I was prepared to go to the gym this morning but Lu had other plans.  I forgot to turn her heater on last night and she woke up at 4:55 freezing.  🙁 Poor thing.  I brought her into bed with us and she cuddled for about 30 minutes but by 5:30 she was saying “hot” and wanting to get down.  Shaun is sick, so it was up to me to entertain her until it was time for daycare. It was the best morning EVER.  We had SO MUCH fun.  We read books, we ate breakfast together, we played, and Lucy’s newest word made its debut.  She now says “Cuddle” and reaches up to be held .

I was able to get dinner in the crockpot this morning and still make it to work at the normal time.  I was planning on coming in a little late so that I could get my beans cooking but Lu took care of that for me. While I chopped, she had some crackers.  Apparently, the bowl I gave to her was not sufficient.  The crackers should have been stored here:

In Mommy’s lunch bag.  Maybe she was just making sure that I don’t go hungry?

Speaking of CUTE! Yesterday was a warmer day and Lu got to wear a new outfit that I bought awhile back.  Look at how cute she is!

Bring on the dresses!!!

Too bad is pouring rain right now.

Last night I made gluten-free pasta (brown rice) with chicken sausage and veggies.

I’ve used this pasta before in dishes with marinara and it was pretty good.  It was a little too gluten-free for this type of topping.  It was still good but I’m on the lookout for a better gluten-free pasta.  This was Applegate sausage-it’s all organic chicken and turkey and does not have dairy, gluten, or a pork casing .  It actually doesn’t have a casing at all.  It was really tasty.  I wish they would make a spicy version!

Lastly, the title of the post.  My Calorie King subscription expires today.  I was an active member of that community from May 2005 until April 2009.  I met Kath and Sabrina through CK.  I also met MANY other amazing women-many who leave VALUED comments on this blog and others that just stalk (I know you’re out there!).  Women who I am extremely proud to call friends.  I wrote in my journal almost every single day from May 2005 until April 2009 for the whole community to see.  It got me writing and is what spurred this blog.  I am incredibly thankful to CK for meeting those amazing women and for getting me to open up and learn to be a writer about things other than business and linguistics.

I’ve been working over the last few weeks copying all of my journal entries from my pregnancy to the time I stopped writing over there.  I wrote VERY openly almost every day of my pregnancy.  I am SO incredibly thankful that I have that.  I can’t wait to share it (perhaps edited) with Lucy one day.  For now, I’ll share some of my favorite snippets with you.

The month before I got pregnant (January 6, 2008)

I want a baby. I want a baby. I want a baby. I want a baby. Does crying like a baby make a REAL baby come faster?!?!?! I know I need to be freaking patient but it’s not one of my strong traits. What makes it worse is that you find out you’re not getting a baby during the time of the month when you’re the most irrational and hormonal. That sucks. I knew that this month wasn’t the month and still I’m sad. So very sad.

7 days before I found out I was pregnant (January 23, 2008):

I don’t know why, but I feel like I’m pregnant. This isn’t like past months where every weird thing my body does is a sign that I am. It’s just like I know. The other weird thing? Is that if I’m not, I’m totally okay with it. It will happen when it happens and me freaking out about it doesn’t help, it actually hurts. In past months it’s like "I hope. I hope. I hope. I hope. I’ll be so sad if I’m not. I don’t know what I’ll do." This month? "I’m pregnant but if I’m not, there’s always next month." I’m supposed to get my period in a week. We’ll see.

The day after I found out (January 31, 2008):

I’m also tired for another reason. I couldn’t sleep last night. I was too excited. See, yesterday when I didn’t get my period I pee’d on a stick. I got a very faint second line. I tried to not get too excited (I failed). Last night I kept waking up saying "5 hours until I can pee on a stick again" "4 hours until I can pee on a stick again" and on and on. Well I pee’d on a stick and I have 2 lines. I’m preggers!!!! I can’t even tell you how excited I am. I know, I know, it may not work out and if it doesn’t I’ll be completely devastated but I figure I’ll be devastated on here so that’s why you guys are hearing so early. It’s surreal it really is. Yesterday when I told Shaun I got scared for the first time. Today, I’m excited but also scared. And Shaun? Is SO excited. He’s had to be the voice of reason throughout the last six months (poor guy) and yesterday gave me a bit of a glimpse into his feelings, he said, "If it really is positive (that line was faint yesterday), we’re naming that baby molasses because it took long enough!" I told him that 6 months is not that long and he said "Long for me!" Anyway we’re stoked. I think we’re naming the kid Bean because I’ve had the worst gas ever!

