Things to Never Say to Your Pregnant Friend

OMG! I saw this article and I about died laughing! Being pregnant for me was awful. I did not enjoy it!!! I was VERY upset mainly about the weight gain (still am) after almost a year of hard work to get it off. Anyway, I saw this article and I had to put it on the blog! I had ALL of these happen to me! It really is best to follow these rules if you have a friend who's preggo! It's hard enough as it is - we don't need to make it worse!

Things to Never Say to Your Pregnant Friend
You may think you're just being curious (or cute), but she'll secretly want to poke your eyes out.
Yes, we admit: It's always easy to unintentionally hit a hormonal land mine with another female, but when she's pregnant, it really doesn't take much for things to get ugly. Help yourself (and her!) with this list of things not to say.


"So...was it planned?"Besides the obvious privacy invasion (their birth control = none of your business), there's the unspoken — and uncalled for — judgment. As in, "You really think now is a good time for a child? And you seriously think you can handle it?" Keep the unsolicited opinions to yourself.

"30 weeks? You're still so small!" There's just no way to win here. Tell her she looks small, and she hears that the baby isn't getting enough nutrition and she's already a negligent mother. Don't apply this in reverse, though. Yes, she's aware she's gaining weight; yes, she knows it's a natural and healthy thing; and no, she doesn't want to hear about it from you.

"Speaking of pregnancy, did I ever tell you about my sister's 36-hour labor?Skip the horror stories, please — she's got enough to be nervous about without listening to your nightmare tales. And, by the way, it's totally okay (preferable, even) to not have anything interesting or illuminating to tell her about pregnancy, childbirth, or parenting.

"Well, maybe next time it'll be a boy."Sorry, whose baby is this? Your gender preference is pretty much...no, entirely irrelevant. And rude! Anything less than unconditional happiness and support is best kept to yourself. And if she previously expressed hope for a different gender, there's no need to remind her — implying that she's not totally excited about the baby is a sure way to make her feel like a bad mommy.

"Felt any kicks yet [said while placing hand on her belly]?"We know, the belly rub is tough to resist...but please do. Normal rules of human interaction do apply when dealing with a pregnant person, so hands off. Okay, you're allowed to politely ask for a touch, but even that deserves a little thought. Under normal circumstances, would you feel comfortable physically interacting with her? Sporting a bump doesn't suddenly make her body public property.

"[Insert name]? Really? Hmm, that's an...interesting choice."Yes, we agree, she should've kept her baby name a secret if she didn't want feedback...but that doesn't let you off the hook. Unless she expressly asks for your opinion, keep it to yourself — choosing a name is hard enough without (unsolicited!) comments about how odd your grade-school classmate [insert name] smelled.

"That's a decaf latte, right?"Another one of those none of your business situations. Same goes for questioning her decision not to drink caffeine, if that's the case...because no matter what the circumstance, all she's going to hear is your implied judgment. We don't care how many scary headlines you've seen about caffeine during pregnancy; this conversation is appropriate only if you're her doctor. Please apply the same logic to comments about sushi and alcohol intake.

"Let me know when you're at week 15. I'm praying this one works out."Yes, we've heard this line. And more than once! No matter how good your intentions, there's never never never an appropriate time to mention the risk of miscarriage or any previous losses. Trust us — she's well aware.

"Yeah, babies are cute and all, but just wait until puberty..."We're operating without a back button here...let's keep it positive, okay? Tell her how sweet babies are, talk about all the fun she'll have with her toddler, but please — nothing about the terrible twos or teenage mood swings. If she'd like your assistance when (and if) those things become a reality, she'll certainly seek it out. Until then, the small person growing in her belly offers more than enough to focus on.

Soooo Maddie!!!

Miss Madison is super lucky to have very stylish grandparents! She always receives the cutest clothes and is always the best dressed where ever we go!! Chip's parents, Doug & Kim bought Madison this adorable outfit!!! I just have to take a picture of her in it and post it on the blog - words cannot describe!!

