Thursday, March 5, 2015

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts #1


I always love reading these posts, so I thought it was finally time I joined in! Click on the badge above for more info.

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1. I have finally joined the 21st century and upgraded from my shitty flip phone (yes, they still exist) to a smartphone. I think my aunts, grandma, and mom might now be among the last holdouts.

2. I am not very good at taking selfies -- it took a lot of tries to get this shot. I'm not a big fan of being put on display, but I thought I should have at least one bump shot on record here.


3. I really want to do this bookish project for the baby's room -- I'm debating between favorite childhood books or a book of nursery rhymes. I think a trip to the used bookstore is in order.

4. I'm finally driving again! Very little and only locally, but I'm no longer afraid I'll get light-headed and pass out on a short trip, so I've been trying to get out and about on my own on occasion. What destination have I gone to more often than any other? The library, of course. Priorities.

5. There's a bit more of a story behind Henry the elephant I shared a picture of the other day. Back when we were dating, my husband was being silly one day and started saying he "loved me more than the biggest elephant." Why? I don't know, but it was silly and adorable and it stuck. For his next birthday, I got him a little elephant magnet as part of his gift that we still have on our fridge almost 10 years later. So at Christmas this year when the first two baby gifts we received were Henry the elephant and a clothing set with elephants on it, my heart pretty much melted. NO ONE else even knew this story, so those first two gifts are extra special to me.


6. Though now that people DO know the elephant story, we've had to make sure they don't go crazy and get us elephant everything. My mother- and aunt-in-law sent me a photo of this elephant humidifier when they were out shopping. No. Just, NO.

7. Other than the adorable elephants, the best gift I have ever received is this Snoogle body pillow from my brother and his girlfriend. I am convinced it is the only reason I still sleep well (almost) every night at 7+ months pregnant. I'm 33 weeks today, so we've got 7 weeks left, give or take.

8. I love seeing my brother get so excited about the baby. He's always texting me to see how things are going and was counting down until my ultrasound appointments. At Christmas, I figured the Snoogle was probably his girlfriend's idea, seeming like the kind of thing a woman would think of, but he indignantly told me, "well, she ordered it, but it was MY idea."

9. In terms of exercise, I still feel a bit like a shadow of my former self, but have to remind myself of how far I've come lately. I may not be doing the 50 lap swim workouts of the first 4 months of my pregnancy, but I can now walk 45 minutes straight at a much improved pace when we go walking at the local middle school. It's a far cry from those mid-pregnancy weeks when I could barely hobble down the hall without my heart pounding out of my chest, feeling light-headed, or both. I am so grateful our town has this free program where there are hours Monday to Friday you can walk laps indoors at the school in the winter. We don't have a treadmill and walking circles inside my house isn't the most appealing idea, so having this opportunity so close to home couldn't be more perfect.

10. My (non-surprise) baby shower is next weekend. Unconventionally, it's actually going to be at my house, because at the time it needed to be planned, we had no idea how I would be feeling and no one thought it was a good idea for me to travel with the issues I had been having. So it was going to be at my house or not at all, so my house it is. I'm really just looking forward to seeing everyone, especially my best friend who I haven't seen in four months and is flying up for a long weekend.

So, yea, clearly my thoughts are baby-related these days! Occupational hazard of growing a human being :)

16 comments:

  1. Congrats on your smartphone! I recently got my first one, an iPhone that I've named Phoebe. Yes, I name my devices.

    I love your elephant story...and how cute that you still have the magnet on your fridge.

    I was noticing the other day that I have many things on the fridge that have been there forever, and it reminded me of how hard it was to peel everything off when I moved eight years ago! (Those fridge items had been there a decade or so).

