Lots of Little Things

1. Prenatal Yoga - I have been taking prenatal yoga classes with 2 of my pregnant friends here in Roswell. It is VERY "yoga" and the instructor loves to pass around lavender oil for us to rub in our palms and then hold over our hearts. She tries to encourage us to do an "all-natural" birth (obviously she doesn't know me well enough). She ends every session with 3 "ohms" and plays very interesting music. But, once I get past the weirdness of it, it's very relaxing and great for stretching. It is SO much better than taking a regular yoga class because the instructor knows which stretches and poses are safe for us and which ones are not. I highly recommend taking a prenatal yoga class to any preg friends :)
2. Maternity Manners - You would not believe the comments people make to me (and my pregnant friends for that matter). It's almost like people don't know what to say, so instead of keeping silent, they blurt out some randomly rude comment. Here are some comments either I myself have heard or pregnant friends of mine have heard:
- WHOA you're huge!
- How far along are you? (6 months.) Is your husband a tall guy or something? (Yeah, sort of.) Geez, you look way further along than 6 months!
- Are you having twins or something?
- Are you due before Christmas? (No, due in April, thank you.)
- Geez, you keep growing. Everyday you look bigger and bigger.
Word to the wise... there are MANY other sweet comments that you could make to us. Why do you feel the need to comment in such a rude way? Obviously, as women, we spend our whole lives sucking our tummies in and trying to maintain our weight. This is a glorious time in our lives where we cannot control our weight or how/where we grow and you should be saying positive, encouraging comments about our beautiful bodies. Some examples could be:
- You look so great!
- You are absolutely glowing!
- You make maternity clothes look fabulous!
- You are all belly!
- I hope I look as good as you when I'm pregnant!
- Your baby bump is so cute!
Sorry for the rant here, but it's been driving my preg friends and I nuts! Think before you speak people! We're having a hard enough time as it is with our growing bodies, a little encouragement could go a long way!
3. Brian is the best - Not sure if I've mentioned it yet or not, but I have the best husband in the world. I truly cannot imagine being a single pregnant woman, much less a single mom. I would be lost without Brian. He has been SUCH a big help during my pregnancy. Here are some of the selfless, sweet things he has done these past 6 months to help me out:

- rub my achy back and neck
- help me put on and take off my shoes
- go to the grocery store for me
- lift any and every thing I need help with
- brought me flowers for no reason
- given me pedicure gift certificates
- run out to get my any food I may be craving
- let me sleep in the bed with 42912 extra pillows
- cooked many a meal for me
- told me I'm beautiful
- loved me despite my crazy hormones and mood swings
I am beyond excited to be having a baby with him! He will be the most wonderful, loving daddy and I cannot wait to see it all in action!

4. Registry - Registering for baby items is SO much more fun than wedding registry. There is a lot more you need of course, but to be shopping for someone other than yourself is great! When you get married, you typically have a lot of items you can already bring to the marriage (sofa, dishes, towels, etc). But, when you have a baby you start from scratch. You need EVERYTHING - from cribs to baby shampoo. We registered at Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby - 2 great stores!

We registered in person at both stores but only scanned a few items in the store. I have been slowly adding to each registry here online after doing extensive research on every single item (thanks to Baby Bargains book).

5. Good books to read while pregnant:

Baby Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields (as featured on Oprah)

What to Expect When Expecting - such a classic

The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine - hilarious!

Expectant Moments by Gene and Lisa Fant (not the best devotional, but literally the only one we found for expectant couples)

6. Nursery - We have slowly but surely been working on Baby Hake's nursery in our house. We had to clean out the junk room (yes, it used to be used as a junk room b/c we were too lazy to find a spot for some of our items). Brian and his friend Adam painted the room "Sweet Blue" last weekend. My parents gave us our crib. Our baby bedding has arrived and been set up. We bought a dresser a few days ago and our glider/ottoman will arrive in about 6-8 weeks. It's all coming together! The hard part is trying to make it all fit into such a tiny room! Pics to come soon...