Many Miracles: 7 Quick Takes

So here's my best guess as to what has happened in the Big E household in the past week and half...

- 1 -

We enjoyed a lovely day trip to Lake Lopez in Arroyo Grande, CA to eat way too much Thanksgiving food with my godparents family, friends and my Dad.

Prego camper & hubs

Not so wild wildlife. They like carrots.

Best. Dog. Ever.

Usually we accompany Dad in the RV for 3 days of waking up way too early thanks to his 5:30am coffee grinding habits, but this year we skipped out since my pregnant belly wanted to sleep in it's own bed. So we just showed up for some quality campfire time and, of course, the grub. Very blessed to have such a wonderful extended family!

- 2 -

Insurance, Y u no cover birth centers!?

I finally got my butt in gear and read about 100 pages of a childbirth book. I'm seriously so lax in the prepared department. We signed up last minute for a Childbirth class at the Hospital as well, and went to the Breastfeeding class on Monday night. The booby class was much better than I expected (i.e., only marginally corny) and was really informative, so I'm going into this Childbirth course with high expectations.

There seems to be no gray area with me. I either want to know everything there is to know about giving birth, or I want to go the "ignorance is bliss" route. So please, random women of America, stop sharing your birth horror stories with me.

- 3 -

We got our maternity photos, and I think they came out beautiful (or as beautiful as one can make a puffy pregnant woman). FYI - we did not splurge on these, they actually came as a part of our wedding photography package. If you live in the SoCal/Orange County area, I highly recommend Gamboa Photography.

We plan on using the images in our Christmas card this year. Double bonus, two birds with one stone, and all that jazz.

- 4 -

34 weeks - OB says baby is head down. Good boy!

7 things I've noticed since entering the third trimester:

1. Everything is sore.

2. I can no longer spell or do math.

3. It's hard to eat with feet in your ribs.

4. Clipping your toenails becomes an extreme sport.

5. Pants are not your friend.

6. Heartburn sucks.

7. 2nd trimester energy = completely gone.

- 5 -

I'd like to take this moment (because I have nothing else of interest to say this week) to introduce you to an important member of the family. This here is Juicy Mama. Despite what you think you're seeing, she (he?) is not a koi fish, but a goldfish. Not only is she a goldfish, she is a goldfish we won AT A CARNIVAL SIX YEARS AGO.

She is the behemoth of her kind, and an absolute terror. Before she reached size ginormous she shared a tank with two fancy-tailed golfish (Doogan and Leroy - I'm obviously very traditional when it comes fish names) who she slowly but surely tortured to death. She's been flying solo for the past three years now - just the way she likes it.

Her favorite pastimes include binge eating, inhaling the rocks at the bottom of her tank and spitting them at the glass (she used to hurl them at the other fish), and making an obscene amount of noise splashing in the middle of the night.

We heart her.

- 6 -

Itty bitty baby socks. They melt even the coldest heart.

My cats are obviously very discriminatory with their love.

My mom (henceforth known as Grandma) came to visit on Tuesday night and stayed until Thursday morning. She is the laundry guru and I'm lucky to have someone volunteer to separate, wash, and hang up all the baby clothes while I nap. And by all the baby clothes I mean about 78 outfits, 19 blankets, a bajillion baby socks, and other miscellaneous items. This child will never be naked.

My Dad (henceforth known as Grandpa) is coming up bright and early on Sunday to paint the baby's room and the guest bedroom. I will, again, be sleeping.

Much love and thanks to my parentals!

- 7 -