31 and two days old

This post could also be titled: 31 - The Pregnant Birthday.

1. She turned 31 on Sunday.  And is realizing that being 31 now qualifies her for being “in her thirties.”  Gah, it doesn’t seem real.   She feels 25 - at most.



2. She is married to the very best husband for her, who is the papa to Henry, and she already knows will be THE most awesome Papa to their child in about 4.5 months.  He gave her the iPad 3 first thing yesterday morning, and completely surprised her...see, very best for her (smile).
   photo was taken on her birthday after church
   
3. Is 15 weeks a few days pregnant at 31 years old.  A few years ago if someone had told her that would be the timing, she might not have believed them.  Today, she would not change it for the world.  31 seems like the perfect age to become a mama to her. 

4. Will celebrate five six years of marriage in a month & a few days.
5. Henry still makes her smile and laugh and soft hearted just at the thought of him.  He can literally make her entire day better with just a kiss and wag of his tail.  Puppy love is so contagious, and she is constantly surprised at how much she loves him.  He is her first born.  

6. Moved school districts and added 6th grade art to her day.  She teaches high school students in the morning, and 6th grade middle school art in the afternoons.  Secretly she was terrified of her 6th graders until the second day.  Now, she looks forward to their classes each day and loves it.  It turns out 6th graders are really so much fun!
7. Finally decided to put herself (and her artwork) out there this past summer.  After nearly 2 years of wishing and dreaming of opening an Etsy store to sell her artwork, she finally did it.  And is SO glad she did.  It may just be an Etsy store selling artwork, but to her it was opening her heart, soul, and not-so-thick-skin to the public - and for her, that was huge. 
8. She took 3,148 photos with her iPhone in one year.  And that’s not counting the one’s she deleted.  That’s a ton of memories. 
9. Is still a spaghetti lover, but has added more home cooked meals to her plate...especially in the past few months (cough, cough, pregnant months), cooking and baking have become her choice of activity.
10. She is a runner.  Has been for more than 11 years of her life.  And at 4 months pregnant, is still running.  Her pace has not slowed (thankfully), and in those first couple of months running in the afternoon was her only way of getting an ounce of energy to do anything but lay on the bed.  Exercise =’s Energy in her book, and she hopes to be able to continue throughout her pregnancy and beyond.  
11. Currently sleeps with 2 bottles of water at her bedside.  She wakes up several times during the night with a horrible taste in her mouth (thanks to the prenatal vitamins), and ends up drinking lots of water to go back to sleep.
12. Has been applying this belly butter and this oil to her belly since she found out she was pregnant.  Her husband lovingly refers to it as “the cooking oil” she puts on her stomach.   It literally is like cooking oil, but she is crossing her fingers it will do the trick and maybe just maybe prevent stretch marks. 
13. Eczema on the backs of her legs in the summer months?  Check - though, this summer, it was better than most.  This summer she was more worried about the acne on her chest thanks to hormones.  Ick. 
14. Speaking of, she decided that women should be warned that when they go off birth control they should expect oily skin and hair, which leads to bacne (back acne), chacne (chest acne), AND because that’s not enough, shacne (shoulder acne).  Seriously a cautious warning would have been nice, folks.  For the first few months, her skin was in crisis.  Now thanks to her friend, Proactive, and her beloved “Justin Beiber bar,” (called that because he did the commercials for it) things have improved.  Thank the good Lord. 
15. Has learned to value sleep.  Everyone keeps saying that she “better sleep now!” and she believes them with all her heart. 
16. ...But the shorter drive to work has helped with getting at least 6.5 hours at night lately.  
17. Is continuing to see the importance of true relationships in her life.  She made the realization over the past year that people come and go.  For reasons that have nothing to do with her, and sometimes have everything to do with her.  It’s not really up to her to decide - it’s part of His plan.  To her, friendships (real, true, honest, friendships): will stand the test of time and distance; are give and take of honesty, sharing and kindness; and need  a balance of all of these.  
18. Family ='s Unconditional Love.  These are the folks that accept her despite her flaws and love her so much for allowing those flaws to be seen in front of them, and celebrate her attributes and accomplishments just the same. 
19. Is pregnant and yet still has to remind herself sometimes (you know, when she’s NOT looking in the mirror).  It’s a cool and yet such weird concept for her brain to wrap around.  the first pic of the bump at 15 weeks
20. She still loves music but lately less than thrilled by the music played on the supposed “Hits” stations, and finds herself listening to 80‘s on 8, 90’s on 9, the Pulse, or the Blend on Sirius much more often than not.  She suspects this might be a sure sign that she’s moved into her thirties.  Billy Joel singing Uptown Girl will make her day bright and happy.  Justin Bieber singing about being her Boyfriend, will not. 
21. Has gotten past being timid about giving homemade gifts, but unfortunately has noticed that she has less time to actually create such gifts.   
22. Currently drinks about three Virgin Mary’s a night - a non alcoholic Spicy V8 juice + lime juice + lemon salt concoction that she craves and LOVES lately. 
23. Has finally learned to really listen to the sermon in church and loves going to hear the messages each Sunday.  As a kid she always wondered how the grown ups didn’t fall asleep or need a pencil to draw with...they just listened.  She gets it now.
24. Made a goal for herself in January to blog every day of the work week.  She followed through and did superbly until summer came along.  So goal accomplished in her book. 
25. Creates lists and is guilty of putting things on her lists that she’s recently done so that she can mark them off. 
26. Put out her fall decorations around the house last Saturday, but will not buy pumpkins or mums on the front porch until the temperatures are lower and it officially changes seasons. 
27. Eats a bowl of cereal for breakfast every morning since learning about her pregnancy.  And honestly, not your healthy variety, but the good kind: Frosted Flakes, Fruity Pebbles, Cinnamon Toast Crunch to name a few.  She balances out the meal by also eating a Greek Yogurt or a hard boiled egg.  She will not miss out on this nine month window of opportunity to eat good cereal guilty free!
28. About a week after finding out she was pregnant, sketched out a plan for the nursery and began moving her scrapbook room into the spare bedroom.  Sacrifices folks. She’s learning the meaning of sacrifices.  (She’s half kidding, half not.)
    
29. Believe it or not, she baked banana bread Saturday afternoon using her grandmas recipe just like last year (see no. 28).  Completely a coincidence, but she hopes its a good sign that her thirty-first year will be as great as her thirtieth. 
30. Has been amazed at the awesome ways God has worked in her life this year.  A change of job, baby on the way, a date that she could not miss a sign up for, and made it just in time...God is at work in her life and things are falling in and out of place to teach her lessons of patience, will power, endurance, and most of all that everything happens in His time. 
31. Is humbled and reminded on a daily basis that she is an imperfect work of art by His creation.  She hopes as her thirty-first year unfolds, this never leaves her thoughts.  With a change of employment, motherhood on the horizon, and just life’s daily roller coaster ride, she will need this thought more than ever, and she knows it with all her heart. 

And since I'm a couple days late in posting this, I thought I would share my uttemost important (lol) thoughts during the first two days of being thirty-one.

31 and 1 Day old thought:
I sure am thankful for loose fitting clothing.

31 and 2 Days old thought: gummy worms make the perfect treat in the afternoon...turns out my drawer in my new classrooms resmembles my old snack drawer in my last classroom.  Gummy worms, frosted animal crackers, Now & Laters, Mamba’s and Ritz Chips.  Dude, this girll might have a problem...nah!!!

Oh the adventures that are a head of me!  In Kelly Clarkson's words, "I'm ready now!"

Thanks for dropping by :)