this past weekend, jared and i ventured through tropical storm fay to visit my sister, afton, is ft. lauderdale. after 2 hours of torrential downpour, we made it through the rain and enjoyed a pleasant drive to south florida. prior to this trip, i didn't realize ft. lauderdale was only 40 min. from miami. typically i don't find myself being geographically challenged...i leave that responsibility to my sisters...however 9 hours in a car when you are 32 weeks pregnant is ONE LONG TRIP! I also learned that heat, sodium, constant sitting, and pregnancy leads to ridiculous swelling! i officially have kankles. that's all i will say.
on sa
turday, we all ventured into miami (praying we wouldn't get off the wrong exit and end up in the back of a drug lord's trunk) to spend the afternoon in south beach. since all of us watch tlc and have dabbled in a little ink, we went in search of the miami ink tatoo shop...which we were not disappointed. i was probably the least excited of the bunch but still thought it was really neat. jared thought it would be cool to get a tattoo at miami ink of brayden's name...until he found out that it would cost $350. at this point, that $350 can be used in much more useful means!
seeing afton was a breath of fresh air! even though we are complete opposites, her sweet spirit and infectious laugh always makes my heart happy! i also finally had the opportunity to meet her new fiance. yes you read correctly....Afton is engaged and is planning a wedding for next 
october (which gives me just enough time to loose the baby weight)! meeting dan for the first time was a pleasant surprise....his genuine attention and love for afton was encouraging. i'm so proud of afton and her accomplishments over the past year! I'm excited for the future that is in store for her and dan!
"a dull moment" is a term that seems to be void amongst the Moffatt family! in 6-8 weeks there is going to be a new little one to add to the family clan. in a year, there will be another new member. it's going to be an exciting year! being in the inner circle with weddings, i know my year will be filled with afton's wedding and a new baby. thank goodness i'm getting all my ducks in a row now!
it's saturday and it's raining outside. supposedly tropical storm fay could be headed our way. Still in my sweatpants and hoodie, I'm quite comfortable. sitting on my couch, lulu asleep by my side, i have my laptop as i design new material for work and a bowl of lucky charms while saturday morning cartoons play in the background. i feel like i woke up and and am partially reliving my childhood - perhaps it's in the simplicity of the things i have grown to love. i love rainy summer days. i love being bundled up beneath blankets and curled up on the couch and who doesn't love having their puppy sound asleep beside them (the fact that she is heavily sedated from being fixed, is besides the point)? forgetting what i have been missing all these years, i have rekindled an old friendship with lucky charms. i've always been a sucker for the marshmallows...or maybe it was a suppressed liking of lucky's irish accent when he said "i love me lucky charms"!
remembe
r the days when cereal actually had toys hidden amongst all those sugary cereal bits in the box? what happened to the toys?! pouring my lucky charms this morning, i suddenly remembered how excited i used to be when i found my hidden surprise....even if it was just a power ranger sticker! the worst surprises were when you bought cereal you didn't even really like, but you bought it because it came with a really cool toy (even if it did end up in the garbage after a day)...and then come to find out you had to mail in the proof of purchases to actually get the toy. what a disappointment to a small child!
Anyways, after pouring my cereal, i realized that the box was just about empty and in i looked to see what toy i might find. absolutely nothing. in all honesty, i was rather disheartened. not that i really wanted the toy, but i think what i was really looking for was a part of my childhood past. i felt robbed!
that's it, i think i'm going to the store to buy a box of cereal that i probably can't stand in search for that toy!
please be on the lookout for a woman who fits the following description:
Height: 5'7"...tends to hunch over a bit these days
Weight: 30 weeks pregnant....that's all you need to know
Eye Color: Blue/Green...and probably tired looking with dark circles under the eyes
Hair Color: Blonde Highlights with 2 inch dark blonde roots
Other distinguishing characteristics: has a very distinct waddle
Responds to the name: Wesleyann
if anyone has seen her or finds her, please return her to her rightful owner! Her husband would be most grateful!
ok, so you may laugh at that, but seriously, where did I go?! For the past week or so, i feel as though i'm having an out of body experience...or that the movies groundhog day and freaky friday have actually become a living reality for me! poor jared would like for the woman he married to return as well! This morning i woke up to 30 minutes of the most excruciating pain i have ever felt on my right side under my ribs. i seriously thought i was going to be rush to the hospital. no, not a life or death matter - just my 3 pound, 30 week old child digging his foot into my rib cage. my nights now consist of absolutely zero sleep and constant visits to the bathroom. i suppose lack of sleep contributes to the ridiculous mood swings and constant flood of tears. i used to not be one who cried often....yesterday i cried while watching tori and dean, and the olympics (the olympics is understandable being that hearing the national anthem gets me every time!)...and then i cried because i didn't know why i was crying! forget wearing the majority of clothes in my closet...those days are long long! i'm not a very large pregnant woman, but one would probably beg to differ by the way i waddle around due to having such bad back pain. i managed to keep my wedding band on since we never had it sized, but had to say so long, farewell to my engagement ring....unless i would like to have it cut off due to the immense swelling in my hands. i refuse to have people think i'm just another young, unwed knock-up woman...and we all know that living in the Bible belt, that is every one's first thought when they see a pregnant woman and no ring!
