I'm Baaack!

As you may have noticed, I took a bit of a hiatus from posting this week. I had a million things going on and no time or motivation to post by the time I was done with everything at the end of the day. I finally feel like I'm back on track after today. The last half of this week I had horrible insomnia which led to me being relatively useless and not as productive as I'd have liked. I get cranky when I go three days without sleep. But I got caught up on my sleep last night and now I'm back in the game!

Finally scheduled the tour of the maternity ward at the hospital and got my baby shower invitations out (well, all but 5 of them that need to go out Monday). Sometimes I'm such a procrastinator. The shower is next Saturday - how exciting! I can't wait to see how it all comes together. My 24th birthday is this Tuesday, so I'll probably also celebrate my birthday on Saturday after the shower. Hopefully I'll be able to make a trip to the casino with the girls. Then on Sunday, I'm having my TT's Attic fall boutique sale and fundraiser. The goal is to get rid of as much inventory as possible so I can put the money into the plans for the completely revamped TT's Attic, and also to raise money for my Out of the Darkness team. If you're in the central NY area, please stop by and help us raise money for a good cause!

Had a 30 week checkup yesterday and according to doc, Dominic still looks/sounds great. His heartbeat is strong and steady. And I didn't gain any weight since my last appointment two weeks ago, so I definitely can't complain about that!

I think I've started nesting. I used to think nesting was a made up thing that pregnant women conjured up. But starting about a week ago, I suddenly started to feel very pressured to get everything done. I feel almost as if I'm working under a deadline that wasn't there before. I feel pressure to get business ramped up, I feel pressure to get everything in Dominic's nursery arranged perfectly, I feel pressure to finish the remaining things on my "to do" list. Barring an early arrival, I have 10 weeks left and still a ton of stuff to do.  Here's to hoping I can get it all done and not lose my mind in the process. Before I know it, I'll no longer be an expectant mama, but instead a proud mama. I can't wait to see my little man and I just want everything to be perfect!

“Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

He's a Growing Machine

Maybe I'm just crazy, but it feels like my child has doubled in size and strength over the last week. What were once small subtle movements at random intervals throughout the day, are now powerful kicks and punches all day (and night) long. He just loves to kick me in the ribs. I can only imagine what these movements are going to feel like as he continues to grow. With just over 11 weeks left, this shit is about to get real!

I took the advice of a few friends and signed up for some "mommy" meetup groups last week. It will give me a chance to socialize with other people while I'm here, and bring Dominic on little play dates once he's born. How exciting! I plan on meeting with the group coordinator next week, and hopefully it will be just what I was looking for.

I'm making some progress on my "to do" list. I finished the book about Talese that I wanted to make for Dominic, now I just need to finish working on the book about my step dad Steve. And I still need to schedule the hospital tour, my prenatal yoga classes and send out my baby shower invites. But I'm making progress so that's a plus. One day at a time...

I've finally given in and decided to hire some contractors to do some "busy work" aka menial tasks for me. If only I had enough faith in other people to allow anyone to do some of my more time consuming, difficult tasks I'd be golden. I suppose I'll evaluate how the contractors do with the easy tasks and take it from there. It's a step forward towards achieving my ever-increasing goals at least. I may not go about business (or anything in my life) the conventional way, but I always end up getting what I want and that's what matters. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not going anywhere and success is my ONLY option! "Unless you're willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won't happen."

Dominic The World Traveler...

Well, I made it nearly to the 7 month mark without having to buy maternity clothes. But I'm now down to only 8 or 9 articles of clothing I can wear comfortably in my new pregnancy body. I suppose it may be time to stop procrastinating and actually get on that maternity shopping I've been talking about for so long. I'll add it to my "to do list". Yeah, that same list that seems to be getting longer everyday. It seems like every time I check something off the "to do list", I think of 2 or 3 more things that need to be added! Still need to finish reupholstering the chair for Dominic's room, get my baby shower invitations printed and sent out, plan 1 or 2 fundraisers before the Out of the Darkness Walk in October, get started on my prenatal yoga classes, schedule a tour of the maternity ward at the hospital, and finish writing Dominic's baby books about Steve and Talese. And that's on top of working a minimum of 8 hours a day on my businesses and taking enough time out to relax and sleep somewhere in between! I think I need more time in the day. Or a personal assistant. Ooooh, a personal assistant would be SO nice...

Once Dominic is about 6 months old and I'm able to hire people to manage the day to day functions of my businesses for me,  I'd like to start traveling again. With Dominic of course. Now of course I know I'll get the naysayers bitching and moaning "he's too young to travel" or "what a waste of money" or "he won't even remember traveling at that age."
My response to that would be "bullshit", "it's my money to waste" and "so what." Life does not stop because I'm having a child. Life CHANGES because I'm having a child and I'm perfectly ready for that to happen. But why not take the first few years after Dominic's born before he starts school and take him places that I've always wanted to go? I'm sure as hell not going to be one of those parents who leaves him for long stretches of time with a babysitter and I see absolutely no reason why he can't come with me. Odds are he won't remember most of our adventures at that age, but it will make for some great stories to tell his friends when he's older. And I'll obviously take him back to many of these places again once he's old enough to appreciate it. Now that's not to say I'm going to backpack through Europe or something crazy like that with a newborn. Dominic will obviously have stability in his life. I'm talking about 1-2 week trips a few times a year to different places. One of the first places I want to take him next year is Ireland. Talese's family is from Belfast and I was hoping to go with them this September as they spread her ashes along Whitepark Bay in northern Ireland. But obviously with me going into my 3rd trimester this September, I had to rearrange my plans. My new goal is to make a trip over there sometime at the end of summer/early fall 2012 to check out the amazing culture and scenery, and of course pay my respects to my beautiful best friend. I'm very much looking forward to my world travels with my new little man. And quite frankly, I don't give a damn what anyone thinks about it! "The question isn't who is going to let me, the question is who is going to stop me!"

Excitement and a Wee Bit of Anxiety...

This will be my last full week of my 2nd trimester. Mid-next week I'll officially be in the third trimester of my pregnancy - woo hoo! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by so far. I'm growing increasingly excited , terrified and a wee bit impatient. I'm beyond elated and excited to finally meet my little man and start this next phase of our lives together. But as my due date draws nearer, I'm getting a little bit intimidated at the prospect of being the sole guardian of a little tiny human. It's not the financial aspect that scares me or even the lifestyle changes, but the fact that every little decision I make will shape who he becomes. Also playing into the equation is the fact that Dominic's father is not in the picture and the sole responsibility of making sure he turns out OK is on me. I know I'm fully capable of being a great mom and I'm more than willing to learn. I suppose I just have a bit of anxiety because this will be a completely new role for me and one that I have very little experience in. Hell, before I found out I was expecting I'd never really even babysat before! I've also never changed a diaper and have been made fun of in the past for holding babies like footballs! I hope all of these pregnancy/parenting books I've been reading will prove to be helpful. And the rest I'll just have to learn through experience. Good thing I'm a fast learner! “We are apt to forget that children watch examples better than they listen to preaching.”