Flash Bulb Friday

Summer 2008 - St. Simons Island, Georgia

Not long after I broke up with The Ex, my good friends Rach and Lisa whisked me away to one of my favorite places in the world... St. Simons Island.

 

It was good for my soul. I can't wait to go back and experience it with Puff and Bimmer. It will have a whole new, more special, meaning once we've done that.

Visit Cola

I've been a resident of the state of South Carolina for almost 12 years now. The first 6 1/2 were spent in Columbia, where I was a student at USC. (Go Cocks!) In that time, I feel like I have been to a lot of far corners of the state and have posted HERE about a trip to Myrtle Beach and HERE about a trip to Folly Beach. But there is a lot more to SC than the beaches! As my avid readers know, Puff and I go to the mountains quite often... HERE.

I will never forget being on our honeymoon cruise and having a couple from New York stare at us bewildered when we told them that we didn't live near the beach. Their faces almost made me want to laugh. Now, I'm not claiming to be a geography champ (although it is definitely a huge interest of mine) but I would've been pretty sure that anyone who has been to school would realize that the state of South Carolina isn't just a sliver of land that borders only the ocean. But, I digress...

Since I'm hopefully super close to giving birth, I thought I would do a series of entries about the three major cities in SC. Today, we're starting with Columbia.

My top pick of a place to visit? The Horseshoe on USC's campus. With the school being such a backbone of the town, it would be dumb to miss it. The Horseshoe is the epitome of the college experience, in my mind. Old, historic buildings with pavered pathways winding under giant trees cascading over the students. The campus is huge... you don't have to see it all. The revamped Russell House in the center of campus is a perfect stop to get some gear from the bookstore. It would really be a shame to come away from this town without something that read "Cocks" on it!

Other sites to see? Check out the state house grounds, the state museum, the children's museum, and definitely Riverbanks Zoo. These are all conveniently located in or near downtown, and the Hampton Inn in The Vista is a perfect place to stay! Now, for food? Hands down, my favorite place to eat is Pasta Fresca, which is just outside downtown in the Forest Acres area. Their creamy marinara makes me cream myself! Gervais and Vine is a great tapas and wine bar in The Vista, but get there early or you will have to wait! For lunch, Groucho's Deli is a Columbia institution. There are lots of locations around town these days, but the one in Five Points has that "vintage" feel that me and my friends remember fondly from our college days. Oh! And dessert you ask? Nonnah's is a no-brainer! On a weekend evening, you'll have to wait for a table, since the place is small. But I've never been disappointed! They even serve up some bananas foster on occasion! My mouth is literally watering just at the thought!

I would recommend some bars and clubs, but since it's been a loooooooooong time since I lived there, I'm afraid I'm just too old for that. I'm sure some things haven't changed though... Five Points is the area close to campus with the typical college-scene bars, clubs, and restaurants. I went out drinking here ONCE. I distinctly remember cheese fries at the end of the evening. I preferred The Vista area, since the bars were nicer and had an older crowd. (They also didn't card at most places, which made our underage debauchery much easier! Plus, older guys buy you drinks... college guys do not.)

Would I suggest specifically coming to SC for a trip to Cola? Nope. But is it a nice place to stop for a night or a weekend, perhaps en route to the beach, or accompanied by another SC city? Absolutely. You probably just don't want to come in July or August. They don't call it the armpit of the state for nothing!

P.S. Check out a friend's blog, Converted Southerner, as she sometimes posts about places and happenings in the Columbia area!

Breathing Room

 

I'm not gonna lie... for the past 5 weeks, I had really, really, been hoping I would never get to this entry. I was hoping there would be photos of a squishy baby to post, instead of photos of an increasingly squishy me. I am disappointed this pregnancy has taken so long. If only because I was sorta given false hope by the fact that I was already dilated last week. Not to mention the fact that Bimmer is riding so low in there. I'm pretty sure if I had sex right now, she'd get poked in the head.

Oh yeah... and I was having regular contractions at about 11 minute intervals for several hours on two separate occasions! I was soooo close! In fact, I was having those contractions when I took my 38 week photos. I figured I might as well try to get them in under the wire. Little did I know, I had a bit more time.

I'm tired of my gigantic boobs. I'm tired of my carpal tunnel. I'm tired of my thighs that rub together. I'm tired of not being able to sit with my legs together. I'm tired of not being able to properly groom myself because I have to give an Olympic effort to shave my legs or cut my toenails. I'm tired of my double chin. I'm tired of not being able to sleep, sit, stand, or walk comfortably. I'm tired of peeing every half hour. I'm tired of being afraid to venture too far from the house. I'm tired of not being able to do all the things I used to be able to do. I'm tired of feeling like my body has been overtaken by some strange alien who is transforming me into something and someone else!

Although, with that being said, I'm actually more OK with this stage of pregnancy than I was with those first 12 nausea-filled weeks at the start. Those totally sucked worse.

One bright side? I have successfully avoided getting the linea negra (dark line from belly button) and my belly button never popped out. Oh yeah, and I have no stretch marks!

