"Above the rooftops, eyes closed we're gonna spin through the stars, our arms wide as the sky, we gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world...When the kids are old enough, we're gonna teach them to fly...You and me together could do anything..." -DMB You and Me

I was sitting on the couch thinking all of these thankful thoughts and so I decided to share.

I'm thankful that today I started my day out with a brisk walk with Daisy and Holly. Exercise is always more pleasant when it is done with a friend!

I'm thankful for the woman at Dillard’s today who saw me looking longingly at a super cute fitted Kensie dress and said, "Don't worry, you'll get back into those clothes soon enough!" I am also thankful for the associate who did NOT make me feel dumb when I had to walk up to her at the jewelry counter with a ring box attached to my ring finger b/c I couldn't get the fake wedding ring I was trying on off. (My fingers are too large to comfortably wear my wedding rings now...no ankle swelling but my fingers have gone up a half size or so depending on the weather.) The associate was kind enough to give me some lotion and tell me not to worry, the rings would actually come off. She also went on to tell me that plenty of women who weren't even pregnant got rings stuck on their fingers...which actually made me feel better.

I'm thankful I still fit in size medium maternity jeans :) I now own a stunning new pair.

I'm thankful that my kids at school feel like it is appropriate to hug me at any point in the day...I had two just come up and give me random hugs today when I was CLEARLY in the middle of teaching a small group and later when I was organizing a bunch of spirals. I'm glad they feel like they can approach me. I also appreciate the fact that one kiddo not only gives me her "good afternoon" hug, but also feels the need to pat Creighton...i.e. my belly, every day. (I think she's got some Borrego in her!)

I'm thankful that after a long day at work I got to come home to Brian putting the finishing touches on the dinner he made for us because he has decided that I would probably prefer not to cook dinner at the end of the day when I am feeling tired and rather large. I'm thankful that we get to laugh together again. It really hasn't been that long since we just couldn't. A year has gone by quickly.

I'm thankful that I accomplished a quilting goal. I set out to do finish a baby quilt for a friend and I got it done in the time frame I specified. I just set small goals and met them! Yay! I'm going to have to apply this small goal setting thing again in other areas of my life!

I'm thankful my dad still calls just to check in and "see how I'm doing" every week.  I appreicate that he can get excited with me over whatever it is I'm excited about! I want to be like that with my own kids!

I'm thankful that Daisy was the sweet, kind, and even CALM dog that I know she can be from the moment I got home today to the present. She's adorable!

I'm thankful that I get to carry Creighton right now and will experience the gift of having him someday soon! It’s so amazing when he rolls over, sticks an arm or a leg out actually moving my stomach, or even pokes me in the ribs because there is this real little life inside of me!

I'm thankful for my good friends who care and for the richness and depth they add to my life. I'm thankful for their realness and our inside jokes!

I'm thankful that when I finish this blog and finally tiptoe to bed, that Brian will roll over and wake up just enough to put his arm around me so we can fall asleep together.

I'm just really thankful!

If only I could have a bowl of pho...

PHO GA Soup!

So, this is all that I wanted this evening for dinner.  Sadly, because I don't live near a variety of restaurants, pho was unavailable for me this evening. I googled, and I hoped furiously that there would be a place I could get the pho in Killeen since it is an army town, but alas, I could find none listed online...well, one but I couldn't tell if it was in a shady part of Killeen or not, so, I passed.  As soon as I can get to KIM PHUNG restaurant, in Austin, TX, I am there!  I really thought about driving there tonight, but since I had no other reason to drive to Austin and I actually couldn't think of something that I needed to buy there, I did not.  Sadness.

Instead, I got the best substitute available: Thai food from a little quick prep place in town.  Now, my thai food was tasty, but I have to say Pad Mee, is just not the same as Pho soup!  (But the peanut sauce was awesome...for my fresh spring rolls!)

That's all, I just needed to share about my fruitless search for pho soup this afternoon/early evening.

30 week check up

I had my 30 week check up today with Gretchen (she sees me every other time or so) and she is this lovely grandmotherly type woman who was very kind today.  She told me not to stress about gaining 3 lbs in 2 weeks, but just be careful since Creighton is about to start growing like mad.  (Seriously- 3 LBS in 14 days?!!! UGH!) She also was kind enough to tell me that it looked like I was gaining all the weight right where Creighton is, so I guess that is good.  I did confess that it was not the only place I had gained weight, but she seemed unfazed.  Sometimes it's nice to have some female empathy. :)  I did however walk a brisk 30 minutes with Daisy today and pushed through when I started to get the lovely Braxton-Hicks (Sp?) contraction deals...thankfully they just hit at the end.

All was well with Creighton- he had a strong heartbeat of 152 bpm...which Gretchen told me meant he was either quite excited over the breakfast I had eaten or he was still hungry...I went with excited, but later ate a spoonful of pb just in case he was actually hungry. 

I also decided to share with Gretchen the entire story of how I had a recent panic filled dream.  Why I feel that I need to share the WHOLE story with people, I am not sure, but I do think part of me was gauging her response to see how normal dreams like mine were.  She didn't act like I was crazy, so I took that as a good sign. :)

My dream was- in a nutshell- that I had just delivered Creighton, but the doctor was not Russ, instead it was some chick who did not care at all and the nurses had taken Creighton out right away after he was born and they would not tell me what was wrong.  Finally I basically demanded that they tell me what was going on and all they would say was "Something's wrong with him- he's too small." At which point, I began to have major trouble breathing in my dream...we're talking gasping for breath repeatedly.  I then (in reality) woke up from my dream gasping for air and crying.  Brian woke up and told me what I was telling myself- it was only a dream and helped me calm down, which I did after a few minutes, but still- that dream was not pleasant.

Gretchen gave me all sorts of reasons that I might have dreamed that and told me it was pretty normal. All in all, a good little visit.

After that I came home and I started experimenting with some new free-motion quilting. My aunt sent me a website where this lady is designing a new free motion quilting design a day for a year.  Today I tried one and it turned out ok for a first attempt.  I'll continue to work on it though! Here's the link to her blog if you are interested:  http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/ I feel inspired after searching through her ideas. I could totally come up with my own ideas I'm sure! I just need to get on it! Um...and improve my skills!

That's it for now. Will post more later this week on last weekend's trip to Wimberley!