Splenda and Spice and Everything Nice, That’s What This Little Girl’s Made Of

I have officially been diagnosed with gestational diabetes again, which is really no big surprise.  Considering the chances of getting it once you’ve already had it are crazy high (like 70% or something close), I’m actually amazed I didn’t get it with Matthew.  But since I’ve been on the diet since before I ever got pregnant, the only thing that is different is that I’m back to testing my blood glucose every day.  And my numbers are just fine so it’s not a huge deal.

I am, however, having a wicked cheesecake craving that I can’t do anything about.  So in honor of National Cheesecake Day, all of you who can indulge should go and have a big old slice for me.  Just don’t tell me how delightful it was afterward.  I’ll feel better if you tell me it was the nastiest cheesecake you’ve ever experienced.  (Esther, maybe you could even tell me you found a hair in yours…)  :-)

Summertime and the Living is Queasy

I’ve never experienced the third trimester of a pregnancy in the summer before.  With babies born in December, May, and February I’ve done the home stretch in every other season, but I’m a first timer for the summer.  As such, I have developed some opinions about being hugely pregnant in the summer months.

First of all, it’s hot.  Really hot.  When I get overheated I get migraines and since 1) I get hot a lot easier than usual and 2) I can’t take my migraine meds while I’m pregnant, I’ve pretty much been hunkering down in the air conditioning.  I think I’ve only been to one outdoor activity all summer and luckily for me, it was super windy which helped keep things nice and cool.  I’m never one for a lot of heat anyway, but I’ve been even more antisocial than normal this summer.

Once I figured out that my prenatal vitamins were contributing to my queasiness and changed to a different one, I actually got a break from the nausea for a month or two in the second trimester.  But in the third it has come creeping back.  At unexpected moments I’ll suddenly feel unsettled for awhile.  Add to that the fact that the migraines make me nauseous and then let the fun ensue.  While I have managed to have an entirely barf free pregnancy (which is a huge blessing!), the queasiness is still terribly unpleasant.

Due to the fact that I’ve never been this huge in the summer before, my maternity wardrobe is not exactly well suited to the heat.  And I’m at a stage in my life where I’m really not willing to put a lot of time or money into maternity clothes.  So I’m making do with what I’ve got.  When I was pregnant with Nathan I was so hot that I was wearing shorts in February.  Boots and socks and shorts.  It was probably one of my worst fashion statements ever.  I say probably because I was in junior high in the 80’s and we all know that some enormously heinous fashion faux pas were born in the 80’s.  Add to that the awkward phase that was seventh and eighth grade and the boots and shorts thing is probably on the chic side.  So while my current wardrobe is probably nowhere near the worst I’ve ever had and I’m not ever exactly a fashion diva, I’m still walking around looking a bit less…suave than normal.

Pretty much I view the late stages of pregnancy as a fabulous excuse to avoid shaving my legs.  I mean, I can barely reach my feet and only catch a fleeting glimpse of my legs once in a while, so why put forth the effort?  Since my previous pregnancies have been during a time of year when the weather was conducive to clothing that covered my legs, I’ve been able to indulge in the lack of leg shaving.  But now it is summer.  And it’s hot.  And there is not an air conditioner in the world that could convince me to wear enough clothes to completely cover my legs.  And try as I might, I’m just a bit too vain to let all my fabulous dark leg hair keep growing.  But my enormous near-sightedness added to the fact I can barely bend far enough to reach my ankles means that I always end up missing spots.  So while I may not look like I’m wearing fur leggings, there are definitely days when I have a nice zebra stripe look going.  Between the legs and the clothes, if you want to pretend you don’t know me if we run into each other at the Walmart, I promise I won’t be offended.

But on the bright side, the best thing (and by that I mean the only good thing) about being pregnant in the summer is that thus far I have been able to completely avoid the contortions necessary to put on socks.

En Garde!

Daniel has never really been into traditional sports.  He is the kind of kid who would much rather stay inside and read or work on models.  I don't really mind that, but as a mother I feel like I should encourage him to be involved in some kind of physical activity.  Which is one of the big reasons I make Daniel and Nathan walk to school every day.  (Well, that and the fact that I like that I don't have to be dressed by the time they leave for school.)  So when Daniel brought home a flier for fencing and told me he wanted to try it, I was more than happy to sign him up.  It was kind of a crash course in beginning fencing, lasting for an hour and a half on four consecutive days.  Today was his last day and he was pretty bummed that it is over.  He really enjoyed himself and I love that one of the very first things the instructor told them was that fencing is a sport and that they should sweat when they are doing it.  So now we have to see if we can find a way for him to continue...

Light 'Em Up!

Boys and fire.  Need I say more?

(The extra child is one of our next door neighbors.  He just happened to be in the wrong spot for this to be an ideal photo opp.)

 

Although the wind made getting things lit a bit tough, we managed to light a bunch of stuff on fire.  And from our vantage point on the hill, we had a great view of the newly legalized aerial fireworks being set off across the entire valley.  We didn't even need to buy our own to enjoy a fabulous show!