of the heat, and I plan on doing a lot of reading and relaxing!

  
• Last but not lease some of my favorite TV shows are starting back up. I plan on taking full advantage since I know my TV watching will practically disappear come October! True Blood started in June, and Eureka and Warehouse 13 are about to start back up! I can't wait to veg out on the couch in the A/C to some of my favorite shows!

Did I Not Shave my Legs For This?

At six months pregnant, it is offical. I am showing. I look pregnant. I have a big 'ol belly on me that is noticable to strangers.  And strangers like to comment, and say completely inappropriate things.

I will say that I have been fortunate enough that I have NOT had my belly touched by a complete stranger... yet. And I say yet, because it is bound to happen... It is just a matter of time.

But for the record, the comment that I receive the most often, and have come to find the most annoying is as follows: "Wow, It's going to be a HOT summer!". Why thank you stranger. I appreciate you letting me know how hot it is going to be this summer. I never would imagine that a Texas Summer would be hot. I guess I can pack away my parka now that you have informed me of this!

Seriously, people... I have lived in Texas my entire life. I am well aware that EVERY summer is hot. And now that I'm in Houston we can add Humid along with that. I am also aware that when carrying around an extra 20 pounds, I am bound to be more uncomfortable. I do not need you to enlighten me of this fact.

It does make me envy those that give birth in the Spring though (cough cough... Hannah... cough cough)! And let me tell you why!

1. People never tell you "Oh you're having a baby in March... the weather is going to be JUST LOVELY"...

2. Everyone you go out to eat with is 'on a diet' because they are trying to 'look good in their swimsuit'. It makes my order of an entree, extra side, soup, a salad plus dessert look like overkill... Seriously people, just go swimming with me... you'll look awesome compared to big belly mama!

3. Shopping for a maternity swimsuit is HELL! And that is not even an exaggeration. You think regular swimsuit shopping is a nightmare? Maternity swimsuit shopping made me MISS the days of shopping for a regular bikini! I thought I was off the hook when I caught a sale from Old Navy that included maternity swimsuits. I ordered one, and then they proceeded to ship the wrong size.  Of course, since they were having a sale, by the time it got to me (10 days - Seriously Old Navy?!? That's ridiculous) they were completely sold out of the size I needed. Which meant off to the store I go to shop for a maternity swim suit.  Now for those of you who don't know... When you are pregnant your boobs get BIGGER. Sometimes, A LOT bigger. Well apparently  no one has notified the manufacturer of maternity swimsuits of said fact. I tried on dozens and dozens of swim suits, and NONE of them had any sort of support on top. I FINALLY found one that offered the most support, and even though the design was straight out of 1984 I was eager to get in the cool water, so I settled for an ugly design... as to not have my girls flopping all over the place. Usually those that give birth in spring can still fit into their regular swimsuit when they get pregnant, and are back down close to pre-pregnancy size by the time summer rolls around again...

4. Shorts... Okay, for anyone that has hung out with me in the last 5 years... There is a likely chance they could count the number of times I have worn shorts (in public) on one hand. I hate shorts. I do not wear them. I buy about one pair a year, and only wear them in despiration. I rejoiced the day that capri pants were invented, or came into style, or whatever... Well, as previously mentioned, this summer is super hot, as I'm lugging around an extra 20 pounds... so I had to go shorts shopping... another nuisance, though not as bad as #3. This one probably is just for me... but I envy those women that get to wear maternity pants and jeans their whole pregnancy, and don't have to add maternity shorts to the wardrobe...

5. However, with both shorts and bathing suits, come the fact that YOU HAVE TO SHAVE YOUR LEGS!!! Women who have babies in February don't have to worry about trying to shave at 6 months pregnant... the only people who are going to see YOUR legs are your OB, who you are PAYING MONEY to see and who are usually a little preoccupied somewhere else to worry about if your legs are shaved... and your husband, who got you into this mess, so obviously he likes you and will just have to deal with those unkempt legs! Oh to be so lucky! I mean, the further into pregnancy I get, the more creative I have to become with just HOW I am going to shave my legs... the old days of just prop the leg up on the shower wall are long gone, as my balance and my tummy have made leg propping virtually impossible... sitting in the shower worked for a while, before it started taking me 10 minutes to stand back up... it's gotten awfully tricky, and I'm just happy I haven't ended up butchering my legs too badly... yet!

Anyway, it's a bit of a rant for my first post, but I promise I had another post on my macbook that somehow was mysteriously deleted. I shall try to find it again and see if I can post it!