Thursday, June 28, 2012

Fits of Ikea

As mentioned before, Nick and I have decided to stay put where we are and not move. Therefore, we have a lot that needs to be done in our house to make it work. Where is quite possibly the best place for getting ideas to make a small place work? IKEA!
     This last week Nick had a Sunday-Monday off, so naturally we did what was best and went when everyone else would be going...on Sunday. Why I thought this was a great idea, I'll never know. I don't like crowds in general, sometimes they freak me out and I feel like I have to leave RIGHT NOW! and I feel like, as a whole, people just forget common sense and courtesy and any sense of traffic and direction when they get to Ikea.  Multiply all of this by  infinity when this pregnant chick gets hungry.
     I can say I made an honest effort. We had a leisurely morning; slept in, made breakfast, watched an episode of '24,' you know, the usual. We had kinda talked about going so we showered, got dressed and left. As we were leaving I had a faint undertone of warning in my head that maybe I should eat something, just as a precaution. I quickly stomped out that little voice and took attitude with myself that I would be just fine...I'd just had breakfast.
     I didn't feel hungry at all, but in reality, that breakfast had been about two hours prior. Now, if I don't eat every two to three hours, I think I've mentioned before how I turn in to psycho-pregnant-lady-who-will-kill-you-just-for-making-a-joke. We pulled into the parking lot and thought "Crap! Bad idea to come on a Sunday!" Oh well, we'll make the best of it and really my mind frame was that I would just relax, enjoy myself and do the pregnant stroll through everything (Nick had been warned this would be the case.)
     My amazing husband found one of the best parking spots available, only four spaces from the door! We walk in and I grab a yellow bag (despite grabbing our blue one at home and washing it off, we still forgot it!) Nick questions me and says "We NEVER use one of those upstairs." Cue flash anger and defenses. "Are you kidding me?!? We ALWAYS do! For candles, or light bulbs are random little stuff we see upstairs!" Note: That has really only happened approx. three times, but it seemed like it was a good idea to have. Like most good husband, he drops it and lets me carry the bag around.  We get maybe ten feet and he tries to hold my hand. Naturally it's the side of my body that the giant bag is slung around and I exasperatingly and loosely intertwine my fingers with his. This last MAYBE five seconds before I let go and, with all the outward frustration I can contain, switch the bag to the opposite shoulder.  He goes to grab my hand again and I semi-roll my eyes like "What are you doing?!?" He calmly (mostly) explains he's just trying to hold his wife's hand, isn't that alright? Ugg, fine.  
     My favorite part about going through Ikea is to look at all the rooms and how they have put them together and to imagine my own house looking that wide-open and beautiful. Poor Nick happened to be on my left and it was difficult for me to look, especially since he more enjoys the gadgets and actual merchandise downstairs.  I was trying to speed up, slow down, crane my neck around to see something just as we passed it. But it was not working. On top of it all, the hoards of other people around found it appropriate to come to a dead stop right in front of us, wait until we were right next to them to start walking with their giant full cart (which still confuses me, we're still in the first showcase, how is your cart so full???) or speed walk right behind us trying, quite unsuccessfully, to pass two groups of people. I got annoyed with the yellow bag that I so stubbornly was carrying and tried to shove it into the side of one of the couches. I'm sure I looked like a small child throwing a fit. So I angrily looked and found a bag holder I could toss it in to.
     At this point we're about halfway through the first showcase and Nick leans in to tell me that, whenever I'm ready, just let him and know and we can stop and get some food. Insert wave of emotions with an internal monologue of  "What? You think I need a reminder that we need food?  Are you saying I clearly need something because you can see waves or seething red radiating out of my body? Oh my gosh, I feel horrible for thinking this way towards my husband! He loves me so much and is just trying to help! Or wait, maybe he needs food and is getting grumpy? No, it's definitely me. Gosh, who am I? Why do I get like this so bad?!? It's like one minute I'm fine and perfectly happy and the next minute I'm as bad as those reality tv girls with horrible attitudes." Insert tears of guilt.
     I'm sure Nick saw all of that play out on my face and his response is just a sweet "Honey, would you like to go get us a table and sit down while I grab the food for us?" I still tear up when I think of the everlasting patience he has had with me through this whole process. He brings me the most delicious plate of Swedish meatballs, incredible lingonberry sauce and gravy. (side note: we learned you can get steamed veggies instead of mashed potatoes, we will definitely substitute next time, because I don't really like their mashed taters.) I had sat there waiting for him with tears streaming down my face but had recovered by the time he sat down. I'm sure the other people sitting around were a combination of concerned, annoyed and oblivious. 
     I apologized for how I acted, said I felt like he was blocking my view of the rooms and that is my favorite part and I felt like he was just trying to hurry us a long when all I really wanted was some time to get inspired for our house.  He laughed at me and reassured me that he wasn't trying to do any of that and that we could start over from the beginning, with me closest to the rooms so if I wanted to stop I could.  I swear, his amazingness and love never stops! 
     We were able to continue on with our trip, have fun, laugh and smile and get some great ideas for the house with a renewed sense that we made the right decision that it will all work out just fine. People were still dumb, but our minds were working together and we navigated the crowds without incident and made it through.  Karyanna is so lucky to have Nick as her Daddy! And I am so lucky to have him as an example of how we work in this family!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Time is Ticking Away!!!

