Stuff Someone Today at I Am A Stuffed Animal.com!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Kicking, Joe, and Harry

     I must say, our Halloween costumes were a hit.  Those of you who are fans of the movie "Joe Dirt"  will appreciate the fact that not only did we allow our eight-year-old to watch the movie (we did fast forward through a questionable scene or two), but we insisted that he dress up as Joe for Halloween.  Luckily he was more than willing.  The result was the most adorable version of the character I've ever seen.


     Hilarious.  We borrowed the wig from a friend who was Joe a few years ago, and I used some eyeliner to do the goatee and  voila!  How cute is that?

     The obvious costume choice for me was to go as Joe's friend Kicking Wing, since even with a pregnant belly I evidently look like a Native American man.  I borrowed the western style shirt and the cowboy hat, and went to the nearest movie theater to get 3-D glasses so that I could pop out the lenses.  Where else was I going to find glasses that clunky?  Then I took three minutes to braid my hair and I must say I looked pretty damn perfect, don't you agree?

   
      We were unable to convince my husband to go as Joe's lady love, Brandy.  I think the thought of wearing Daisy Duke shorts was just too much for him to deal with.  He decided on a whim to go as Harry Potter.  We made quite the crew to our friends' Halloween party on Saturday.



     The following day we went to Boyd's Orchard in Versailles, Kentucky for a birthday party for a friend of Ridley's.  It was a gorgeous day for it, and I highly recommend the place for anyone who will be near central Kentucky before it gets too cold to enjoy the outdoors.  The gorgeous farm has a corn maze, pumpkin patch, hayrides, a petting zoo, restaurant, and lots of farm-made goods for sale.
     I had been feeling lots of soreness and a little pressure in my lower abdomen since the previous day.  I knew I would be walking around a good bit, so I decided to try the belly band again.  I really think it helped quite a bit.  After just a short time wearing my Motherhood Maternity Belly Band, I noticed that the soreness was gone.  And as I was going to bed last night it hit me that I didn't have any back pain at all.  Score one for the belly band!  I will definitely be using it from now on when I know I'll be on my feet.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Fall Break Long Weekend

     Back to real life after a nice long weekend.  Ridley really needed a break from school, and Matt certainly needed one from work.  And I really needed some quality time with them both.  Ridley had Friday and Monday off, so Matt took those days off, too.  Late Friday morning we packed up our little camper (really little---15 feet!) and headed to Fort Boonesboro for the night.  It's only about 20 minutes from home but it always feels like we are far away.  The campground was busy, and it was incredible how many Halloween decorations that had been put up by the campground and campers alike. 


     There were hundreds of carved pumpkins, lots of lights, and even a resident Michael Meyers who was following kids around in a very creepy fashion.  Two families came down to join us, each bringing several children, so Ridley really had a great time running wild.  The others didn't stay, but stuck around until after dark when it started really getting cold.  After they left, Matt and Ridley and I played cards and yahtzee in the camper until we all admitted we were ready for bed.
     The following day we drove two hours to Harveysburg, Ohio to attend our first Renaissance Festival.  I couldn't believe how enormous it was.  All the people working there wore period costume and affected English accents.  There were vendors of all sorts of handmade products that I would have loved to buy, but knew I would not want to lug around all day.  We did a ton of walking, and I really did fine back and belly-wise.  I still haven't been wearing my belly band, but I'm thinking I will probably really come to appreciate it eventually. 
     We also saw an incredible acrobatics show called The Kamikaze Fireflies.  The one-man one-woman show was really entertaining.  They were not only fantastic acrobats and skilled with fire tricks, but they were absolutely hilarious.  They have a facebook page if anyone is interested.  Sorry, I don't have the actual address, but if you do a search on facebook they pop right up. 
     It was a great day, but a lot of the shopping and sightseeing really didn't interest Ridley that much.  And the food was expensive and... well...disgusting.  Matt and I have decided that next year we will get a sitter for the day and the two of us will go.  We plan on dressing up, drinking lots of beer, and doing absolutely everything and watching every single show.  We haven't decided how we'll get home after all that beer, but we'll figure something out.
     On Sunday we decided to go geode hunting in a little town right outside Danville, KY called Perryville.  I had never been there before, as close as it is, but it was a lovely little town.  I wasn't really feeling up to wading in the water looking for potato-sized rocks with the boys, so I took some pictures of the gorgeous scenery instead.