So... what did the doctor have to say today????

Ha... pretty much nothing new. I really wish all these damn doctors would get on the same page with their information. The basic gist is that I am now 80% effaced and 3cm dilated, but they won't induce me this week because it's my first baby. The hospital won't let them induce earlier than 39 weeks without legitimate concern. And since the baby isn't over 8 lbs. (or they don't think she is yet) that's not an option.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Every visit their information changes. And I'm tired of it. I'm also overwhelmed. I greatly appreciate everyone's concern, and please don't take this the wrong way, but I can't be texting, emailing, calling, and Facebooking everyone at once. My priorities are my husband, my father, and my mother. From there, everyone will get information in due time. You *know* I will be keeping you updated if I go to the hospital. So let's just please leave it at that for right now.

I just need a minute to breathe.

Two For the Books

Happy 2nd Anniversary, Puff!!!!

 

 

 

At this time, two years ago, I was a bundle of nerves gearing up toward the wedding I had been planning all my life. OK, so, in reality, it didn't take that long to plan. C'mon... I'm sorta a born planner! Right... so we spent the morning readying the venue and then we had lunch together at Panera. I headed off to get my hair done and met the girls for make-up application at Dillard's. Then it was back to the hotel to get all gussied up and head out for photos. We all piled into a pimped out mini-van that a dealership had lent us and headed to the middle of the ghetto for our photos at an art gallery and an abandoned building.

 

Then it was time to actually say "I Do."

 

And it was awesome.

 

The past two years have been filled with ups and downs... although most of the downs were the past 4 or 5 months. However, we have successfully weathered through and I still love Puff more than ever. In fact, I kinda maybe love him more now than I ever did before. I think that's how it's supposed to work, right? So... with the pending arrival of baby Bimmer, we weren't sure if we would actually be able to celebrate our anniversary ON our actual anniversary. So, we picked May 5th and made reservations at a nice steak restaurant that we had never been to before. Puff nixed my original selection, but it was probably for the best, since I would have been pissed to not be able to drink my fave martini.

 

 

 

 

At 37 weeks, I was feeling ginormous! It was the first day I actually noticed significant swelling in my hands and feet and it was almost 90 degrees outside. So, trying to look cute and feel sexy was a bit of a challenge! In hindsight, agreeing to wear those shoes just to appease the hubby was a BAD, BAD idea!!! But we chowed down on some bacon-wrapped scallops, grilled steaks, and a heavenly chocolate torte.

 

 

All told, it was a pretty good way to celebrate. The reality, however, is that I wouldn't care if we never had another fancy meal out or another occasion to get gussied up. I love my husband and just want to scream it from the rooftops! I won the lottery with this one. And I surely hope he feels the same way!

 

Now we just need to make it to our 5 year anniversary, where he has promised a NASCAR meets Riverdance themed vow renewal in Las Vegas. (I hope he's kidding!) And then for 10 years, we're getting to New Zealand, come Hell or high water. I just hope he didn't agree to that because he knows how badly I want to go there and thinks that's a good way to keep me sticking around. Ehh... he knows me well enough. He's probably right to do that.

 

LOVE YOU BABY!!! Happy 2nd Anniversary!!! Here's to many more to come!

Moon Over Baby

If I had been working this spring, Puff and I would have definitely been partaking in a romantic weekend away to Highlands, NC, to stay at the uber-swanky Old Edwards Inn and Spa, like we did last year.

 

It would have been our babymoon.

 

For as much as we love to travel, treat ourselves, and spend quality time together, a babymoon sounded like a rock star of an idea. Especially when I had looked at my old work schedule and seen that basically all January, February, and March was jam-packed with chaos. We tenatively penciled it in for a weekend. Well, when the shit hit the fan, the trip had to take a backseat.

 

The "Travel" section on my photo gallery is stuck in neutral on our October trip to Myrtle Beach.

 

So, while there won't be any grand romantic trip away to rest and relax before Bimmer gets here, I hope we can find excitement and anticipation in knowing that our family vacations are about to become, well, more family-like. It will make our summer trip to Florida with Bimmer all that more special.

 

Another concept that I was strongly hinting at was the "push gift." Kimhead also had my back... discussing the options with Puff a few times. Again, me losing my job changed this concept drastically. I'm pretty sure the original gift on the table was something along these lines...

 

 

 

Puff probably still would have gladly gifted me with something extravagant and wonderful if I had let him. But the practical side in me just cringed at the thought of wasting money we could use to pay bills, buy diapers and formula, and build a cushion in case I don't find work in August like I hope. So instead, this is my gift...

 

 

It doesn't look like much, but it was exactly what I wanted. I had planned to take weekly photos of Bimmer anyway and when I saw this on Etsy, I just knew I had to have them. They will be perfect for all the weekly, monthly, yearly, and first day of school photos I expect to take. Of Bimmer AND of her future sibling. It was reasonably priced, practical - in the sense that it will get tons of use, and thoughtful since it will be a gift not just for me, but for all of us.

