Thankful

I thought it would be nice to link up with my friend Ryan today for Thankful Thursday since I spent yesterday sharing my woes. Not that there is anything wrong with sharing woes. I think it is really important to be real, especially when it comes to pregnancy. We girls tend to do a lot of comparing, self-criticizing, and trying to measure up to false standards set for us on the internet. Hello Pinterest... are those people real? I don't want this blog to ever be a place where I pretend to have all my junk together. 

But I also find it a healthy exercise to frequently count my blessings as they tend to be more numerous than I often realize. So here is a little list of things I am thankful for lately. 

1. I am thankful and flipping excited about my baby shower this weekend at home in Georgia. I can't wait to see so many people I love. I've got some really amazing friends and family. 

2. Our church. We have become a part of a really great church here in NOLA called Edgewater. It can be hard to find a church and we feel extremely blessed to be a part of this one. I could go on and on about it. 

3. Andrew's new job. Andrew got a connection through some new friends at Edgewater and is now working at the New Orleans Country Club. Not what he saw himself doing but a great opportunity nonetheless. We are excited, relieved, and blessed by this unexpected work. 

4. Flying home this weekend. Andrew now works every other weekend and as it turns out his first one is this weekend so he can't come to the baby shower. While I am sad about that, I am thankful to be able to fly home and avoid the long car ride. Thanks Don and Mama!

5. Lastly, I am thankful for the things God is teaching me right now. He has been gently showing me how His love is unconditional and completely unmerited by me. I am finding that there is so much freedom when I stop approaching my faith with a works based mentality and embrace the fact that because of Christ there is nothing I can do to earn or lose God's favor. No amount of prayer, Bible study, or "right living" (although those things are not bad) can make me any more righteous in His sight. 

Grace and grace alone people. 

And isn't it a relief?

... because Ryan is the coolest!

And then there was Friday

The past few days or so some of the first trimester ickiness has crept back into my life. Remember the other day when I was going on and on about healthy eating and exercising more and how I felt so great and awesome and yada yada.... Yeah.

So last Friday I came down with a case of the crazies and it has not relented. I literally woke up sad and paranoid for no reason.  

It really was weird because over the past several weeks I have had moments where I thought the world was so full of sunshine and happiness that I might burst. Then BAM, Friday hit. 

I should have been suspicious about the sunshine and happiness thing in the first place because that is kind of not like me either. But darn if it doesn't feel good. 

So since Friday, I have unwillingly taken on the weight of the world. I have cried over things that merit tears but have nothing to do with my life and things that do not merit tears and have everything to do with my life. 

The two police officers shot in New Orleans, tears.

The rip in the sheets we got for our wedding, tears.

And the list goes on. 

Maybe it's letting up because I don't think I have cried in about 24 hours but I could be wrong. Being up since 2:00AM isn't helping my thought processes.

Did I mention I'm not sleeping well? That's an issue for another blog post. Or no blog post at all since it mostly has to do with me and my bathroom.

I know this will all go away soon which is why I can laugh about it. Just pray for my dear husband. God love him.

And just so you have living proof that hormones are real and unstable, here is an Instagram I posted last week before Friday.

Yea, that's a picture of the sunshine with a caption that read, "So good to feel hot and sweaty during a workout again! #bringonspring" 

Snort.

If you want to follow the craziness, I'm chardonaldson. It's bound to be a good time.

Can we talk about King Cake?

Of course we can... this is my blog. 

Y'all.

If you don't know what King Cake is, let me start by telling you it is the most delicious thing you can imagine.

More delicious than the delicious thing you imagined when I said that. 

Its like a cinnamon roll and a coffee cake and a donut got married and had a baby with icing on top. And yes, that is entirely possible both biologically and legally when it comes to food. 

I had no less than 8 pieces last week. The first 5 came from two different King Cakes that were bestowed upon me and the last 3 were from the one I finally purchased for myself. 

And that last one, it was the best. It didn't even come from a high falutin, old New Orleans bakery. It came from a donut shop in "da hood" where I currently reside. I'm pretty sure it was deep fried. 

And I'm OK with that. 

And so was my family with whom I reluctantly shared it.

And that is why I don't have a picture to show you. 

