36 Weeks

I can't believe that I only have about month left until Adelei comes. It seems so surreal. She's definitely changed me, and not just on the outside. I do crazy things because of her, like waddle, giggle in the middle of work meetings when she kicks me, and the pregnant lady squat. And as of this weekend, I have another one:

scrapbooking

Don got me a Cricket for Christmas and I found myself wondering several things. What is it? Can it poke it with a stick? Does he realize that I don't have that gene? It skipped me. Actually, it took one look at me and frantically ran the other way. My mind flashed forward to ten years from now, when I would morosely be looking over hundreds of digital pictures that had never been developed, and obviously never been scraped. It's similar to the feeling you get after you flip through a Victoria's Secret magazine, and realize that even if you ran 10 miles everyday for the rest of your life, you would never look like those freaks of nature. Stupid models. Dang scrapbooking.
Besides from the fact that it depresses me, my rational side also points out that it's like pulling on an unraveling string. You will never be able to stop once you start. There will always be that glitter pen, or that adorable new stamp that you have to have. It's vital to your happiness.
Unfortunately, someone's got to document my daughters growth. And since the prospect of Don doing it is as unlikely as him dancing around in a pink, sequined ballerina tutu, I'm afraid the task falls on me.
So, I am pleadingly calling all scrapbooking divas, I am in desperate need of your help!! And to the rest of you...pray for me.

Me and Addie at 30 weeks

Two Sundays ago my brilliant photographer friend, Kim Larsen, came over and took some maternity pictures for me. She is such a sweet heart, and must be partially clairvoyant because I was secretly hoping and wishing that I could get some pictures of my pregnant self to save for my future posterity, and share with all y'all. By-the-way, Kim has a wonderful photography blog that you should all visit by clicking here.
Addie is growing fast, and it must show. Because I have people ask me all the time when I'm due. I know it's stupid, but whenever this happens I'm sure I get a surprised look in my eyes for a split second. I'm so used to being able to hide it, I wonder how on earth they know. It's taken a while for the reality of pregnancy to sink in. It must throw others off, too, because I went down to my parents house for the first time in a month or two, and they kept saying how strange it was to see me expecting. I think it kind-of freaks them out a little bit. I'm not sure why, because as far as age is concerned, here in Utah, I'm among the grandmothers of first time pregnant women. But what am I rambling on about?? Here are the pictures:


Thanks again Kim for the wonderful pictures! They are beautiful and I love you forever!! To see more prego pictures visit Kim's blog, and check out her other stuff, too. She's wonderful, and has been doing it for quite a while.

Unexpected

If I could pick a theme for my life, it would be, "expect the unexpected". And I think that after two decades, I'm finally catching on. There are a few things about pregnancy that I didn't expect:
• The pregnancy. But since I was a little surprise to my parents, it only seems like poetic justice that my own daughter would be a surprise as well.
• Bending myself into a human pretzel just to tie my shoe.
• Gagging at every unpleasant smell or every single time I brushed my teeth for the first two trimesters, or that my gums would bleed because of said toothbrush. Gross.
• Massive heart burn.
• Craving hot dogs (7-11's are the best), chicken broth, Arby's beef & cheddar sandwiches (me oh my), chocolate (ahhh! ambrosia!), ice cream, chocolate ice cream (rocky road rocks my world!!...no pun intended.)
• Leg cramps in the middle of the night...whose idea was that?? Is it supposed to be funny??
• Taking to this pear shape as well as I have. The first time I went maternity shopping I was only about 3 months pregnant. They have these little pillows you can strap to your belly to see how you'll look in a couple of months, and after putting that on and some maternity clothes, I laughed uncontrollably. It looked ridiculous! And I was a little worried that I was going to get that big. To be honest, I was really worried, and the uncontrollable laughter was a defense mechanism. The second time I went begrudgingly. All of my clothes were looking ridiculous, and something had to be done. This time, after trying on an outfit, I laughed again in surprise...I didn't look ridiculous--I looked pregnant, and kind-of cute.
• Turning into Fumblina. I've just barely learned the cause of this: a hormone causes your joints to relax, including all the joints in your fingers, thus causing you to drop more things. I think that this is a practical joke as well. Hey, you guys! Do you know what would be hilarious?? If we made it so that pregnant women couldn't grip things very well, and make them drop them, and then they have to actually try to pick them up with a soccer ball sized belly in the way! Wouldn't that be funny?? Ha. ha. ha. So funny. I drop everything. I watched my grandmother's crystal hurricane lamp shatter into a million pieces on the floor because of this.
• That my relationship would change with every single person I knew because I was pregnant. I admire mothers everywhere. I give pregnant woman a sympathetic, "I know how you feel" look, and they give one back.
• Falling in love again. It's like life has given me another set of rose colored glasses to slip on-only with a more powerful prescription that helps me see clearer, and a deeper hue that gives me the capacity to love deeper.
• My worry gene to switch on. It's true, mothers don't sleep; they just worry with their eyes closed.
• Being baby hungry. It took me being pregnant to catch the bug.
• My "momma bear" gene to kick in. If anyone hurts my baby, I will tear their eyes out with my bare hands.
• How ecstatic I am every time Adelei moves. I'm proud and a little terrified (for the future) at how active she is.
• That a cradle would make me so dang happy. Oh, and ruffle bum tights.
• How relieved I am that Don thinks pregnant women are beautiful. (thankyouthankyouthankyou)
• How extremely sweet it is to have your honey's hand on your stomach as you fall asleep. Don loves Addie. And even if I'm asleep before he gets there, sometimes she'll give him a little kick goodnight while I'm sleeping. In fact, she moves more for him than almost anyone.

