Here we go loopty-loop.... Here we go loopty-la...

I've complained before about Northern Virginia, and I'll complain again... however, lately things have been much better up here. I'm finding my way around better, our little apartment is perfect, and I absolutely love my doctors at the OB practice. However, there is one thing I have yet to come to terms with.

Traffic.

Before this month, I only complained about I-95 because that was the only road I ever traveled that was congested. Since I started temping, I'm all over the place... Fairfax, Reston, Lorton, and other places not close to where I live. Thus, I have had to aquaint myself with new routes, more traffic, and rude drivers. Yes, I have driven on 495 at rush hour, I've been on the Dulles Toll Road (and accidentally the express road to the airport with no exits!), I've gone through Centreville, Manassas, Fairfax, Lincolnia, Falls Church, Hernedon, Sterling, and many, many more little "towns" of NoVa. I have broken down crying hysterically while sitting in traffic on a rainy night in Fairfax, while Forrest calmed me down via phone (all the while, he was sitting in HOV traffic on 95 in the front seat of some strangers car... I pity the driver, who probably only heard "It's all right" 100 times that car ride). I have made wrong turns (YES!! Corinne made wrong turns!!) and almost gotten lost (I won't go so far as to say I was lost because, really, I knew exactly where I was, and got myself home without consulting anyone).

But..

Last night took the cake. I was trying to avoid the toll road, because... alas, I had no cash on me!! So I googled a map at work, and figured a new way home. Trusting my instinct (a bad thing to do when pregnancy has reduced your brain to mush), I headed home. I made a left turn on Hernedon Pkwy, and kept going, believing that Hernedon Pkwy turned into Fairfax Co. Pkwy. (for those of you who don't live in NoVa, just shake your head and say uh-huh with me) 45 minutes later, I realize, "Hey! I passed that building awhile ago!" THE.ROAD.WENT.IN.A.EFFING.CIRCLE. There was no sign to point this out to me. Nothing to let me know, hey! you're driving in circles! No I didn't make any turns, this is ONE ROAD. It's like getting on 495 and going round and round, only on 95, they let you know that you're doing that. So... there went 45 minutes of my commute home. To top it off, I accidentally got on the toll road again (with no money) and was like, CRAP! So I had to get on the Airport Road (no toll) and drive all the way to the airport. Yes... folks, Corinne was thoroughly turned around last night. I never thought I would see the day when I had no idea where to go. Thankfully, I knew how to get home from the airport... so I just went that way. 2 hours later, I finally arrived at home.
And if that wasn't bad enough? This morning? I brought exact change for the toll road (figuring it was easiest)... and the freakin' toll booth rejected my money!! It spit the money ON.THE.GROUND! So I'm sitting there, in the exact change line, franctically chucking pennies into the toll booth. I think it finally took 20 cents of my pennies, and spit the other 80 cents back at me... With the line of cars growing behind me, people leaning on their horns, and me on the verge of a meltdown, I said, Screw it, and drove through the red light. I feel horrible about it, and will probably get a ticket in the mail or something, but seriously? They got about $1.50 of mine, then spit it on the PAVEMENT!!!! Explain to me how this works? They don't accept your money (nickles and dimes), so instead of making a nice little return slot, it litterally spits the money on the ground. I know this because I opened my door in effort to collect some of my money (which prompted screams, horns, and several middle fingers) and low and behold... TONS of change on the ground.
All this to say....

I hate NoVa Traffic. Can I go home now?

