Fat and Happy

So I've had a request to "show everyone how fat you've gotten". Although my first thought was to knock this person flat onto the ground and give them a severe beating, I quickly came to my senses and thought "Calm down Christina....he is your husband and the father of your future child and who will change light bulbs if he's in the hospital?....breath.....breath". Haha! If anyone it wasn't Jason, he's learned to walk very delicately around the topic of weight lately. So for those of you who haven't seen me lately, or those of you who are stalking me on-line and need to put a face to a name so that when you kidnap me in Target parking lot, you'll be sure to get the right person....here ya go!

Somewhere around 18 or 20 weeks



Doing the typical pregnant stance at 25 weeks. Not sure why all us

pregnant people feel this is the way to pose in pictures, as if my hands really need to outline where the baby is...just incase you weren't sure!

All in all I've been feeling really good. I had a doctor's visit 2 weeks ago that was interesting. Let me paint you a picture. (Warning: being a nurse I've forgotten what tends to be acceptable topics of conversation and what takes things too far, so read at your own risk) So I go to my monthly check up and first thing they do is give you a cup for a urine sample. Now I'm not sure about anyone else, but for me that usually entails having to strip to just my socks as I haven't quite mastered the art of urine sample collection. Let's just say I've learned to keep a spare change of clothes in my purse! (what? Too much info??) So after struggling to get RE-combobulated (that's the opposite of discombobulated) in a 4x4 bathroom in a short amount of time so as not to draw attention to the fact that I'm inept at urine collection, I exit the bathroom breathing heavy and sweating profusely. Next it's on to my favorite part of the exam, the scale! Once again I try and strip to my socks, but they strongly discourage it since the scale is out in the open. So I stick with tossing my shoes and coat to the side. About 4 people came running full speed at the blood curdling scream I released as I saw what my current weight was. Then, since I was nice and calm having realized I weighed roughly the size of a trailer, they took my blood pressure. Genius! Great timing! I'm sure the reading will be normal! Surprise Surprise.... my blood pressure is high!! So I met with the doctor who said with my weight gain, increased blood pressure, and protein that was in my urine I have the pleasure of going back again in 2 weeks so they can monitor me and see if the protein goes away and if my blood pressure goes down. Here's an idea, maybe you should take my blood pressure first before putting me through the emotional roller coaster of peeing in a cup and weighing myself! I go again the day before Thanksgiving and hopefully things have settled down.

So other than that, I've been feeling really great, Sparkle is kicking up a storm, and we're starting to think about nursery colors and how to decorate the room. We're looking forward to eating a huge Thanksgiving dinner at the Farm and seeing how far this maternity skirt can stretch. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Until next time!

How could they?!!?

Today is a very important day for Americans all across the country. As I awoke to my alarm clock playing stars and stripes and with my American flag firmly gripped in my hand I made my way to my computer with a sense of pride in our country. That is until I saw this headline on MSNBC which caused me to lose all hope in our future: "Twinkies to shrink into 100-calorie snack packs " It goes on "Hostess Twinkies are becoming the latest product remade and repackaged into 100-calorie snack packs, a product some analysts say could do well given that more people are packing their own lunches in the slumping economy. The maker of the golden yellow, creme-filled cake is launching "Twinkie Bites" nationwide in stores on Monday. It's also introducing a snack pack featuring strawberry cupcakes as it extends the 100-calorie pack line originally aimed at women who wanted to snack more sensibly. And while Leavitt notes that the original Twinkie come in at 150 calories, people asked for a lightened version and the company got to work. They didn't want to just shrink the Twinkie, known for its elongated shape, Leavitt said, so they created three, miniature round versions. Leavitt said people enjoy having multiple bites rather than just the one product."

WHAT?!?!? I thought it was election day...not April Fool's day!! Please tell me this is some cruel joke!! I thought we lived in a democracy where all earth-shattering changes were to be voted on by the American people! I didn't vote for this!! Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, has decided that in our slumping economy American's don't want the traditional oblong 150 calorie Twinkie, but instead would rather drown our sorrows in three tiny bite sized "cakes" that total 100 calories! They say they are targeting "women who want to snack more sensibly". Who are these stupid women who are ruining the foundation of our country?? If you want to snack responsibly maybe you should be reaching for a carrot stick and not a pack of twinkies!!!!!! I am a woman who doesn't want to snack responsibly and am sickened that, not only am I being robbed of 50 cream filled calories, but now I have to exercise when I am forced to reach 3 times into a package to eat 3 Twinkie bites?! And did anyone think about how this will work when I'm driving down the road enjoying the goodness known as a Twinkie? Before I could just greedily shove one whole Twinkie into my mouth without ever breaking eye contact from the road or missing a gear as I cruised past multiple gyms on my way to get my McDonald's fix. But now?! Now, I have to attempt to balance a package of 2 more cakes on my lap as I'm "sensibly" shoving the first tiny bite sized cake into my mouth while attempting to shift gears and then having to continually look to down ensure my lap of Twinkies hasn't gotten cream filling all over my clothes or rolled onto the ground and splattered all over my Wendy's take out bag!

The article concludes by saying : "It's not some impostor like some portion control products would be," Leavitt said. "From that standpoint it eats like a Twinkie, it smells like a Twinkie, it tastes like a Twinkie. " Oh really Mr. Leavitt?!?!?! You're probably one of those people who thinks everything tastes like chicken too!! I will know the difference!! As I'm crying and attempting to drown my sorrows in calories...I'LL KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BECAUSE I CAN COUNT!!! THREE IS NOT ONE!!!

What's next?? Ho Hos will become bite sized and just called Hos? Or maybe we should just rename them all together since the name HoHos is quite provocative!!

Goodbye old friend. I need to drown my sorrows....in a carrot stick.

Congratulations Ben and Molly!!

Well it was off to Ohio for the 2nd Watkins' wedding in a month and what a beautiful wedding! Jason, Nancy and I broke the trip up a bit and left Thursday night and drove to Buffalo where we spent the night at the Hilton Garden Inn. After late night (or was it early morning by that time??) McDonald's sundaes and raiding the bathroom of all the little sample size shampoos and lotions it was back on the road and heading toward Strasburg, OH. Once arriving at Strasburg we checked into our hotel and then headed down to help Molly and Ben set up the reception site. That night a bunch of us went and ate at the Amish Door the food was SO good and SO not good for you! "Yes I'll take the fried chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, ham, and a coronary blockage please!!" Strasburg has a LARGE amish population and it was so cool to see about 10 horse and buggies tied up outside of the restaurant. At one point I must have become Amish struck and I'd decided I wanted to sell my car and start riding around Albany exclusively in a horse and buggy. Who needs more than one horse power? heated leather seats? air conditioner/heater? a radio? seat belts? air bags? Not me!! At this point Jason decided I must be delusional from low blood sugar and he quickly forced me to drink a large glass of OJ. After reminding me that I forget to water my one plant on a regular basis...how would I remember to feed my "automobile" it's grains every day I recovered from my quick bout of insanity it was back to the wedding!! So for this wedding I took the pictures while telling Jason that I would blow his pictures from last wedding out of the water... hence the ENORMOUS amount of pictures! I decided to save you from scrolling through 28 pages of pictures and put them into a slideshow. Enjoy!!