     Matt and Ridley found about 20 geodes!  They cracked one open with a hammer, and it burst to smithereens.  Next time they'll be using a saw, I believe.
     Monday was a day of relaxation, Ridley had a friend over, I caught up on some reading, and Matt was rather bored.  He did harvest some of the last bits of garden goodies.
    
     We had a wonderful weekend.  I'm ready for another.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Belly Bands

     I finally sucked it up and bought a belly band.  I had some extra bucks from Motherhood Maternity that I needed to use.  They have a pretty good deal where if you spend $75 in there you get $30 to use toward purchases within a certain time period later.  They had a few different types of store brands and a couple of outside brands available.  Since I had $30, I went for the $29.99 Motherhood Maternity band that was shown to me by the very nice salesgirl.



     It is apparently the "ultimate" one as opposed to the more standard belt that was $19.99.  They really didn't look all that different, but they didn't have the cheaper one in my size.  We had Ridley's school carnival to attend that night and I knew I would be walking around a lot, which gives me back pain and pressure in my lower abdomen.  This thing was a little difficult to put on because there are so many adjustable straps, all with velcro, and they kept getting stuck in the wrong places as I was trying to get it on.  But after I managed to strap it firmly below my bulging belly, I yanked up my maternity "skinny" jeans over it and left for the carnival.  I discovered pretty quickly that if the straps aren't aligned absolutely perfectly that there is a tremendous amount of discomfort due to the misaligned edges jabbing into your belly as you move around.  It also didn't seem to make a whole lot of difference in how my belly and back felt.  I'm willing to give it another shot, though, as I really am not all that big yet.  I may really be thankful for that extra support a couple of months down the road.  So my conclusion is that I just don't know yet.  Anything that is even rumored to help prevent preterm labor is something that I'm willing to keep trying.  And I have a friend who swears that it really helped her back.  So, I will be trying it again the next time I will be on my feet and reporting back. 

Monday, October 8, 2012

Kicking Wing

     I mentioned before that my son Ridley (8) is going to be Joe Dirt for Halloween this year.  I can't even think about it without laughing.  I've also been searching for a costume for myself that doesn't bare my belly, because I find that a little gross.  And cold.  I debated over doing one of those costumes where it looks like the baby's arms are sticking out of my stomach in a very alienesque manner.  Especially if one of those arms is holding a Trick or Treat bag.  I'll admit I was a little squeamish about that, and so was my husband. 
     We were talking about Ridley's Joe Dirt costume and Matt said something partly in jest about me going as Kicking Wing, the Native American friend of Joe Dirt's in the movie.  Well, I thought it was a fantastic idea, and I believe it's a go!  All I need is a cowboy hat, some clunky glasses (I think Ridley has a 3-D pair in his room somewhere that I can remove the lenses from), and hopefully some type of seventies style cowboy shirt if I can find it.  Put my hair in braids and I'm done.  I mean, come on.  I already look like that!


     Anyone care to comment?

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

To Clothe the Bump

     I finally broke down and bought some new maternity clothes at Motherhood Maternity.  I was starting to get made fun of for wearing the same two shirts every day.  I think I have the pants covered for the rest of this pregnancy.  I have two pairs of black leggings and two pairs of dark skinny jeans that aren't in the least bit skinny.  I now have five tops, all short sleeved.  I figure that I can mix and match with sweaters and jackets to make them really last.  I never wear dresses in the winter anyway, so unless I get invited to a special function or heaven forbid someone dies and I have to attend a funeral I won't be buying any dresses. 
     I've elected not to post any photos of me wearing any of these clothes.  I must say that my get-up-and-go when it comes to personal grooming (not hygiene, I still shower and brush my teeth) has got up and absolutely went.  I'll consider posting some if I decide to put some effort into my appearance, but it just isn't very likely.  I'm fully aware that I will look like death on a cracker for the next six months to a year.  On that note, if anyone has some old maternity clothes lying around please send them my way!  Or for that matter, any baby stuff.  Or...anything really.
     Anyone care to comment on their pregnancy wardrobe or lack thereof?