Post Holiday Meltdown

I have never eaten so much in my life. We had a great Thanksgiving with our family in Virginia, with two full meals, lots of little kids, and yes... we were exhausted the day afterwards, but not enough to hike to the top of Crabtree Falls in the freezing cold. Seriously, half the waterfall was frozen. But it was beautiful!!! Then last night, we drove to North Carolina to stay with my parents for the remainder of the trip, and tomorrow, Forrest's mom and step-dad are driving down to have lunch with all of us. It's gonna be great!! There's nothing like being home... to just sit back and relax, to be with family... it's just awesome. The only downside is sleeping in different places. Normally, I have no trouble sleeping. I could sleep on the floor if you wanted me to. But now that I'm carrying a whole lot of extra weight, it's seriously distressing when the mattress you're sleeping on is 30+ years old (no lie). Last night, however, I slept like a log as our mattress is fairly new, and very firm, yet soft. Heaven :)
And y'all? Soon, and very soon, we'll announce the name to y'all... :) We've been telling folks over Thanksgiving, and just have a handful of other people to tell, and then it's free for all, and I can tell everyone. I think everyone seems to like it... who knows... but we like it, so that's all that matters.
Well, I think I'm going to go grab another hot mug of cider and sit in front of the Christmas tree we just finished decorating. :) Y'all enjoy the rest of the weekend!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Well, this week has been fun! My brother has been up visiting us, and we've hung out, laughed, shopped, watched every episode of Arrested Develpment, season I and some of The Office (the BBC version). And to top it off? Today we get to go see our family!!! YAY!!! Tomorrow will be a non-stop parade of little kids around our feet, well... I should say little girls around Forrest and Justin's feet. Those girls absolutely love Justin and Forrest. If they weren't cousins, you'd think that they had a major crush on the boys (cept they're all under the age of 10, so it's just this cute admiration they have). Seriously, 4 girls!!! I can tell you for a fact that Justin and Forrest will be ex-haus-ted tomorrow night. After many "Pick me up! Pick me up!"s and Running around after them, and wrapping them up in blankets and calling them bean burritos and dragging them over the house in the blankets... the boys will be wiped. And I can guarentee that the girls? Will be in heaven. I remember being that age, and if there was an older boy to pay attention to me, to tickle me, I just ate it up!!
In addition to the little girls, there will be FOOD... BLESSED FOOD!!!!! I've spent the past two days baking and we have (drumroll please....):
2 pumpkin pies (homemade)
2 pecan pies (homemade)
3 lbs of pumpkin fudge (half of which is already gone thanks to Justin and Forrest)
Cranberry Relish
Banana Bread (which is already gone because we couldn't resist, and all three of us pigged out)

So... if I'm making that, you can imagine what my mom is making and what my family will have. It's enough to send a pregnant woman into a coma it's going to be so freakin' good!! In addition to the food, my grandfather owns a Christmas tree farm. Only this year, they aren't going to be open. So... we get to pick out a free tree!!!! yay! Of course, we won't pick it out until I get to watch the Macy's thanksgiving day parade, complete with Santa Clause at the end, at which I'll cry like a little girl, not because I'm sad, but because even at 24 years old, there is something magical about Santa...
And then, and only then... Forrest is going to let me FINALLY put in my Christmas music... (I.love.Christmas.music.like.you.have.no.idea) So I will be one very, very happy girl this weekend. :) And if that's not enough.... after Thanksgiving, we're driving to my parents house to help decorate the family tree. Which... I also love doing. It's something my dad and I have always done together, and this year will be interesting because, pregnant women don't have the best balance for helping hang lights on the tree!!!

So to all of you out there... I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

New Link...

Hellooooo... I've added a new link to the Mommy blogs to the right. KVM (Kosher Vegetarian Mommy), also known as MOWA (Minster of Wifely Affairs, wife of Not-for-Profit-Dad) has started a site called Two Kids and Copper Pot. You can visit her by going http://twokidsandacopperpot.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!!!

Name that Name...

Now that everyone seems to be curious about the name, I'm all scared that it isn't the coolest name ever. lol! I hate to dissapoint! But even still... we like it, and it fits us really well... and well, we think it's just wonderfully cool. Maybe after Christmas we'll post the name on here... I dunno, y'all can talk up Forrest to convince hime *wink*

Now, just for fun... it'd be interesting to see what names you all think are interesting and fun.... keeping in mind our names, why don't y'all take a stab at it... I guess I could do a hint every week from now on..... ok...

HINT: It's not a common name, but it's not uncommon either.

