Saturday Morning Cartoons

What happened to cartoons like these? Kid shows nowadays CREEP ME OUT. For example, Teletubbies, The Wiggles and the Doodlebops. Google a couple of those and see how warm and fuzzy you feel afterward. I have a feeling we're going to be renting our Saturday morning cartoons.

Bummed

The population of vagrants in Galveston has dwindled significantly since Hurricane Ike. It's been nice, actually. I was so used to having to dodge requests for change as I walked anywhere in Downtown Galveston, and in various random other parts of the city, that it was a huge relief when I could walk around in peace.

I'm assuming that many of the bums left the island before the storm on the shuttle bus and are unable to get back, since the shuttle bus doesn't bring people back. Plus, the Salvation Army had to close down due to damages and is slowly working to reopen in a different location. Meaning, there is no place for vagrants to eat or sleep on the island.

After work last night I had to run by the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. As I was leaving, there was a man sitting on the newspaper stand in front. It's the place where the regular bum used to stand, but he hasn't been there for months. I was trying to determine if this was a man to avoid eye contact with. He couldn't have been older than 30. He was wearing a track suit and carrying a black backpack that was still in good, clean shape. The only strange thing was his cell phone was charging in the outlet on the outside wall of the pharmacy.

Sure enough, as I walked by, "Scuse me ma'am. Would you happen to know where I can find a mission?"

I don't know what a "mission" is, so I stupidly said, "What?"

He repeated himself, which did me no good. I quickly figured out what he was looking for and said I would be of no help. I knew the Salvation Army had closed down temporarily and didn't know where else he could go.

He then proceeded with, "Do you know the Subway right over there?"

"Yes."

"Well, would you mind going over there with me to get me some food?"

I thought quickly, and decided that I did not want to walk anywhere alone with this man, let alone drive him over in my car. "I'm sorry, I have to hurry home to meet my husband."

"Would you happen to have any money so I could go get some for myself?"

Uh, nope. Sorry buddy, but I don't give handouts. "No, I'm sorry."

He thanked me for stopping to talk to him and I said goodbye. As I was driving away I was feeling horribly guilty for not buying the man dinner. I was just focused on the concept of going somewhere with this guy and risking myself and my baby. It wasn't until I was driving away that I thought of the fact that I could have gone to get him dinner and brought it back.

The guilt is still eating away at me a little. What would you have done?

The Median

I'm 20 weeks, putting us halfway there! Or as Alexa pointed out, hopefully we're halfway there. This little bugger could stay in there for up to two weeks after the due date. Ugh.

I had the strangest dream last night. (Can you believe it?) I dreamt that I was laying on the bed, feeling the baby move around while Travis folded his laundry (which he was doing when we went to bed last night). All of a sudden, the baby makes a big movement and we can see his ear and head and face so well it's like he's on the outside with us. Travis jumps onto the bed to watch in amazement with me. Then, BAM, he is on the outside with us. He's freakin adorable, wearing a blue onesie and white beanie. When we were done getting a good look at him, BAM, he's back on the inside awaiting his due date.

It wasn't creepy at all in the dream. On the contrary, it was very exciting. Maybe Rachel and I should avoid watching YouTube clips like this one and stick to videos like this.

I don't know if you can see it, but I have a scar just above my belly button where I had a piercing back in my early days of college. Unfortunately, my skin did not like the metal hoop and slowly pushed it out, leaving a larger scar than a normal piercing would. That scar is slowly becoming more prominent as my skin is stretched out. I can't wait to see what it looks like by the end of this. YIKES.

I sent out a text to our Russian friend Nadya, who is expecting a girl only a few short days after our due date, exclaiming that we are halfway. Her response was priceless:

"Ours is still 19 weeks and 4 days. But we used the same recipe. I hope it's not gonna be overcooked."

I'm Just Sayin'...

Blair

Knox Jolie-Pitt

Does anyone else see a resemblence?

