Let it SNOW!

I'm such a fan of the snow! When I was a little girl, I'd crawl into my parents bed at 5 am and turn on the news...watching and waiting for my school to be among the list of closures. I'd squeal with delight when I realized my day would be filled with snowmen and sleds instead of math and books. As soon as the sun came up, I'd run out and grab every neighborhood kid I could find and off we'd go into the winter wonderland. The only thing that could lure us inside was hot chocolate!

Even now that I'm older, I'm still in love with the snow! Yesterday I felt so motivated by our little blizzard that I put up the Christmas tree (all the while listening to Spirit 105.3, of course). Given that this is Joel and my first Christmas in our house, we only have about 3 ornaments... two of which are from Starbucks :-) so I went to my mom's house and stole (ahem, borrowed) some of hers. Also, I was very impressed that our cat, Gracie, hasn't knocked anything over yet. We'll see if that's still in effect this evening when I get home from work.

As for this baby - she's about 4 1/2 weeks away from her little due date. It's so hard to predict if she'll be early or late, but my money's on early. Even some sweet gal at the grocery store this morning said "oooh, she looks low," which I've been hearing more of lately. So.... the countdown is in progress and I'll be sure to keep you updated!

And a special little exclusive: we've decided on her name, and I'm keeping it a secret on-air. But I'm gonna announce it in this journal in my next post if you'd like to know a little early. :-)

Sarah

Take a picture, it'll last longer

So today I got cornered in the hallway at work for an impromptu photo shoot. (Thanks alot, Kenna!)

Remember Hollie? She did the morning traffic with Scott and Sam - and now she's off living the dream in New York City! (We miss her!) Well, I guess she emailed some staff members, asking them to secretly snap a photo of me and this belly so she could see my progress now that I'm in the home stretch of pregnancy.

Imagine my surprise to be ambushed by paparazzi (Kenna, our community relations gal) as I made my way to the copy machine. SNAP! FLASH! She caught me.

See, I haven't felt so photogenic lately. Don't get me wrong; I love being pregnant, and I love this belly. But sometimes.....ok, alot of times, I'd rather not have the moment documented on film. Lately, I just haven't felt myself. I'm usually so exhausted in the morning that all I can muster is a messy ponytail in my hair and one of the same sweaters the staff has seen me in for the past few weeks (my wardrobe is severely limited these days.)

But.....Oh well. I'm gonna look on the bright side - because part of me is glad to have been ambushed by a camera. Why? Because I hear that someday I'll look back and treasure the photo. And hopefully by posting the picture I can encourage you if you're a little camera shy around the Holidays. Take the pictures with family and friends, even if you aren't feeling your most glamorous. Because someday you'll look back and be thankful to have captured the moment. At least, that's what I keep telling myself! :-)

Sarah

Nesting

I've heard about this "nesting instinct" for a while now. And then, last night, I experienced it in all it's irrational glory.

Now, I can't be the only one to experience this, can I? Imagine: You have a loooong day at work. You drive home, in bad traffic, in the dark and the rain. You're exhausted. All you want to do is lay down on the couch and relax. And then... you walk into your home and find shoes and socks to greet you at the front door, and dishes piled in the sink. The garbage needs to be taken out, and the cat has unrolled a roll of toilet paper and scattered pieces around the house. It's enough to push anyone to their breaking point, yes?

So I started to clean. But not normal cleaning. Rather, that crazy, stressed-out, "I-must-clean-and-sanitize-everything" kind of cleaning. Banging pots and pans as I thrust them into the dishwasher. Hectic vacuuming where it looks like someone pressed my "fast-forward button" and I'm doing everything at an elevated pace. Loading the washing machine to capacity, running up and down the stairs with piles of clutter, and starting to get out of breath. I felt like a mad woman! Cinderella on steroids or something.

Joel came home from work to find me scrubbing the bathroom floor in a frenzy with tears streaming down my face. It must have been such a comical sight, but thankfully he kept his laughter inside. He helped me up from my hands and knees and talked me down from my frantic state. He said things like "It doesn't all need to be cleaned right now..." (I kept crying) and "Let me help you" (crying still) and finally with a smirk, he said: "Sarah, you're a little tiny bit crazy right now. I don't know what to do with you." And the crying slowly turned into a chuckle which turned into laughter. And some more laughter. And then some more crying from me. And then I think I fell asleep.

Six more weeks to go!

A few friends of mine have been encouraging me to start a journal about my impending motherhood. Sooooooo... well, here I am. :-)

There are about six weeks left in this pregnancy (I'm due right around Christmas) and I feel as though I'm losing my mind! I am so excited about this baby... I can hardly wait to meet her! I feel like a little kid at Christmastime with an advent calender, just counting down the days. I'm glad the holidays are close (Thanksgiving is a week away! MMMmmmm) because that will help to pass the time. My belly is big and round like a basketball and I laugh when I catch glimpses of my reflection in darkened windows. My belly sticks out in all it's glory and I just love it.

It's hard to imagine what this little girl looks like - this ultrasound picture hardly does her justice. Yes, I can make out facial features and her little hand. (Doesn't it look like she's waving "Hello?") But to see her in person, face to face...I think that's what I'm most excited about. The moment I see her for the first time. I wonder if she'll have dark hair? I was born with a big ol' mop of black hair and then it all fell out and turned blonde. I was also born three weeks early - I wonder if this baby will do the same?

I'm glad Tom Pettijohn has patience with me during our on-air shifts! Sometimes I get cranky or moody and he's doing quite well with it! I'm sure that it's good practice for him - you know, if he and his wife decide to have kids anytime soon - because he'll be prepared for when Celeste (his wife) has the same wild mood swings. :-)

Well, that's all for now! Thanks for taking the time to read this - I look forward to posting more in the next few weeks. Feel free to comment and leave advice - it's very welcome! I'll take as much as I can get!

Sarah