Turns out, I'm normal. Whew.

I subscribe to a daily email update of what's going on in my pregnancy. It's quite interesting to read about what changes my baby is going through at each stage, and it also talks you through what mommy is going through. Well, this one was especially interesting to me:

From the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" website:

Q: "Am I imagining this, or is forgetfulness a pregnancy symptom?"

A: Forget about it: Pregnancy forgetfulness isn't in your imagination. Like so many other pesky pregnancy symptoms, it's in your hormones (and there are studies to back that up — just in case your partner doesn't buy that there is a legitimate physical cause you neglected to pick up his prescription on the way home). Sleep deprivation can also play a role, as can the fact that you're constantly zapped of energy — energy your brain needs to stay focused. Even the most organized type A personality can take a disconcerting turn for the scatterbrained during pregnancy: missing important appointments, leaving the oven on, forgetting to respond to e-mail, misplacing the car keys… misplacing the car.…

This made me laugh and I had to forward it to my husband. I've done several things lately that are pretty uncharacteristic of me. For example, one morning I used the milk and left it on the counter, where it stayed all day and promptly spoiled. Another morning, I put all my jewelry on except for my wedding ring - which is usually the very first thing I put on! I've forgotten events I attended and stories I've told to people. I've forgotten to call a couple of customers back when I said I would. And the list goes on.

Fortunately, the more women I talk to, the more I'm validated. How about all you moms: got any good "pregnancy brain" stories?

Grateful

Haven't updated in a while, but we've been quite busy these past couple of weeks. Presently, we have some dear friends in town from Colorado. They're some of the closest friends we made when we lived in Boulder. They are just wonderful, and we've been having a great time with them, including their 3-month old daughter Addie.

We've been at the beach since Tuesday night, and I gotta say I could get used to this life. We're staying in an absolutely gorgeous condo in Beaufort, NC (the coolest small waterfront town in the whole state, I'm convinced) at the vacation home of one of my friends. We've been to the beach for 2 days, took a boat ride to an island, played card games with our friends, held their precious baby, ate a nice seafood dinner on the waterfront (yes, I had shrimp even though I'm pregnant and that's a questionable food... I couldn't resist!), read books, laughed a whole lot, and just relaxed. Each morning I've gotten up a good bit earlier than everyone else and walked about 8 minutes to the local coffee shop, Taylor's Big Mug, and grabbed a cup of coffee and fired up my laptop and have gotten some work done for about an hour and a half. It is days like this that I LOVE my job!! I am not missing a beat at work, yet I'm sitting there this very minute looking at the water. Good stuff. In a few minutes, I'll wrap it up at the coffee shop, walk down to the bakery, and bring some pastries back to the condo for breakfast.

I'm just having a really grateful kind of morning, and thought I'd share. God is good ALL the time, but occasionally I lift up my eyes and actually acknowledge His goodness. Today is one such morning.

Off to the bakery.....

Stubby the Cucumber and Others

Our garden is coming along nicely. Today I discovered this big fat short cucumber, and named him Stubby. I think he's supposed to be skinnier and longer, but hey, none of us have perfect bodies. We'll be enjoying him with our salad tonight, which will include some of our homegrown lettuce. We've also been enjoying our strawberries in onesies and twosies. They don't produce that many berries at one time, and we only have 4 plants, but it is a treat when we get to pop one in our mouths. Here are the latest photos of the garden, including Stubby. Say goodbye, because tonight he will be no more. :-)