33 weeks

How far along: 33 weeks today! (If she is born at 37 weeks like I am dreaming of, that is only a month away! HOLY COW!)

Size of baby: 17.2 inches long, 4 lb, 7 oz. About the size of a pineapple.

Gender: Girl

Total weight gain: + 25 lbs

Maternity clothes: Duh

Symptoms: Backache. Rib pain on right side.

Sleep: Approx 7 hours with 3-4 potty trips.

Food cravings: Fish!

Movement: Constantly on the move! Feeling arms and legs protruding. More hiccups.

Best moment this week: Another good checkup Monday. My belly measured 32 cm, which was perfect for 32 weeks, and her heart rate was 137 bpm which is perfectly in the normal range!

What I miss: Being able to bend at the waist. Picking things up off the ground is getting hard!!

What I'm looking forward to: Nothing special this week, so I guess I'm just looking forward to Easter!!

Make New Friends

I've always struggled with making new friends. Not exactly conducive to a life constantly on the move in the military, but I'm working on it! I'm so glad that I always get to move with my very best friend, JT. And I also feel so lucky to have a "built in" best friend in my little sister.

The first 18 years of my life were spent in the same town, so I graduated high school with people I went to elementary school with. I was never in the popular "cool group", and I feel like that affected my self esteem. Clemson is a pretty big school so I struggled a little making friends there at first. But I eventually found my footing, and my two best girlfriends to this day are my classmates/roommates I met ten years ago this year at Clemson. When we moved to Hawaii, it was difficult to make friends there because there is a dramatic divide between the kama'ina (locals) and military (as in locals don't like military). Since I was working full time with locals, and then going home to a military base, it was challenging. In Michigan, most of the friends I made were my co-workers, but we didn't really hang out much outside of work until I got laid off. (I guess I felt nervous about trying to hang-out outside of work, because if it didn't "work out" it would make for an awkward work day? Or maybe I just assumed that everyone already had enough friends and didn't need ME? Who knows!)

When CJ was born, it suddenly became much easier for me to make friends. He makes me feel more confident, and is my "ticket" to talk to other Mamas. With him on my hip I'm not nearly as worried about being rejected by a potential friend, because I'm thinking more about him (and the 500,000 other things on our to do list). I had a really great group of Mommy girlfriends in Michigan, and I really miss them. We would have play dates, and moms nights out.

When we first moved here to San Diego I tried to find where I fit. Honestly I was a little intimidated by the beautiful "SoCal" women (I don't usually wear makeup or do my hair or dress up) so I was worried I wouldn't fit in. We don't live in "base housing" so I don't meet many other military wives (and the Dental Corps doesn't really have a great support system for spouses here). We live in a primarily "older" community so it has been hard to meet neighbors with kids. I joined a group on meetup.com but it didn't end up being a good fit for CJ and me. (The moms were all much younger so we didn't have much in common and their babies were younger than CJ, so naptimes didn't coordinate very well. We both needed friends closer to our ages, and similar lives.) I joined MOPS and made some good friends there as the year has gone on. This fall, I got "lucky" that another group on meetup.com had an opening...so I tried it out. Happy to say I found my fit! :) Most of the ladies are nice, fun and they are primarily in their early 30's. (The group has a monthly wine night, how can you NOT love THAT?!) and their kids are close in age to CJ!

A whole bunch of us are pregnant at the same time due in the next two months so that is fun too!

The group hosted a "Group Baby Shower" which was so nice! We had lunch down in La Jolla.

All of the preggos in the group. (This post is already SO late because one lady had her baby already! I had to get it posted before anyone else did! HA!)
In addition to the lunch, they also gave each pregnant lady a color coordinated "Hospital Survival Kit". (Pink-girl, Blue-boy or Green). Super cute! I can't wait to wear my pink socks at the hospital!
One of my new friends. Her daughter is exactly a month older than CJ, and her due date with her baby boy is exactly a month before Baby Girl's due date! :)
"Make new friends, but keep the old" was a song we used to sing in Girl Scouts when I was younger. I'm thankful to have friends scattered across the country, and I try hard to keep in touch with everyone as often as I can! But, I'm also so glad to be making new friends here in San Diego, it definitely helps it feel more like home!