A Few Things I Miss

There are a few things I miss while being pregnant. Of these, the food items that I pine for the most are feta cheese, wine and sugar substitutes. Feta is awesome and I don't know how I ever lived without it. Unfortunately, I'm not supposed to have it right now since it is not pasteurized. Wine, I don't need, but I LOVE with certain foods. One of them being feta. I have tried having a glass of red wine since I've been pregnant, but it doesn't taste the same. I'm not sure if it's because I am out of the habit of drinking alcohol or if it's because my taste buds are reacting differently.

The sugar substitute is probably what affects me most often. I have purchased food I used to always get and brought it home only to find that it has some form of sugar substitute within. I'm finding that I pretty much should not get anything with the words Light or Lite in the name. The Yoplait Light I just got - out of the question. Those Popsicles I got a few weeks a go - out of the question. Sweet'n'Low in my iced tea - out of the question. (And it dissolves so well in the cold temps!) Sugar-free gum - out of the question. I never realized how much I ingest that contains fake sugar.

The doctor (and all the prego magazines I've been reading) suggests not having sugar substitutes because they have not been around long enough to know what the long-term effects are on the fetus. Since I am only pregnant for nine months, I don't mind skipping it. I guess I just need to spend a little more time in the store reading the ingredients before making my purchase.

I have started to feel the baby kicking every day. I love it! I can't wait for it to get stronger. Right now, I only notice it if I'm sitting quietly. Sometimes I can even feel it with my hand on the outside. This past Friday Travis and I were sitting on the couch after dinner watching TV. I started to feel Lil' Wodie fluttering around in there and automatically put my hand on my belly. Travis was asking me every day if he could feel it yet, so I wanted to be on top of things. Well, that night, Travis got to feel the baby kicking! I felt it a lot more than he could, but he felt it nonetheless!

It is so exciting! When it is stronger, Travis will be able to feel it better and I can't wait for that. The weird thing is that I only feel the baby kicking on the right side. The doc told me the placenta is on the front of my uterus, meaning it will be harder for me to feel the baby kicking. The added tissue between my skin and the baby will inhibit that. I'm starting to think that the placenta is only on the left, front, which is why I only feel him on the right side.

Being pregnant really is the coolest thing. At least so far. ;)

Random pic from Sunday. That's my belly in the plaid.

Frivolous Days

Travis and I have been really good lately about our spending. We are trying to do our best to save up for all the things we need for when we have the baby. The way I figure, if we are so lucky to get everything we need at our baby shower, then we will use all that saved money on diapers and daycare.

This weekend we splurged a little. Scratch that, a lot. Saturday morning and had my hair highlighted. I know, lots of people are gasping out there - pregnant woman getting her hair dyed! You'll be happy to know that I had the green light from my doctor to get my hair done once during my second trimester. My hair stylist was nice enough to use an ammonia-free recipe, so I wouldn't have to sit in the fumes. The thing I was worried about most was having my hair turn a funny color. I've read a lot of articles that say your hair reacts differently to hair coloring during pregnancy due to the raging hormones. Thankfully, I did not have that problem. Although, I think you run into more problems if you are dying your hair, not highlighting it.

Travis worked all Saturday and when he got off, we went up to Main Event for his friend's birthday party. He's a guy Travis works with. I really like him and all the guys Travis works with. They are like a family and we always have such a great time when we get together with them. I was grateful for my two-hour afternoon nap, because we didn't get home until a little after 2 in the AM.

Jeremy, the birthday boy (in blue), Travis and Alberto

We slept in Sunday before heading up to Babies R Us to pick out the travel system (stroller + infant car seat) we would like. We are not registering it because some of our friends want to buy it for us. Shannon pointed out that the stroller we originally picked out at Target had some really bad reviews. When we went to the store to try it out (which we couldn't do at Target because they screw the strollers to the shelving), we found that we had the very same complaints. Thankfully, Shannon noticed this before we had gotten too far! I LOVE the new one we found. It is VERY easy to use and has some great ratings. Not to mention, Consumer Reports doesn't have much bad to say about Graco strollers.

