Maternity Belt and another story

I feel like I have a watermelon growing out of my stomach.  I feel HUGE!  I know the baby is a little on the big side, but I am carrying her all in front, which is not how I carried Karina.  So I have been using my old maternity belt for a while now, but it just hasn't been working well for me.  It is basically a 3-inch wide, long piece of sturdy elastic with some velcro strategically placed so that it's adjustable.  Well, if I was a little smaller it would be more adjustable.  That was only part of the problem--that it wasn't long enough anymore.  It also sat across my lower abdomen, and after a while, it would feel like the belt itself was hurting, and I'd yank it off, only to have my big ol' baby belly start to sag and I'd be sore no matter what.  Last night was it.  I was in so much discomfort, I decided I was getting a new one.  So today, I headed out to the one store I could think of that carries these things, Motherhood Maternity.  They did have them.  Lots of the kind I already had and didn't want, and only one of another kind, which was what I wanted.  It was size Small.  Not going to work, not by a long shot.  I was so bummed!  The girl working there was really nice though and after chatting for a few minutes with her, she suggested I try Babies R Us.  I would never have thought to look there.  I know that was sending business away from her store, but I can certainly say that it makes me more likely to recommend them since she obviously was more concerned with helping me than making a sale.  Off I went to Babies R Us.  Success!  They had plenty, and they had the kind I wanted, with a wider strappy thing and better support and larger sizes.  I stood there debating over medium (supposed to fit prepregnancy dress size up to 16) or large.  Sometimes the sizes are accurate and sometimes they aren't.  A saleslady was standing nearby doing something else and I asked her if she knew if the sizes ran true or not.  She said she had no idea and said I should just open the package and try one on.  That's exactly what I wanted to hear.  I tried the medium first, and decided it was too close and might not last the next two months (during which time I'm sure my little watermelon will get even bigger, sigh), so I got the large and left a happy camper.  I drove back to preschool to get Karina and put it on in the bathroom there.  What a relief!!  Bliss!  Happiness beyond compare and I wore that thing all the rest of the day.  I can tell you, I am not sore tonight.  Not even a little.  I am so happy because I'm going to a big craft fair on Friday and it will be tons of walking.  I was almost dreading it, knowing how uncomfortable and sore I was going to be, and now I can just look forward to it again! 

PS Motherhood and Babies R Us had nothing to do with my post.  They didn't give me anything and my opinions are mine alone and based on my experiences.  

The other story I have is a short one, about Karina tonight.  First, some background information:  her light switch doesn't control her ceiling light, it controls an outlet that we do not use.  So we have a touch lamp next to her bed so she can at least turn on a light herself when she goes in there in the dark.  Usually she leaves it alone though.  She sleeps in a toddler bed with half-rails and since she loves her books so much there are always several shoved in the crack between the rail and mattress.  Now the story.  After tucking her in for the night, I turned on the TV in my bedroom, and Bill came in and we were chatting about her.  She was muttering a little to herself, and Bill asked if I thought she ever turned that light on.  I told him I didn't think so, since I've never gone in there in the night and found it on.  After he left and went downstairs, I turned on the computer and after a few minutes, I heard her say something I couldn't understand.  She sounded upset, but didn't repeat herself like she usually does when she's calling me.  I decided to go make sure she was all right, and there she was, sitting up in her bed, the little lamp was on and she was trying to shove her books back in the crack of the mattress after she had finished reading them.  Little turkey, after I just said she doesn't turn the lamp on.  But you saw that coming, didn't you?

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving!  (We did, twice.)

Big Bruise

My husband gives blood every time he is able to.  He has been doing this forever, and has never had anything like this happen to him.  This is what his arm looks like 2 days after giving blood.  He said when he was giving blood, it hurt a little, but nothing serious, and he thought afterwards maybe the bandage was just too tight.  The next day, I saw his arm.  He hadn't even realized what had happened.  He says it doesn't hurt, is just a little bit sore now, and neither of us can figure out what in the world happened.  The bruise is pretty much the length of his arm.  Gross, huh? 

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, I don't have any amazing stories to post about or fun anecdotes, I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for so many things, it is impossible for me to list them all.  First among them are my family and friends, though, and I definitely include you all in the latter category!

I hope that tomorrow you are all able to spend time with special people in your lives and also to eat something delicious!

We'll be with family and some of them haven't seen Karina since last Christmas, so I'm sure they'll be surprised at how much she's grown. 

Now, bring on the green bean casserole!!

