I’m no longer Michelle. I’m no longer a person. I’m no longer your friend, your co-worker, your relative. I’m just a science experiment. I’m an incubator of life. I have a person growing inside of me. Once it’s out, maybe I can return to me again. But for now, well, you decide.

I really don’t feel like “me” anymore. Both from how I’m treated, to how I look, to how I feel. People don’t look at me and see Michelle. They look at me and see a belly, a baby, a life. Sure they ask “how are you feeling” but what they really mean is, are you giving this baby a good start, is she going to be ok when she comes out or will there be complications. They don’t look at me and see Michelle, they look at me and say, “WOAH look at that belly, you’re huge!” I look in the mirror and I don’t see Michelle, I see that same huge belly staring back at me. I walk up some stairs, around a store, hell, even just to my car, and I don’t FEEL like me. I’m out of breathe, I’m tired, my back and legs hurt. I’m not me! I’m an incubator of life.

People ask how much sleep I get, what kind of foods I eat, if I have any weird cravings, if she moves a lot, how much weight I’ve gained, etc, etc, etc. See, I’m just everyones little science experiment. They’re testing the waters before they find out for themselves what it’s like.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining at all about being pregnant. I love it. I’m not complaining at all about what I’m going through or the attention I get, I love it. Just pointing out the fact that I just don’t feel like me, and sometimes people don’t treat me like me, like they used to. I’m just a big fat science experiment walking around for all to see!…    

…But I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Christmas is my favorite holiday. And no, not only because I get gifts! I do also love giving gifts. But its also more than that too. I think it’s just the spirit of the holiday, and all the lights and decorations. Plus… you really get to celebrate for a whole month! And of course I can’t leave out the Christian aspect of it being the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus! what is greater than that?

But on the gift giving side… I came to a realization today… people’s gifts really reflect their own personalities more than those of who they’re giving the gift to! See, I try to tailor the gift to the person and what they like. A lot of people aren’t like that, they get what suits their taste. I think I’ve known that to a certain extent but it really just hit me today when I’m looking at the baby gifts I got from work associates. (which by the way is it selfish of me to wonder why my Christmas gifts are for the baby? I’m already going to be sacrificing enough here, now I have to sacrifice my own gifts too?? LOL! but honestly, I do think these are great gifts and I’m very greatful for them, as I could probably get more use out of these gifts than whatever they would have gotten for me) But here are the most adorable gifts ever!

J’s favorite brand is Lucky Jeans, so she got this adorable outfit in that brand. The shorts shown from the back because the cute little daisy flowers on the rear pockets. Her  outfit choices are very… high maintenance I guess I would say But she did also get me a really nice necklace and bracelet set for me from Macy’s. (below)

This Dress, I am absolutely in LOVE with! It’s the cutest Ever. And I’m not a “princessey” type person, no rhinestones for me either, but I am IN LOVE!

adorable right?? She also got this onesie:

A is definitely a very Trendy person, one of the most trendy in our office. and she got this from a little fashion boutique.  She actually just won “best dressed” in our fun office awards we all voted on- dont ask why that was a category please… actually it was J’s idea, she INSISTED on the category… (the lucky brand girl… if that explains anything…)

and then see how the personality changes from above to below…

a cute little sweater, and blanket and pic frame. The sweater choice is definitely more conservative, but just as adorable as the other outfits. This is from the boss and his wife.

So if that doesn’t prove how people’s personalities effect the gifts they give, I don’t know what does! haha.

First off… It’s A GIRL!!! I’m just excited to know! I hate not knowing things lol. I would have really been happy either way, but I am excited that my instincts were right! And 2nd, daddy felt the baby kick for the first time today! so exciting! I’ve been able to feel her for weeks now, just little flutters, but this week I could tell they were getting stronger. I held his hand up to my belly where I felt her, and he got impatient and didn’t feel anything. She was playing games with him I think! haha. Then i laid on my side and I could feel her again in a different spot, so we tried again. The first time it was just past where his fingers were so he didn’t feel anything, then wham! a good strong kick right where his hand was lol. So cute!

Lots going on this weekend, I am feeling quite accomplished…

• 1st, I FINALLY Got my haircut! Much overdue. (and dyed-byebye grays!! I’m much too young for you anyway.)
• We carved pumpkins! I can’t remember the last time I did that, it was so fun. I think the hubby is getting into parenting mode and wanting to do fun stuff that we can start  traditions with the kids!

• We finally got both the mattresses moved into the storage unit. (We got a new one and moved the one in the spare room out to make room for baby stuff!)
• We got the crib! (picture coming soon) but need the mattress for it still… it was too expensive at Ikea, I’m sure we can find a cheaper one somewhere else.
• The hubby got the babys dresser partially stained, just needs another coat. Here is the before pic, he sanded it since it was painted (2 layers). will have after pic up… well, after!
• 
• I found something to make for our Halloween Potluck at work on Friday… cheesy crescent ghosts- very easy recipe.
• I uploaded all the pics from my camera I’ve been meaning to do all week (yea for stopping procrastination!)
• I finally started the baby blog! If you’re interested let me know and I’ll email you the link.

hm I think that’s about it! and I still have a bit of time left today, hopefully I’ll knock the last thing off my list… We’ll see!!

Hope you had a productive weekend too!

I HATE Ikea! Whoever invented that store is a moron…. ok I take that back, I guess it is kind of smart to make people walk around the WHOLE ENTIRE STORE before they can get out, so they have to pass by everything. The idea is good from a marketing perspective. But it does not make it easy for the people who like to get in, grab what they want, and get out. And self check outs only?? People do NOT know what they are doing with those, thats why there are cashiers to do it for them.

Last night was only the 2nd time I was ever in an Ikea store… The first time I said, I am NEVER coming back here! but someone gave me a giftcard so I Had to at some point. I have been hanging onto that stupid gift card (For 75$ so I couldn’t just not spend it or give it away or anything, thats a lot of money!) for almost 2 years! Seriously, this Christmas would have been 2 years. But I saw some decent priced baby cribs, so I figured it would be perfect to use the money towards that. So the good news is we got a baby crib!! And the hubby put it together nicely last night. We even got a stain to match to stain the dresser his mom gave us. YEA! So something good did come out of it. But it was seriously the most stressful shopping experience of my entire life last night…. it took me the whole car ride and a stop at Baskin Robins to get icecream for me to calm down.