Like Luda says, “drop bows, drop bows, throw dem bows”

If you don’t know  Luda’s “Southern Hospitality” you should!  At least the first 30 seconds. Lyrical genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QWQVm9J5DM

18 weeks 1 day.

In less than one week, Case and I find out if we are having a little boy or a little girl. We are really not picky, and are just hopeful that our child is healthy and happy. Whatever little blessing is bestowed upon us, is the child that is right for us.

So……I *think* I took a ‘bow to the bladder the other day. I am pretty sure I would have went on believing that I had the world’s most annoying unproductive gas, had some kind ladies not told me “At 18 weeks along, have you felt your baby move yet?” I would have remained oblivious that such events could even happen before the month of “oh my God am I really going to get bigger” comes along and I can physically see my belly rolling from one side to the other. I have never had a baby in my tummy before, I don’t know what to expect, and I sure didn’t know that at a mere 4 months along, I would feel my baby’s head, shoulders, knees, and toes jabbing at me.

Dear one day hopeful Moms, file this under “crap other women tell you about pregnancy that is a bunch of BS”. Regarding what to expect to feel of my baby’s first movements, other women told me that it will feel like, “a small flock of beautiful Monarch butterflies, fluttering around your precious little buttercup garden of pregnancy bliss”.  Yea……expect women to basically tell you the same thing. Naturally, being a first time mom, that sounded like the most wonderful and beautiful moment of my life. What could possibly trump my belly feeling like a beautiful garden of singing angels with flutterbyes floating from buttercup to buttercup. I literally heard this music in my head just thinking about the possibility.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEulyxBCA6c . REAL FLUTTERBYES IN MY BELLY…… glorious and I could NOT wait!

 Boy was I ever disappointed. Butterflies were not exactly the feeling I had when I first felt my baby move. Let’s just say it was far from the glamorous feeling I was expecting. For me, it felt like a cross between unproductive gas and a muscle spasm. Unlike gas, once the immediate feeling of pressure, which lasted literally like 2 seconds, passed, there was no lingering “bloated gas feeling”. That was basically how I knew that it wasn’t gas and that it was my baby. It was really closer to the feeling of a muscle spasm, except one doesn’t usually get strange random muscle spasms in their midsections of their tummy. The best description I got from a dear friend of mine, and this was the most accurate depiction anyone has described to me yet;  it is that same feeling when you go fishing and the fish takes your bait. You know the feeling, your pole and line “pops” a few times, and as soon as you are able to realize that you just got had by the fish, your mind and reflexes lag. That is basically how it felt. The fish took my bait and by the time he was off my line and gobbling down my cricket, I was left going, “hey wait a min, I think it just ran off with my bait.” Just like fishing, I am still hanging out, getting my bait taken on a regular and a little more predictable basis now, waiting for the “big hit”. Looks like I have about 5 more months at this pond before I get to real in my big catch.  

Our Babymoon

I am now well into the throws of pregnancy…..

How do I know? It isn’t because of the fact that I am obviously pregnant and not just “thick”. It isn’t because FINIALLY strangers are confident in my condition enough to walk right up to me and ask how the pregnancy is going. Nope……..It is because I have finally lost count of how many months, weeks, and days I have been in this condition; and for breakfast this morning, I ate like a 12 year old during school lunch hour. I ate reheated frozen pizza and ranch dressing and thought it was the best food ever invented.  Yep….. pizza and ranch dressing, that is disgusting, why am I eating it? Last night it was Blueberry pie at 11pm. Thank god that 1^st trimester of sickness is over. I didn’t even realize it until I was doing my post vacation grocery shopping, where I impulse purchased over $120 worth of food. Canned beef spaghetti, LOOKS DELISH. Canned collard greens, divine. Off brand cheap tuna helper, YES PLEASE. Pickle loaf, never touched the stuff but that looks awesome! This packaged meat is past its purchase date, but it looks yummy…think I can still eat it? ROFL…….I went from sick to hungry girl, overnight. I still hate chicken and turkey.

Seriously though, I think I am 17 weeks, 4 days.

It has been a while since my last post, so I apologize to anyone who may have been board enough to actually keep up with me and Lil Bean. I do enjoy entertaining people so I have missed you, and hope you will continue to check out my random musings about my 1^st time pregnancy. Case and I have returned from his vacation (notice I said “his” vacation) J I really enjoyed watching his race and am so proud of him for all of his hard work to accomplish a very difficult goal. He is amazing and is already turning out to be an awesome Dad. The Mojave Desert is not really my thing. It is dusty, and I can’t grow a garden there. Actually, NOTHING grows there except for Joshua trees, which I don’t recall ever eating so it is useless to me. Arizona was a nice place to visit, but not my kind of place to live. The friends that Case and I visited in Phoenix were great hosts and made us feel so comfortable. They were the very definition of “Southern Hospitality”. I really liked Sedona AZ, and in particular, Rock Springs Café. That little restaurant/saloon reminded me so much of home. It was a small mom and pop business, known worldwide for their pies. http://rockspringscafe.com/ Everyone there was at least 10lbs overweight and friendly; just like home! J It was a nice visit, but I missed home. Arizona just doesn’t have what Alabama does, my family.

 I love my Southern Heritage. It is hard to say that and have people who are not from the south understand what you mean. The South has a blemished history which was part of the overall culture of our country 100’s of years ago. Everyone was guilty of racism and unequal rights, not just the people who lived in the South. Hollywood has skewed our history toward that of the “Rich White Plantation” owner. Those people were very few and far between. Most Plantation owners treated their slaves well, after all they paid a lot of money for that person’s ability to do work, and they sure as heck didn’t want a lot of sickness, death, or emotional drama. Of course that isn’t going to be a very interesting movie now is it? And it is true that not all owners were as nice, just like there are some not to nice people today. 99% of people, Black, White, Indian, ect. were just dirt poor. The southern side of my family was sharecroppers, and I had to do some serious digging at Ancestory.com just to find a single person that was of some notability with even a little bit of money. (John Balch who was the owner and builder of one of the oldest, still standing, wooden homes in America. Located somewhere in Mass. Apparently he was a pilgrim.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Balch_House .  Poor Southern sharecroppers had to make do with what they had, because they didn’t own anything. I am proud of the portion of my Southern Heritage that honors hard work, independence, and ingenuity out of necessity. I am not a big Hank Williams Jr. fan, but he most defiantly hit the nail on the head in his song, “Country Boy Can Survive”.  This goes for us “Country Girls” too. J In my young single days, I snubbed dates with boys who couldn’t drive a tractor. Hey, push comes to shove; a girl has to eat somehow so I need to know what your physical work capabilities are. Advanced Computer programming is great, but can you take care of me and a family with just your hands? No? Sorry time for me to move on. Of course this is me we are talking about, and I have been called strange. I think I am just old fashion myself. Speaking of garden, this Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and time to start my seedlings for the spring and for my maternity photos. I need to get Case out to the field to disc it up, and start getting it ready for spring. WOW, I have totally rambled off course and by this time, have probably offended most of humanity. …….. oh yea…. I am pregnant. I almost forgot…….I wonder if I have any blueberry pie left.  J