Back to school

It's official... I am enrolled in the Masters in Educational Leadership program at UW-Oshkosh! I'm so pumped. I can't wait to get started.

The only caveat... the semester begins two weeks after my due date. Eeesh. That's cutting it a little close. But if I don't start this fall, I can't start until next summer since the introductory course is only offered every other semester.

Luckily the program advisor was really understanding. And since she teaches the intro course, she assured me that she'd be flexible with my attendance for the first few weeks. The course only meets one night a week for three hours. Hopefully I'll be up for it, but if not, I have her support to take it slow.

How to spend $721 in 5 minutes

It's easy! Simply purchase a crib, a changing table and a vacuum online. Proud to be pulling our economy out of the recession in just a few clicks. You're welcome.

First big purchase

We went baby shopping yesterday, with both our moms in tow. It was really fun, but a little overwhelming at first. There was so much to stuff to look at!

We went to shop for furniture, but left with a baby travel system (carrier, car seat, stroller). I was concerned about overpaying at a local children's speciality store, but their price was the same as Target's. And they repair any broken parts free of charge for the life of the product. Not too shabby!

On the move

I felt the baby move! It was like little bubbles rolling around inside my belly. So cool.

I thought I felt something earlier in the week, but I wasn't sure. Today, definately. That was our baby! Amazing.

Quite literally the worst music, ever

Ben and I are trying to trim the budget in preparation for the baby (and our one-income status). So we decided to switch cell phone carriers. Similar plans, similar coverage, $40/month savings. Right on.

But when I went to open a new account last night, my credit was denied. Why? Because when they type in my social security number, their computer tells them that I'm Craig T. Moody from Houston, Texas. The same loser who tried to buy a $40,000 Cadillac with my social security number last year. Barf. I hate that guy.

Apparently Craig T. Moody is now an alias on my social security number. Fantastic. What's even better is there is no way to remove him. He's in my records. Forever. It just gives me the creeps.

It doesn't appear that he committed any actual fraud with my social security number. Just that he tried. Last time I checked there was nothing unusual in my credit report. But he's freaked me out again, so I'm pulling another report. Just to be sure.

Normally it's really easy to pull your credit report online. But I froze my credit after the initial scare last year, meaning that I have to provide a PIN for any lender to access my credit. It also means that I have to call the credit bureau and prove to a representative that I'm actually me, and not some weirdo imposter.

I've now been on hold for the past 27 minutes with the world's worst hold music. I swear, they use it to weed out the weak.

(For the record, I didn't do anything weird or unsafe with my social security number. The police officer I talked to in Houston said that they've had problems with credit bureau staff selling social security numbers with good credit scores to criminals. Ew!

It's also possible that Craig T. Moody just made up a number and it happened to be mine. This is most likely since most criminals won't use a social security number with a different gender. That's actually how Craig T. Moody got caught. I'm a girl. He's not. The auto dealership found that suspicious.)

---

Update: My total hold time was 43 minutes. I was making friendly small-talk with the representative and said, "Wow, you must be busy today!" To which he responds, "No, it's actually a little slow." Wait, what? Then why the hell did I just wait on hold for 43 minutes?!?!?

The good news? My credit report looks fine. Nothing weird or out of the ordinary. The bad news? The representative I talked to said I will likely always struggle with in-store credit checks, since Craig T. Moody appears alphabetically before Samantha L. Zinth. Boo.

What it's all about

It's no secret that I'm a planner.

I pretty much have a five year life plan rolling around in my head at all times. I know how long I want to stay in our house (another 4 years max), when we should buy a new car (next month), and where our first post-baby vacation will be (Spain).

These aren't rigid plans by any means. I'm open to things evolving and changing. But I like having an idea of what's coming next.

Part of the plan in recent years has been for me to go back to school. UW Oshkosh has the master's program I'm looking for (Student Affairs in Higher Education), but I never really considered attending. I wanted to go to a larger school. I wanted to enroll in a more competitive program. I wanted to live in a new city.

Seeing a pattern here? The decision was all about me.

Ben was promoted at work recently. He went from a job that was fine and paid the bills, to a job with more responsibility that he really enjoys. It's challenging. It's interesting. Its given him a whole new perspective about his professional career.

Its been great to watch his attitude about work shift. He's taking pride in what he does. His days are long, but they're also more fulfilling. He really loves it. And then it hit me. It's not all about me anymore.

We've been married for three years. You'd think this realization would have come to me sooner. But truthfully, it didn't. I was still thinking primarily about what I wanted, not what was best for us.

It's not as if I was making these life decisions without Ben. He was open to and excited about a move. He was ready for a new adventure. He was incredibly supportive of my goals. But that's Ben. It would never occur to him not to put me first, even though he's happy and thriving right where we're at. He's an incredibly kind, wonderful, generous partner.

Somewhere between Ben's promotion and expecting a baby, I realized that uprooting our family was incredibly selfish. Especially when I can get the education I want right here. For now, I see that staying put is what's best for both of us.

After all, we have an incredible support network of family and friends. A home to call our own. And a life full of love and laughter.

That's what it's all about.

Booya

Try not to be blown away by my mad computer skills. A slideshow of the bump progress now appears in the column on the right. Click on it to see the full-size photos.

Bump Watch

Bump date: 18 weeks. Getting rounder! 

Weekend Away

My birthday weekend getaway was AMAZING.

We shopped. We ate. I read. Ben watched basketball. We both relaxed. It was devine.