Baby Dreams

Last night, I had a very, very good dream. Well, good in the sense that it wasn't my usual baby dreams where I forget the baby somewhere, or the baby dies or something. This time... I actually had a healthy baby. It started with me at my family's house for Thanksgiving, when I started having contractions. We all rush to the hospital where I'm put in an evaluation room. There, I'm starting to realize that the contractions are closer together, and that I really need to move to a labor room. So we start to move to a labor room, only to find it's not clean yet. So they set a palat out in the hall for me... just a blanket on the floor, while they clean the room. I suddenly tell someone that I really really need to push, and the nurse checks me and is like, "You're fully dialtated!!! Dang, you must have been in REAL labor pains back in that room and laboring for a long time!" I'm like, "duh!" and then start pushing. Thing is, in my dream it doesn't hurt (and I haven't gotten drugs that I know of). I see the baby coming out, and I pull him out onto my chest. It's the most beautiful dream I've ever had... because there is the son that I've been carrying around. Forrest walks up beside me and is crying buckets and buckets of tears. We tell everyone the name.... _________ and everyone loves it. They're blown away by the name. My dad throws his hands up and is like, "Wow! That is the coolest name ever!" and starts crying. The nurses announce that the baby is 10 lbs, 17 oz (which in reality is like 11 lbs and 1 oz right?! I'm not very good at math) I then get my son to start nursing, and he's perfect. He latches on perfectly, and there's no problem there. Now the nurses seem pretty concerned with getting me into the labor room to deliver the placenta. So I'm sitting there, while everyone is coming up and congratulating me. There are people from all sorts of different times in my life. From Suffolk, VA when I was only 3 years old... From Buena Vista, VA when I was only 6... and from my old church in Winston-Salem, NC that my dad is still pastor at. Everyone's coming and going, and all the while... I'm trying to nurse my son. His latch is perfect, but he's a little distracted, and he keeps looking around at everyone. He's the cutest thing I've ever seen, and I'm so in love. Here my dream sort of fast forwards a little, and I'm somewhere... not home yet. But Forrest and I are driving, and mom has the baby in her car, except she has the car seat IN THE FRONT SEAT!! and FACING FORWARD!!! I about have a heart attack and take the baby out of her car, and put him in our car in the back seat, facing backwards. Then Forrest and I realize that the baby was almost 3 months early, but amazingly is a big baby. But the only problem is, we don't have ANYTHING! No one has thrown us a baby shower (and we still don't have one planned... *shrug*) and we don't have half of the stuff we need... diapers? no... swaddling blankets? no... nothing! We have nothing! So I rush to Babies-R-Us where I run into my grandparents. I'm in the parking lot trying to figure out how I'm going to pay for anything because we are just flat broke at the moment. So when we run into them, I'm like, SURELY they'll help us out. Wrong! They tell us how sweet the baby is, and all, and... "if you need any help, just call!" Of course, I coulda been like, uh... yeah we need help! But it was one of those, "if you need help..." comments that just doesn't feel sincere and you feel bad taking them up on it. ANYWAYS... I go into Babies R Us, and I have everything I need..... except... the... baby. He's still in the backseat of the car. I freak out and run to the car, and he's there, and thank GOD! Still alive. So we head back to the store, only to find that the doors are closing... and we run and make it under the door just in time. I explain to the manager who's closing up that our baby is a month early and we don't have ANYTHING!!! So he lets me keep shopping. At this point in my dream, I think I was starting to wake up... because I'm talking to someone, and they're like, where's the baby!? And I point to the baby in his carseat, and then feel the baby kick in my stomach. I'm like that's weird, I thought I had the baby already....
Then, as I wake up, I realize that the baby is literally JUMPING on.my.bladder. and kicking the snot out of me! I roll over and tell Forrest the baby's kicking, and then tell him about my dream. It's so crazy to have those types of dreams that are so real, and make me want to have my son RIGHT NOW!!! Not to mention that in my dream he was so incredibly cute, and that everyone loved his name (which I'm DYING TO TELL!!!!) (and no, I won't yet... our parents read this blog, and they're maybe, MAYBE gonna find out the name at Christmas). Then and only then will I tell you... and you can tell me it's the coolest name on the planet. :) Anyways... Just thought I'd share my cool dream with you. I'm gonna go eat more food because... Baby is kicking me again! and I'm hungry again!!! :)