Car & Cali Coast

Yesterday I went to the repair shop to clean out our car and "say goodbye". I'm not going to lie, it was pretty emotional for me. Living the military lifestyle, I'm really not one to put much weight on "things"...changing houses every 3 years, getting rid of "stuff" before every move...but we've been through so much with that vehicle, and it was our one "constant" (any LOST fans?!) for all these years. JT and I've had that 2005 Ford Escape the whole time we've been married. It was purchased in South Carolina, shipped from New Orleans (closest port to Pensacola) to Oahu. Shipped from Oahu to San Diego and then driven cross country to Michigan. A couple of trips down south to South Carolina. Another cross country trip from Michigan to San Diego. And then finally, her last trip, she did such an AMAZING job keeping us all safe in that wreck! The pictures don't really do the accident justice. Looks like bumper is a little dented, but I assure you the experience of hitting was unfathomable. As I gathered all of our belongings, tears fell from my eyes continuing to be SO thankful. Especially when I was able to see in more detail the damage that I couldn't see on the side of the road in the pouring rain. When I opened the rear passenger door, there was a horrible scraping noise as the metal rubbed together. Since it was a SUV, the backseat had the capability of folding down. The latch attached to the inside of the car where the seat would snap in place was bent. This was the side CJ was sitting on. Thank God for keeping him safe. I won't subject y'all to anymore pictures, but as we pulled away, CJ said "Bye Bye Blue Car" and I said "THANK you GOD for always keeping us safe in that car!"

Let's change and lighten the subject! ;) Thought I'd catch up more and share some pictures from the past couple of weeks. Strawberry field in Carlsbad.

Fresh Strawberries!

The taste tester

"Yummy!"

Taking a stroll down the Oceanside Pier.

Pelican!
CJ was enthralled, I was worried he was going to take a snap at us!

And these are the pictures from my birthday dinner in La Jolla. This was the view from our table!! It was cloudy, but we could still see a slight orange tinge of the sunset!

And these two ducks (Mama & Dada duck...AHHH. Turn off Mommy Mode Lace! You're on an adult dinner date! HA!) were playing in the waves!

I'd never seen ducks in the ocean before, so I imagined they were here just special for my birthday! ;) My free dessert!

I had my cake, and I ate it too! :)

When it Rains it Pours

Let me preface this story by saying ALL FOUR OF US ARE OKAY. Thank God!

The weekend before Nana arrived, JT, CJ and I were in a car wreck. After JT being out of town for a week, and then me being sick for a week, and then CJ being sick for a week...I was REALLY itching to get out of the house! So despite the bad, rainy weather, we went on a few errands as a family. On our drive home, we were driving on the interstate. (San Diego is so big, you pretty much have to drive on the interstate to go most places). Since it was raining, and the road was wet, we were going "slower" than usual (probably like 65?) We hit a slick spot and started to hydroplane. Despite his best efforts, JT couldn't get the car straightened out. We did a 360 to our left across two lanes of traffic and then the back end (passenger side) of the car slammed into the concrete highway divider.

We are SO thankful that we didn't hit any cars, and that no cars hit us as we spun, crossed the lanes or as we were sitting unable to move in the middle of the interstate. We are SO thankful that if we had to hit, that it was the back of the car that hit, so we were with momentum. (The airbags didn't deploy. And that way the force of the impact was absorbed into our seat backs-CJ included because we had just only the month prior turned him around to be forward facing-Thank God for that too!)

God completely shielded and protected us. And moments after impact I felt Baby Girl squirm so I knew she was fine too. What a blessing! It was very very scary. One of those moments you see in a movie, moving slow motion like a dream. It doesn't seem real until it happens to you, and then all the "what ifs" and the reality of what could have been a very different outcome start creeping into your mind.

SO SO SO thankful. Granted the timing isn't the greatest: having to buy a new car on top of all the expenses a new baby is about to bring...but it's just a car, and it's just money...and things like our family are SO completely priceless!

Right after we hit, we made sure we were all okay and comforted a crying, frightened CJ. After we told CJ that it was okay, and everyone was okay, he gave us a little comic relief. He said "Bumpy Road!" to which JT and I couldn't help but smile and say "yes, that was bumpy CJ!" And 5 minutes later he said "CJ Bumpy." We had to laugh. Life is too short not to. What a sweet innocent boy's interpretation of a car wreck. Another thing CJ enjoyed was getting to ride in the tow truck. The cab was so big he compared it to "Mack" but since it was a tow truck he also called it "Mater".