Here I am thinking I have all kinds of time until Karyanna was here. SHE'S DUE IN 100 DAYS!!! I know it will probably be give or take a few (or 14) but still. 
     I remember when it was the 100 day countdown until Nick and I got married and I made him a paper chain with 100 ways I love him and gave him one everyday. He asked me not to do that here...it got quite messy. :)  But baby girl, Mommy (and Daddy!) are so excited to meet you!
     I may have mentioned before that our plan was to move out of our 688 sq ft one bedroom house. After looking at things, we've opted to stay where we are for a year in favor of buying a new house next year. SUCH A HARD DECISION! But one that was certainly needed and is for the best. We're converting out Dining Room into her nursery and going to be putting up a room divider (not a permanent or hard to move one in case of emergencies.) 
     In the mean time, we're working on getting the house ready. We pick up her crib and dresser the first week of July, so we will be moving half of our stuff into storage before then. The first weekend in August we're flying out to see my family in AZ (yes, I am a little nuts to be flying at almost 8 months pregnang, but Dr gave me the A-OK) Our goal is to have the whole house ready by the time we go to Arizona, because really, she could decide show up at any time (please wait until AT LEAST September sweet girl!) and we don't want to be scrambling or lay the burden on our families to finish while in the hospital.
     All in all we have 6 weeks to have everything set and ready for her grand appearance. The whole change basically consists of packing everything up and moving some of it while rearranging the rest, ie-moving and house unpacked! That thought is slightly overwhelming when I think about all we have to do, but she is so worth and we're just taking it one day at a time. <3

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Stairway to Heaven

If only I looked like this whenever I did cardio!
You know, it's a funny thing. I had all these hopes of while pregnant becoming this superstar that ate only healthy foods, worked out often (5-7 days/week) and in general became a healthier person. Try again!
     I've argued that I'm happy my 3rd trimester is during the summer. Sure the heat will suck, but it's the time that I always want fresh fruits and vegetables and I eat lighter. What I forgot, was that it's also the time I crave ice cream, pies and elephant ears. 
     Before I got pregnant I had been running for about five four months (note, I got sick and had to stop for six weeks prior to baby.) I loved it! I'd lost over twenty pounds and it felt great! But that was pretty much it for me. I didn't lift weights, but I was getting my eating on track. I figured once I was no longer sick I'd pick things right back up. Haha!
     Since finding out we're expecting I've done cardio maybe ten times and weight lifting (leg day) only once. That is so not what I had in mind for myself. Just last week I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight and this week gained a pound, so net I am +1. For being twenty-five weeks I think that's pretty good!
     Anyway, I've been making a mental shift. Nick and I want to raise our daughter with a healthy body image and general knowledge of what being healthy actually is and how to put it into practice.  There's no way we can do that when Mommy doesn't get her stuff done goes to McDonald's because it's easy, doesn't make fitness a priority, and doesn't set a good example.
     So today I went to the gym. I sure didn't want to, but I got a little inkling to just go so I got up, got dressed and went. I'm 90% stoked and feel awesome I went and 10% feeling like "What did you do to yourself!" I used to do forty minutes of stairs and hate/love it. 
     Since getting pregnant, going up one flight feels like running a 5k. Ok, not really that bad, but it's bad.  So I set my mind that I was going to go back to my frenemy the Stair-Monster. I told myself 15 minutes. That's all I needed to do. I am tough enough to do 15 minutes! Mission accomplished! I had to take a one minute break every five minutes, but that was out of necessity to keep control of my heart-rate. My plan after stairs was half hour of treadmill.
     Well, Karyanna didn't very much enjoy the treadmill. We both did great on stairs, but treadmill was difficult. Right now she's still sitting breach, and I'm pretty sure she cannon-balled my lower abdomen and just sat there (I hope this is not a precursor for future temper tantrums!) Well, by ten minutes into it, my whole belly was hard and my 'underbelly' pain was about a 6-6.5 out of 10. I decided to call it quits. After all, I did my stairs!!! I sat in the women's locker room 'recovering' for a half hour before I felt like I could get to my car (ok ok, over-dramatic, but that's just how I am.) No worries though, I've felt her moving since and everything seems to be OK. I'm sure it was just round-ligament pain that was protesting hard because I haven't been active.
     Will I go to the gym again tomorrow? Probably not, if I do it will be light upper-body weight training and pool time. However, June 29th is my last day of work (so bittersweet!) and I plan on Nick and I going to the gym on the days that he works. We will be a healthy family!


"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift!"
-Pre