Haute Baby

So most of you should know that I make a point to be nice to the IT guys I work with. I've learned through the years that they probably have one of the most thankless jobs and deal with more idiots than most of us could imagine! We only call them and bark at them when something is wrong or needed immediately. We call them with stupid questions that require them to have more patience than the average person. So, knowing what it's like to be in a job with those results, I find myself always trying to be nice to them - not just on the occasions when they are needed.....
Anyway, that being said, we have an IT guy at work, Lance who's wife just so happens to design SUPER cute baby clothes! She has several "celebrity" clients and because I'm NICE to Lance when he is at the office, he's offered to bring Miss Madison something from his wife's collection! How cool is that!! See! Being good to people always works out in the end!
If you want to see her stuff you can check out her website @ www.hautebaby.com

Update

So thank you to all of you for listening to my venting and for your sympathetic responses and advice! I love hearing that I'm not the only one who deals with the frustration!! I'm happy to report (fingers crossed) that Madison seems to be doing better. She has a slight cough but so far things seem well and I'm praying she got the break she needed. I think we are just so grateful our little girl is feeling better!

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ugh! I'm just totally at a loss for what to do! I met Chip and Madison at the emergency room yesterday after work. She's become dehydrated from all the vomiting and dirty diapers. They attempted to give her and IV twice and both times were unsuccessful. My poor baby. She just feels horrible and is not doing better. I decided to play doctor yesterday and stop giving her the antibiotics. It seemed to be doing more harm than good. Good news is, it stopped her from vomiting - bad news is now I think she is sick with a cold or something. She's having a hard time breathing. I'm totally heart broken. I don't know what to do at this point to make her better. I'm taking her to the doctor today, (against my boss' wishes I'm sure - we'll see how that works out for me) I need to meet with the doctor face to face and figure out what is wrong. I hope to have some sort of positive outcome this afternoon.

A Break!

I'm unaware of how many of you know this but my daughter has literally been ill for a month! A MONTH! I can not express to you how exhausting it is to have a baby that is sick. I'm wiped. I don't remember the last time I slept longer than a few hours or even the last time I went a day without being puked on. I'm not talking just your average "mommy" spit up - I can live with that - I'm talking like 3 to 4 oz. of fluid several times a day - in the middle of the night, 2am baths both myself and the baby and trying to put her back to bed. My mother has been taking her to the doctor weekly for a month to figure out what's going on. Basically, Madison has a bad ear infection that will not go away. We are on our 3rd round of antibiotics and if this doesn't clear it up, we will be going to a specialist and possible tubes in her ears. This has spun off several symptoms such as asthma, Upper respiratory infections, sores in her throat, sinus infections, high fevers, throwing up, upset stomachs, runny noses, not sleeping, emergency room visits, crying, fussy behavior, dirty diapers, coughs.....I could literally go on and on!
To make matters worse (not that they could get much...) I was continuously taking her to daycare where she would pick up new germs and virus along the way. Finally, last Friday, I hit my breaking point. Once again, I was up at 2:30 am taking Madison to the emergency room so she could get medication to stop her continuous vomiting on me. 3 hours of it and the whole way there in the car.
Mind you, I get up at 5am with her every day - even on weekends and with 3 weeks behind me of a sick kid and no sleep, I had to have something change. I was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown!!! So I begged Chip's mom, who lives more than an hour away from us to please come down and watch Madison for the week. I needed her out of daycare long enough to recover and with someone who could watch - just her - all day long.
LUCKILY for me and my sanity, she agreed! She is driving down and back each day this week to watch Madison for me and although we are only 2 days in, Madison seems to already be showing some signs of improvement!
What a relief! What would we do without moms!?!? Between mine and Chip's parents, there is no way I would survive! They are the best and I appreciate all they do! I can only hope Madison feels the same way about me someday! For now, I've been saved and my sanity is SLOWLY coming back!