When tow truck driver dropped us off, CJ stood by the front window watching. And as he pulled away with our vehicle he said "Bye Bye Blue Car". All week he has asked about it. "Ride in Blue Car?" No, CJ the Blue Car is hurt. Then he started asking "Blue Car Better?" So I had to change the reply to No, CJ the Blue Car is broken. So he's been telling me "Blue Car broken, ride in black car!" (our rental car is black).

We heard from the insurance company last night that our car is officially totaled. Praying we can find a good deal on a new car, but more than anything just SO SO THANKFUL!

On Safari

Since the San Diego Zoo nearly kicked my preggo butt, JT took his Mom & CJ to the Safari Park on Sunday while I was on my "day off." I can't say much about the pictures since I wasn't there, other than my mother-in-law loves taking pictures maybe even more than I do (which is A LOT) and she is really talented!!

Lioness ("Mama Lion")

Giraffe ("Raff")

This is funny. When I asked CJ what color train (there are multiple ones are the park) they rode in for their safari, he told me "Percy!". (Percy is green). HA HA!
Lion ("Dada Lion")
The Safari Park
The elephants are my FAVE! And they seemed especially frisky this day, and Nana got some GREAT shots!
Love this one!
Could my boys be any more adorable?!
Sweet Elephant Babies!
Nana & Dada let CJ play at the Discovery Place at the park.
Doing a puzzle with "Dada Help!"
Stacking the blocks!
"Run through tunnel"
JT is really good about giving me "time away." Sometimes I'll stay home while he takes CJ to Daddy & Me soccer. Last weekend he took CJ to a KinderTots event at the Zoo where they got to play animal games (ring toss on a giraffe neck) and meet a wolf animal ambassador while I went and got a pedicure (late birthday treat!). This week my "time away" consisted of going with a friend to The Family Swap Meet (a large Mom to Mom yardsale). I scored several great buys for both of my kids!! :) One of the toys I found for CJ was a Little Einstein rocket with all the characters. It sings and talks and I got it for $7! (HOLY COW, just saw online that this thing sells for over $200 new!!!-Better play carefully, CJ. Just kidding!)
CJ really liked the "rocket" and had a great time playing with it this evening!!
He folded down the steps and walked all the characters "Up steps!"
And we got an added bonus after CJ went to bed! Nana babysat for us and we went to see The Hunger Games! I LOVED the book and I thought the movie was really good too! I've been excitedly anticipating this film and was so excited to get to have the chance to see it on opening weekend; thanks Nana!

JT's Mom headed home (to "Papa's House" according to CJ) Monday night after a wonderful week and we were sad to see her go! It is exciting to think though, that the next time we get visitors they'll be here meeting our DAUGHTER! :)

Beach Boy

Saturday we took Nana to a few places on the coast. We started out on Coronado. CJ was super excited to get to play in the sand.

Or, rather, bathe in it. HA!

Nana joining in on the fun!

Aww, Dada! I don't want to leave!! I think I'll throw a tantrum!! JT ended up literally tossing a screaming CJ over his shoulder and removing him from the beach.

Our next stop was Cabrillo National Monument. CJ had enough time to forget about the beach for the time being.

In front of the Cabrillo Monument.

In our backyard, there are bricks that go around the grassy area & CJ loves to "walk on bricks." He saw a similar brick border at Cabrillo and HAD to "walk on bricks" (even when there were other people standing there!) CJ & Nana walking on the bricks!

Posing with the sign.

And just to prove I was in fact there...I don't think people are going to be telling me "You don't even look pregnant!" anymore...HA!

Some pelican pictures Nana took for our Pelican lover CJ!

Our last stop was one of my favorite places. I think it was one of Nana's favorites too! La Jolla to see the seals!

Seeing them NEVER gets old for me.

CJ was SO worn out at the end of this day. He still kinda needs a nap, but thinks he doesn't. We thought he might fall asleep in the car with all the driving around but our stubborn boy wanted to "keep eyes open". He wanted to "see ocean" and "find Nemo". HA HA!