middle of the night ramblings

So it's a little after 11 here and I am the only one awake. Troy and Aubrey have both been asleep for over an hour now and I am not tired at all! In fact, I have a surprising amount of energy right now. While I was changing Aubrey I started to think about how much I like my wipe warmer and thought "I should make a list of all my favorite must-haves for a first time mom." But then I thought, maybe people would think that was boring and annoying. I always thought it was kind of annoying when people tried to impose their own personal ideas and thoughts on me while I was pregnant. But then I thought, duh people can figure out what works and what doesn't work when their babies are here, but what about while they are still pregnant? It's weird, lately I have been wanting to be pregnant again (which is crazy because at least in my earlier stages of pregnancy I really didn't enjoy it much). But the whole idea that you forget all of the pain of childbirth and all of the struggles of pregnancy the second your baby is born is true, or at least it was for me. So now I am enjoying my beautiful baby girl and realizing that I missed out on some of the fun things that I could have (and should have) enjoyed before she even came into our home as a little baby. So I will not impose my views onto you and say that you need to have a wipe warmer and a bouncy seat and a bebe pod and some of those velcro swaddlers because you already know that and if you don't then you'll figure out what works for you. And anyway, what do I know? But I am going to bore you with some new ideas that are dear to me because I wish that I had known then a year ago and I hope that if I happen to forget these things I can look at this and remember them next time. So here is my list of things to do while you're pregnant:

20. Stop trying to fit into booths at around 8 months to avoid embarrasements
19. Enjoy eating hot food while you can because soon you will rarely eat your food before it's cold
18. Figure out a way to stay home and not have to go back to work. (still working on that one)
17. Video tape when the baby kicks. You can see your belly move and you forget how amazing it is
16. Don't get annoyed when you need to keep moving your car seat back to drive.
15. When you are nausious and throwing up remember that it won't last forever.
14. Spend time with your husband because you won't get those date nights back for a while
13. Rub your belly. I remember how fun that was and I miss it
12. Don't let yourself stress out about the baby. Odds are he or she is going to be fine.
11. Take pictures of yourself every month to show your progress. Some months are just "missing"
10. If they don't know 100% boy or girl, don't ask what they think it might be!
9. Plan on being way more in love with your baby than you can imagine
8. SLEEP! SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP!
7. Start a blog :)
6. Eat what you like but remember that your baby doesn't weigh 40 lbs... I could have sworn mine did!
5. Exercise (see #6)
4. Take lots of video and pictures of you and your husband at the hospital
3. Get a cute haircut if you don't already have one. It will help in those last months when you are feeling less that beautiful.
2. Enjoy the attention you get because pretty soon you'll be your baby's accessory
1. Thank God every day for the amazing job He has allowed you to do

So there are my 2 cents for tonight. Like I said, you don't have to take any of my advice and it isn't even applicable to a lot of you. I guess I just wanted to share my thoughts because I am realizing that my love for Aurbrey started a little less than a year ago when I found out I was pregnant and I really am truly blessed to have gone through this journey.



*** Side Note - I have made it so that anyone can leave comments now. Sorry for the confusion earlier I didn't realize I had regulations set for them! Feel free to leave comments! ***