Chip's Birthday

Thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated with us for Chip's birthday!! I know it meant a lot to have you all there and he had such a great time! The food was good :) We are still nibbling on the b-day cake :) and I can not get him to stop playing Rock Band! He's putting the margaritaville machine to good use, yesterday he sent me to the store for certain fruits to mix up some new concoctions! I'm certain he will be bringing this to future parties! This morning bright and early he made sure I took his new iPod Touch to work to get it all set up for him - too bad you can't plug Rock Band into the iPod! It would be quieter :) Seems this weekend sent a few of our friends out to get the game as well - we'll all be touring together in no time! We had a blast - I hope you all did too!

Congratulations!

This turned out to be a big weekend for everyone! We learned that our friends, Corey & Ellie (soon-to-be) Greer got engaged!! We are SO excited for them! I love weddings and they are such a great match! I'm glad they are making it forever :) Good job Corey!!! He bought her a insanely beautiful ring!

July is HOT! HOT! HOT!

July is a hot month for me! Probably the busiest of the whole year!!! :) First, it's the 4th of July! My parents anniversary is on the 5th (Happy Anniversary!!! - They have been married 33 years!) and my mom's birthday is TODAY - The 7th!!! She's the best! and YOUNG! She won't let me put a picture of her on the blog but if she would - you would all see she is beautiful and youthful and I love her to pieces!
I could do a whole tribute to my parents. Everyone who reads this knows me so I don't need to really explain how I feel about my parents. I'm sure you already know!! I'm not shy about hiding it! I adore them and they are the best! They are the only people on the planet who love me fully and understand me. They are the reason Chip lives most of the time as they allow me to vent and they still (at 30 years old) solve all my problems! I think I lucked out more then they did :)

The 12th is also Caleb (Chip's nephew) and my Chipper's birthday! They were born on the same day!!! This is very exciting to Chip! He's never shared a b-day with anyone so he loves that he shares one with Caleb.
Mr. Caleb is turning the big 1 this Saturday and Chip is turning 34!!! To me, this is FAR from being old - to Chip, this is a hard b-day - he believes everything is down hill from here. Depressing isn't it?? See, when it comes to age, Chip and I strongly disagree. He thinks - stay young and care-free as long as you can and trust me, he really tries to live that motto to the fullest :D Love ya honey!!! Me, I think more like a bottle of wine - better with age :)

Moving on to the 14th which is Chip's mom's b-day! Amelia lives in Conroe and we try to make out to see her about once a month. Her and her husband Hollis (who's birthday is the 29th!!!) have goats and puppies that Miss Madison just loves to play with! She always loves going out there - Chip and I love it because she always comes home tired!!!

My nephew, Aaron, has his birthday on the 17th and is turning 10 - if I ever feel old - this is where it happens! When I first moved to Houston, Rachel (the oldest) wasn't even 1 yet! So, to think that Aaron is 10 already sort of makes me feel old - that and Rachel (who is 12; is taller then me!!) I realize this is not a huge accomplishment as I am by no means "tall" but still - 12! Come on!

Then, it's Debra Denham's (our friend) birthday on the 20th! Happy B-Day Deb! Whew! I'm exhausted just writing it all!!! :)

New School

Madison started at her new school today. I was so nervous leaving her but it's a new school and it's in our subdivision so we are both really excited about that. I'm sure she'll make new friends in no time!!! I'm hoping she had a good day today and I can't wait to go pick her up! At this school, she actually gets to play in the water so I had to make sure to pack her swimsuit and towel and tons of sunscreen of course!!!

New Tooth

Such a big girl! Maddie got her first tooth and it's the cutest thing I've ever seen! You can barely see it in pictures but it's there!! In fact, I think she's getting another one. These are her in the bath...in her new seat which allows her to play more then the baby tub! Ugh! I could just eat her up!

