Is it March Yet?

I have been feeling sad a lot lately, and I think that there are a couple factors that are majorly affecting my mood.

#1 is obviously the pregnancy, I am known to be a tad on the emotional side when I am not pregnant, so little Eloise (and all the hormones racing through her and I) has great effects on whether I am crying, laughing, moping, or anything else. :)

#2 is OBVIOUSLY the weather. For some reason, I cannot stand the winter any longer. I think it partly has to do with so much to look forward to in the spring and summer, and partly because I am not a huge fan of being cold (which seems to become more apparent as the years go by.) Luckily, sometimes I have some nice hot flashes that actually make my fingers and toes thaw out. :)

#3 is that I don't know what to do with my time...I thought I would love being graduated and working part-time for a while during the winter and summer, but I actually MISS being busy. I miss having tasks that I need to complete and having checklists and schedules, and etc. Maybe I just need to learn to relax, or maybe I need to find a productive hobby. Not sure.

More on this later. I need to think about what I REALLY want to do with my time and such until Eloise gets here. I know when she is here I will be so busy loving her and taking care of her I will be wishing I had 20 more hours in the day. :)

Valentine's Pics

Hello All!!

Ted and I went to Battle Creek this past weekend for Valentine's Day, and we had a super great time. It was nice to get away and have a change of pace and scenery. :)

We got down there on Thursday night and just went to bed because it was really late. On Friday, we met my Dad for breakfast and then waited for Sam and the girls to show up. They were running a little behind, so we met them in Kalamazoo and went to Panera for lunch. Then Sam helped me register for baby things at the Babies'R'Us. Ted and I had no idea that you could need/want soooo many things for a baby. It was a little overwhelming.

So, after that little mini-adventure was over, my Dad, Ted and I baby-sat Liv and Izabella and took them to Carmen's basketball game. Carmen is Tami's (my dad's gf) daughter. She played great, but they didn't end up winning.

Izabella @the game

Olivia @ the game

On Saturday, we all went over to my Grandpa's for lunch and hung out with him for a couple of hours. It is always nice to visit him, I love how I always get overflowed with memories when I walk in the door. :) Then, we just hung out at my Dad's for a while. The best part of hanging out with my neices this weekend was hearing them sing LOTS of Abba songs that they have memorized from Momma Mia! (Here we go again! my, my how I can resist you!)






That night, Valentine's night, my dad had planned a special surprise for Tami that no one was allowed to talk about, so that is why I never mentioned what I was doing on Valentine's Day because Tami reads this blog! ;) We drove to Marshall and Tami was surprised with a concert by a Frank Sinatra impersonator (which is kinda REALLY COOL because my Dad REALLY likes Frank and I think Tami does too.) But...the best part was when the impersonator asked where in the audience my Dad and Tami were, BECAUSE my dad had emailed him asking him to dedicate a song that my Dad had sung to Tami on one of their dates about 7 years ago. It was so romantic, and so perfect. Sam and I were really proud of my Dad for doing such a cool non-dad thing! haha

Me, My Dad, and Samantha before the show.

Ted and I @ the Show

Tami and my Dad

On Sunday, Tami made us all a delicious breakfast. Then, Ted and I had to drive the four hours home because we had to be back in time for youth group at 4pm. We went bowling..it was fun.

Overall, a great weekend! Now, I just have to work this weekend and the next, and then Ted and I get to go to TimberWolf Camp with our church. It is like a family camp, and it was a great time last year. This year, Ted's parents are going, and I know they are going to love it.

Have a good week!

22.5 Weeks!

I can't believe I am already 22 weeks pregs! It is amazing how the time is flying and how it is almost SPRING already! Well..at least it feels like Spring today with temps in the 50's!!

I finally had a pic taken and have posted it, I am sad that I am not organized enough to have a pic taken the same day every week to show my belly-bursting progress, but oh well. Here is my 22.5 week pic (on the right hand side-bar). I admit I do not look to good because I have a cold that will just NOT leave me alone. But, the baby is as happy as can be. :)

Ted felt our little baby girl move for the first time last night. I can feel her all the time, but only certain movements are big enough and strong enough for an "outsider" to feel. Ted is soo excited about the baby too. It is so cute about how he talks about her all the time. Last night he said he wished she was here right now so that he could cuddle up and fall asleep on the couch with her. When I mentioned things like crying, pooping, and spitting up, he decided he could use the next couple months to prepare. Haha!

Anyway, in other news, Ted and I are going down to Battle Creek this weekend to celebrate my Dad's birthday! I think we are actually going to leave on Thursday night since neither of us work on Fridays. Sam, Bill and the girls (Liv and Izabella) are coming as well. We haven't seen them since Christmas!! We also get to see my Grandpa and celebrate his birthday which is just one week away from my dad's. Tami (my dad's girlfriend) will of course be there as well, so it is going to be a super fun weekend. Ted and I are excited to get away for a couple of days.

Enjoy the fabulous day!! It is sooooo gorgeous outside!

Oh, and here are the latest pics of 2 of my favorite neices.

New Bedding!

Okay, so I have liked this bedding at Pottery Barn for a while now, but it was too expensive. But, the other day when I went to go "check up" on it again, it was on sale!!!

Ted and I have needed some new sheets and a duvet cover for our down comforter ever since we have been married. And, so we decided now is the time. :) It will go beautifully in our room with slate blue walls and some new art we just got from this painter on ETSY. I will post pics of our updated room when the bedding arrives, but for now...

Here's the pics off of potterybarn.com

(we got the marigold striped sheets to match the bedding, instead of the sheets shown with the duvet cover.)

I am probably more excited than I should be to receive this stuff in the mail!

It's a Girly!!