Bright and Early

Well, today's Saturday. I don't know when I last posted on a Saturday. Saturdays usually involve me waking up at 7:30, trying to get back to sleep and realizing that the baby is using my bladder as his sqeeze toy. I roll out of bed (which is becoming quite a production), and head for the bathroom. Now, by this point, I'm wide awake. And as I'm sitting there in the bathroom, I begin to grow frustrated because.... it's Saturday. I used to sleep until 10:30 am on saturdays... sometimes 11 or 12! And now? I can't make myself sleep past 8. I know, I know... all of you veteran parents out there would tell me that it's all preparing me for being a mother, when my son won't sleep past 8 (or even earlier). But the thing is this... I'm ready for that. THAT I fully understand... what I want, however, is to enjoy my little bit of freedom before it's gone. It will be 18 years before I can sleep in again. Granted, I'm fully prepared for motherhood, just... I want to enjoy these last few months before I dive right in! But I guess nature doesn't work that way. It's all about teaching me how many times I'll be waking up in the middle of the night to feed my child, how many times I'll be consoling my son because he had a bad dream, how many trips I"ll make to the kitchen to get a glass of water... in fact, the other night, at 3:30 am, I had a sudden realization that getting up every hour to pee is completely different than getting up to nurse a baby. For one, I can pee half asleep. That's the one thing that's easy for women... in fact, I've fallen asleep some nights, if only for a minute or two... But with a child? Noooo... I have to be alert, to watch my baby, to make sure he doesn't choke, to hold him... all of that has to be done awake... not half asleep, but awake. And during my 3 am epiphany, it kinda scared the crap out of me!! What if I don't hear my son crying? What if I forget to get up and feed him? Will I go crazy during the sleep deprivation stage? because heaven's knows I'm Queen of Sleep. I have to believe it'll all be okay, and try not to think about it too hard... but it's mornings like this... when I'm alone, awake, and there's nothing on TV, that I quickly am realizing the reality of parenthood. It really is no longer about me... and honestly? I can't wait..... :)

Brudder's Jussy!!!

Brudder's Jussy!!!
Originally uploaded by meandscreech.

He's coming tonight.... YAY!!!!!!!!! :)

26 weeks and 4 days

26 weeks and 4 days
Originally uploaded by meandscreech.

Y'all want a belly shot!? Well here ya have it!! :) That baby's getting big. It's hard to imagine I'm going to be even bigger than this... craziness!!!

Today. the Comcast guy brought me the internet. Yes.... fine folk, we have internet at our apartment! The wait was worth it because we finally got one of those special offers in the mail, and I cashed in... :) YAY!! :) So I should be able to update more frequently, and even on the weekends!!

His eye was OFF the sparrow...

This caught my attention on NPR the other morning... Random, but seriously? They killed the bird????

New "Expecting" Blogger...

I've added yet another expecting mommy to my blogroll at the right. Head on over to say hello to Erika at Effected

Mmmm... Breakfast

I just got this e-mail from Forrest, and he said "Hopefully your sausage legs feel better (hahahahaha...I accidently typed "batter"...no, we don't want your sausage legs battered—or fried :-) "

And now? I want a full breakfast for dinner... something about sausage, batter, fried... I just think of 3 pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausages, grits, and a tall glass of orange juice.... GOSH that would be good...... *sigh*

Edited to add: Forrest just called to remind me that we do indeed have sausage at home, eggs, and pancake mix... we'd have to stop to get grits... but all I can say is, HECK YES!!!

Pain in the...

Okay, so the back pain I thought was gone, is back... only moderately. And the thing is, I know it's this stupid desk chair. My maternity belt is keeping me from dying from pain like I almost did Monday night. But instead of talking about my back pain, I figured I could talk about other things that are pains in the ____.

-Politicians. Seriously? Everyday, it's something new... "Oh it wasn't Scooter Libby, it was someone else who leaked Valerie Plame's identity." So who? My hunch.... turd blossom, or maybe the big Dick himself. Dick's in a lot of trouble lately anyways, with this news about his involvement with the Oil Companies... things that make you go Hmmmmmm....

-TV. Our favorite show this week got the ax. I could whine about it all day, but you're not here to listen to my whining... so I'll just stop at that.