30-Day Challenge

As most of you may or may not know, prior to getting pregnant with Madison, I joined a small gym similar to a Curves....for the following 4 months, I was determined to finally lose weight once and for all! This was an easy gym to use and seemed to fit everything I was looking for. In about 4 months, I managed to drop 4 pant sizes and was well on my way to being at my goal...then, bamb! Pregnant! Ugh - the heart ache! All that work.....gone! To make matters even worse, while pregnant, the gym closed and for the past few months since Madison's arrival I have beaten to death every scenario I can think of to get the weight off. Looking at past pictures of how far I had gotten is even more unmotivating! I just can't believe I have to start all over again!!! Anyway, even after sleepless nights and total exhaustion with what seems to be like no time left in the day, you do finally come to the conclusion that you can't live like this. I hate that I, unlike most of my friends did not just bounce back from pregnancy!!! I can't seem to catch a break in this department! LOL
So, I've reached my breaking point. I've decided that my free hour in the day is lunch and I'm done!! Lunch is going to be all mine! It's my "Sarah" time. Curves has a special running that is a 30 day challenge - and I've accepted! So, I have no idea if it will lead to a membership there or not, I have no idea if I will even like the gym or do as well there as I did at my other gym but I'm going to do something and I'm more determined than ever to be the LAST time I do this!!! I will HURT someone if I wind up preggo again :) Wish me luck!

Happy Father's Day!!

First, Happy Father's Day to all the daddy's out there - new ones and old ones :) I hope you all get pampered and spoiled like the Kings you are!!!
How did the love of my life spend his FIRST Father's Day??? Doing nothing! Yep! He didn't want to go to breakfast -- nothing....just hang out with his girls and do nothing. Our daughter was ill so he spent most of the day making sure she was taken care of (being the good daddy he is). So, we are making it up to him this Saturday! We are all going to pile up in his NEW ride and go eat at one of his new fave restaurants in the Galleria!

Shout Outs!!!

Happy Birthday to my Father-In-Law Doug :) His birthday is today!!! It's also our friends, Jennifer & Daron's Wedding Anniversary! Happy Anniversary to ya'll - I hope you have a wonderful day together and wish you many, many more happy years to come!

Grand Kids Photo Shoot

PawPaw & MawMaw Unerfusser paid for all their grand kids to do a photo shoot together and all the pictures turned out so cute and fun :) There are literally over a hundred shots so although I would like to post them all, I can't so here are some highlights :) I love them for setting it all up and allowing us to have these memories and pictures forever!

Ahoy!

So while my parents impatiently wait for their new pool to be finished, they have already begun buying Madison things -- take a look at this super cute boat! PaPa was doing "pretend waves" and she was concentrating very hard on driving the USS Miss Maddie!

My best friend Cortney lives in Kingwood and with everyone's very busy schedule, it's not often I get to go see her but since Chip had the new car and he was itching to drive it, I decided to take advantage of the situation and off to Kingwood we headed :) It was good to see her even if only for a few hours and of course, Maddie got tons of love from her cousins!

"Da Da"

To top off an even bigger weekend for Chip, Madison said her first word this weekend, that's right, she looked at Chip, at 5:30 am all bright eyed and smiled then she reached for him and said "Da-Da" and I personally witnessed a 34 year old man melt. Then once we overly praised her, she decided to say it 2 more times! Chip was of course SO excited and proud until we took her to Denny's for our usual weekend morning breakfast and she would say it to anyone who passed!

FAB-U-LOUS!!!

FAB-U-LOUS!!!! That's how I am describing my new chair. Chip fought me on getting this puppy BIG time but I did it anyway and I love it! Funny, for someone who hates the chair SOOOO much, I can't seem to get him out of my Diva Chair :)

Happy Everything!!!

So he got it - well he got one - an even better one then the one we paid to have transferred here!!! Not much to say, it's a FULLY loaded 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT 8 Brand Spankin' New!!! This baby is BAD and it's all Chippers - after 60 days :) See, when I first got my car, I was put on bed rest the next week and Chip took it upon himself to put the first 2,000 miles on my new car over the course of about 2 months.....SO, when the dealer congratulated Chip and said "Mr. Unerfusser, here are the keys" I smiled and said "Pay backs are a (beep!)!!!!
So, for the next 60 days, this pretty little girl is all mine and Maddie's to use for anything and everything I can think of! We joke and say the Grand Cherokee part is for the baby and the SRT 8 part is for daddy!!! :) The best part, she goes 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds in the rain! It hauls! So, Happy Everything Chippers!!!