Life Right Now

Tomorrow I will be 35 weeks pregnant. I'm very excited that this pregnancy is drawing near to the end. For the past couple of weeks, I have been having a harder time sleeping. I don't know why it's happening. It's not because I'm too big and uncomfortable, because I haven't reached that stage yet. I just can't sleep.

I will go to bed feeling very exhausted, collapse onto the bed from chasing a two year old all day, and then just lay there, not sleeping. I will eventually, finally fall asleep, but any small noise will usually disturb my slumber. If Jader wakes up, or talks yells in her sleep (which she frequently does---it's really funny!) I have a very difficult time falling back to sleep. As a result, I am usually very tired during the day due to my lack of sleep.

I remember having the same troubles when I was pregnant with Jader, and my doctor told me not to nap during the day and that it would help me sleep better at night. It doesn't seem to matter either way now, but I am going to try and avoid day time naps so I sleep better at night.

Back to my comment about not being too big to be uncomfortable, I wanted to share a funny story that happened while we were on our trip to Austin's parents for Thanksgiving. Traveling to Idaho, we stopped at a Wendy's to have dinner, and this woman that was also eating there kept making comments about how cute and adorable Jader was. You know, the obsessive kind of commenting that makes you wonder that if you turned your head, or quite watching closely, they might just take your darling little girl from you.

At one point, she walked by our table and made a comment to me that I looked like I was eating for two. I confirmed that I was pregnant, and she said, 'You're having a boy, aren't you?'. I told her yes, and asked her how she knew. She said, 'I can just tell these things'. Since she thought she was so smart, I asked her, 'Well, if you can tell, how far along do you think I am?'. She said four, maybe five months along. I told her I had less than 7 weeks left. My answer shut her right up. It was hliarous.

So, people tell me all the time that I'm not very big and that I'm barely showing. I had this cute little cashier at a grocery store in Idaho tell me I was 'so freakin' tiny'. It made me laugh. I have only had one person touch my belly to try and feel the baby. It was pretty awkward because it was a guy, and I don't really know him well enough to have expected him to do this without asking.

I have to mention that the nicest thing that has happened during this pregnancy has been my decision to start supper swapping with my good friend, Erin. From the day we started this, over a month ago, I have not regretted the decision at all. It has been a great blessing and a tremendous relief to share the responsibility of cooking for each other's families.

This week has been especially nice because I only had to cook on Monday. I usually cook Monday and Wednesday, but her family had other plans on Wednesday, so I took them their extra meal last Friday. So this week, I cooked Monday, had dinner brought Tuesday, had leftovers Wednesday, will have dinner delivered tonight, and on Friday we have a Christmas party to attend. We are going out of town for the weekend, and I won't have to cook until next Monday. Lucky, lucky me!

I should mention that I love to cook. I actually enjoy it, but swapping has made it even more enjoyable because I don't have to worry about the mess, dishes, and cleanup that is associated with it. I have also realized that I am eating a bigger variety of foods, and foods that might be prepared just a little bit differently than I make them.

I also realized last night that we haven't eaten out since I've started swapping (with the exception of our dinner on the road while traveling to Idaho for Thanksgiving). We used to eat out once every two weeks or so just because i got sick of cooking, but I don't have those feelings anymore, so eating out isn't necessary. So, this adds a health benefit, and another money saving benefit.

I didn't think I'd save money swapping, but I noticed that I have. My grocery spending is less, and it gives me the chance to use the difference and put it towards food storage.

I've given you plenty of pro's and really I have no con's, so if you have been thinking about doing this with one of your friends, don't hesitate any longer. I promise, it will be worth it!