-Traffic in NoVa. It took me 2 hours to get home last night. TWO HOURS folks... That's how long it took me to get from Raleigh to Wilkesboro in NC. And when I got home... I had miraculously sprouted sausages instead of legs. Quite humerous, and somehow had me craving fair-food again... hmmmm....

-Rude People. This is pretty much self explanitory, but seriously? Cut the new girl some slack!!! She's only functioning as the operator, and if she can't direct your call to the right person, please don't cuss her out... especially if she's been super nice to you and tried REALLY hard to help you.

-Desk Chairs. Wait, I said I wouldn't talk about this one... but what the hey.... :)

-Plagiarism. Poor Matt over at Child's Play is dealing with this, and so is his friend Katie, at Ramblings of a SAHM .

-Swelling. Did I mention the sausages that have become my legs? Yeah... REALLLLLLLL sexy :)

All of those things aside, I guess I should talk about something positive eh? Like the fact that Thanksgiving is next week... or that I can't wait until it snows because, I absolutely love the snow... or that my brother is coming up to visit me this weekend (yay!)... or that I'm so happy that our heating is included in our rent this year... I guess I have lots of things that I'm happy about too... I'll try to post more of those later, but right now, it feels good to get that other stuff off my chest...

Maternity Support Belt

Last night, after 3 hours of stabbing, shooting, incredibly awful back pain, I finally sucked it up and went and bought a maternity support belt. Up until now, I just didn't think the thing would help me, and I'd just waste my money on it. Boy was I wrong. I'm wearing the support belt today, and so far, so good. My back isn't hurting yet, my legs aren't swelling (as bad), and my upper abdominal muscles aren't staging an attack on me. It's amazing how one little thing can help... the funny thing is, I feel like I'm wearing a bra for my belly. The thing makes me look incredibly pregnant, and squishes my belly fat into funny looking positions. I have some pictures we took last night of the thing, so I'll have to post them when I get home.
Other than that, things are going swimmingly! The baby's kicking a whole lot, and in fact... I think he's a music buff :) Everytime I put Iron&Wine in the cd player, he starts moving around, and kicking like he's dancing... we're so proud of his taste in music :) Mom actually got a chance to feel him kick this weekend, which was really cool. He's also kicking a lot at night when I'm trying to sleep, which is good preparation, I suppose, for those long nights feeding and soothing a crying baby :)

Weekend Review

So my week continues with more temp work! Which means more money... which means we actually may be able to save some *gasp*! This weekend, we had a blast. My mom came to visit and we shopped until our little legs gave out. Friday, she went with me to my gestational diabetes screening (which was only supposed to take an hour, but took two instead) and then we hit Old Town Alexandria shopping. Talk about fun!!! Then we drove home to poke around Potomac Mills and got some more shopping done. Mom bought the cutest outfit for our lil' man. It's a onsie with pants that says "If mommy says no... ask grandma". Talk about a must buy for a grandma! Then, Friday night, we picked Forrest up at work, and ate at one of my new favorite restaurants in DC, Alero. Mom and I ordered and split the best fajitas I have EVER had. The steak.was.awesome. Saturday, we shopped a little more, then hung out at home before an old family friend came over for dinner. We had fun reminiscing with her, and then headed to bed. The rest of the weekend, we just hung out, and then dropped mom off at the airport last night. It was kinda sad to see her go, but we really enjoyed our time with her this weekend. And then, next week, we have Thanksgiving, and I get to see my dad and my brother who I haven't seen in like FOREVER!!! Actually, Justin might come up next weekend early, and spend the first part of the week here with us and ride w/ us to our grandparents house. Soooooo, we'll see.
Anyways... I'd better start shutting down for the night. Glad I have internet access this week... I'll keep y'all posted!

*Pout*

Isabel pointed this out to me.... I think I'm going to cry myself to sleep tonight... and in the words of Isabel.... We'll miss you George Michael... and on top of that? It won't be on for the next 3 weeks... so what am I to do with my Monday nights!?!
Plus, this goes to show you that Americans are STUPID! This show is FUNNY! In fact, hilarious... and everything else on tv? Either reality tv or crime shows.. and when I watch tv, I want to be entertained folks! Not depressed! And the Bluth family... made me laugh... out loud! Oh well... there's always the DVD's right?

