Easter feels a little more special this year...

First ever Easter card came in the mail
from Grandma and Grandpa! :0)

Now that I have a little one, Easter is just a little bit more special this year and I just feel all warm and fuzzy inside about it! You could almost say that I'm gushing, but let's not get too over the top!

As a person who isn't one for showing emotion, I've learned through my son that showing emotion is okay and that's why this Easter seems to mean so much more than those in the past. I get to share it with my son, enjoying is childlike wonderment and curiosity towards everything that is going on around him. Every time he discovers something new, it's so amazing to him and to be able to experience his first time experiencing things is pretty amazing to me as well. All those firsts are so special and really makes life worth living!

What has been the most fun so far about Easter is doing all those fun Easter activities. For example, Ryan can't eat candy or really look for Easter eggs, but being able to dye Easter eggs for him and put together an Easter basket was just totally cool. Dave and I dyed the eggs yesterday and then when they were dry, we put them in a fun Easter basket for him. We even bought the little guy a cute little spring teddy bear and so far, he's loved playing with it, especially when he first got it and was completely mesmerized by it. He just kind of looked at it for a bit and after a few minutes, grabbed it and giggled away. It was so fun to see him so happy! :0)

Basically, my little bundle of joy is turning this tomboy into a softy and I'm actually pretty happy about it. He's teaching me so many things that I needed to learn and I'm completely thankful he's in my life. I love you little man and with that, I'm going to stop writing and get back to enjoying the day!

Happy Easter to ALL!

Oh no, I'm turning into that oversharing mother on Facebook!!!!

When I was pregnant with Ryan, I vowed that I would never become one of those moms that posts pictures online of every little thing there kid does, cute or otherwise. I just found it to be tacky and a sort of bragalicious if you will. (And yes, I just made up a word, it’s a combination of bragging and abnoxious, which equals, bragalicious!) Anyway, the vow I made about a year ago did no good because after looking over my old Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts, I’ve discovered that I’ve turned into that mom anyway! Insert sigh here right here. :(

It's so hard not to post pictures of this little guy all the time,
just look at that smile! I love him soooooo much!

I really don’t know how it happened though since when the little man was first born, I was pretty good about not posting that many photos of him. Once and awhile I would put something on Facebook, yet that was it. Now I’ve found that I’m posting photos of him every day and I think it’s turning into a bit of an addiction. I mean, he’s adorable and all don’t get me wrong :), but I really don’t need to be posting photos of him all of the time doing cute stuff (like stuffing both his fists in his mouth or hammering things with his toy hammer) since I’m pretty sure that not everyone cares about what he’s doing on a daily basis as much as I do!

I think the reason why my posting has gotten a tad out of control is due to the fact that I don’t have a job right now. If I don’t have any freelance writing work to do, then I find myself being really bored during the day, which provides me with a bunch of time to screw around on Facebook and take a bunch of photos of Ryan doing fun baby stuff. Needless to say, I have a large photo library of him growing up over the last few months, something that is cool since when he gets older we’ll be able to look back and smile at everything he’s done. Lately though, I’m sharing those photos with everyone else more than usual and there really is no reason to share everything with the world like I have been.

So, I’m going to recommit to my vow that I made about a year ago now, and I believe it was in front of my then co-worker Kim A., that I’m not going to be one of those moms that posts way too many pictures of their kid online. And no, I’m not going to stop posting all together, just the frequency of how often I post. It’s simply not necessary to let everyone know exactly what he’s doing all the time no matter how cute and fun it might be. Hopefully, I can hold true to my vow this time around, we’ll see though given that sometimes, what he does makes me laugh so much that I want all of you to be able laugh along with me! :)

Until next time, it’s Carla the new mom, and tomboy, signing off!

Never thought that would happen…

I mentioned awhile back on Facebook that Ryan’s umbilical cord fell off and we couldn’t find it, well guess what, we still haven’t found the icky thing and it makes me wonder where the hell it went? What I find kind of interesting is how it really, really, really bothers me that we can’t find it and the reason being is that I actually wanted to save it and put it in a memory box that I’m keeping for him. That in itself is pretty darn gross. I mean, who saves something like this. Well, a doting mother does and what I’m discovering is that this tomboy is turning into a one!

