35 Weeks!!

I've gotten bigger. I have more restriction on trying to touch my toes. Benjamin is very good at remembering to offer an arm when I'm trying to crawl out of the couch in our apartment, or out of the passenger seat of the car. And I can't clip my own toenails anymore. Luckily it's summer, and I don't have to tie shoes. Because they wouldn't get done without help. Yeah for slip-ons. Which also don't need socks, thank goodness!


I wanted to share a little bit more about what my life has begun to look like.

So, I've had a more difficult time getting comfortable to sleep for the night. My back has hurt for a while, and I finally decided to try something new. We have a number of extra pillows, and I started to make a little mattress padding for myself. It's made a difference for me to have the extra cushions. But Benjamin calls it my "castle" and has less praising things to say about the mounds of padding that inevitably end up between us as we sleep. I've also kicked the blanket out of the bed. I generally can't sleep with the sheet anymore, which keeps Benjamin further away, as well. He is a cold sleeper, and insists on having a blanket. When his bundle of covers are too close, I fling them away from me, and he would rather have covers than fight his way onto my pillows (a 2 inch uphill battle, I'm told). Here's what I sleep on:

I have taken to eating otter-pops like they are candy. Well, I suppose they are. I love the refreshing coolness, and the lack of needed preparation. It's mostly water, right? So it's helping me be more hydrated....And the sugar is nice, too. I've never been addicted to popcicles before, but I might have to start calling this an addition. Any other suggestions? My sister has recommended smoothies, but I don't take the time to make them, and don't think I could purchase them for nearly as good a deal as 100 otter-pops for $3.50 at Wal-Mart.

For Christmas, we got a Wii Fit game, and it's been fun to track my weight growth on the game, as pregnancy has progressed. I'll be the first to admit that I haven't actually gotten an exercise routine with the game, but I do try to weigh in at least once a week. It's a shocking reminder that I'm changing. Last week, for the first time, the game charted me as "overweight" for my height....It's just been a steady (or at times, exponential) increase in weight, but now I'm officially "overweight." Even though I know I have good reason, and that it's a temporary status, it leaves me wide open for jests and jabs. Before it's all over, we'll get to see my weight increase, increase, and finally start to decrease....hopefully I can keep myself taking time to weigh in. I hear that I'll never take the time for it not long from now. We'll see!

I've also started to explore my domestic side, a little bit. Yesterday, I made some of Beulah's famous rolls. That's my grandmother. I got the recipe from my sister, and enjoyed the project. And don't worry, the rolls were terrific. But I can't imagine making rolls from scratch in addition to making a meal. Maybe for a special occasion, where that's my contribution to a pot luck or something. It was a fun evening.


The little monkey is still quite active. I've gotten to share his hiccups a few times the last 2-3 weeks. He also stretches often, and I feel him moving way over on my sides...We're pretty confused sometimes when I feel him in places that are almost a foot and a half away from each other. Our little guy is also getting stronger. Sometimes he pushes hard enough into my ribs that I wonder if he has a map of my nerves. He pokes pretty aggressively. Does it almost tickle? Sometimes yes (in a painful way), sometimes no. And my belly button is going through constant re-shaping sessions. I wonder what will happen to it in the next few weeks...