The weather was beautiful. A little brisk, but not a cloud in the sky. It was the perfect weekend. The ideal way to celebrate my 27th birthday, and savor what little alone time we have left before baby.

Random Thoughts

A few random thoughts on a Friday morning...

1) I'm starting to think blonde hair washes me out. I need to find a happy medium between blonde and my natural dull brown color (ick). But for any major change to take place, I probably need to do a new base color, not just highlights. So it looks like I'm blonde until the baby arrives.

2) I'm really, really sad to leave Stella tomorrow. Like really sad. She's in great hands (my brother and sister-in-law are dog sitting), but I'm very anxious to go on our little weekend getaway. I literally wrote a page long document with care instructions. Ben reminds me that we'll only be gone for 27 hours. Can you imagine how I'll be leaving the baby?

3) I need to step up the exercise and water intake. I was great about working out through my first trimester, but once my doctor told me to stop running, I lost my motivation. Luckily, it's warming up and Ben and I have taken some long walks with Stella. But one was to Dairy Queen, so I'm not sure that counts.

Letting it all hang out

Turns out the Belly Band is God's gift to pregnant women. Man, is this thing comfortable.

And it looks like I purchased it just in the nick of time, as I have not one pair of pants that still fit. It seems that the belly popped overnight. Litearlly. I couldn't button the pants that I wore yesterday.

The maternity pants that I ordered last week arrived yesterday. Of course, they're not nearly long enough and the cut was horrible. Back to the drawing board.

An Engineering Marvel

This is how I have to wear my pants.

It's actually pretty comfortable (thanks to M for the tip). Unfortunately though, this method only goes so far. As I get bigger, my zipper will sink lower and lower. But it works for now. I'd like to maintain a relationship with my pre-pregnancy pants for as long as possible.

In other news, my mom took me maternity shopping on Saturday and we picked out some ridiculously cute stuff. Two darling, work-appropriate dresses (that don't even look maternity) and a cute, lightweight cardigan that isn't maternity, but will easily accomodate my growing belly.

Fashion pictorial when the bump becomes a little bigger.

Waist Not, Want Not

I only have one pair of work pants that I can still button. Luckily my jeans are all low-rise, so they seem to be holding up. But work wear is getting a little tight.

So I bit the bullet and ordered some maternity pants yesterday. This is a moment I've been dreading. I want to be comfortable, but I also want to be cute. And I have the added hassle of needing pants with an extra-long inseam.

Luckily Gap Maternity was able to accomodate. The black dress pants I ordered are super long and cut nicely. I even managed to find a pair of maternity skinny jeans (oxymoron?).

Now if only JCrew carried maternity. That would thrill me beyond belief.

Watch This

I'm doing it. I'm getting a cold ham sandwich for lunch.

The official recommendation is that pregnant women should avoid deli meats, unless the meat has been heated to steaming (to kill any possible lysteria). But wouldn't you know it, all I've been craving lately is a cold ham sandwich from Jimmy John's.

I asked my doctor about it on Monday, and she said the occassional deli sandwich would be fine. Weeks ago I vowed to trust my doctor's advice, and ignore anything that Google or the crazy mom bloggers told me. So I'm doing it. I'm having a delicious, thin-sliced, deli ham sandwich for lunch.

I guess you could say I'm living dangerously. On the edge. At the meat counter.

Bump Watch

Here we are... 16 weeks! My co-workers say I still don't look pregnant. But I feel rounder, and Ben says he can definately see a bump emerging.

You be the judge... bump or no bump?

Oh, hello!

My bad. I've been missing in action for the past week. But its been a busy one. The Community Foundation's new website launches on Monday, so I've been up to my ears in proofreading, page testing and HTML coding. And I'm in the middle of a great book (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), so I'm in bed reading nearly every chance I get.

We also had a busy baby week. We have a color for the baby's room (golden yellow) and a volunteer to paint while I'm gone this weekend (thanks, Julie). So when I'm not reading or working on the website, I've been trying to clean out the bedroom (turned storage area) that will soon house our child. Turns out we've accumulated a lot of stuff in the last four years!

What else? We started our Bradley birth class on Sunday. The Bradley Method prepares mother and partner to have a natural, unmedicated child birth. Our first class was all about nutrition and exercise throughout pregnancy. Good stuff.

We also had a doctor's appointment yesterday. The baby's heart beat is nice and strong (150 beats per minute), and I only giggled once this time. The nurse also told me which way to lean on the scale to make my weight go down. Score.

Fried Food Foe

It appears that they baby hates fried food.

This is particularily upsetting as a I love fried food. But the last few times I have consumed any sort of food dipped in oil, my body has recoiled into a bout of nausea.

This probably means the baby wants more nutritious items, and rightfully so. But part of the fun of pregnancy is being able to indulge a little, right?

Well, no dice. My only pregnancy cravings to date have been vegetables. And lots of them. I'm still on my spinach kick. Though I'm hoping the highly coveted bacon phase starts soon.

Pain in the...

I ran a 5K in December, very early in my pregnancy. I didn't stretch enough for the cold temps, and (moderately) pulled my right glute.

That was over three months ago. And wouldn't you know it, it's still bugging me. I stretch it, I heat it, I massage it, I rest it. But it continues to seize up on me whenever I run or walk. It's a literal pain in the ass.

My doctor says it's just one of the physiological complications of pregnancy. My body is so focused on growing a person, that my own muscle recovery suffers. And in turn, so do I. Just another reminder of what a total body experience pregnancy is.