Presents for the Bean already!

We had a great visit with Dan, Janet & Rachel this weekend, and they came bearing gifts for the Bean... Grandpa Dan & Grandma Janet gave the Bean the Pooh Bear, and Auntie Rachel brought clothes (of course!). True to form, Auntie Rachel did not disappoint, as you can see by the stylin' 'Elvis' shirt. She also brought a fabulous onesie--it's black with a skull & crossbones on it. (I tried to model it on the Tigger I bought the bean, but it just didn't go with Tigger's stripes. I thought about putting it on Mouse, but though that would be a supremely bad idea....) Rachel also brought a very cool onesie/romper with the Radio Flyer logo on it...it's size 12 months, and to be honest, I started to cry a little bit when I held it up & realized that our little Bean will be wearing his Radio Flyer onesie/romper sooner than I can imagine! Mom & Dad have also given us the sweetest little lamb rattle that is so soft...I just can't wait for the Bean to get here!!!!

I think the Bean is practicing for the circus, though, because he/she has been doing all sorts of somersaults & flips. Last Friday night when Patrick was home, I pressed his hand where I've been feeling most of the movement, and on a couple big ones he could feel it a little....though the Bean is still small enough that it's not so very apparent from the outside what's taking place on the inside! I know that the time is coming when Patrick will have NO problem feeling our little Bean kicking & stretching. We're at 23 weeks (24th week begins month #6), so we're down to about 4 months to go. And yes, that does add up to 10 months. I'm not sure who is perpetuating the "9 month" lie, but preganancy does last 40 weeks...which, if you divide that into months, is TEN, not nine.

We're getting into more classes that the hospital offers (and, just so everyone knows, we ARE using St. Francis Hospital...it's very close, and pretty much a straight shot from the apartment, so if we're still here & I go into labor, Patrick just has to make two turns to get us to the hospital!)--we have a "Safe & Savvy Baby Buys" class that's sponsored by Babies-R-Us, so I'm wondering how much of it is useful information, and how much is just "Hey, you need to buy this, and lookee here! We're selling it on Aisle 4!" But, they do cater a dinner, and it's free, so we figured why not? (Of course, when the guy at the Baby Expo was plugging the class, he said it's either catered by the Italian Market & Grill OR Chick-Fil-A. Now, I like Chick-Fil-A, but seems like an awful big range to me. Did I mention it's free?)

Most of the classes are during the week, so it's great that Patrick found out today that they're bringing him home...at least, they are next Wednesday! He talked to one of the Area Managers who said that they're bringing him back to Greenville, he's paid his dues, and they'll be finding a permanent position for him here. What that position may be, we're not sure (and do we care??? It's home!!!)...it may be his own site, it may be helping out here & there locally until something comes up. I'll be sad to see the reimbursements go, but having my Patrick home with us means more than any old expense report!

I think we're planning a trip to Knoxville around mid-March; we want to go before I get so ungainly that I won't be able to make the trip. I am still feeling great; still stuffy pretty much all the time (it gets worse after 8pm...I'm not sure why. It's kinda funny that I can almost tell what time it is by how stuffed up my nose gets! It makes cool noises at night when I sleep...sometimes I think I freak out the cats.), and I think I used too many different lotions, because I've developed this lovely itchy rash on my belly. It's quite attractive, and even more so after I've rubbed diaper rash ointment all over my belly. But, the ointment seems to help, and the rash is nearly gone (maybe it's good that Patrick wasn't here...). Once it's gone for good, I'm going to try to find ONE lotion & stick with it. "Can you go without lotion?" you may ask. The answer is...NO! Do you know how itchy stretched skin is?!?! Half the time I feel like some rednecked Bubba, absently scratching all the darn time. So no, I can't go without lotion...I'll just need to find a lotion & stick with it. I do like the Bath & Body Works Spearmint & Eucalyptus (also helps with the stuffiness...thanks, Mom!) and I don't think it's any one particular lotion that caused the reaction...I think it was mixing the 4 or 5 of them. Yeah, I know--probably wasn't the wisest thing in the world to do, but hey--when you're itchy, you become desperate!

But, my point was--I'm feeling great now; I'm not going to be running any marathons soon, but still able to lead a pretty much normal existence....as long as there's someone around to tie my shoes (if I stand up straight, I can't see my toes anymore!), and as long as there's a bathroom nearby, I'm happy.