After making that decision, we went over to the crib department AND BOUGHT THE LIL WODIE'S CRIB!!! My dad is getting it for us, but since he's in Illinois, he is just sending the check so we can purchase it here. I was a little disappointed when I found out that they didn't have it in stock. There is a 5-7 day wait for it to come into the store. I'm hoping it'll be in by next weekend. I want so so so so badly to put it together the second we get it, but Travis is making me wait until he can paint the nursery to put it together. I know that is the right thing to do, because I would be upset if he somehow managed to get paint on the crib. BUT I WANT IT NOW! Ugh. I'll get over it.

For lunch, we met Chris, Alexa, Kai and Melinda at this flippin awesome new greek place near the Kemah Boardwalk. The food was delicious and we will definitely go back for more. We ran back to Alexa's house to pick up some more hand-me-downs from Blair. (THANKS ALEXA AND CHRIS!)

It was awesome getting to see Blair walk in person. He just takes off. Between his new-found toddling and obsession with moving furniture around, I had a few good laughs. He is such a happy kiddo.

For the Super Bowl, we went to Ariel and Robert's house for their party. I couldn't believe it when we walked in the door and found TWO flat screen TV's. TWO! LOL! They got one from my dad for Christmas, and then they just bought another larger used one from a friend. Both TV's were set up in the living room, but they plan to put one in their bedroom. Needless to say, there was plenty of football viewing. Or in my case, commercial watching.

Although I do have to say I was impressed with Steeler line backer James Harrison's 100-yard interception and resulting touchdown. I was not surprised at all when they handed that 240-pound man an oxygen line after his sprint.

Ariel was prepared with enough 3D glasses for all of us to watch the 3D commercials during the half time. Those commercials were SO FUN. We even rewound the DVR and watched them a second time.

Allison and Jerry (who gratefully loaned us a swinger and bouncy seat for Lil' Wodie)

Jayne, Ariel, Travis and I watching the commercials in our super-cool glasses.

New Home for the Fish

Travis got a fish tank from his boss to exchange with the one that we have at the end of our dining room table. I told him it was fine if he wanted to do the trade, but I wasn't up for it. I used to want a salt water tank, which would still be neat, but they are SO much work. Besides, I can't get any freshwater fish to stay alive except for goldfish and sucker fish. I haven't done any of the super easy fish, like guppies, because I want fish that I think are pretty to look at. Guppies are to small to appreciate.

I don't know what's wrong with my tank. I've taken the water in to get tested and they always say it's fine. Of course, they tell me I should be changing out two thirds of the tank water once a month. HA! The "experts" at PetSmart also say that I can't use the tap water here because the chlorine content is too high for fish. No way am I going to buy enough bottled water to change out the tank once a month. That's a joke.

Anyhoo, I'm not sure how big the new tank is, but it has to be at least 35 gallons. Probably more. We used all the water from the old tank, plus 21 gallons of fresh bottled water.

We aren't finished with it yet. I still need to buy a new tube to hold the motor head for the undergravel water circulation. The old one is too short. We eventually will need a new light. In the meantime we are using the old one. I also need to get a new black background so we can hide all the cords hanging down behind the tank and help make the coral stand out more.

The old tank (this is just a photo I cropped to show what we used to have)

And the new gigantic upgrade

We currently have four fish in the tank: three sucker fish and a goldfish (two of which are Hurricane Ike evacuees). I'm trying to convince Travis to let me get a bunch of fantail goldfish again. He's not a fan of them because they tend to have poop that sticks around longer than other fishy poo, resulting in a dirty tank that needs cleaning more often. I might be able to sway his opinion better if I could just get off my lazy ass once in a while to take care of the tank.

FYI - I totally straightened those photos after I looked at this picture on my computer. LOL!