    Thanks for sharing...and here is MY BOOKISH/NOT SO BOOKISH POST

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    1. Thank you! And I'm glad hear from another recent convert to new technology :)

      That little magnet has seen quite a few fridges -- two college apartments, our first apartment together, and then two different fridges at the new house -- I imagine it's one of the few that will stay on there indefinitely :)

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  2. You are beyond adorable. Love the bump shot. :)

    If it makes you feel better it took me a long while before I got a smart phone as well. I LOVE the picture book into wall art idea. That elephant story is beyond adorable. (People do go crazy when they find out you like an animal or it has special meaning to you. I have a million penguin and owl items since they are my favorite.) A big high five for siblings! Gotta love em. I'm so glad to hear you are doing better.

    I loved getting an update on you! Thanks for sharing Christine!

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    1. Thanks Kay! I wasn't much in the mood to document this pregnancy for a while there, but I'm glad things are looking up now and I know I'll want at least a few pictures. I hope I will be able to find some used children's books I will like for the nursery project, but I don't think I should have too much of a problem with that -- I'm trying to get my husband to find a copy of his two favorites from when he was a kid so we have some options :)

      Penguins & owls are so cute too! But you're right, once people know, they sometimes go a little overboard...

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  3. Yay! I love reading these kind of posts on other blogs so I'm glad you've started to as well! :-)

    I don't have a smartphone.. Whilst my phone isn't the flip variety, it is far from a smartphone. I'm not all that good with technology and I'm quite happy with the one I have - I only use it to text and call so it fits its purpose. I do see the benefits of a smartphone, though I don't think I'll be joining the army of smartphone users just yet!

    Love the book project idea for the nursery.. Perhaps if you do, you could give us a sneak peek at the books you chose?

    What an adorable story regarding the elephant. And you have the cutest bump!

    It sounds like all is going well in terms of pregnancy - I hope the rest of the pregnancy follows this suit. Not long now!!
    :-)
    Life’s Open Pages

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    1. Thanks Jade! I think it's so funny now that I finally gave in and switched that I'm finding so many more people who don't have smartphones or who have also only recently switched -- I swear my husband was making me feel like it was just me! Then again he's an IT guy, so he's all about new technology. But not only was mine a flip phone, it was really old, beat up, and was starting to have problems, so it was decision time one way or another. I'm actually using my dad's old iphone, so it was a much more reasonable monthly price than I originally feared.

      I will definitely share pictures of the book project if I actually manage to complete it -- I feel like I've hit a bit of a nesting phase though, so I think I'll be able to pull it together :)

      I'm very grateful that things are going better and it sure is going fast -- I can't believe how soon our little guy will be here!

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  4. Thanks for playing along. And you look FANTASTIC! Especially considering you had to scale back so much on exercise- serious kudos. During late night party session with an infant that smartphone will come in helpful for important activities like googling "why won't my baby sleep?"

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    1. Thank you! I am ALL belly for sure. Glad I've gained "enough" but not really more than necessary -- every extra pound would have made it that much harder when I had to get active again and more of a strain on my heart and all that. And yes, I imagine the smartphone will be very helpful for those sorts of things -- the baby is pretty much the reason why I finally gave in!

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  5. Love the pregnant selfie! And congrats for finally joining the masses and getting a smartphone.

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  6. I'm glad you're doing so much better. You look great! What better place to travel to than the library? :) That book project is a wonderful idea. I'd love to try that when I have kids someday. Now I just have to figure out what book I'd use...

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    1. Thanks Julie! I'm having such a hard time figuring out which book myself -- currently leaning toward using a few different books, but I haven't quite figured it out yet :)

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  7. A little late but welcome to Bookish & Not-So-Bookish! :) Hope you're having an amazing week--and you look great!

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  8. I still think about me pregnancy pillow and what a REVELATION it was when I got it (months into my first pregnancy!) - sure I didn't sleep a wink before I got it.

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    1. My husband keeps saying I'm not going to want to give it up even after the baby is born -- and I think he just might be right! It's definitely one of those things I didn't think I *needed* but has really been so incredibly helpful.

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I'd love to hear what you think :)