 

Having to take a step back and look at the world a bit more realistically when it comes to finances is probably a good lesson for both of us. Just because I didn't get a fancy trip or a diamond necklace doesn't mean that my life is any less for it. Or that our excitement and joy over this pregnancy is any less than it would have been with those things. I have always prided myself on being realistic, practical, and minimalist. No reason to lose that just because a baby is coming into play. Puff and I love each other immensely, and a free drive through the mountains with some pictures of waterfalls is just as good as an overnight stay in a hotel in the mountains. And photo blocks will be used all the time to document my growing baby daughter and I will be able to cherish those photos forever.

 

Plus, once I'm employed this fall, I fully expect that diamond necklace under the Christmas tree. ::insert charming grin::

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

On our last trip to Atlanta, Puff was driving me around a part of town where we had never been before. He was pointing out landmarks, like where he had his prom, where the band director lived, and where he had his first French kiss. Woah... back up. Did you just point to a secluded park and fill in the blanks that the kiss was in the dark, after a fancy date, when you took her there to totally mack on her? Hmmm... strangely different from our first kiss. Ya know, the one that happened after we had dinner at Wendy's and I basically had to fling myself at him because he was being too shy and dammit, I just wanted him to like me!

Although I did marry him in the end. So there. Take that "Make-Out-In-The-Park-Beotch."

Then, of course, I started to reminisce about my own first French kiss. It was definitely not the romantic scenario that Puff had created. He totally trumps me there!

It was the summer after my freshman year of high school and I was working as a counselor at a summer camp. Halfway through the summer, I started flirting it up with a counselor in a different group. It was the first time any guy had ever really given me the time of the day in a "romantic" manner, so I was hooked. We would pass notes to each other, smile and wink when we passed in the hall, and even talked to each other on the phone for hours at a time. I was definitely smitten. So when the last day of camp came, I was horribly bummed. I waited to leave until the very last possible second, but he followed me out into the back stairwell. He hugged me and then went in for the kiss. There, in the unflattering light of the fluorescent bulbs, against the ladder to the roof access of the building, I had my first real French kiss.

::sigh::

A boy kissed me... even with those horrible bangs! Oh yeah, and the braces! I'm pretty sure weeks were dedicated to blabbering on about that in my diary afterwards!

Except... wait a minute. He wasn't a BOY at all. He was a MAN. A dirty, filthy, nasty, shouldn't have been able to work with children MAN. I was barely 3 years older than the kids he was responsible for in his group all summer. I was 15 years old. He was in his early 20s. He should have gone to jail.

I finally came out of the fog a few weeks later and realized how stupid I had been. I was wrapped up in some teen-girl fantasy world that was really, really dangerous. Did my intrigue toward older men ever go away? Nah... read here about my first real date! But I did become a lot more wary and cautious as to what was right and, ya know, legal. (Puff's only 4 years older than me, so that's totally kosher!)

I just hate that I feel like I wasted and marred such a great opportunity to have a first kiss. What a horrible memory for me to have! So, from here on out, I think we'll just forget about that kiss... and focus on all the future ones I'm going to have with Puff. Maybe I won't even have to buy him dinner at Wendy's first.

The Alien Inside

Puff and I got one last sneak peak at little Bimmer on Tuesday afternoon. Granted, it wasn't a GOOD peak, since it didn't yield any photos. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

As you know, they told me a month ago that Bimmer was "huge." They said they felt mostly baby when they pushed on my big ol' bump and there had been discussion of induction as early as 37 weeks. Except my bump didn't grow from weeks 33 to 35, so here we are in week 37 checking it all out again. We really don't care when she comes, just that she arrives healthy and happy!

The verdict?

Bimmer is riding super low in my pelvis (I noticed a significant drop this past weekend) so there weren't any good photos, but it also made it a wee bit hard to get a good gauge of the size of her head. After a few attempts at measuring her (and digging that wand crazy painfully into my pelvis) they got the guesstimate that she's about 7 pounds, 10 ounces right now. Granted, they said that can be off by a pound in either direction. Something surprising we learned? That there is a good amount of fluid in there. The last two docs had lead us to believe we didn't have much, but it was just the opposite. With the ultrasound, they were able to determine that my bump was probably bigger than it should be since I had a lot of baby AND a lot of fluid.

What does all of this mean? Well, the size of the baby combined with my contractions during the ultrasound and the pressure in my pelvis warranted them to "check" my cervix a week earlier than they normally would. And... I am currently 70 - 80% effaced (thinned out) and already 2cm dilated. I *knew* something had changed the past few days, and I would venture to guess this beginning of the first phase of the first stage of labor was that "something."

I'm not necessarily getting my hopes up, but the doctor did say he wouldn't be surprised if I didn't make it back to my next week's appointment. He said he would rather see me at the hospital. At this point, so would I! There is no way to get comfortable these days and we are just beyond ready to welcome Bimmer into our lives!