It’s just kind of strange since I never thought that I would A., Become a mother and B., Become one that obsessively dotes over her child. He’s so cute and all I want to do is take pictures of him, show him off to people, and track his progress through this weird thing that we call life. Take the two below pictures as an example, the first shows his weird belly button with the umbilical cord attached to it. Then the second shows what his belly button looks like after the umbilical cord has fallen off. I think it turned out well! :) 

 

Ryan's umbilical cord is still attached!

Now it's not!

In the past, I would have found it to odd for any parent to care about what his or her child’s belly button looked like. I mean, who really cares. It’s a belly button, it really doesn’t serve a purpose, and who gives a flip what it looks like! However now that I’m a parent, I get why any parent would care given that, that’s your flesh and blood and you care about whatever your little guy or gal does! So, it seems pretty normal to me to be interested in any subject related to my child as is the case with other things that the little guy does. Like, Ryan can hold his head up pretty well now without face planting, he kicks with the best of them, and sometimes during tummy time he’ll even wiggle himself across the floor. Seeing him grow and get stronger has been such a unique and rewarding experience, all I can say is that I’m truly blessed.

My only fear of being a doting mother is that I’m going to turn into one of those over the top, psycho soccer moms and I definitely don’t want that to happen. I’ve seen too many of them over the years during my high school reporting days and they creep up in other sports too. They scream, complain, and are all over the place! There are dads who act the same way too and it’s not a pretty sight! They not only embarrass themselves, but they embarrass their kids and it’s just not a good thing! So, it’s my ultimate goal not to become one!

Well, the little guy is starting to wake up and that closes my blogging window for today. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and until we meet again, it’s Carla the new mom and tomboy signing off!

It’s hot…

For the last three, four or five days now, it’s been a hot box in the great city of Green Bay, WI and I must say, this pregnant lady has not been enjoying the scorching weather one bit! It’s like being stuck inside a clothes dryer, not like that’s ever happened to me, but that’s what it feels like because even the breeze is hot. Like, when I stand outside, I sweat to begin with and then the breeze hits me, and makes me feel even hotter than I already am. It’s been pretty annoying, especially since I sweat when I’m not even really doing anything. I sweat when I’m standing, I sweat when I’m sitting, and now it’s so humid out that I sweat even inside where there’s air conditioning! It's actually pretty pathetic and I just feel like a pool of goop at times. I’m so glad that my due date is soon. I couldn’t imagine being pregnant for the whole summer.

So to combat the heat, I’ve come up with some creative ways to stay cool. Some I’ve tried, others I haven’t, and there are a few that I’m just throwing out there for shits and giggles.

• Stay in air conditioning, however, I’ve discovered that it needs to be on full blast at frigid temperatures in order for me to actually stay cool. 
• Ice packs.  

• 

  I like the cherry ones the best!

  Open the refrigerator and stand in front of it. 
• Open the freezer and stick your head inside of it. 
• Eat ice cream. Dilly Bars are the best!
• Drink root beer floats. 
• Sit in a kiddie pool with the hose running. 
• Go swimming at the lake. 
• Drive around in a car that has air conditioning. 
• Go to the beach.
• Drive to Two Rivers, WI and enjoy the 20 degree heat break. Then travel up HWY 42 that hugs Lake Michigan with the windows down. (Dave and I are doing this tomorrow along with a trip to Point Beach, should be fun).
• Drink other cool beverages like pink lemonade filled with a bunch of ice cubes using a bendy straw. 
• Wear as little clothing as possible. :O)
• Invite yourself over to a friend’s house that has a swimming pool and go swimming. 
• Watch movies set in cold climates.  
• Run, well in my case waddle, through a sprinkler on the lawn. 
• Take a cold shower.   
• Go to a movie.
• Stick your feet in cold water with ice. 
• Wrap a cold towel around your neck. 
• Spill cold water on yourself or have your husband nicely spill some on you by “accident." 

Those are about all the tips I was able to come up with. Like I said, I haven’t given them all a go just yet and since the weather is predicted to stay hot and humid, I’m sure at some point I just might! With the weekend upon us, I’m going to say farewell for today and until next time, which will hopefully be a post about Ryan being born, this is Carla the pregnant tomboy signing off! 

I can’t talk and breathe at the same time…

Over the course of the last week, I’ve noticed that I can’t talk and breathe at the same time! Can you say, EMBARRASING!

