Put 'er there!

*I just needed something to post to get rid of that ticker......seriously.

Jokes

I have no desire to have a constant update of my pregnancy on my blog. It's selfish of me, really, and kind of a mental game I play with myself, but I don't want to be told EXACTLY how far along I am or how many days I have left. I like to lie to myself a little. For example, the day after I hit a certain number of weeks, I tell myself I am already at the following week's progress. Also, I prefer to think, at six months, that it means there are three months left, instead of the actual four, (a worldwide fallacy with which I am willing to play along). Tomorrow I want to be able to say, Mandy, you are about 28 weeks along, when in fact I will only be 27 weeks and one day. And that darn little blue ticker will be brutally honest every single day! Nope, I won't have it. I like my mind games. I NEED my mind games.

So, I boycott the ticker. Why, then, did I put one up on this post? Because today while I was looking at a friend's ticker I clicked on it, and came to find that instead of developmental progress you could have the ticker tell little jokes about pregnancy. (If it didn't also have the "days left" part, I might have caved and put a permanent one on my blog). Also, I just happened to find today's joke super funny, because so many people look at you with doe eyes and ask how you're feeling when they probably don't really want to know. And if they do want to know, it's most likely because they already DO know, and they either want to gloat or commiserate.

Please don't get me wrong, I fully support this social habit. I'm sure I've been known to give the doe eyes myself, because it's a comforting feeling when a friend says their hips feel like they just might split in two, or anything else that makes me think, "Me, too!"

Anyway, this post wasn't supposed to be this long, but I feel I should mention that even though I do count down the days, and yes, my hips hurt, I'm actually enjoying this time. Somehow even getting kicked in the ribs isn't so bad when you're pregnant, and that's always nice.

I's

Huge, aren't they? This is my niece Madi, but it's kinda hard to see her behind those huge peepers. Sadly, it's nearly genetically impossible for my kid to get these eyes. Maybe he'll get some other great features, like Nate's hair.

I am a cow.

Or at least my husband thinks I am. He packs a lunch for me to take to work everyday (because he loves me) but today I was a little shocked when I got to work and looked in my bag.

He packed me leftover casserole from yesterday's dinner, an apple, and a ziploc bag of Fritos. Sounds like a perfect lunch, right?

Well, he also packed me a package of uncooked Top Ramen, a big bag of caramel Hershey Kisses, a bag of unpopped microwave popcorn, and a movie-sized box of Crunch candy.

What does this guy think I do for eight hours? I called him and asked if he was joking, because that's something he would do, and said he was about the Ramen.....meaning the rest was all for me! That dude makes me laugh. And, I may set a pregnancy weight gain record.

ARRRRRR!

The Anderson family biennial murder mystery New Year's Eve extravaganza was a grand success. (I'll post about Christmas later). Everyone came in costume and character for a night of pillaging, looting, drinking, and swashbuckling good times.



Melissa and I were the governor's daughters, my dad's the governor, my mom is Thumbless Jacky, (I tell you that so you don't think she's making gang signs for the camera), Amy's hubby is the Commodore, Chandra was the galley wench, Nate was a "merchant sailor" and my love interest :) Everyone else was a crazy pirate name I can't remember. (Notice I am behind someone and holding my dress up to hide my bulging belly. I was a pretty inappropriate governor's daughter, I looked more like a pregnant prom queen from the 80's.)

Look at how well my sister made it look like a pirate meal! We had ribs and wings and all things meaty, nuts and grapes and ham and bean soup in tavern-y bowls, pirate plates, root and apple "beers" and cranberry "ale". She rocks.

Here she is serving everyone drinks in FULL character as a galley wench. I think she even got a little fiesty at someone and threw their bread at them.......

This is my brother who just got his doctorate in electrical engineering.......but this is his true self. And his wife Brita, also pregnant and due just a couple days after I am.

My mom's pirate pose is eerily similar to her rapper's pose that she made at the last murder mystery party two years ago.....that year was superhero year and she was decked out in baggy clothes and chains, but making this exact same pose. She's a riot.

Wendy's striped tights and pageant shoes from the 80s make her a winner in my book.....and below, her husband Cory with dreadlocks and a parrot on his shoulder made me laugh all night. How did every single one of my siblings find spouses that are willing to be as nutty as we are?

Nate's sailor outfit is so great, those are women's pants he found at a thrift store and a child's size sailor hat. He's a goofball, and I love him. Next to my dad, the governor.

And for memories' sake, Nate was the murderer, he killed Cory the pirate because Nate used to be a pirate and wanted his treasure, that and he needed to bring a pirate to justice in order to win my hand in marriage :) Too bad I dumped him after he commit the crime.

Have a Fabulous Christmas!

We are leaving today for Utah, with a quick 48-hour stop in Vegas to see the BYU game. Go cougs! We will be gone until the new year, so everyone be safe and don't drink and drive. I look forward to the cheery posts I will see when we return. I'll try and take pictures of our annual New Year's Eve family murder mystery costume party so I can share the joy with you all......we go all out, it's great fun.

It's a boy!