Emotional Overdrive

For those that know me well, you know I'm not a crier. This doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but most have not witnessed it. I don't think I'm an emotional person, but I've realized that pregnancy has made the little things big. Maybe now I'm more sentimental or just can't stop the emotions like I normally can. Here is a perfect example of what happened. Though I laugh about it now, at the time it was incredibly sad.

Robert and I are flipping through channels last night. I'm reading a book and glancing up at the TV now and again. He lands on the movie 13 Going On 30. Neither of us have seen this before and Robert keep saying, who is that girl? Is that the girl from V for Vendetta? I casually reply no, that's Natalie Portman. He is watching so he can figure it out. I look up and start to watch to also figure out how he knows her. The scene comes up where she goes back to her parents house (she's supposed to be a 13 year old in a 30 year old body). She sees her parents and hugs them both, I choke up. Then the next scene shows a thunderstorm and she's awake laying in bed. She then goes in to her parents room and crawls in bed with her mom. Her mom wakes up and ever so gently moves over to make room and places her hand on her daughters to comfort her. I lost it. Full on cry session. Robert just looked at me and smiled. I told him to shut up that I couldn't help it I was pregnant. He said it's perfectly normal to cry and you miss your family. God love him. I had to leave the room before I really lost it.

I don't know why crying makes me feel so embarrassed, I guess it is a sign of vulnerability, I don't know why I'm so strange. Of course, I think about the scene now and how I cried and I just laugh. I think the baby is drugging me trying to make me more into a girl. :)

Concentrated Cannon Fire

We had a beautiful weekend here in the lovely state of South Carolina. Mid-80's, sunshine and it was great. Robert and I spend most of the weekend outside. It was grand. We went to a reenactment on Saturday. It was so nice to be in the country, driving too fast down dirt roads with the windows down. I love summer. While the cannons were going off at the reenactment, one of them was really loud. It went off, I jumped and the baby kicked. I guess it could hear it too. Robert said, "nothing better for a fetus than concentrated cannon fire." I adore him, he always cracks me up. For those who are saying, "she shouldn't..." it's fine, we left immediately after.

We spend Sunday in the yard cleaning up years of leaves. It was a lot of work, but we loved being able to be outside and admire the work when it was done. Robert and I make a great team. We both are hard workers, but know when to stop and have a water fight.

On my iPod- Van Morrison At The Movies: Soundtrack Hits - Hungry For Your Love. I can always find a new Van Morrison song I like. Enjoy.

Movie Review: Rocky Balboa. Okay, I've seen all the Rocky movies, some multiple times. Robert and I got this and watched it this weekend. Robert's review, it was stupid, but hey, it's Rocky you have to see it. My review: It was so bad, so cheesy, that I actually laughed out loud a few times. One of the rare movies that I wanted to turn off 1/4 the way though it.

As Big As Saucers

I hope everyone is fully recovered from their St. Patty's activities. Robert and I went downtown to the parade and at a blustering 50 degrees (with the wind blowing very hard), we were glad it was shorter than last year. We then went to the Hibernian Society (it's an Irish group) headquarters and watched all the drunken people walk up. Then tend to make their own parade. We'll post all the pictures on Shutterfly and post the link. Finally, we made our way to my favorite Irish bar, O'Malley's. We watched the Irish dancers and ate lunch. I have to admit, I didn't think it would be that big of a deal not to have a beer on St. Patty's. However, after about an hour I looked at Robert and said, "we've got to get out of here before I beat someone down for a Killian's." We came home and enjoyed the rest of our afternoon.

As we were lying in bed last night, I felt the baby moving around. It was stronger than ever, like it was doing somersaults. I put my hand on my stomach and felt it kick both on my insides and on my hand. I grabbed Robert's hand and said feel. BOOM. I looked at Robert and his eyes were big as saucers. I laughed as he pulled away. After about five minutes of kicking Robert's hand, our child finally got quiet for the night. It was a great experience to have Robert be able to understand what I feel. He was thrilled to have experienced it.

Parents Weekend

My parents came to visit us this past weekend. It was so nice to see them and have them around. Though with only two days I felt as if we didn't have enough time. We bought our crib and dresser while they were here. However, they are still waiting to be assembled. We did a lot during the two days.

