Winner Again!

I won another giveaway on Ashley's blog! I seem to have luck in the jewelry area, which helps with my quest to look nicer without hurting my bank account. I love Etsy and I love giveaways!

If you haven't already, check out Ashley's blog or follow my giveaway blog for more giveaways. You might be lucky too and win something!

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty

On Tuesday after watching a particularly touching episode of "What Not to Wear," I decided I had had enough of pajamas and grossness. I showered and washed my hair and got dressed up in a skirt, heels, pearls, and my favorite pink jacket. I put on more makeup than I've ever worn, except on our first anniversary: foundation, purple eye shadow and eyeliner, mascara, tinted lipgloss, and rosy blush from a Mary Kay sample (come to think of it, all but the mascara were Mary Kay products). I put my essentials in a little Japanese clutch and walked to the campus library where I read for an hour or so. It felt so nice to be all beautified and in the sunshine, especially since I'm always sick. I kept it all on until Justin came home later that night. But as soon as he did, I got back into my pajamas because my house was freezing!

Ah, well, it's a start. I even did the makeup and necklace thing again for work yesterday, but felt a little ridiculous with my khaki pants, t-shirt, and running shoes. I actually envy those who have to dress up for work! Today I'm back in my pjs feeling terrible. I had planned for a rerun of Tuesday, but I'm too tired.

Pregnancy Is Weird

The thing pregnancy has wacked out the most is my eating habits. Things I used to like eating I no longer like: all meat, fast food, anything potato, mixed vegetables (especially corn), cheese, tomato products (I can eat spaghetti sauce, but I don't enjoy it as much as I used to), garlic, peanut butter, chocolate, and snack foods. On the other hand, things I eat more of (and enjoy, as opposed to just eating because it calms my stomach, like saltines) are egg salad sandwiches, fruit (particularly canned peaches), macaroni and cheese, homemade tacos (meatless, of course) and yogurt. Also, I'm enjoying shrimp again and non-chocolate candy, which I normally never eat.

The thing I hate the most about pregnancy right now is my heightened sense of smell. Just opening up the fridge or walking into the kitchen makes me gag sometimes. Odors seem to linger longer and gross me out days later. Unfortunately, it also keeps me from cleaning, except doing laundry, to rid of these odors. The best I can do right now is open the tiny window vents; even air fresheners make me sick.

The thing I can't wait for most is to start showing. I feel like a liar when I tell people I'm pregnant. Right now I just feel fat, because my tummy is bloated all over; it's not a cute little bump or anything. Other areas are getting a little pudgy too. I need to exercise again!

Low-key Valentine's

This year Valentine's Day stretched over the weekend. We didn't really get to plan a whole evening together because of work. On Saturday night, Justin surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a funny card. I knew he would get me flowers since I teased him for the past year for forgetting Valentine's last year. Still, it was a nice surprise. I love flowers. Not really a rose fan, though, so he knows not to get those. I think they're too predictable and easy and boring.

Sunday when Justin came home from church, I surprised him with his gift: the bedroom door decorated with hearts, a card, and Underdog, one of his favorite kid movies. We spent time together the rest of the day, just chilling and playing a couple rounds of Skip Bo (thanks, Kara and Isaac, for getting us hooked on that!).

Yesterday we wanted to officially celebrate, but it was the one time I was scheduled for the closing shift, and Justin worked in the morning. Due to some unexpectedly moldy bread, I had no dinner to take with me to work, and I couldn't go grab something because only two of us were working. So when Justin picked me up, we decided to get dinner together at Red Koi, where we went last year too. It was enjoyable and romantic being together. I really miss going on dates!

Special Blog

Now that I'm pregnant, there are so many free blog giveaways I want to enter to save as much money as possible and get really awesome products. Instead of blogging about them here, I have made a new blog just for posting about giveaways. Its oh-so-creative name: Free Blog Giveaways. Follow it if you would like to be aware of some great giveaways too!

Little Heartbeat

We heard the baby's heartbeat this morning. It made up for all the rest of the day. This morning was terrible. I had a sleepless, uncomfortable night, and immediately upon waking up, I began puking. All morning. I tried eating a banana on the way to the medical center, and up came those few bites right away (Rachel Wattson, you were right about bananas not coming back up badly). I felt so awful the whole time.

I weighed in a lot less than I thought. My whole midsection is definitely fatter (not pregnant belly, just padding), yet I only gained 3 pounds. Next the nurse got my hopes up about not getting a pap smear, but she was wrong. I've only had one before, which was uncomfortable, but this time it hurt! Then we had to wait forever for my nausea medication refill. Breakfast at IHOP (I tested a few slices of bread first before deciding to eat) and a nap in the waiting area helped the time go by a little faster.

Before all that drama was the special moment. The midwife asked me if my tears were from emotion or nausea; I said nausea. I started to calm down once she began searching for the heartbeat. Since we're unsure of how far along I am, she said not to worry if we didn't hear anything this time. I almost gave up hope, when suddenly we heard the most wondrous sound in the world! We recorded it on our cell phones (unfortunately, I don't know how to transfer the sound file to the computer). It was so exciting! My tears were gone, and I couldn't stop smiling and listening to the tiny, fast heart beating inside me. It made my pregnancy a little more real. Now I can't wait for my ultrasound next month!