The Mother-In-Law!!!

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. While for some, the word "Mother-In-Law" conjures images of the Wicked Witch, for me the word brings to mind a wonderful woman who managed to put up with my husband for twenty-something years. ;-) She is a great mother to her kids (including me) and is woman to look up to!

So, happy birthday, Mom, and enjoy all the presents and the cake!

At our wedding reception, with my brother Nate

A Day Off From Work

Today, along with Sunday, are my days off from work. It is so great to be home during the day here, because my morning sickness is always worst in the evenings, so I haven't had the wherewithal to get anything done around the house. And can I say, as of this morning, that it's good to see the floor again!

I was telling a friend yesterday, I am just waiting to find some joy in this pregnancy. My attitude so far could be best described as sober. I am all too keenly aware of how this pregnancy so far has been a teeth-gritting battle to just survive the first trimester, and also that we're kind of broke and far away from any family or support network. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, it's just the facts.

It's been kind of hard for me to feel excited about a perpetual stomach bug, but I think that once the baby actually starts making a baby-like manifestation, my frame of mind will change. Here's crossing my fingers! And now I'm off to clean the house some more!

Works For Me Wednesday: Backwards Edition

I'm pregnant! Good thing I'm so excited, because all that excitement is needed to counterbalance an equally distressing occurrence:

Morning sickness.

In this Backwards Edition of Works For Me Wednesday, I'd like to ask all you moms who have come before me: how did you combat the queasies?

Things that have worked for me so far: eating a little something before getting out of bed, and drinking lots of water. Things that are not working so great: ginger. It has actually been making me sick. My problem times tend be late morning, when I'm at my desk at work, and the evening--before, during, and after dinner.

So please-- tell me how to get that glow of pregnancy! (unless you think green is a glow)

Thank you for stopping by! Feeling like the Answer Guru today? Check out more burning questions at We Are THAT Family.

The Pregnancy Lowdown

So-- the cat's out of the bag! Adam and I are pregnant with our first baby! I am super excited! So, without further ado, here are all the answers to your burning questions.

How far along am I? Only about seven weeks-- which, I just realized, is mercifully halfway through the first trimester.

How am I feeling? Ooooh, don't make me go there! I am sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Fortunately, I've only had a few episodes of bowing before the porcelain throne, but I feel nauseous 24/7. Even thinking about food usually makes me green. Because of said nausea, I usually spend my free time lying down.

So what have I been eating? Things that would probably make a doctor blanch. I used to be a HUGE lover of all things green, leafy, and organic. Now, I can't stand the sight of vegetables. :-( I've been eating lots of string cheese, crackers, and baked potatoes. I've also started drinking at least two 24-ounce containers of water with lemon at work every day-- a huge increase from my camel-like ways.

So how am I getting any nutrients? Well, Adam's grandmother is a purveyor of fine Shaklee vitamin products, and as soon as she heard the news, she sent me big jars of multivitamins and B-Complex tablets. This baby is going to have the best neural tubes in the world, lol.

Any weird cravings/aversions? My latest craving is frozen yogurt. Great stuff! On the down side, my morning best friend and I have had to part ways. *sniff* I'm sorry, Coffee, it's not you, it's me.

How is Hubby taking it all? He is thrilled, and doesn't mind at all when I'm crabby/ravenous/helpless. I'm not letting him forget whose fault this is. :-P

Housesitting!

I'm fairly certain that time warps when I'm blogging. I write a post, leave the computer, and WHOOSH! It's two weeks since my last post!

That being said, time has also warped me into housesitting for a couple from my church. DH and I have been having a blast eating other people's food and watching other people's television! ... And watching their poodle. Well, something had to be less than perfect.

I fixed our Christmas dinner here: a sumptuous feast of mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls, and roast duck. I had never made duck before, so I was pleased to say that it turned out all right! But holey moley!!! It is such RICH meat! I ate a little drumstick, and was good for the rest of the week. Now we have a ton of duck sitting in the fridge that I need to use up somehow. Any ideas?

All this talk of food is making my stomach turn a little. I've been having bouts of queasiness for the past few weeks.... no reason in particular. *wink wink*

Christmas Shopping Rant

Today, Adam and I are going to go Christmas shopping.

*whimper*

I am very bad at gift-giving. You've heard about the Five Love Languages? "Gifts" is the hands-down, absolute lowest love language for me. It barely comes on the radar. I couldn't care much less about having a stack of presents under the tree for myself (which will be a good thing this year, because we're broke, lol), and while I appreciate the thoughtfulness and generosity of the giver, I have a hard time attaching great significance to presents. So Christmas shopping is a torturous affair for me.

This is especially true because I have a couple particularly difficult people to shop for. Actually, my mom is sort of easy to shop for, because she has all sorts of likes: lotions, candles, snowmen, quilting, bird-watching. But there are only so many bottles of lotion and candles that a woman can take, you know?? The other one is a sibling-in-law, who, as far as I can tell, already has everything. Hmmm. There needs to be a venue that sells things only for people that already have everything. Oh wait, that's called SkyMall.

Well, it's time to stop complaining and start getting serious about this gift thing. Wish me luck!

Works For Me Wednesday: Take Some Stress Out of Gifting

WARNING TO MY RELATIVES: Don't read this one, or you will know what you're getting for Christmas!

I have a lot of family members. I'm one of five kids, and my husband is one of six. Thankfully, his side does a drawing for Christmas, so each person only has to get a present for two other family members. But even then, this still amounts to a lot of gifts!

With so many people to give gifts to, I decided to simplify this year, and....

Give everyone the same thing.

This year, I'm making everyone aprons, but they're in a variety of patterns and designs. My sisters and female in-laws are getting cute, cute aprons, and my brothers are getting MAN-aprons, AKA tool belts. It was amazing how easy it was to gather all the materials needed! After finding the patterns I wanted (hint: eBay has some great deals on brand-name patterns!) it took just one evening of calculating yardages and taking a trip to Hobby Lobby to get me set.

This also applies to smaller gifts for people outside the immediate family. I'm thinking specifically of ornaments, because those are such great little gifts! DH and I are going to a church ornament-exchange party next week, but we are armed and ready, because I am mass-producing these puppies.

Thank you for stopping by! You can find oodles of other great tips at We Are THAT Family!