Hey, so if you have not heard yet...Ted and I found out that we are having a GIRL!!! A perfect, healthy, beautiful little girl.

We are soo excited, and we called A LOT of people yesterday. We have already begun planning things and thinking about the future when it comes to having a daughter. And, Ted is already writing a song for her. :)

I am going to post some ultra sound pics that are super adorable, but it will have to wait. Our computer went kapoot the other day, so now we have no way of getting online at home. I doubt when this will be fixed, because we don't really have money for a new computer...so HOPEFULLY one of our friends will be able to fix it. Or, at least get the 5 years' worth of pics that are stored on it. I know, I know...stupid me for not having them backed up on a flash drive or something..Boo!

So, I won't be able to post as regularly as I was, but I will still do my best to give everyone updates about the baby and the rest of the Polleys' clan. :)

I can't believe we are having a GIRL!!! YAY! And, she is perfectly healthy and normal sized and everything. She is right on track. The doctor said she is super active too, which is a good sign because that means that her central nervous system is developing on track. It was so amazing to see our little girl moving around inside of me.

Okay, I know this post is scattered, but I'm on a time limit, so I gotta go!

Love you all!

16 Hours!!!

Well, tomorrow is the day. 9:00am to be exact.

I have to drink 32 ounces of water by 8am. I am guessing this is to make the ultra sound easier to do…not sure though. All I know is that by the time that appointment is over I am going to have to pee like crazy!!

I can’t believe that Ted and I are going to find out what our little baby is!! We are so excited and we can’t wait to pick a name, start the nursery, buy some items, and plan showers. AHH!!...SO EXCITING!

In other news…Ted and I have decided to go to Florida! We are going to go March 16th – 24th. Ted’s parents are going as well, and we get to stay at the condo they rented. So, it is like a partial-family va-ca, since the whole family can’t be there. Ted and I are also going to visit my Grandma Barbara, who lives in The Villages during the winter. (I have an interesting statistic about that place if you are interested...). :)

We bought our tickets the other day and we got airfare for $80 apiece—round trip! So, that is kind of unbelievable. Having that great deal made it a lot easier and justifiable to rent a car…which means we can go around on our own and stuff. :)

We are staying in a town called Dunedin. It is north of Tampa Bay and near Tarpon Springs. Personally, it didn’t really matter to me where we went, as long as we went somewhere WARM. Ted and I nixed our Chicago vacation idea, because of that soul fact…too COLD. So, in about 44 days we will be jetting off for 70 degree weather (hopefully, I know FL has it cool days).

I am going to be about 27 weeks pregs during the trip and my doctor said it would be okay to travel, unless something happens between now and then. He gave me all the details and precautions you have to take when on planes or for just sitting for long periods of time in general. But, he said, no worries.

Hope you enjoy the 21 week pic! I have grown a lot. I can feel it and that pic definitely shows!

**Also, I am 99.9% sure that I have felt the baby. Actually, I know I have, I am just being doubtful, because I am waiting for that first huge kick! :)

Pregnancy Update

So here are some the weird/funny/sad but true things that have been happening to me since I have become pregnant.

1. I have mastered the art of eating a whole pint of ice cream in one setting. (Ted calls me an ice creamivore.)

2. I have cried over spilt tuna.

3. I realized I do not like when borderline strangers come up and pat my belly OR ask me if I have "a baby or something cookin' in there."

4. I have cried over underdone brownies.

5. I have narrowed down my wardrobe to 3 pairs of pants.

6. I have cried over someone sticking their finger in a pan of raw brownies, and therefore getting batter on the side of the pan, which then makes them imperfect!! (no, but seriously..)

7. I have craved nachos and fettucine alfredo at the same time, and made a request to have a sampling of both, in which I would only want the fettucine IF it came with bread sticks...(that whole scenario did not turn out well).

8. I have cried over a movie, TV show, book, song and more.

9. I have made it part of my morning routine to check for stretch marks (they are a curse in my family).

10. I have cried over having to sleep in a caboose with the nearest bathroom 100 yards away.

11. I have realized the need for a full 9 hours of sleep.

and

12. I rub, pat, tickle, talk and pay attention to my belly more than I ever have before. And so does Ted.


As you can see...I have cried a lot. But these episodes of crying usually only last a minute or two, especially if Ted is there to rescue me by making me laugh.

One of his favorite sayings lately is, "Man, you are PREG-NANT!" and then, "Don't worry Pregs, it's just _____________." And then he fills in the blank about whatever I am crying about. And, then most of the time I feel silly for crying in the first place and we end up laughing about it while tears are still streaming down my face.

So, 6 days until the big day of finding out what the little baby is. Here are our guesses:

Me: Boy
Ted: Girl

We will have to see! It does not matter though, we are just so happy to have a little baby on the way!

L-M-N-O-P

For those of you who are looking for an easy, funny and quick book to read...I have the PERFECT suggestion. I just read a book called Ella Minnow Pea and it was one of the funiest books I have read in awhile, and it only took me 2 days to read the whole thing.

The book takes place on a fictional island off the coast of the Carolinas. The island is founded around this guy named Mr. Nollop who invented the sentence,

"The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."

Some of you may have no idea what significance that sentence has, but it uses all of the 26 letters of the alphabet using only 36 letters altogether. Which I am led to believe is a pretty hard task. They use the sentence to show what fonts look like.

So, anyway, the island has a statue built in his honor and they become an island that loves the use of language and its' letters. But, the letters of the sentence start to fall off the statue and as they do, the leaders of the island decide that those letters can't be used as part of the language anymore. The people are not allowed to speak or write any words that have the letters that fall off the statue.

The book is written in the form of letters written back and forth to different islanders, and as each letter falls, the letters and the rules of the island become more and more funny. It is a silly book, but it is one worth reading just for fun.