We toured where we work. The picture is in the atrium at work by the fountain. We have a resident alligator on premises (outside), so that's also posted. Finally a recent picture of me and my growing belly. We were blessed with nice weather and even went to the beach. Finally, we took them to the Catholic Cathedral where you'll see some pictures of the amazing stained glass. Enjoy.

We're hoping to see Fannie (my very cool mother-in-law) this weekend and Robert's best friend Kelly may come down for the St. Patty's parade. Those of you who can celebrate my heritage by drinking a few beers, have one for me. I'll be watching the parade wishing I was having a beer.

Garrison Keillor is Hot

For those who don't know Garrison Keillor he does the show Prairie Home Companion on NPR. Robert and I were given free tickets to go see him last night. We went to find out that our combined age didn't equate to the average age of the other attendees. The show was sold out. We were both skeptical, but it was actually pretty good. He's a good storyteller however, we left at the intermission. We were in the 4th row so we got a really good look at how hot he really is. I threatened to rush the stage, but Robert just challenged me to see if my fat butt could actually get on stage. I sat quietly. It was one of our adventures and I had to share. There is a lot of sarcasm in this post, can you pick it out?

Baby Jones

Today we had our 20 week ultrasound. Though we didn't find out the sex, we were able to see what has been moving around all this time. Behold, baby Jones. Robert and I were amazed at the detail of the images. Though we didn't get the 3-D, I was happy to see the heartbeat, the arms and legs and even the brain! It was very creepy, but also very surreal. According to the Doctor, everything is going really well. The baby look healthy and on time (with a July 20 due date). They said that according to the measurement of the leg bones, it was ahead of its due date. Those Proctor long legs must have been passed on. Robert and I were very relieved to see that everything looked so good. We did make the ultrasound tech stop on the private parts to see if we could guess the sex. We studied it, but really didn't know what to look for. It's hard when it's black and white. The tech laughed at us the entire time as she knew exactly what it was, but we said, "Don't tell us.. wait, tell us, wait don't tell us". We have our assumption, but we'll leave the suspense until July.

Thank you for all of your continued support and prayers. We feel blessed to know that everything seems to be going really well.

Half Way Point

Each week in my pregnancy, I get an email from a Web site telling me how the baby is growing. It says things like your baby is 10 inches and can start to hear sounds, including your voice. It's nice to get as I progress along. Today's email said, "20 weeks, welcome to your half way point". I stared blankly at the email in amazement. Half way... where did the time go?

I've included two pictures, one of me at 14 weeks (on the left) and one tonight at 20 weeks (on the right). I wore the same outfit so you can compare. Robert said tonight, "wow, it's like you swallowed a barrel!" I love him so. The baby is moving around more and more. I can tell it is going to be just like me because when it starts getting time to eat, it starts getting active and flipping around. Like mother, like baby- mood changes and screams FEED ME!

Enjoy your weekend.

I Love the South

There are many, many reasons why I love the South. For those of you who have preconceived notions on this area of the country, oh, how you are missing so much. Many picture the South as the stereotype of rednecks with gun racks and big trucks, for example. I have found that South Carolina in particular isn't that much different that my lovely home state of Michigan. I know plenty of Michiganders who have, in fact, the big truck with the gun rack in it. You know who you are. I think that is why I feel at home here. Not because of the gun racks, but because of the beauty, the people and the reminders of my home state.

One thing my new home state has is a vast history. Unlike any other area of the country I have been to, they take pride in their history. They remember Civil War battles and important dates in their history. They take pride in their home state in a way I have never seen before.

As many of you know, my husband is a huge history buff. Not only about South Carolina history, but history in general. I tend to tag along to some of the things he goes to, mainly for support and to take pictures hoping to improve my passion of photography. The first military submarine is located here, The Hunley. A few weeks ago, they had a ceremony remembering those who gave their lives by going to the beach where they launched the Hunley roughly 140 years ago. About 100 of us gathered on the beach as some reenactors threw wreaths in to the ocean in remembrance. I noticed that the reenactors had authentic Civil War cannons set up. As it was evening, we all braced for what we knew would be loud. What I didn't expect was what a cannon looks like when fired at night, on the beach. Seriously, how many of you can say you've seen a Civil War cannon shot at night. Well, please find the video that we took of the cannons and the video of them being shot.

I love the South!