Bravo?

I am sitting here in my ratty sweats that I have been wearing since 1:00 this afternoon (in my defense I was dressed, complete with contact lenses and makeup since 8:00 am). I just noticed that there is a sticker stuck to the bottom of the left pant leg. It is a green star with the word "bravo" on it. It was once part of a whole chain of identical stickers given to me by a Weight Watchers employee to commend me on achieving lifetime status. I am thrilled to say that halfway through this pregnancy, I am still BELOW my goal weight. BUT, I have been feeling crappy about myself anyways. I sent Shimmy on his first ice cream run last night. I did ask for the low fat/calorie kind. And it was goooood. I have no idea when the last time I had eaten ice cream was. Seriously. Don't get me wrong- I have been no saint. Anyone who has been pregnant will agree that it starts going downhill during the first few months when morning (ha- morning, that still gets me every time!) sickness reigns and you find yourself abandoning a cart full of groceries to throw up in the store's bathroom while your toddler looks on crying out of concern and fear. At that moment you begin to eat whatever will stay down, which is mostly carbs. Then, one day, you realize that you have miraculously not thrown up in a couple of weeks, so you start eating a little more. Then one day- BAM! Your appetite comes back with avengance, and you begin to eat about twice as much as you used to! And then the cravings come! I usually try to get rid of them by telling myself that if I still want whatever it is in a few hours, then I can have it. Never once has the craving subsided. There is just no avoiding it. So I'm getting a little nervous about how this is going to affect the weight gain this time around. Well, the eating habbits combined with the fact that I have not gotten on the treadmill since I was about 6 weeks pregnant. I have walked outside with Sophie quite a bit, but it's not the same as an actual workout. I can't believe I am halfway through this pregnancy and I am not back to exercising yet. Bravo? Hardly. I am going to let this serve as a stern lecture to myself and aim to get back on that treadmill next week.

Politics and Pregnant Bodies

I have completed phase one of finishing my belly cast and it looks good. I just need to let everything dry, and then assess what I want to do next. Since Sophie is still sleeping and blogging earlier was pretty therapeutic, I figured I'd blog some more. I am in a pretty irritated mood right now, and when that happens, the irritated floodgate opens and I start getting irritated at other things as well. What I am mostly irritated at is political discussion. I got burned out on election talk about a year ago. I educate myself on the issues, research policies that effect/interest me, and make my voting decisions accordingly. Some of my decisions are made painstakingly by weighing pros and cons and choosing a candidate that has more pros, even though some cons remain. I just hope for the best. I will discuss my views very reluctantly if repeatedly provoked. However, in general, I prefer not to discuss politics. I think I was raised that way. In the deep South, one never discusses "religion or politics." Seems smart to me. Maybe that's why people in the South are so much kinder and friendlier. They don't go around pissing people off by shoving their political opinions down their throats. So it's not surprising that I find it very stressful to deal with all of the political discussion and debates before the election. But now the election in over. OVER. One's opinion, and vote, no longer make a difference. So I really wish people would stop lamenting and complaining and flooding my Facebook Newsfeed with so much BS.

Okay, so that's what I'm REALLY irritated about. Now comes the meaning behind the title of this post. While decorating my belly cast I thought about how I am creating a piece of art. And, how, in actuality my body is already a piece of art. Everyone's is. But, in particular, I think there is nothing more beautiful than a pregnant woman's body. It is full with life and promise and love. Everything is smooth and round and stunning. I have never had a better body image of myself or more self-esteem than when I was nearing the end of my pregnancy with Sophie. I felt radiant and gorgeous. I would stare at myself in the mirror and just smile. So it completely baffles and irritates me when I hear other pregnant women complaining about how "fat" or "ugly" or "gross" they feel. Something just isn't right there.

witty title

Okay, so I am just going to freestyle for a few minutes here before I have to get back to my (desperate) housewife duties. Yesterday, while voting (for OBAMA, so suck it- I am sick of racists, bigots, backwards people, and regular well-meaning conservatives trying to talk politics with me) I ran into someone I have not seen in years. When she asked what I was up to, I said something about taking care of kids and making kids. I think I meant for it to be funny, but it does kind of make me a little sad. I love my life. I love my husband and his fast-paced, ambitious career that must always come before mine because that's what keeps food on the table and me in my luxury rich-mommy SUV. I love my kids- the one who I chase around and laugh with all day, and the one who is snuggled in my belly throwing me sweet little kicks throughout the day (and night). I love waking up at 8 am and leisurely drinking a big cup of coffee in my pj's before heading out for a fun day of crafts or music or playdates with Sophie. BUT I also used to love earning a paycheck, helping my clients, going out for drinks with awesome coworker friends, feeling like I made a difference in this world, feeling like I was SOMEBODY.............. Choices are tough. I would make the same choice to stay home with my kids again. I know one day I will go back to work and I will treasure the days I'm living now. I am so so very happy to be the one to teach Sophie new things and play with her and read to her and snuggle with her before nap time. Never in a million years would I want to pay someone else to do this for me. At the same time, I am human, and I have yearning for my own time and interests as well. The only time I am ever in a car by myself is when I go to my monthly doctor's appointments (it used to be when I drove myself to the mikvah). Sad indeed. This is the only time I can listen to the music of my choice and eat without passing bits of my snack into the backseat. I have a doctor's appointment on Friday, so woohoo- I can have the 5 min there and 5 min back to myself in just 2 days!

