Tummy Pictures (Warning: Not Very Exciting)

Week 12 - not sure how much is my tummy and how much is my jeans.


Week 14 - just look like I'm sticking my stomach out. And like I'm tubby.

A Post That Has Nothing to Do with Baby...(well, at least the first paragraph doesn't)

I had a funny observation the other day. If I hadn't been named Gretel, my understanding was that Grace was the #2 name choice. Think about it. If that had been my name, we'd be Will and Grace. Can you imagine how awful that would be for Will?? Just my random thought for the day.

Well, maybe I'll put a little tiny bit in here about Baby, after all (guess I can't resist!). We took a "tummy pic" a week ago for Week 12, but I haven't gotten around to posting it. I really don't look pregnant in it anyway. Boy, am I filling out the old pants, though. And I do mean the old ones - the ones before I lost some of my weight. But hey, I worked out yesterday and today, so I'm on a roll!

Also, I'm comprising an email of questions to ask my dear family and friends who are young moms. There are a lot of questions. And I'll be emailing it to a lot of people. What can I say - I've worked somewhere with "evidence-based practice" in the mission statement for five years, and it's rubbed off! I want to be an evidence-based parent, so I'm gathering said evidence. :-)

I've Got a Strawberry!

Well, a strawberry-sized human inside me, anyway! :-D I will be 12 weeks pregnant this Sunday, and I'm due January 3rd. I truly would post more but direly need to go home for the evening. I'm just happy to FINALLY be going public with this news. I couldn't be more ecstatic! I hope to post updates soon. We'll be finding out the gender in mid-August.

This is how I feel today...

'Nuff said.

As an addendum to my post yesterday, I want to point out what a wonderful husband I have. He supports me 100% in anything I want to pursue, however zany it may be (even the dog-grooming idea!). I was blessed to have parents that raised me to dream big (all four of them!), and am now even more blessed to have a husband who allows me to continue to dream and try new things. Life is good.

Where Do I Get All These Hare-brained Ideas, Anyway?

If you're among the few that I talk to frequently (hmmm...guess that's mostly husband and mom), you know that especially in the last few years, I've had several ideas of different things to do - many of them are dumb, many are unrealistic, but usually I get somewhat obsessed for a week or two on a particular idea. I really truly enjoy being a registrar, but I guess there's a zanier side of me that's just not satisfied with doing that and nothing else. I should really maybe quit having these ideas, and then maybe my house would be clean and organized. Here are just a few of the ideas I've had in the past few years:

1. Auditioning for a role in a musical at the Center Street Theater in Provo. (Never did, might have been interested in this at some point, still, but just found out that they've closed. Pesky economy!)
2. Learning to be a dog groomer. (Nope, luckily)
3. Owning a small pet care franchise. (Got REALLY excited about this one for a few weeks, but decided it was not realistic, especially in Provo)
4. Going back to school and getting a master's degree. (Check! Woo-hoo!)
5. Wanting to model wedding dresses. (Through Craig's List searches, this got me a couple awesome photo shoots to begin my portfolio, not to mention that music video from a few weeks ago, but I don't really see this one panning out ever)
Oh, yeah - 6. Getting voice lessons and auditioning for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. (But Holy Commute, Batman, and have you SEEN the audition process?? I am in awe of my dad, aunt and uncles for having successfully navigated that incredibly intense process!)

And now, I give you the current screwball idea: taking comedy improv classes through ComedySportz. We went to a show with our dear friends Miriam & Kelly and Audrey & Adam last Saturday, and my wonderful husband happened to mention over ice cream afterwards that he thought I'd be pretty good at improv comedy. He may regret that statement later on (wink wink). But in all seriousness, I wonder if I've suppressed my inner wisecrack that shone during my toddler days. Maybe it's time to tap back into that dormant aspect of my personality and see what happens. The classes involve five 2-hour sessions for $85 total. At the very least, doing something to get out of my typical routine and comfort zone has to be a good thing, right? The next session starts at the end of April, and (bummer) I can't do that one since I'll be out of town for one of the classes. But I've already emailed to ask about the dates for the next set of sessions. If the idea loses steam by then, that takes care of that. :)

I'm interested in your thoughts, though - good idea? Bad idea? Would you wanna sign up WITH me? :-)

Queasiness Update

No test results yet, but I forgot to mention that the doc said I should look at trying probiotics. I'd never heard of those before, but they're the opposite of antibiotics, and they help promote healthy bacteria in your digestive system. They're in yogurt - and I've never been much of a yogurt person. But I got myself a stock of Activia yogurt this weekend and am having one a day (and am surprised to find that I quite enjoy them!). After three days, I think I'm starting to feel a bit better already. I wonder if the couple of times I've been on antibiotics in the past for strep throat depleted the good bacteria inside me and caused this problem. Hmmm....

Calling Dr. House

I went to the doctor this morning for on-and-off nausea that I've had since January. No, I'm not pregnant. And, unsurprisingly, there are a million things that could cause said nausea - so they took bloodwork to test for the following (possibly more?):

- An ulcer
- Anemia
- Diabetes
- A thyroid problem

If that all comes up negative, the doctor said we'll have to re-strategize from there. (Could I just sign-up to be on House, instead? That sounds more fun. Well, not really, since they do all sorts of painful things to patients. Never mind.) Anyway, it also could be due to simple stress/anxiety. Great. If that's the answer, pretty much all I can do is hope that my upcoming vacations (did I mention I'm going to FLORIDA??) ease my problems there.

Anyway, if there are any votes or bets, place them now. Test results come back Friday or Monday. If it's diabetes or my thyroid, I'd be very surprised, BTW. But weirder things have happened on House...