A month into 26...

Have I seriously been 26 for a month already? Good gracious time is flying. I feel like a lot's happened in the past month, but I'm probably just making that up to make my life seem exciting.

To be quite honest, things have been pretty boring lately, which is just the way I like it. Besides the whole tornado thing and having to work the past two weekends, things have been pretty quiet during this first month of my new age. I tend to forget that I'm 26 - but it comes back to stare me in the face when I'm filling out surveys or paperwork that ask for my birthday.

When I think back on how my life has gone so far, I'm surprised to find myself where I'm at right now. At this point in my life, I thought I would be freshly married [as in, maybe married a year], have a Master's Degree under my belt and have some sort of job in public relations or related. Instead, I'm a mommy of one with another on the way [by the way, i am dyyyyyying to share the sex of the new baby, but i'm still keeping my mouth shut until the anatomy scan confirms everything], a military wife who just celebrated her third year of marriage, and I work in higher education. Go figure, eh?

I'm not saying I'm disappointed in how my life has gone - I love where I'm at, love my husband and son and love my job. It's just so different from what I had envisioned for myself when I started college that I'm a little surprised what I had envisioned and what really happened are so different. I'm still going to get my Master's [maybe a couple of them, actually], but that's on the back burner until Jelly Bean is older. I want to stay in higher ed and will never, ever use my degree to do any sort of PR work - the pay at the bottom of the scale is crap, I have no experience [and no desire to gain experience], and my family is more important that my job. With PR, you're always on call, especially as you work higher up. I once had aspirations of owning a PR firm, until I realized how much work would have to go into it and the family sacrifices I'd have to make. With my husband now in the military and making enough sacrifices for our family, I know I made the right choice.

I don't know. It's just funny how life turns out the exact opposite way of what you had envisioned, and I know that it doesn't always work out for the better. But in my case, it definitely worked out for the better. Sure, there are challenges that I face [right now, my main challenge is patience with my lovely 3-year-old] that have made life more interesting - but as I've probably mentioned before, I am a firm believer in everything happening for a reason. Eventually, it will make sense why something happened, even if it takes you years to realize it - but there's a purpose for everything that happens in life. I'm just living life as best I can with as little regret as possible. So far, I think I'm doing a good job of that.

OK. Enough with the self-reflection stuff. My 18-week poll needs to be done. :)

18 weeks, 2 days
Total weight gain: I'll know on Monday! I pray it's not a ton...ugh.
Maternity clothes? Nice and comfy. My new pair of maternity jeans and a new top [i'm wearing it in the picture above] came in last week, which should be the last of the maternity shopping. For now.
Sleep: Considering I'm writing this at 3am...yeah. Sleep isn't my friend right now. I was doing awesome for a week or so, but ever since the tornado episode a couple of weekends back, I've slept like hell.
Best moment this week: Stronger kicks. This kid is moving!
Food cravings: Still none. It's more of a "What sounds good right now?" type of thing with me. I don't want any one food constantly like I did with JJ.
Gender: I hope I can officially say in a couple of weeks. GAH.
Belly Button in or out? In. My poor belly button looks like a hole in the middle of my stomach right now.
What I miss: Decent sleep. And sushi. I think I miss something every week that's a big no-no during pregnancy.
What I am looking forward to: Taking a long weekend. And my first trip to Connecticut to visit my college roommate is coming up!
Weekly Wisdom: Everything happens for a reason. Not sure if I've said this before in the weekly wisdom - I probably have - but I firmly believe this.
Milestones: I feel like I'm rounding out more now. My maternity clothes are fitting better and aren't as big as they used to be. But with JJ, I didn't pick up a bulk of the weight until my third trimester - I really hope that doesn't happen this time around. Yikes.
Differences between #1 & #2: My dear enemy nausea is still around. It sucks. Nausea meds, water, snacking more [healthy snacking, too], healthier eating...not really helping. Just have to deal with it until it goes away, I guess. Boo.

Yeah...spring isn't my friend.

So, around this time every year, I'm almost positive my blood pressure goes up a ton. Why?

One word: tornadoes.

