1. Spiders DO fly. I don't care what Scott says. And one flew at me while I was driving today, and I nearly wrecked the car. I sound calm now, but if you'd been in the car with me going 70 down the motorway - you wouldn't think me so calm. I'm just glad it was a teeny tiny one and not a big black one. I most certainly would've swerved into the Clyde if that had been the case.
2. Okra IS available in Scotland! My sis-in-law said you could get okra in Tesco, but I looked and didn't see anything of the sort and just figured she was crazy, but lo and behold, they DO sell okra and she ISN'T crazy! It's imported from Jordan and comes in teeny packages of about ten stalks (or whatever they are called). I made fried okra using a package of cornbread mix as my cornmeal (which I'm seriously certain you CAN'T get here), and it was GOOOOOOOD.
3. I'm 18 weeks pregnant, but I still just look like I've only eaten a few too many cookies (which I have) but if I pooch my tummy out, I kinda do look pretty preg.
4. Schmooker is a total bouncy baby! I felt Schmooker once a little while ago, but I didn't feel him/her again until Saturday (or at least I didn't notice it or passed it off as gas, which also plagues me these days - sorry if you've had to suffer being around me at all). And boy, Saturday, Schmooker was HYPER! I was simply lying in a warm bath when suddenly I felt some gurgles in my belly, which I at first dismissed as the water bubbling around me until I realised the water wasn't bubbling around me, so I waited quietly and still for a few moments until I felt it again. And again! I lay in the bath for about 30 minutes not moving just waiting for Schmooker to make some moves, and Schmooker did not disappoint! I loved just lying there, pressing on my tummy and waiting a few seconds for Schmooker to protest. It was amazing! Sleeping Saturday night was nearly impossible! Then I felt Schmooker a bit more last night as I tried to sleep and today at work I'd get the odd movement which just sent happy shivers all down my spine. It's unbelievable! There's a freakin' baby in there!
5. My mum-in-law bought me some maternity clothes out of Marks & Spencer and informed me of a sale going on. So Scott and I stopped in on Sunday to check it out. They were out of nearly everything, BUT they did have one last pair of maternity jeans hanging on a lonesome rack which happened to be my size and - get this - only £5! So, I'm doing well in the maternity jeans department. (Four pairs! Goodness!)
6. Apparently, uteruses (uteri?) start Braxton Hicks contractions early on in pregnancy but aren't able to be felt until the middle of your second trimester. I learned this on some website yesterday and found this particularly interesting simply because at Sunday School I'd been running around with the kids playing some running-around game when I felt my tummy sort of cramp. I told Scott it felt like mild period pain, which didn't actually hurt, just sort of felt uncomfortable so I stopped running around. I thought maybe I'd just pulled something, til I read this on my daily pregnancy calendar about Braxton Hicks. So I'm wondering now if that's the tightness I've started feeling every now and then around my middle. So many interesting things! I really feel I'm in the thick of it all now. This is so much more interesting than throwing up all the time! I love being pregnant! (I know, I know, that'll pass, I don't need any mummy nay-sayers!)
7. The Happy Husband has some exciting news of his own. Go check it out!
8. Finally, I've been intending to write something a bit more in-depth than just baby/pregnancy/baking/blahblahblah, and I really do have some intelligent thoughts going through my head (or at least partiallly intelligent), but I guess I'll have to save them for another day. I mean, a spider flew at me and okra and fluttering fetuses! I had to say those things first!
Deep thoughts coming soon to a blog near you (but not necessarily near me so don't get your hopes up too high).