seriously, who stole my body?! i demand you return it asap!
i keep reminding myself that in 8-10 weeks it will all have been worth it...i'm banking on that God given gift of pregnancy amnesia!
if you were to ask me what my favorite season is, as tough as such a decision may be, i'm pretty sure i would have to say fall. living in florida makes it a little difficult to experience fall in all its glory, but that doesn't change my love for the season. the cool crisp air, football, apple pie, pumpkin picking, pumpkin spice burning candles, hot apple cider, and vibrant falling leaves....only a few of my favorite things!
last night i went to dinner with a group of girls....i'm continuously taught to never underestimate what may happen when a group of women are in the presence of each other! amongst our many conversations, one of my good friends, genya (vue photography), mentioned that if you're really still and wait for it, you can smell the faintest hint of fall in the air. hearing her say that made me smile as i envisioned her standing outside trying her best to search for the smell of fall...keep in mind we live in florida and it is still 95 outside! once the rain subsides, i might step out side in search of the fall air as well!
another reason to love fall even more - brayden is going to be a fall baby! being that brayden is due October 25th, that means he will be here (hopefully...and i'm not playing around ...he better be here!) to dress him up for his very first halloween. when i mentioned this to jared, he laughed. i think he thought i was just kidding....obviously he hasn't caught on just yet! growing up, halloween wasn't a celebrated holiday but we still participated in costume at church carnivals. i have no idea what we will do this year, but if he is here, i absolutely intend to take full advantage of the situation and dress him up like any first time mother would do!
now that i have attempted to join the blogosphere, i have stumbled across a few blogs that i have made a daily habit of checking in on. CF Husband, is one that i have found to be truly inspiring as I read about his wife who has cystic fibrosis and their little baby girl who was born at only 24 weeks (if I had brayden at 24 weeks, i would have had him 5 weeks ago....that's how early his little girl arrived!!!!).
for that past few weeks he has been raising money in support of his wife and CF by going bald. now you may question what going bald has to do with any of this. due to his wife having to go through chemo and having lost her hair, he decided he wouldn't let her be bald alone. i'm not an expert on love, but i have to say when i read that, my heart melted. in each of his posts, his love for his bride and precious baby girl is undeniable.
I encourage you to take the time to read his page. i really believe your heart will truly be touched and inspired!
going on week 29...8 more weeks and i will be full term (37 weeks....40 weeks puts me at my due date 10/25). See, i told you time has flown by.....and you thought i was over exaggerating!
my first week working with Kimberly was such a change of pace...and i loved every minute! still working on weddings, but on a much less stressful scale is a breath of fresh air. i think i am going to enjoy my job now so much more!
i'm starting to wonder if there is such a thing as a sense of normalcy in my life. it really is never a dull moment! friday morning i went to the doctor's only to find out that my bank card wasn't working. of course everyone's first thought is, "great she has no money but is going to swear that she does and demand i keep swiping her card as if money is going to miraculously appear." as soon as i was told my card wasn't working, i knew immediately what was wrong and my views on what a crappy bank we use was confirmed!! because jared had to get a new card and our bank issues identical card numbers to joint accounts, my card no longer worked. having this problem before, jared made sure to ask and we were told we would not have any problems with my card. WRONG! i am really beginning to question the qualifications these bank tellers must require, because at this rate they didn't even pass kindergarten in simple arithmetic. minor details of course. after making not one but TWO trips up to the bank after an unsuccessful attempt to get gas, i waddled my pregnant, irritated little self up the the desk and demand they better fix this situation! thankfully the 2nd time was a charm. I'm sure me telling them exactly what i thought about their not so innovative bank and that if they didn't correct the problem i was pulling all our money out right then and there, helped a bit.
arriving home, i unlocked the door only to be graced with yet another unwelcoming surprise. thinking lulu was the culprit, i was quickly proven wrong as she was still securely locked in her cage. it was callie. because callie is very picky about the ground beneath her precious paws when doing her business, her business became a little backed up due to 4 days of rain. being stopped up finally decided to run it's course all over my living room white carpet. if this situation doesn't stop, in 3 months i'm going to start feeling like dean when he said "i feel like i live in poo city!" from tori and dean home sweet hollywood. and quite frankly i don't think i will be able to handle that very well!
the birthday girl and me
she was trying to get a closer look