The emotions that came on even before I knew I was preggo (February 5, 2008):

No crying yet today. We won’t speak of the SIX times I cried yesterday.

The insomnia and nausea starts (February 11, 2008):

I’ve been up since 2 AM with such bad nausea that no matter how tired I am I can’t go to sleep My poor sweet husband actually agreed that me getting up might be a good idea, not before telling me to remember to wear my slippers so my feet don’t get cold I tried a few crackers, not a good idea I haven’t actually puked but I wish I could. My sense is, though, that puking isn’t going to make this feel better I convinced myself that I was having twins in this pain because why else would I feel so ill. Such is the logic of a nauseated, exhausted, insomniated pregnant woman

The day I first saw her (March 13, 2008):

I got to see my baby!!!!! It was so amazingly awesome!!! They did an ultrasound and it popped right up and it looked so much like a baby I thought I was seeing things but the Dr. and his Physicians Assistants said "Wow. That’s a good one." We could see its head and its arms and its legs and it was moving like crazy. I’ll have scanned pictures tomorrow. The picture isn’t as good as seeing it in real life but you can still make it out. The ultrasound has me at 9 weeks and 4 days and has my due date as October 12th. I go back in 2 weeks exactly to hear the heartbeat. I saw the heartbeat today but didn’t get to hear it. So incredibly amazing!!!

A sweet Shaunism (March 29, 2008):

One last thing. We were laying in bed last night and Shaun says "I can’t wait until you’re in your fourth trimester." and I said "That’s when the baby will be here." and he said "I know" with a big smile on his face. It was adorable. I then said "We have a lot to do between now and then." and he said "We should start planning then!"

Thinking she was a boy (May 8, 2008):

Lately I’ve been feeling like The Bean is a boy. I can’t explain why but I have. If it turns out to be a girl I’ll be just as happy Only 6 more days to go!!!!

When I found out she was a girl (May 14, 2008):

…she (the nurse) started again and with no warning said "Well, you’re going to have a girl." I was amazed and the water works totally started (we don’t have a happy smiling crying smiley). I didn’t get to see the image of her goods but the tech was positive she was a girl. So girl it is! Then we moved on to the part where I got to watch. You guys, it was so incredibly amazing! She waved at us (as she has on every u/s), we got to see her sucking, trying to put her thumb in her mouth, yawning and stretching (my absolute favorite), she changed positions in a very Mom-like (hey that’s me!) way and was just so cute! We also got to see her very healthy spine, legs (they look long-this is probably just wishful thinking), and arms. Once I figure out how to post the video I’ll post a link! My friends who saw it said that her profile looks like Shaun and I have to agree. She’s so cute!

When we picked her name (May 19, 2009):

So we’ve 99% picked out a name and I’m going to tell you guys because we’ve already started referring to her as such. And I’m just not one to keep secrets. If you don’t like it, keep your mouth shut So the Bean’s name is almost most definitely going to be Lucy Camille Titus I absolutely adore it and so does Shaun but we reserve the right to rename her at any time up until we fill out that birth certificate Shaun thought of the name Lucy and a friend of ours brought up Camille after we decided that Chloe was too popular. I originally wanted to name her Camille but Shaun said there were too many letters in the name (boys are weird). One morning about a month ago Shaun says "What about the name Lucy?" I said, "I love it!" We have XM in the Element and 3 of the stations are named Lucy, Ethel, and Fred. Lucy is the alternative station and that’s how Shaun thought of it Heck, I was named after my parents kitchen color "Chelsea Yellow" so I think it’s a great story! And now we can sing her Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. so that’s the big news for the week.

Okay, I actually have to WORK.  If you guys like seeing this, I’ll continue.  Let me know if you’re interested!