Top Ten Things I LOVE About Being Pregnant

10. Gaining a measure of empathy for those who suffer from indigestion/heartburn (things I had never previously experienced).
9. Feeling gratitude for my general good health during my non-pregnant life.
8. Buying tiny, cute articles of clothing.
7. Feeling the baby kick (as long as it's not in the ribs or the bladder).
6. Hearing Jon talk to the baby.
5. An excuse to refuse to wear clothing that is not comfortable.
4. Thicker hair...for real.
3. Something on my body finally sticks out more than my bum.
2. My students (and Jon) will pick things up off the floor if I drop them.
1. A good excuse to get out of absolutely anything I don't feel like doing...and to do whatever I want to, for that matter!

Awesome

So, I just found out that "up to 6 weeks paid maternity leave" actually means "as-many-unused-sick-days-as-you-have-saved-up paid maternity leave". I started the year with 10 sick days. I have about 6 left. Cool.

Medicine?

Earlier in my pregnancy when I was still having my love affair with nausea I was feeling really sick one time in the middle of the night. When Jon woke up due to my commotion, I told him I was feeling really terrible. In his half-conscious state the best comfort he could manage was to mumble "medicine?"

Tonight at our prepared childbirth class, we were practicing some breathing and positions for labor, and after about 2 minutes of practice (the dads were supposed to be comforting the moms), Jon whispered in my ear "Honey, I highly encourage you to get an epidural. I don't think we can take this much longer."

I'm glad he's so supportive!!

A step in the right direction...

We did it. We made an offer on a house (ahem, townhome)! It's in a great neighborhood, has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a deck and fenced-in back yard and a finished basement with a big family room, and office and a laundry room. That's the good news. The might-be-good-but-might-be-bad news is that it is a "short sale", which, for the non-real estate savvy of you, basically means that the seller is close to foreclosure, owes more on the property than it is worth, and has been approved by the bank to sell it (at a loss to the bank) before foreclosure actually takes place. This could be good because since the seller and the bank want to avoid foreclosure, we could possibly get a great deal. It could be bad, because since our offer has to be approved not only by the seller, but also by the bank, it could take a long time to go through (or could not go through at all)...basically the opposite of what you would think the term "short sale" means. So this is definitely not an announcement that we've bought a house, but simply that we have taken the first step in what is hopefully the right direction. This is the place...
We really like it, so keep your fingers crossed for us that everything will work out!

Roommate Reunion!

Awhile ago I wrote about my sophomore year roommates and all the fun we had. Yesterday, three of us got together to catch up and have some more fun. Lisa and her family are in the DC area for a conference Bill is attending for a few days, and Alisha lives just outside of Philadelphia, which made my place in Baltimore a perfect meeting spot. Lisa brought her three boys (Sammy and Michael, 3, and Ben, almost 1) and Alisha came with her three kids (Autumn, 5, Lincoln, 2 and Caeli, 3 months). So we had a total of six kids under 6 in our two bedroom apartment for 5 hours. And it was great!

(L-R: Michael, Autumn, Caeli, Lincoln, Ben, Sammy)

They all got along really well and played the hours away. We didn't even have to resort plopping them in front of a DVD, which, as a non-mom, would have been my first idea.

More importantly, it was SO FUN to hang out with the girls. I have really missed that living out here so far away from most of my friends and family. We looked at old pictures and had a good laugh at most of them, and then just mostly talked, with a little cooking, eating, feeding children, and cleaning up on the side. I loved watching them be moms! They are so good at it, and I learned a lot.

(L-R: Lisa, Alisha, Sarah's Belly, Sarah)

Thanks for making the effort, girls! We need to do this again sometime! And Chelle, Angela and Amanda...WE MISSED YOU!!!!

Hunting Help

For those of you who were wondering if Jon and I are planning on staying in MD for awhile, I thought I would let you know that we are house hunting. So, yes. We have a realtor (who came highly recommended, and so far does not disappoint), have been pre-approved for a loan, and have looked at several properties. And, just to clarify, when I say "house-hunting", what I actually mean is "townhome hunting". Around here, that's pretty much the only way to start out. The good news is, almost all townhomes have 3 floors (including finished basements), and generally run just shy of 2,000 sq feet. So, not quite as tiny as you might think.

As we all know, "it's a great time to buy", which, on the east coast means "it's finally somewhat affordable to buy". It's kind of depressing that we are probably going to have to spend on our first home (townhome) as much as, or more than what my parents spent on their current home. Five years ago. But, you do what you've gotta do, and we are actually seeing some things that, all things considered, are quite reasonable. It's exciting!

Neither Jon nor I are particularly "handy" (I always remind him that he's an engineer, and therefore, in my mind, should be able to fix just about anything...apparently an in-depth understanding of electricity, however, does not qualify you to, say, build a cabinet, install a toilet, hang dry wall, or even wire a house, for that matter...oh well). Despite our sad lack of abilities in this area, we are feeling ambitious enough to, say, strip ugly wallpaper and re-paint, or rip up old carpet and hire someone to put in new stuff.

That said, for those more experienced in this area than I (or those who have just thought about it more than I have...which isn't saying TOO much), what are the most important things to you about where you live? What are the must-haves, and what are the can-live-withouts? Which home improvement projects are probably over our heads, and which are doable? We can use all the advice we can get, so please share!

It's so beautiful...

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but no school is so delightful...