So much to post on the Blueberry blog!

Some days I can't think of anything to blog about, and other days I make lists in my head about topics to talk about. Problem is that I don't want to write about everything in one day and then not have anything to write about for another week. I'd rather write a little something every day. So right now I think I'll just post my list of things I will blog about at some point in the near future.

1) I'm already stressed out about my baby shower. It's shocking how such a nice gesture puts so much pressure on the guest of honor, and I'm feeling like I'm stuck in the middle, disregarding what I want for the sake of trying to make everyone happy, which I know is impossible. I feel kind of selfish wondering if it's right to think that it should be about me and what I want and not about what everyone else wants. It feels wrong of me to "expect" that things like this be done for me, even though I would never assume that people would want to throw a party for me. Aside from the high school and grad school graduation parties and the 16th birthday my parents threw for me, I'm not used to being celebrated. When I come out and say (write) stuff like this, I fear that it makes me appear incredibly ungrateful, which is not the case at all. I just feel like I'm being pulled in a million different directions at a time when I'd really like to keep my stress load to a minimum. And worst of all, this is the busiest, most stressful time of year for me at work, so that has to be my first priority.

2) Tea: I'm a big-time tea drinker. I used to drink several cups of tea a day with milk. When we were in England last year, I "discovered" a kind of tea called "PG Tips," which is strong and delicious. (I found that they carry the tea at Big Lots, of all places, and if I can get another 20% off coupon, I'm really going to stock up!) But anyway, I gave up caffeine because I'd rather be safe than sorry--I didn't want to do anything that might harm the Blueberry. But our midwife said that caffeine in moderation is ok, so I let myself have two cups each week--one on Saturday and one on Sunday, and every other day I drink decaf (which I don't really like, but it's better than no tea at all). There have been studies about caffeine and pregnancy, and the results indicated that the only negative effects were in women who consumed a LOT of caffeine, and those women were very likely engaging in other unsafe practices, such as smoking. So this week I've allowed myself to have tea with my brekkie every morning, but I can only use ONE tea bag, then if I want any more, it's a caffeine free variety. I kind of can't wait until tomorrow morning when I can have another cup of PG Tips. (Seriously, it's SO good!)

3) Gift bags: Very early in the pregnancy we started a registry at Babies R Us. We heard that people were already looking for things to buy, so we thought that by registering, people would have some sort of an idea what kinds of products we'd be looking for. When we registered, we received a "gift bag," which included a baby bottle...and a bunch of pamphlets advertising various baby products. Also included in that bag were a couple magazines that are very nice, but they're full of ads as well. So aside from the bottle, there really weren't any "gifts" in the bag. Then I bought clothes at Destination Maternity last week and it was the same deal--a baby bottle and a whole bunch of pamphlets, most of which went straight into the recycling bin. So while the gift bag was a nice gesture, I thought it was pretty wasteful.

4) Hand-me-downs: I know you are all very aware of my belief in hand-me-downs as a great way to help protect the environment. You are also very aware of my fear of shopping for maternity clothes. Well, one of my friends helped me with both of these issues--she met up with Chris at work yesterday and gave him a bag of clothes to give to me. Inside were several adorable shirts, shorts, and a pair of jeans that are incredible! I don't anticipate wanting to run out and shop for more maternity clothes, but these definitely take some of the sting out of "dressing the part." I'm SO GRATEFUL for her generosity and thoughtfulness!!!

And I guess I should have either simply listed what I was going to talk about or not prefaced this entry with my intentions to actually blog about these things at a later date, because I did just what I didn't want to do--I wrote about everything all at once. I'm sure I'll expand upon these topics some other time. However, I do feel the need to censor myself a bit because I don't wish to hurt people...my goal is to let my friends and family know what's on my mind. That's a hard line to walk, though, because sometimes the truth hurts...