Springtime in Oklahoma is full of allergies, butterflies and pretty flowers -- but it also means the start of severe weather season. Now, I've lived in Oklahoma for nearly 18 years, and each storm season doesn't get easier. When April 1st rolls around, I start to live on edge and pay more attention to the weather than I do during any other time of the year. Now that I'm a mom, I live on edge even more because it's not just my life at stake if something happens; there's two [well, 2.5] of us.

A couple of weekends ago, we had a tornado warning come through at 2:45 in the morning. I have never, ever been so scared in my entire life than I was at that moment; I don't EVER want to wake up to tornado sirens EVER again. I saw that the tornado was still miles away and would allow me to get safely out of the way, so I went into survival mode at that point: I threw some things in a bag, woke JJ and got him safely to the car, and we drove through hell and high water [literally] to the nearest safe shelter, which is my office on campus. When we got to campus, we got the all-clear signal, but I stayed put through the rest of the storms to be sure that we'd be safe. My son was fine and didn't really realize what was going on, but I lost a good 10 years of my life that night.

The night after that, Woodward got hit by a tornado with little warning, and people lost their lives. I'm so scared that, sometime in the future, that situation will happen where I am. Or where my parents or sister are. The scare a couple of weekends ago was close enough of a call for me; I don't want that to happen again. And I can't wait for storm season to be over so that I can have some peace of mind again. I'd much rather deal with the heat of the summer than this time of the year, for sure. I am so fortunate that we have not been affected by anything major since I moved here, but that doesn't ease my peace of mind from storm season to storm season. Here's hoping this storm season is relatively quiet for our neck of the woods.

*steps off soapbox*

I know it's been awhile since my last post; things have been a little crazy lately. April had a lot of things going on, but things have slowed down quite a bit now that the school year is winding down. This upcoming week is pre-finals week, and next week is finals. I remember thinking that this school year would drag when it started in August, and now look - it's nearly the end. This time of year brings bittersweet memories for me since I always remember my own graduation [four years! holy cow!], but I'm also grateful that I don't have to take any finals. :)

As most people [whether you read my blog regularly or pop in from my Twitter/FB posts about my blog] know, my dear husband is deployed right now. He's been gone a couple of months with no definite timetable for his return [even though i'm hoping he's home before i'm due...have a feeling it could cut it quite close though], and things have been OK. Well, pretty good, actually. I get to talk to him way more than I thought, which is a good and bad thing -- good because I get to hear his voice on nearly daily intervals; bad because if I don't hear from him, I start to check the news and freak out on the inside that something's gone wrong. Things have been decently active since he got there, which isn't easy for anyone involved...it's been hard to keep my stress level down while he's been gone, but talking to him reassures me that he's doing OK. This is our first deployment, and I know it won't be the last, so I'd better get used to it. I'm so very grateful for technology though, that's for sure -- it's helped make this time apart so much easier.

This post is dragging on, so I'd better hit the baby update [I've missed the last one or two] before people quit reading:

17 weeks, 3 days
Total weight gain: Not quite sure. Next check-up is a week from Monday, so we'll see. I'm nervous about the weight gain.
Maternity clothes? Still fully in them. I've been replacing maternity clothes [a pair of my old maternity jeans ripped, and my remaining pair is too big still; my work pants don't fit anymore, even when unzipped, so i had to replace those as well], which has been fun for me. Love me some retail therapy - think I'm set for awhile though.
Sleep: Meh - still hit and miss. Starting to become a little uncomfortable.
Best moment this week: Feeling the baby move. Jelly Bean has been quite active most days; it's the most amazing feeling.
Food cravings: None. At all. Which is still weird to me.
Gender: Still not telling until the anatomy scan. It's becoming harder to keep my mouth shut though!
Belly Button in or out? In. For now.
What I miss: WINE.
What I am looking forward to: The start of the summer holiday in Stillwater. The town becomes so much quieter when the students clear out. Don't get me wrong - I love having them around. But I do enjoy the quiet that summer vacation brings.
Weekly Wisdom: Remember -- when a tornado is in your area, DUCK [Downstairs; Underneath something; Cover your head; Keep in shelter until storm passes].
Milestones: Within the past week or so, I've felt a kick on the outside. Jelly Bean is still sitting pretty low, and I haven't felt a kick since - but its kicks are getting stronger, and I can't wait to feel more on the outside.
Differences between #1 & #2: Nausea's still around. At nearly 17.5 weeks. With JJ, it was on its way out the door at this point. It honestly sucks -- I've been dealing with this for nearly three months!