It took Sophie an hour to fall asleep this afternoon, and that was an hour ago. So I'm hoping she'll sleep for another hour, giving me some time to work on a couple of projects, which are (embarrassingly):
1. Israel scrapbook- this trip was 5 months ago and I have barely started.
2. FINISH MY BELLY CAST- before Sophie was born, Shimmy plastered my belly so that I could have a keepsake from my pregnancy. I still have not done anything with this plaster except re-plaster over it sometime in the summer to make it smoother. I better finish this cast before Baby #2 gets here. And no, I am not making another. I have learned better than that.

Pumpkin Patch 2008

On Sunday, after NOT getting the extra hour of back to standard time sleep (can't wait until the kids are old enough to teach them about that!) we went to North Run Farm. We had so much fun picking our own pumpkins directly from the patch- they give you one for free after Halloween- yay! Sophie loved seeing the animals, climbing on the hay stacks, and playing in the big tires. Here are some pics- sorry there are so many, there were just too many good ones to choose from:


Family pic in the patch:


My belly doesn't look very big in this pic (maybe because of what I was wearing), but you get the effect:


Mommy and Sophie:


Daddy and Sophie:


Sophie:


Being "corny":


Our family:

Giant Shout-Out

I have to give props to Giant. Grocery shopping with an almost 2 year old is a challenge. Firstly, from the minute we turn into the parking lot, Sophie starts asking for APPLES APPLES APPLES! And what is the first thing we see when we walk into the store? The produce section. Now, unlike crackers or cookies or a box of raisins, which you can open in the store, enjoy whilst shopping, and pay for later, produce is something which must be weighed by the cashier before buying. So those apples taunt Sophie the entire time we are in the store. Second, expecting Sophie to sit in a shopping cart for ANY amount of time is futile. I usually let her walk between me and the cart, "pushing" the cart with me. Thankfully she is a pretty good kid, so she will do this happily. For a while. But expecting her to do this for 30 minutes or more can be unrealistic. Even if she does, by the time we get to the (usually long) check out line she has had it.

Today's shopping experience, however, was almost a pleasure. I decided to let Sophie sit in one of those carts that has the cars attached in front. She loved it. She really thought she was "driving" us around the store, and only tried to get out a couple of times. We made it to the check out line, which was really long. I let Sophie get out and stand in front of the cart with me, preparing for a long wait. Just then, a Giant employee pushed my cart for me to a new line and proceeded to place my groceries on the belt. I looked up and noticed that this check out line had a sign that said "family friendly aisle." After I got over my shock, I thanked her profusely. The cashier then gave Sophie a bunch of stickers and Dora and SpongeBob activity sheets to play with. Sophie got back into the car part of the cart and happily played with the stickers and activity sheets.

So, THANK YOU, GIANT! I am almost looking forward to grocery shopping again next week!

Back to School!

On Thurday Sophie and I started "school" together! It is the Little Me/February 2's class at Beth Tfiloh. It's a great program that starts out as a "Mommy and Me" and then transitions to a regular 2 year old preschool class. We go together on Thursdays from 9-10:30, then in February I'll drop Sophie off on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11:30. I am so excited- this is the smooth transition we both needed. We had a great time! We already knew all of the other kids in the class because they were in "camp" with us over the summer. The teachers are really warm and energetic. Sophie loved doing her art project, hearing the stories, singing, playing with the other kids, and jumping in the fall leaves! One of the teachers took pictures and emailed them to the parents that night!

Growing!

Sophie is growing up so fast! She is really a little person now! I am really enjoying her personality and just hanging out with her. She has become so much more independent. She can feed herself with a spoon and fork pretty well. If I ask her to go do something or get something, she can do it with no problems. She brushes her own hair and teeth everyday. She can even dress herself as long as we are going somewhere where it is perfectly acceptable to be naked with all of her clothes worn on her head.

And Sophie isn't the only one growing- so is our family! We will G-d willing be welcoming another baby in late March! Sophie is very excited to be a big sister :)