It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....?

Hello Again!  I hope you're all doing well.  Things continue to be busy busy in our neck of the woods.  We finally got a bit of snow on Wednesday, but with the exception of Red Hill Knolls the snow quickly melted away the very next day.  I am not a fan of the cold weather or the snow really, however, there is an exception to this dislike, Christmas.  I have a serious grip with Mother Nature because it definitely does not look like Christmas out there right now.  The ground is bare and the grass is still green!  I sure hope that we have snow for Christmas.  Without the snow it makes it hard to get into the spirit.  I have been trying though,  I have decorated at home and I decorated my branch at work.  I am currently listening to Christmas music in the hopes of fully getting myself into the Christmas mood. 

Today I went down to the library in the town that I live in.  Grahamsville has been spending a lot of time revamping their library the last few years and I had yet to check it out.  My mother-in-law, Susan needed to drop cookies off for the Holiday Tea Time they were hosting at the library, so she invited me to come with her to see what they have done to the library.  I will say, it was absolutely gorgeous in there.  When she showed me the children's section it made me excited to take Baby Cook there when she is finally old enough to go to the library and enjoy all of the things they offered.  Reading has always been one of my favorite things to do and I hope to pass my love of reading on to our little girl.  I can't wait to read all of the wonderful books there are for children to our daughter.  On a side note,  as I was standing in the area where they were preparing all of the many plates of cookies and goodies for the Tea Time the very pregnant and hungry me just wanted to grab one of each goodie.  One should not take a pregnant woman into a buffet of Christmas treats and not allow her to sample, it's just mean. ;-)

I finally got my butt in gear and wrote out the Christmas cards that I need to get out to the many people on my mailing list.  After a couple of hours and one very sore wrist later I am happy to report that I am almost done, with the exception of waiting for updated address on a couple of people.  Now, if only I could say that I had also completed my Christmas shopping.  I am going to do my best to complete that tomorrow though.  Since we spend Christmas in Iowa we have to ship most of the gifts we have to get so I am going to force myself to crack down tomorrow and finish that up so I can stop worrying and so I know that everything will be in Iowa before we get there.

Yesterday I spent a wonderfully relaxing day with my fellow preggo lady/friend, Colleen.  We enjoyed lunch out.  (Colleen, I agree, it is nice to share a meal with someone who is as equally hungry as I am without judgement.)  After lunch Colleen and I did a little bit of shopping.  I did break down and buy a couple of things for Baby Cook.  Until then I had been holding off as I know that we will receive more than enough clothes, but I couldn't help but purchase a couple of outfits.  They were too cute to pass up.

I couldn't resist :-)

After our shopping trip Colleen and I ended the day by enjoying prenatal massages.  How a pregnant woman survives without getting at least one prenatal massage I do not know.  It was just what my over worked muscles needed, especially after my busy week.  There definitely needs to be a trip or two back to the spa before baby is here.  The entire day was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.  Thank you Colleen for suggesting and inviting me. :-)  Colleen is looking great and carrying her pregnancy beautifully.

In baby news, I am officially in my final week of the second trimester.  This week I found out I had gained 4 pounds in 2 weeks.  That makes perfect sense as my appetite seems to have graduated to that of a teenage boy's.  I can't seem to eat enough food to keep baby happy.  Along with the extra poundage my members and co-workers were kind enough to point out that my mid-section has grown to account for those pounds.  I have no problem with the growing belly, I was a bit taken back by the fact that people are so open in voicing how big you are when you are pregnant.  I know that most people do not mean it in a mean way, however, a little tact when dealing with a hormonal woman, who is growing a human being is probably a good idea.  I actually had a member ask me if I thought I was going to be able to work up to my due date as I was already so big.  I don't care who you are, that stings a bit. Lol  Aside from the somewhat insensitive comments everyone has been quite wonderful and I have been feeling great.  I really have been incredibly lucky.  I haven't really felt sick, my hair and skin looks great, and Matt has been wonderful about giving me mini massages at the end of the day to help relieve any tension.  What more could a girl ask for?

27 Weeks!

Thanks to Kate!

Irish Love from Matt's Mom