Random stuff, with pictures

 Above, Karina and I did some crafting one day and made some cute fake cupcakes inspired by some I saw in an Etsy shop.  We used this new craft stuff I found at Toys R Us called Whipple.  I think it's a lot like lightweight spackle, but in an icing bag.  It was fun and easy (Karina couldn't do that part).  When you first put the stuff on, it's kind of tacky so things stick to it.  It's kind of like real icing.  But it gets hard, and then everything is glued into it.  We're going to be giving some of these to family and friends, as well as Karina's teachers at preschool.  I got some more supplies to make more of them, it was so fun!  PS I wasn't paid or compensated by Toys R Us or Whipple.  It's just where I happened to find the stuff, and it just happens I did find it, used it, and liked it.

Here below is David's surprise party I threw for him.  My mom brought over this singing and dancing skeleton guy that Karina is really enjoying.  I labeled the food as things like "Flat Bones", "Deformed Bones", or "Elbows in Cheese".  That would be our bone-shaped sandwiches (thank you Mom for helping me cut them all!), Cheetos, and macaroni and cheese (thank you Nana for making that).

 And finally, here is my enormous, humongous, gigantic belly.  My mom swears that I only look pregnant from the side or front.  I think Karina laid sideways more, and this baby seems to be going straight out.  Nice to not look so heavy, but man, she is killing my back!  People, I am ONLY 31 weeks!!!  Can you imagine what I'm going to look like in about 2 more months?? 

Wildest thing I ever saw

This was the scene in the parking lot of my local big box store today as Karina and I loaded groceries into the car.  I know the picture isn't that great, but I'm sure you can understand why.  I was pretty far away.  It's about 50 police cars and they have stopped that blue car and all the people inside were put into police cars in handcuffs.  It was like watching that show COPS but in real life!  They used the megaphone thing and everything.  As we drove out of the parking lot, another police car came speeding down the road, and I thought he was going so fast he must be going somewhere else, but no, at the last second he turned across three (empty) lanes and into the parking lot.  I was just happy he didn't hit us as we were waiting to turn right.  It was the most incredible sight I think I ever saw.

My brother graduated!

 That's my brother David and his girlfriend after he graduated last Wednesday night from his radiography (x-ray tech) program.  Mom, Nana, and I went and met Erin there with her two roommates (also friends of Dave's) to watch him get his diploma and possibly an award.

 Erin and her roommates made these signs to hold up for David during the ceremony.  Ceremony is really too formal a word though.  There were only 17 in his class, and it was a small group of guests as well.  David's teachers spoke briefly and I could see why he liked them so much, especially Mr. A. 

 Mr. A read the names of each student, and Mr. P gave them their certificates. 

 I'm sorry the pictures are so bad.  I was sitting too far away for the flash on my little camera to do much good.

 Then they handed out three awards to students and a few of the cooperating techs at the sites where the students went to learn.  As Mr. A pointed out, most of the learning was done at the cooperating sites (there are a ton of them).  David was hoping to get the highest award--he had awesome grades and was well-liked by all his classmates and cooperating techs.

 Unfortunately, another student (David had said he thought W might get the award instead of him) got the highest award.  I know David was really bummed out, but he did get another award, for excellence as a student.

 Once David had gotten the other award, he knew he wasn't getting the big one.  Mom and Nana and I just sat so bummed out.  When Mr. A announced that W had gotten the other award, David was the first on his feet to applaud him.  I was so proud of him at that moment, I can't even tell you.  I knew just how much he wanted that award, and he totally deserved it (so did W).

Yesterday David took his registry exam to be licensed and passed with flying colors.  He did great.  He's now a registered technician in radiography, which means he is permitted by the state to take x-rays as a profession.  His job is to take them, not read them; for that you have to go to med school for a billion years and get a medical degree as a radiologist.  There is another step though, which is a radiologist's assistant, which doesn't require the medical degree and does also pay more, so he may go for that in a few years.  Either way, I'm so proud of him.  He's been applying for jobs all week and has a phone interview with a nearby hospital this week.  I will let you know when he gets a job!

Blowing Bubbles

Recently we had some phenomenally nice weather (right before the temps plunged literally 35 degrees overnight) and Karina wanted to blow some bubbles.  Her preschool teachers had given each of the kids a small bubble wand in a test-tube like thing for Halloween.  Karina thought it was awesome.  So I pulled out a bottle of bubble mix we had and this crazy huge wand Bill had bought her months ago (and which laid on my dining room table untouched) and took her outside.  You would have thought I had just roped the moon for her, she had so much fun!  We used up all the bubble solution and I had to try to quickly mix up some homemade stuff (not as easy as it sounds).  She must have played for 2 hours.  AND the best part?  I have pictures!