Oh my aching feet!!!

Literally.

My feet really, really, really hurt. And its not just the normal swelling and aching that comes from being pregnant - this is something a little more serious.

I've got plantars fasciitis and it really stinks. Its a sharp pain in the bottom of my feet and an overall achiness and pain around the sides. Here's the technical explanation.

Definition
Plantar Fasciitis is an inflammation caused by excessive stretching of the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is a broad band of fibrous tissue which runs along the bottom surface of the foot, attaching at the bottom of the heel bone and extending to the forefoot. When the plantar fascia is excessively stretched, this can cause plantar fasciitis, which can also lead to heel pain, arch pain, and heel spurs.

Cause
Plantar Fasciitis often leads to heel pain, heel spurs, and/or arch pain. The excessive stretching of the plantar fascia that leads to the inflammation and discomfort can be caused by the following:

Over-pronation (flat feet) which results in the arch collapsing upon weight bearing

A foot with an unusually high arch

A sudden increase in physical activity

Excessive weight on the foot, usually attributed to obesity or pregnancy

Improperly fitting footwear

Unfortunately the treatment for plantars fasciitis is: find the cause of it and don't do that anymore. Well, its going to be awhile until I lose this pregnancy weight, so I think Im just going to have to deal with it for a few more months. It makes me cranky and makes me feel like a little old lady hobbling around the house. It definitely gives me a LOT of incentive to lose this weight once the baby is here because I can't imagine living with this pain. It would also put a huge halt on my running career (HA... career... I know. I laughed just typing it) if I continued to have it after pregnanct. No really, I enjoy running and doing races and would be bummed if I couldn't do it anymore.

So that's the latest wonderful joy of pregnancy I've been experiencing here. I've been swimming laps at the pool instead of walking at night and on weekends to get my exercise and that's been wonderful. I wish I could go to the pool every day! Jim and I hit the pool this morning and were able to share a lane and do a good 15-20 laps each. It was so nice!!

Thanks Nana!

I came home from work yesterday to a surprise box from Nana. We opened it up and inside were 4 sweet outfits, some much needed undershirts and the cutest little black patent leather Mary Janes. Jim even said, "Those look like something you would buy." He was right. Nana knows me so well and is already spoiling the baby rotten. I can't wait to dress the baby in all of the sweet clothes that Nana and Pop-Pops have bought and made for her.

Thanks so much guys! You have already been so generous and we really, really appreciate it.

The loot

I should mention here too that also in the box was a gift from a friend of my grandmothers who still attends the church that my grandmother was a member of and that my mom and dad now regularly attend (after a 20 or so year leave of absence). I was totally shocked that she made our baby a crocheted blanket. It is so sweet! It is the blanket behind the clothes. I'm 99% sure this woman doesn't have internet access... but I'd like to thank her on here anyway! So thank you Mrs. Rossi!

Baby Likes Music!

Okay - let's get back to baby talk.

Last night was the first time I put headphones on my belly and let Baby Girl listen to music. Music has always been a part of my life with the strongest influence being my parents who to this day still sing in choirs and vocal groups and my mom even directs the choir at her church. Aunt Laura plays a mean guitar and mandolin and Aunt Jen can sing... although I kick her butt in Playstation Karaoke (better luck next time Jen). It seems like I've always got music playing or a song in my head or am whistling or humming a tune so she probably has already enjoyed her fair share of music in the womb- but I thought I'd make Baby Girl her very own itunes playlist and let her listen to it last night. What's on Baby Girl's playlist you ask?? Here's a little excerpt

"Wild World" by Cat Stevens

"My Own Two Hands" by Jack Johnson & Ben Harper

"Your Song" by Elton John

"Lullaby" by Dixie Chicks

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

"Fly Away" by the Indigo Girls

"Lullaby" by Jack Johnson and Matt Costa

"You Are My Sunshine" by Norman Blake

"Mother Nature's Son" by the Beatles

She seemed to really like it! There were some strong kicks and movement while the music was playing and she stopped moving when the music stopped. She either really liked it - or the music woke her up from a nap. I'm going to try to do it once or twice a week for the remaining 10 weeks because I truly believe having music in your life is very important. Maybe she'll turn out to be a singer like my mom... or a musician like my sister!

Stone Mountain Park

Jim and I went to Stone Mountain Park just outside of Atlanta for the annual company summer picnic on Saturday. We go to Stone Mountain quite frequently on the weekends to run, walk and hike and to take Tucker for a swim but we rarely ever go to the part of the park you have to pay money to get in to. We took advantage of the free admission to the "attractions" and went on the train and the riverboat. We weren't able to catch the "Wild Hog Review" or the 4D movie of the history of the South because our timing was a bit off. Needless to say -we were very bummed. Maybe next time.

Here were are on the riverboat, "Scarlett O'Hara." Very appropriate.

Sunday Mornings with Tucker

Movin on up...

We did it! We got a new car! We found a great deal with exactly the color combo I wanted - inside and out. Buying a new car wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. I had leased my first one before buying it so I didnt really go thru that whole salesman/haggling process. But this guy was really nice and made the whole process somewhat painless. It was listed pretty low because it was the only one at a Subaru dealership and I dont know that they really knew all of the features it had and that it should have been listed higher. We got it for a little more than the trade-in value. Woo hoo!

So here she is! She's a beauty! She's a lot fancier than the ole Jetta. I think I might have to start dressing nicer and maybe doing my hair before I drive it.

Now I need to change my little ticker in the top right hand corner of my blog about needing a bigger car!

Its Murphy's Law...

You can never find one of these when you're actually pregnant.

R.I.P. Jetta

Jim and I cleaned out and said goodbye to the beloved Jetta today. We were told this week that the car was totaled - and the good news is that the insurance company gave us a more than fair settlement for the car. We are definitely happy about that, but I'm still really sad that I had to say goodbye to her. I thought we would sell her to some high school or college kid who would drive her for at least another 5-10 years. She only had 84K miles on her! She was very good to me too. Never had any major issues with her and only really brought her in for regular maintenance and standard replacements.

Is it weird that I have/had such an attachment to my car?? I had her longer than I've had Jim! I had tears in my eyes when Jim was taking off the license plate. I can blame it on pregnancy hormones, right?

So, we're now a one car family. We're going car shopping this weekend to see what we see. I'm not looking forward to it, but I know it needs to be done.

Everyone doing their part...

Everyone helped out this weekend getting the nursery together. Even Tucker had a job helping remove the packaging from the crib.

Baby Maeve

One of the highlights of our weekend home we meeting our friends Dennis and Courtney's beautiful new daughter Maeve. She was so sweet and so cute... it really makes me excited to meet Baby Herndon. Jim also got a little taste of fatherhood when he held her for 20 minutes or so. We tried to get Dennis to do a diaper-changing lesson - but Jim wasn't up for it. I guess he'll be knee deep in diapers soon enough.