Thanksgiving Day was a day full of preparation and logistical manuevering--all for food. It was just my family, plus my brother-in-law's mother and my niece's friend. You'd think we prepared enough food for an army! We definitely had plenty of leftovers and lots of dishes to wash. My mom was pretty ill, even though she doesn't look like it in the photos, so we were down one set of hands. As my dad, sister, RT, and I cleaned up, we thought, "this just isn't worth it!" We need to scale it down.
When we got ready for dessert, we had gotten all the pies out. As my sister grabbed the last one out of the refrigerator, she turned and thwack! Her pumpkin cheesecake slid off of the plate and onto the floor! We all just stood there in shock and then started laughing.

I was so stuffed, I had a hard time staying asleep since I was so uncomfortable. I really didn't eat a whole lot since I have to be really careful, but I had to sample a little bit of everything!

My little nephew is just one month shy of his first birthday. He is standing and taking a couple of hesistant steps. But, boy, is he starting to get into everything. Curious Max that's for sure! My other nephew couldn't join us this year as he was with his dad's family. We missed his presence as well as my sister's, who is in Florida. Throughout the whole day, I kept thinking, it's going to be so different next year with a little one. My mom is excited to have 2 little ones for next year's Thanksgiving.

Looking at this past year, we have a lot to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday There's not a whole lot of commercialism associated with it--thanks to the overshadowing of Christmas sales. Thanksgiving combines my two favorite things--family and food! I have always loved this time of year as well. Too bad it always goes so fast.

"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds."

~Theodore Roosevelt

We started dismantling our spare bedroom to get ready for our impending arrival in March. Unfortunately the yellow I just painted in that room isn't going to work with my color scheme; so it's off to Home Depot for another round of painting.
We inherited a rocker from the McConnells, and RT thought it'd be a good idea to practice rocking the baby in the rocker. Poor Jannu was the guinea pig, and she was not happy, even with RT singing a lullaby! We are at 22 weeks in our pregnancy. There have been moments, lately, where we both stop and wonder, "Are we ready for this?"

I don't want to start posting soley about baby stuff; I know there are mommy blogs out there so I'll try to spare you all my heartache, but I do need to unload. How come nobody ever talks about all the "pain and miserableness" that can accompany pregnancy? I know everyone's different, but for those women out there who say they loved being pregnant---I hate you!!!

Now, don't get me wrong, I am completely and utterly grateful and thankful that I am pregnant and have the ability to carry our baby without a surro. It's just funny because all of my pregnancy experience, up till now, has been through my friends at my surrogacy forum--so obviously the majority of that group has never carried their own baby. In their world, everything's sunshine and rainbows, and everything is so blown-out-of-proportion wonderful! That's because they didn't have to carry the baby, and I thought I would belong to that group! I can't sleep throughout the night; I can't get comfortable. I have all the pillows and lay on my side, but nothing feels good. My back hurts. I get these cramps or sharp pinches in my belly (my uterus stretching apparently). I still have headaches off and on. And, I still get the nausea at different times of the day and there is no pattern to their madness. I can't take hot baths because the temperature is not good for the baby. I can't sleep on my back because I don't want to pinch a major vein. I'm a tummy sleeper anyway, but that's out because I certainly don't want to crush anything.

Hmm...if there's anything else, I'll be sure to post it. I'm told all of this is normal. So, if anyone has any advice for me or can share some of the icky things they went through, I would love to hear about it because right now I'm feeling a pity party come on. Poor RT, everyday is so different from the next, but he's been so supportive and knows how to keep me happy (Big Stick Popsicles!!!).

My scrappy friends and I had a debate a while back about the differences among cage-free, free-range, and organic eggs. When you go to the grocery store, you're inundated with a wide variety of eggs, and now they have included omega-3 enriched. You've got brown egg and Eggland's Best. Then, you look at prices and that means an extra five minutes to make your decision. Well, from what I've been reading, cage-free and free-range are pretty worthless as there are really no standard regulations for those labels. Good ol' marketing in the works! Organic seems to be the way to go in terms of what hens are fed, no GMOs or hormones, and hens are truly not kept in cages. If you really want to know where your eggs are coming from or what the hens are being fed, you could raise your own chickens. I'm not sure we're ready for that yet, but this is a good source if you're thinking about it http://www.backyardchickens.com/. Or, go for the next best thing and find a source close to home where you can actually see or visit the farm. I'm looking into a couple close by and found them through http://www.localharvest.org/. Even if the prices are higher, at least we'll be supporting the local economy and minimizing packaging and shelf life! I think eggs are the perfect food. Give eggs a break!

It's early...Friday morning...my alarm starts buzzing. Then RT's radio starts blaring. Ugh...where am I? What day is it? How many more minutes can I sleep in? You know the feeling. Sad thing is, both RT and I have today off. So, why are our alarms going off?

Well, I have to get up and drive myself to SLO to meet my personal trainer, and RT's hitting the waves for some surf action. I looked over at RT, and just started laughing. I thought, who are these people in this bed?

If anyone knows me, you know that I absolutely detest exercise. It's definitely the coastal air that motivates me, and the fact that everyone here is healthy and fit. Plus, I've found an all-women's gym (no, not Curves) that I absolutely love, and my trainer is fabulous!

For years, I've been whining that I need to get in shape. It's definitely ironic that when I actually started to get serious about excercising, I found out I was pregnant! Oh yeah, I also start my yoga classes tomorrow.

We are always our worst critics, but I must give a pat on the back for being committed with my training and with RT for his dedication to the waves and personal motivation.

In case you haven't figured it out yet--these photos are not of us. Are you kidding me? Even on my best day, I couldn't look that good at the gym. Maybe someday, I'll get there...