I'm weird like that. [15 weeks, too]

Earlier this week, I took myself to lunch. I wanted some pizza, I had no one to go with me, so I took myself to Hideaway and enjoyed a nice lunch. I took my iPad, caught up on some emails and devoured my pizza in record time.

To some people, that makes me weird.

I do a lot of things that make me weird, apparently. The list includes:

-- eating just about anything with ketchup [steak and eggs especially]
-- putting A-1 on my rice [it's so good!]
-- taking myself out to eat
-- going to movies and sporting events by myself [if people think i'm a loner, so what?]
-- waking up in the middle of the night to do my cleaning [i get in a good four hours of sleep, wake up for an hour to clean, then go back to bed]
-- driving home all the time [i live 2.5 hours away from my hometown...the drive is nothing after doing it for eight years]
-- not eating seafood [it's tastes like saltwater to me, and that's just gross]
-- being totally open about the fact that I'd consider shaving my head to see *N Sync get back together again for a reunion tour [even though Chris is 40...]
-- getting way into sporting events [hey. i like sports and, for the most part, i understand what's going on when i watch a ball game. i'm not going to be a boring spectator who sits there with my mouth shut during a good play, crappy play or awful call.]

I'm sure there are more things to add to that list, but that's all that comes to mind for now. People see these things as weird, but I see them as awesome. They make me unique, and I really don't care what people think about these things. I've always been a pretty independent person, and I really don't mind spending time by myself. I know that can be seen as a good and a bad thing, but I see it as a good thing. I'm super outgoing when I'm with my friends [and even around strangers], but I'm also fine just spending time alone. *shrug*

Not sure what the point of this post was, honestly...I guess it's because some people I know have given me flack for taking myself out for my anniversary in March. I was solo, and I'd rather spend my time at a restaurant eating good food and watching sports than sitting at home sulking that another anniversary came that my husband wasn't here for. Baby no. 2 and I enjoyed the heck out of the steak I ate, thank you very much. :)

Anyway. That's my random rambling for this Good Friday. Now, on to my baby poll. :)

15 weeks, 1 day
Total weight gain: As of my last appointment on Monday, 10 pounds. I think 5 of those are in my boobs.
Maternity clothes? Yup. Fully in maternity clothes, and I love it. Well, I lied - I can still wear some of my t-shirts, but my work clothes and pants/shorts are straight-up maternity clothes.
Sleep: Sleep came to me this week, which was awesome. I pretty much slept through the night most nights. Woo.
Best moment this week: I had an ultrasound on Monday because I had some issues over the weekend. Jelly Bean was moving A LOT, which was so, so cool. It was so comforting to know Jelly Bean is happy, healthy and kicking [and measuring 8 days ahead of my due date, holy cow!].
Food cravings: Nada. I still feel a little sick after eating sometimes, but this week's been better than most weeks.
Gender: So...my ultrasound tech gave me a gender guess on Monday. I don't want to say anything until the 20-week anatomy scan since the baby will be more developed then, but I'm pretty confident in her gender guess. I'm keeping my mouth shut until then. :)
Belly Button in or out? In.
What I miss: I still miss food. I've been better about food, but still not great.
What I am looking forward to: Easter! I love holidays.
Weekly Wisdom: It's OK to be weird. :)
Milestones: Second tri is starting to fly. And I'm technically measuring at 16 weeks, so this baby could be earlier than we thought. Eek!
Differences between #1 & #2: Things are starting to balance out now. I'm starting to feel normal again, and this is about the time with my first pregnancy that I started to feel normal again. It's nice to have energy to play with JJ and keep my apartment clean.