It happens mostly when I’m on the phone at work, trying to explain things to the clients and customers that I work with. I’ll be talking and in mid sentence, I’ll just run out of breath. It makes me sound completely unprofessional and a bit on the stupid side. In the back of my mind, I’m just thinking that these people are judging me and are wondering what the hell is wrong with the person that they’re talking to? Like, how can she be so out of breath, is she that out of shape that she can’t even carry on a conversation? It really is embarrassing and I do have confirmation that it’s noticeable. That confirmation came when my supervisor asked how I was feeling this week. I said okay, referred to the lovely Braxton Hicks contractions I was getting, and also talked about how I couldn’t breathe sometimes. He said that he noticed my shortness of breath from time to time when we were discussing things on the phone! We both had a good chuckle about it, yet my chuckle was more of an awkward one due to the fact that I just feel stupid about it. I mean, I’ve been working out throughout my pregnancy and everything, yet there’s just not much I can do about the shortness of breath since it’s because of how big Ryan is getting and the type of chair I sit on at work. Both result in a lot of pressure on my lungs. I have a feeling that it’s only going to get worse as Ryan and my belly keep expanding. If you really want something to laugh at, you should watch me going up and down steps. It’s complete riot because I have to wait for like 30 seconds after I get up or down them to rest and then get going again! I guess shortness of breath is just the price you pay when you’re having a little one, hopefully, after Ryan is born, I’ll be able to breathe normal again! I’m definitely looking forward to that!

Speaking of Ryan being born, we’re just about three weeks out now from our due date and I couldn’t be more excited for his arrival. His room is about 90% done. We have all of his fun little clothes washed, his crib all nice and set up, and basically all we have to do is put the curtains up that my mom’s going to make along with some other various wall decorations. Little boy stuff is so darn cute! I'll make sure to post pictures of his room soon!

Well, the weekend is upon us and my plans are to get my bag packed and ready for the hospital, buy a few more things for Ryan, and just sit around and not doing anything. Not quite sure if that’s going to happen, but we’ll see. I hope you get to enjoy your weekend and until I post again, this is Carla the pregnant tomboy boy signing off!

 

Ick, I think that’s a stretch mark…

Yes, I think that I’ve developed my first stretch mark on my belly during my pregnancy and I must say, it’s grossing me out a bit. And no, I’m not going to post a picture of it because I think that would be pretty gross. So, I’ll just write about it instead. And how do I think that writing about it is less gross than posting a photo, well, I’m not quite sure. However, the one thing that I do know is that it will make me feel better to vent, thus, I’m going to get it out of my system! :) 

So I first noticed said stretch mark over the weekend after getting out of the shower. It was right there on my belly and it actually looked like a small little bruise. I thought nothing of it until later in the day when I showed my mom the north to south line that’s in the middle of my belly. This line is officially called the linea nigra line and it develops on some pregnant women because of the pregnancy hormones running through their bodies. How’s that for some useful information, huh??? Anyway, when I showed her the line I said, “Hey mom, look at my cute little bruise next to it.” And then she said, “No, that’s not a bruise, that’s a stretch mark!” Needless to say I was completely mortified and when I look in the mirror, it’s hard not to stare at it and get annoyed that I don't have control of what's happening to my body. 

What I've realized through writing this is that I guess it’s not really something I should get all that excited about really, since stretch marks are so common with pregnancy. The thing is, I was doing everything I was supposed to do to try to prevent them, well, that’s what I thought anyway. You know, using the cocoa butter after every shower and even lotioning up whenever I thought about it when I was home. I guess it’s true what they say, there’s really nothing you can do to prevent them so that means that I should expect more and not get all that upset about it. This is easier said than done mind you, but I need to do it given that sweating the small stuff is pretty darn stupid when it comes to the grand scheme of things. My husband and I are having a baby, I’m going to be a parent, and that is so freaking cool! Dealing with a few stretch marks is a small price to pay to have a little me and Dave combo. Basically, stretch marks don’t really matter and it’s not like I wear bikinis anyway! So why should I care???? I’m over it. 

Okay, now that I’ve ranted about stretch marks, I feel a lot better so thank you for being my sounding board and now I can move on to worrying about other things like getting the baby’s room decorated! Until we meet again, this is Carla the pregnant tomboy saying good-bye for now!

Quick baby check-ups are the best!

