Currently: November

Happy Thanksgiving week (to my American readers)! This is one of my favorite holidays of the year so I am super excited for all the yummy food on Thursday! Here's what's currently going on in my life!

Reading: Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnston. One of my reading goals for 2017 was to read 6 books that I already own. I've had this book for a couple of years and am finally getting around to reading it! It was recently recommended on the podcast, "What Should I Read Next." I think I am going to like it!

Loving:  feeling the baby move! Since I have an anterior placenta, I felt movement later than most moms do. But I finally started to feel movement a couple of weeks ago. Phil hasn't been able to feel kicks yet but hopefully he can in the next couple of weeks.

Feeling: really tired and kind of cranky at times to be honest... I never got that second wind of energy during my 2nd trimester like many other moms due to my RA. I don't like feeling cranky but when I feel so tired it's kind of an easy emotion for me to feel.

Thinking: about my trip to St. Louis to visit Nora. It's going to a fun, low key girl weekend. She'll be post-chemo and I have my usual pregnancy/RA exhaustion so we will both need a quite, low key weekend together. But this trip is all about spending time with her. I know we'll do some fun things, like go to the movie "Wonder" (super excited for this as I loved the book and have heard good things about the movie), check out some book stores and eat Mexican food (a cuisine we both LOVE, but I'm mostly excited to be able to chat with her face-to-face.

Anticipating: holiday traditions. This weekend I will make a special brunch on Sunday and we'll decorate our tree. In a couple of weeks, I'll have my college friends and their kids over and we'll decorate cookies. Later in the month, Phil and I will have our own little Christmas celebration. We'll celebrate Christmas with Phil's mom which will include Phil driving us around to look at Christmas lights!

Watching:  Hallmark Christmas movies. I know they are super cheesy but I love them. We don't have cable so I don't have access to the Hallmark channel anymore but my sweet friend Erin sent me a DVD with a bunch of Hallmark Christmas movies so I am getting my fill on them thanks to her!

Grateful: for my excellent boss and work environment. Last week my boss was in town and he sat down with me and told me he was concerned about how I am doing since I have had so many flares and seem particularly tired. He gave me the name/number of a person in HR that he suggested I reach out to for information about going on short term disability before the baby arrives if I feel it is necessary. I really want to work until 36 or 38 weeks but it's nice to know that I have his support if I need to stop working early. He also said I can work from home as much as I need to. I'm super lucky to have this kind of support as I know it is very rare, especially in my field (asset management) which is known for discriminating mothers and expecting moms.

Working: on finding furniture for our nursery. We are not going to buy a crib before the baby comes as we are hoping to find a house before the baby transitions from the bassinet in our room to a crib. We are trying to avoid having to take apart and re-assemble a crib when we move. If the baby needs to transition to a crib-like structure before we find a house, we will probably just use a pack n' play. But I do want to buy a glider and a combination dresser/changing table. The glider could take 10+ weeks to arrive so I want to order it soon as my due date is about 15 weeks away!

Listening:  to the "It's a Real Mother" series on the podcast, "The Longest Shortest Time." It's a series about workplace discrimination against mothers. It's really eye-opening and sad to listen to how our culture and companies treat mothers.

Wishing: for some warmer weather. Winter arrived early this year. We don't have snow on the ground (although we've had 3 snowfalls) but it's been so cold! I hope we get some warmer temps before winter settles in for good! 

What are you reading, anticipating and loving these days?