But here's one from the internet in case you wanted an example.

via

And here is what Wikipedia has to say about King Cake in case you are clueless about why I rambled out an entire post on the subject. 

I encourage you to enlighten yourself beyond the Wikipedia offerings and get a piece into your mouth as soon as possible. 

Although that could be difficult for you if you don't live in or near New Orleans, in which case you will have to live vicariously through me. 

Don't fret. I'll eat enough for the both of us.

Recipe, Rain, Research

And the Pioneer Woman does it again. 

We've been eating these this week and they are delish.

I took about 9000 shortcuts on this recipe and it was still pretty majorly great. 

via

I did not grate my own cheese. I did not cut up my own pineapple. I did not put a skewer through my pineapple. I did not pre-toast my tortillias. I did not use fresh jalapenos. 

And they were still the bomb. Try em!

In other news, the weather in this part of the country has gotten downright depressing. I can fully embrace a few cold and rainy days. I like to snuggle up with hot chocolate and be sleepy just as much as the next guy but after about three of those days I have reached my limit and currently we are pushing two weeks. 

It took me exactly one hour to get to the grocery store Monday because apparently when it rains people get into their cars and lose their minds. There was no danger involved in my taking this picture because I was going exactly 0 miles per hour... for a very long time.

We attended our first prenatal class last night. It was technically the second class but we missed the first one and are making it up in March. I was by far the least pregnant person there and the one taking the most notes. Five pages. Zeal is one of my best qualities. It was information overload and I am glad I have all of my notes to go back and do some research of my own on all the options for delivery. I am an information junkie and I want to know everything about everything that MIGHT happen to my body and baby. 

At the moment I feel like things tend to get a little over-medicated but I'm not ready to make any bold statements about that here on the blog. On the flip side, I am extremely grateful to be living in an age where we can know exactly what is going on with babies in delivery and have so many options for their health and safety. Amen? 

Pregnancy Update

*Sorry for my less than stellar photography, dirty laundry in the background, etc. These pictures are usually an afterthought and we all know I don't have a big girl camera. Maybe one day?

Yesterday I turned 25 weeks pregnant and for some reason I felt like that was a milestone. Honestly, every week feels like a milestone but something about the number 25 seemed significant. 

We had a routine appointment on Friday. I had not thought much about it because thankfully everything has been smooth sailing so far. I went through my list of questions with the doctor and at the end she pulled out a tape measure for the first time to measure my stomach. 

After stretching the tape measure out over my belly she looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, "How many weeks are you again?" I told her I was almost 25 and then said, "what, am I looking small?"

I am well aware that I am not a small person but people keep telling me that I don't look very pregnant so I just assumed that was what she was going to say. However, she turned to me and said no, actually I was measuring around 28-29 weeks. 

Say what?

For about 5 seconds I felt embarrassed that I thought I was smaller and then I started to feel really worried. She said sometimes the tape measures are off so we would do and ultrasound just to check and get a more accurate measurement. 

By the time we got in the ultrasound room we had waited another 45 minutes, giving me ample time to google every possible reason I could be measuring that big. Mind you, all of them indicated some sort of problem. I recommend against this particular practice. 

She did the ultrasound and determined that baby James was only measuring a little ahead (about a week to ten days) and might just be a big baby. She also let me know that everything else including fluid levels were right on track. 

Thank you Jesus. 

I breathed a sigh of relief and enjoyed getting to see our little boy again. We reconfirmed that he is in fact, a boy. He left no room for doubt in that department and we got a hilarious picture that we will use as leverage one day when we need to embarrass him.

Otherwise, I am feeling as good as I expect I ever will during pregnancy. I am exercising again and it feels AMAZING. I mean it just really does something for my brain as much as my body. I am trying to get my arms and legs toned back up... don't know if this is realistic but I will try. 

This was 3 days after the last picture and I suddenly look huge!

I am FINALLY able to control my eating and not feel sick or like I can only tolerate crackers. This is a blessing I do not take for granted. I am loving being able to eat healthy things again that nourish the little guy  and make me feel good. Daily meals include Greek yogurt, blueberries, Kashi cereal, cottage cheese, nuts, apples, peanut butter, salads, lots of chicken, and veggies of all kinds. But I did eat two pieces of chocolate cake in a row yesterday, lest you think I am too healthy. I call this pregnancy prerogative.