Expansion

As requested by Keely, here are the pregnancy pics I've taken so far.

^ That's at 18 weeks, when the bump was just starting to grow. 

^ That's at 20 weeks (aka a month ago) right after we moved to Austin. This was also about when people could start telling that I'm with child (hehe) without me telling them. 

^ And that's tonight, at 24 weeks. Just 1 month after the last picture, and now I'm huge!! 

(Also note the embarrassing difference in skin color between my belly and my arm / face. This is because I read that exposing your belly to direct sunlight can put the baby in distress, since he can see now and all. So I'm not pale because I'm lazy, I'm pale because I'm a good mom and I cover my belly. The end.)

Keely also reminded me that we need to organize our trip to JKR, Julie! I know some less-than-savory characters are out there, but I personally think it would be worth it just to go swim in the Blue Hole / do the Wet Willy / go for a hike one day without interacting all that much with the staff. 

Last night I dreamt that I was in the staff lounge. It was actually pretty similar to break I had one day with Keely and Will - remember when we played Deathcab and napped and read magazines one day and no one else came in? It must have been toward the end of camp, because Will was a counselor... Back in the days when we floated around in the pool getting our pre-beach tans and snuck in the kitchen for one more cookie.

Once in a while I get nostalgic for camp. I think about the intense peace that I felt when I laid on the asphalt outside the staff lounge, watching the stars and talking on the phone. I miss feeling tall grass against my legs and that healthy, glowing feeling that you get when your arms and legs are taut and tan from a summer spent entirely outdoors. Now I just feel pasty and lethargic. 

But more often than not I'm praising the Lord that I'm not out there. It's way, way hot. And as tan as I would be, I'd also be really grossly sweaty. Ew. Also, pregnancy has made me the most impatient person ever. I can entertain children for about 5 minutes before I just give in to apathy and send them off to play by themselves.

Okay, I'm done. I'm rambling because Aaron's asleep and I'm wide awake and I wish I could tell him these things but he wouldn't understand, and besides, he's snoring like a cross between an asthmatic hog and a chainsaw running out of gas. 

Goodnight.

AHHH

OH MY GOD I JUST SQUEEZED MY BOOB AND LIQUID CAME OUT OH MY GOD.

A Gift from the Gods

Until today, the only "typical pregnant woman" thing I'd done was throw big, emotional fits over small issues. But really, I do that anyway, so it hardly counts. 

But today, I could. not. stop thinking about chocolate ice cream.

Seriously, I was trying to read an article about circumcision (ew) and I couldn't focus because all I wanted was cold, sweet, ice cream in my mouth RIGHT THAT SECOND.

But Aaron doesn't approve of non-healthy eating while I'm preggo with his child, so I had to wait until he had gone to the gym (for the second time today, stupid healthy person). Then I snuck across the street to Randalls and bought a pint of Rocky Road and a pound of strawberries. 

I hauled ass back to the condo so fast that I almost got hit by a car, and I had a stitch in my side. I just could not wait to crack that baby open and dive in. Seriously, if I could swim in this stuff right now, I would. 

And now my hands are sticky and my face has chocolate freckles and I'm grinning like a madman, because that was my very first real, hardcore craving, and it feels so good.

Bad Mom

My son is going to think that Dexter Morgan is his father if I keep watching episodes back to back. 

Actually, that would be pretty funny. Aaron can't get him to stop crying, then we turn on Dexter and he starts smiling. 

...Well, I'd laugh.

So Many Things

Okay I have a lot to write about. So feel free to skip over the boring parts. Living alone, even just for a week, has made me really talkative. Since I don't have anyone to vent all of the minute details of my life to anymore, I have to do it here. 

The move to Austin went well. Aaron and I managed to drive down here without killing each other, and he loves the condo. We're both still stressed about the job / money situation (That is, I don't have a job, he needs a new job, and neither of us have any money.) 

BUT, I have an interview at 3 o'clock today which might solve 2/3 of that problem. That is a story in and of itself, which I will probably tell you. Heh.

Anyway, I love being back. And it will only get better when Julie gets home from Europe! The condo is great, but it still feels like living in a hotel to me. The owners are moving some more furniture out today, and giving me two futons, so maybe once the looming threat of strangers entering my house is passed, it will feel more like home. 

The best part is living near family. My Aunt Sue is the best person to live alone next to. Why? She texts me when she's made oatmeal, is going for a walk, is wondering if I need to go to the store, etc. etc. And it's great, because my days are spent in my pajamas, looking mournfully at my empty email inbox, waiting for someone to want to hire me. Like a puppy at the pound, with my resume posted on my kennel, and all of these men and women in suits are passing by, glancing at it, and walking away. But Aunt Sue drags me out of the house and makes me do stuff, makes me eat stuff (besides ice cream and easy mac), and makes me think about something other than my own joblessness. 

Today we went on a hike up and down the hills near the condos - gawking at super expensive, lakefront houses are a good distraction from the pains I get from my too-tight-around-the-belly shorts. We went up to a vista overlooking the lake, and she pointed out this giant monstrosity of a house. Apparently it belongs to the owner / creator of Dungeons and Dragons. It's an authentic Italian villa - aka, he had it SHIPPED HERE FROM ITALY! How stupid. This guy spent $50 million to ship a house here just so that it was actually ancient rather than faux-ancient. At least when he dies he says he's giving it to the city to use as a museum for all of his renaissance art. 