I was so certain that I would be a miserable pregnant woman and that I would have morning sickness 24/7 for nine months straight. But, unexpectedly, I love it, and I'll put up with just about anything for Addie.

Erin Go Bragh!

In my opinion, St. Patty's day is seriously under-celebrated. You'd think with all of the latest trends in "going green" there would be nothing to stop this holiday from becoming more popular.
Now that I'm off my soap box, I'd like to point out that, in essence, I married an Irishman (and it's not because my father likes to fondly call Don, "the Irishman").
Here are a few reasons why:

#1:As Don was explaining to me the other day, Brady comes from O'Grady. It was changed when his ancestors immigrated to the U.S. Apparently the transition was from O'Grady to just Grady and finally to Brady. Why they couldn't just keep it O'Grady, beats me. We have all kinds of crazy names in the states like Zollinger, why do they have to go messing with something as simple to say as O'Grady?? Not that I'm complaining I like Erin Brady a lot better than Erin O'Grady.

#2: the thing that makes me the most certain that Don is an Irishman...is that he has the gift of gab, my friends. (All the Bradys do. This isn't a bad thing, since they can talk with anyone they meet off the street like they're old friends, and have the ability to fill in those awkward silences at get togethers.) There are some days I suspect that Don's kissed the blarney stone more than once in his life.

#3: Adelei, my ever-growing little leprechaun, likes to dance jigs on my bladder. She thinks it's funny, and so does Don; until I start shrieking like a banshee for them to stop.

The first St. Patrick's Day I spent with Don, we went to his mother's house and she made a wonderfully traditional Irish meal consisting of corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. I'm planning on making the same meal in honor of the holiday, but this time I'll add some Irish Soda Bread. And since I have my camera back, I'll most likely post it on my cooking blog...aren't you excited?? You should be, dang it.
And if that's not enough celebration for you: try throwing on something green (I always figured my eyes worked for this, until one time in 4th grade I got in a fight with a girl because I pinched her because she wasn't wearing anything green, and when she asked me what I was wearing that was green, I tartly replied, "my eyes," and she got reeeeeeally ticked). You could also paint a shamrock on your cheek, and watch the following clip:



Someday, I will buy Darby O'Gill and the little people, and watch it in honor of St. Patricks Day, because I can't drink (it's bad for the baby;).

Life in the Real World

So, now that Don and I have graduated, we get to experience life without college. It's different, and I find myself getting really bored, and doing all sorts of things that I never thought I would have time to do...insane things like cutting up pieces of cloth and stitching them back together. On Martin Luther King, Jr. day mis madre and I made two blankets. One was a rag quilt, and the other was quilted. I couldn't believe that we'd gotten so much done. We're a pretty good team. And my sowing skills are getting better. I really have to thank my angelic mother for helping me put together such beautiful blankets..
Don recently started working for a company called ECI in Bountiful. I'm not going to lie, it's really nice to have a steady income coming in. It's not exactly his dream job, but the firm is pretty good. He's learning a lot about power transmission lines, and their various uses. And it works well for us because he's wanting to get a Master's Degree in Engineering. Since the U of U is so close, he's planning on signing up for classes this summer and going part time. After a year the firm will reimburse him for his schooling, and pay for the rest. But in the meantime, he's adjusting to a long commute from Millville (an hour and 15 minutes one way) and nine hour days. It makes for really long days.
As for me, I'm back at the good ol' UDOT as a rotational/intern. Because of the economy there's a "hiring freeze" for all of the interns with benefits, which means they're still paying me what they were before I graduated. I guess Don's higher income evens things out, but I'm a bit bitter at UDOT. Anyway, They have me looking over several plans and going to meetings and training classes. The other day I was able to meet my dad in Salt Lake at the Little Grand America and go to a concrete conference. Although I'm not an expert on concrete, I could tell you more than you ever care to know about the subject. My days are long, too. It's a 45 minute commute from Millville to North Logan, and I work 10 hours a day. So, in all Don and I leave at 6 and get back home at 7. Of course, I only have to do it 4 days a week to get my 40 hours in. Don has to get at least 45, and if he wants time off whent he baby comes, he'll have to work some 10-12 hour days.
But the weekends are nice, and it's worth having Fridays off to relax, I think. It's kind-of depressing to leave and get home when it's dark and only have about 2 hours of free time before going to bed, just to wake up and do it all over again. We're planning on moving soon. Don was released from the Young Men's Presidency this last Sunday. I still have my calling as the Beehive Adviser, which makes me happy because the girls are so dang cute! Before we can move we're trying to save up enough money for a down payment on a house. We're thinking that we should be able to move around April. I'm not very excited to move a month before the baby's supposed to come, but I think it will be okay.
The fact that we're so excited for Adelei to come over shadows everything, boring work days, long commutes, and the fact I have to pee ten times an hour. She's kicking harder and growing stronger every day. We're in love with her so much already.