We all know that going to the doctor can be a bit of a pain and today, I had one of the smoothest doctor appointments ever.

And when I say ever, I mean ever because everything about it went like clockwork. My husband Dave and I met about two minutes prior to the appointment, walked up to check-in with the receptionist, and then about two minutes after the check-in our nurse was calling our name to be seen by our doctor. I barely had time to sit down. Then, we ran into the doctor in the hallway, said hi, and I stepped on the scale to see my weight gain, which wasn’t too bad at this point. After that, we headed into the examining room, got the okay from the nurse on the urine sample I provided along with a thumbs up about my blood pressure. When she left the room, 30 seconds later our doctor was walking through the door and were talking to him about my pregnancy and how I was feeling. He answered the few questions we had about some stuff I’ve been dealing with and then it was up on the table for a belly measurement and a quick check on little Billy Bubba’s heartbeat. He said that everything looks good with little BB and that he’s about two pounds at this point. It was great news to hear. He then told us that at our next check up, they’re going to do a glucose test to check my blood sugar levels and with that, we were on our way!

We met with our doctor for about 20 or so minutes and after making our next appointment with the receptionist, we were on our way. Like I said, it was the smoothest doctor appointment that I ever had, especially since I was back at work within an hour. Totally awesome!!! The best part about the appointment, something I already mentioned, was how our doctor said little BB was doing well, it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside so I just had to share about how everything went. :) So until we meet again, this is Carla the pregnant tomboy signing off.

Something big is on the horizon…

Well, it’s something big that’s going to happen in my life, but not really for everyone else. However, I still wanted to go with that headline because in about two days, Dave and I are going to find out the sex of our child when we head to the doctor for another ultrasound and check-up appointment.

This is another one of those things that I had mixed emotions about because originally, I really, really wanted to know if we were going to have a boy or a girl. Then, Dave got my wheels spinning when he said to me that it would be better if we were surprised on the day the baby was born and didn’t find out. So for a while there, I thought that would be a good idea and was all for being surprised when July came around. All the anticipation would be fun and make the day the baby was born even more special.  

That all changed over the course of the last few months when people started asking us if we were going to find out the sex of the baby and I would say, probably not because we wanted to be surprised. They would bring up that fact that it would be hard to plan what we would need to buy for the baby in terms of clothes and everything. So, then I got to thinking, I’m really all about planning and I’m really not a fan of neutral colors like yellows, greens and browns, which our baby would end up with since we wouldn’t know the sex in advance. Not that I’m a fan of pink if the baby is a girl or anything, but fun bright colors for a girl or darker tones for a boy would be way better than a boring baby room painted in green or yellow or whatever other color we would use to paint the room to have it be okay for a baby of either sex.

After all of those thoughts and feelings, we made the decision to find out the sex on the baby and the big day is on Wednesday. The thing is, I still might change my mind due to the fact that lately, that’s the one thing I can bet on. I feel one way one minute, another way the next, and a third way after that. So wish us luck on Wednesday and please share your thoughts on the blog about if you think we should find out the sex of the child before he or she is born. Thanks for reading and until next time, this is Carla the tomboy signing off!

When a tomboy gets pregnant

I’ve decided to start this blog because after doing a little research, I found that there’s not all that much information about pregnant women who really don’t have much of a feminine side. I’m not much of a girly girl and I don’t quite know what to make of this whole being pregnant deal. 

It’s not the fact that I’m carrying a child, which I’m absolutely happy about. My husband and I were trying for a little while to get pregnant and when it happened, it was an awesome moment in both of our lives.

Basically, what I’m having issues with is how being pregnant somehow means I’m supposed to act like other girly girl females have acted when they’re pregnant. For example, this past weekend I had to go shopping for maternity clothes. This would probably be an activity that most women would love to do. However, not me. One, I hate shopping. Two, I hate going to the mall. And three, I found out that they don’t really make tomboy maternity clothes. So as you can see, this was a complete awkward experience that I’ll get into at a later time.

With that said, this blog will just be about me dealing with regular pregnancy issues from a tomboy’s perspective. Just something different, something that is outside of the norm and not a typical account of the nine month pregnancy journey. I’m not a typical woman, so it’s going to be nice for me to document everything to remember what I went through. I’m sure there’s going to be some tears, some smiles, and some all-out interesting moments. So please, come along on the journey!