This is where you remind me why I don't work 9-5...

I've been temping all week... and have gotten so many funny looks for being all pregnant and everything (along with a zillion questions from some of the men I've temped for). I have been EX-HAU-STED at the end of the day... so much so that I honestly almost didn't watch Commander-In-Chief last night, which if you knew how much I love this new show? You'd realize how tired I was. Not only am I tired of rowking 9-5, my back is screaming out in misery thanks to very old and malfunctioning desk chairs and 8 straight hours of sitting down answering phones. On the bright side of things, I've earned enough to at least justify a short lil' massage at one of the local spas. :) (never done that before, but gah! my back... I deserve it).

Anyways... hope everyone out there had a wonderful day, I promise mine wasn't so bad. It's nice to have SOMETHING to do instead of sitting at home reading blogs all day... if only it didn't wear me out so bad.. :)

I lost my Meme virginity today...

Isabel Meme'd me today... and it's my first Meme... so I feel quite special :)


5 Things

10 years ago - I was just about to get my learner's permit (yeah, I'm that young)
8 years ago - I was working as a hostess to save up money for my trip to Europe
4-7 years ago - I was finishing my first semester in college at Appalachian State University, and had just dumped the worst boyfriend ever.
2 years ago - I had just gotten engaged to Forrest, and we were in the throes of planning our wedding
Now - I am 25 weeks pregnant with our baby!!!

Five yummy things:

1) Burritos (Moe's)
2) Celery w/ Ranch dressing
3) oddly enough, Cheeseburger and Fries from McDonalds (I know... so gross, yet so good)
4) Pumpkin Pie
5) Tortilla Chips from Moe's (gosh, I'm hungry for them right now)

Five songs I know by heart:

1) DayDream Believe (the Monkeys)
2) Signed, Sealed, Delivered (???)
3) ....
4) ....
5) .... (seriously... I'm really bad about knowing words to songs... I always mess them up... I'm pretty much a loser when it comes to music)

Five things I would do with a lot of money:
1) Buy a house
2) Buy a new car for Forrest and me
3) Travel
4) Donate to charities all over (my fav? Door of Hope orphanage in Johanasburg, South Africa)
5) Set aside $ for kid education

Five places I would to escape to:

1) Boone, NC
2) Outer Banks, NC
3) Chile, South America
4) Anywhere in southern Africa
5) anywhere in the mountains

Five things I would never wear:

1) super tight clothes (um, NOT flattering on me)
2) a pink tutu, in public
3) fishnet tights
4) high heels... I'm tall enough as it is, and clumsy too
5) a shirt that say's "I heart Dubya"

Five favorite TV shows (in no particular order):

1) "Friends"
2) "Arrested Development"
3) "Commander in Chief" my new favorite!
4) "Seinfeld"
5) "Will and Grace"

Five things I enjoy doing:

1) Sleeping
2) Reading
3) Traveling
4) Shopping
5) Cuddling w/ my hubby :)

Five Favorite toys:

1) My iBook
2) digital camera
3) cell phone (it has a speakerphone!!!)
4) cd player
5) random, I know, but the TV remote... I like holding it :) it's the power of being in control

Five people who get this meme (I would, but I don't know 5 people to meme!!!)

Work

Sad that I can't check my blogs or post anything new since I've been working since Monday. And today? First day I'm working at a place with internet. Probably shouldn't spend too much time on here, but just wanted to let folks know so they didn't think I've died or something.

Oh, and Forrest felt the baby kick for the first time ever! How cool is that?!

back to work!

New link!

Hey guys, I've linked a new expecting mommy... Avorie over at http://redinkydink.blogspot.com/

Go by and say hello!!!!!

Where has Fleming been?

Daredevil Fleming
Originally uploaded by meandscreech.

Honestly... Fleming's been pretty chill lately. Forrest and I were going through some old photos, and came across this one. It was taken at our last apartment, and all I could think was, WOW! That bear has some guts!! It's sad but these days, Fleming isn't as creative as he used to be. Maybe some of you can exert your influence on him, and post some ideas for Fleming to attempt. You post, we photograph... and as a request, keep it PG... (our mom's visit the site!) Happy posting!!