So that's a fun fact that I learned today. Story 2: So as you know, I've been super lazy since Aaron left. My only obligation is to apply to jobs, which I can do with a few clicks of the mouse. So, basically, my life has been moving at a very slow pace. But today, the condo owners are coming to move their furniture at 12. So I go on a long walk with Sue at 9, get back at 11:30, and try to take the quickest shower ever, thinking the owners will be here any minute. At 11:50 something, I check my email and this company wants to interview me. Yay! So I respond that I'm free any time. Around 12:45 they respond, "How about 3 pm?" As in, today. So, still waiting for movers and owners and such to show, I try to throw on interview-appropriate attire, put on makeup, AND find a ride to a 3 pm interview. Because if no one can drive me, I have to be on the bus at 1:40. 

Luckily, Aunt Sue can drive me. What a total mess. And now it's nearing 2 pm, the owners still haven't shown up, and I'm all dressed and ready for an interview that isn't happening for another hour. Ha. That was the most chaos that I've had since school ended. 

In a quick baby update, Declan is kicking me night and day, and growing like a weed (Well, I'm assuming, because my belly sure is). Also, in a non-baby update, I'm pretty severely allergic to the pesticide that is used on nectarines. I found this out when I ate my first non-organic nectarine, and promptly got itchy, feverish, shivery, light-headed, and threw it up. Then I felt totally better. Lovely, I know.

Okay, I'm done. Hopefully I'll have a happy "I have a job!" update to write soon. Wish me luck.

And his name is...

Okay, first I have to give you all the condensed version of the speech that I gave to my friends when I was 8 weeks pregnant regarding my decision to keep the baby: 

Opinion time is over. Aaron and I have thought long and hard about the choice that's right for us and for our child, and now that we have made a decision, I'd appreciate if I didn't get anymore input from you, the peanut gallery, about whose lives I'm ruining and what a bad choice I've made. It's done, we're sure, the end. If you'd like to say "congratulations," you're more than welcome, but any negative commentary is just uncalled for unless I ask you directly what you think.

Of course, I'm giving you that speech now for an vastly different reason: many people will not like my son's name. In fact, when I told an anonymous friend yesterday, she looked at me with sad eyes and said, "Oh, Nat, really? Why?! I liked blah and blah and blah so much better!" 

And that's exactly what I don't want to hear. Honestly, I'm having to adjust to his name myself. The thing about naming a baby is that there are two parents who each have an equal say. And Aaron has some really off-the-wall ideas for baby names, so our compromise isn't exactly something I would have chosen if I had gotten to name him by myself. But I think it fits him, and I can imagine saying it for the rest of my life without regret. 

So without further ado (brace yourself for disappointment) he will be named: Declan River.

We both love Declan - it's the anglicized spelling of Deaglan, who was an Irish saint in the 5th century. It's the 347th most popular name in the U.S., but it's #68 in Australia and #73 in Scotland. It's pronounced DECK-lyn, and yes, there are personalized CDs available for Declans, I checked. 

Aaron and I decided on his middle name last night, in a roundabout sort of way. I had made a list of what I thought were suitable middle names (Thomas, Patrick, Joseph, William...) but of course Aaron hates them, says they're plain and boring and refuses to name his son something boring. So he suggests... "Uriah." NO. "How about Declan Frost?" Huh? No. "Wolf?" Wha? No way. So we went through the baby name book together and picked out 5 possible middle names, one of which was River. Then we each secretly ranked them. River came out as his #1 and my #2, so River it was. We started second guessing ourselves, so we decided to sleep on it. 

In the morning, I asked him what he thought about Declan's middle name. He leaned down to my belly and said, "Kick if your name is Declan River." And the baby kicked. So it was settled. And now if he ever hates his name, we can just tell him that he picked it himself and he can't blame us. 

Nothing Yet

I'm you're looking for a name announcement, keep twiddling your thumbs until at least tomorrow. 

I thought that Aaron and I would be able to sit down and have a conversation about it today, but I forgot that he's a total WORKAHOLIC and is working all three of his jobs today - cooking from 6 am to 2 pm, landscaping from 2 to 8, then bouncing at a club in Des Moines from 9 pm to 3 am. What is that, like a 21 hour day?!

Yeah, um... my days last approximately 14 hours max... Fall asleep by midnight, wake up at 10. Baby is sapping all of my energy. And all of my calories, apparently. Despite eating like a COW for the past month, I've lost another 5 pounds. This makes my doctor angry. He says that I should not be losing weight at this point, and that by not eating enough, I'm depriving my baby of vital nutrients. 

Okay, you can't fool me. I saw the ultrasound. That little dude has a belly to rival his mother's, and was measuring almost a week ahead on all of his measurements. He clearly isn't being deprived of anything. Besides, I'm totally eating enough food. I mean, I eat all the time. It's just that I don't really like fatty foods or red meat right now, so I'm gorging myself on fruits and veggies and pasta and chicken. 

I figure this is the only time in my life that I'll be ordered by a medical professional to eat a cheeseburger and a milkshake, so I'm going with it. But just to spite him, I also went out and bought a bunch of apples and worked out at the gym for an extra 15 minutes today :)

AUSTIN ON TUESDAY! I'm beyond excited.