God Sent Me to Big Lots Yesterday.

Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. God has blessed me immeasurably, but I'm not sure he has a vested interest in me saving 70% on a dining room suit. Ask and ye shall receive, right?

A little bit of background on the subject of my dining room. You can read more about my chronic lack of dining room furniture here. We have a beautiful formal dining room that up until yesterday, held an old couch.

Jason and I had decided to spend some of our income tax refund money on a table at least. For the past 3 months we have been "looking" at furniture. Jason's looking includes just that, looking. No action. We picked out something we liked at a local furniture market and considering the price, figured we could have it made into coffins when we die because it would be the LAST table we ever bought. We didn't even entertain the idea of buying the gorgeous china cabinet because we hope to send our children to college one day.

Fast forward to yesterday. No table...still waiting. Here's where the story gets tricky. Completely unrelated to everything you just read: Jason's office chair has scratched the hardwoods under his desk until he is one tiny scratch away from working in a bean bag. He finally got sick of me curling up into a ball and crying in the corner about it and suggested that I go to Staples and get him a floor mat.

For some crazy reason, (I didn't even fuss) I said okay and planned on going all the way across town to Staples to purchase said floor mat and then continue my day with grocery shopping. As I was leaving Staples, I decided to go in Big Lots because my Mom saw in their sale paper that they had Crocs for $10. (I hate crocs, they were for Joe)

Please note that in the 2.5 years I have lived here, I had been in Big Lots only once.

So I walked over there.

And the most amazing thing happened.

The dining room suit I fell in love with but had resigned myself to the fact that we would never get....

WAS SITTING IN THE BACK CORNER OF BIG LOTS FOR 70% OFF OF RETAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BROYHILL people!!!

I may or may not have shed a tear or eleven.

We were able to get the table, 8 chairs, and the amazingly gorgeous china cabinet for less than I would have expected to pay for the table and chairs. AND we may still be able to afford coffins one day!

It weighs about a million pounds and is completely disassembled, but maybe by Thanksgiving we can have it put together!!

I capped off the day by spending $71 and saving $85 at Publix. I'd call yesterday a success!

Things I Will Never Understand

1. Gigantor hairbows on little girls


2. Gigantor hairbows on grown women


3. Why THESE types of outfits (for boys) are available in sizes up to 5!


4. Hair that's both black and blonde at the same time (on purpose)


5. Twilight....There I said it!


There are many things in the world I don't understand, but these are just a few that have been troubling me lately.

In other news, I am 15 weeks pregnant, the baby is the size of an avocado, and I'm tired as poo!

13 Weeks

How Far along? 13 weeks

How big is Baby? About the size of a lemon (3 inches)

Total weight gain/loss: a grand total of 1 and a half pounds.

Maternity clothes? Yep. There's no way around it with the jeans!

Stretch marks? I hope it's not possible for me to get anymore!
Sleep: What the heck is that?
Best moment this week: Visiting the Doctor and finding out that everything is just fine.
Movement: He/she is dancing around but I can't feel it yet.
Food cravings: Lemons, anything bland because every time I eat if feels like I swallowed a giant flaming soccer ball for at least an hour afterwards.
Gender: We find out April 12th.
Labor Signs: none, thank goodness!
Belly Button in or out?It's in for now.
What I miss: Sleeping on my back, sleeping on my stomach, sleeping.....
What I am looking forward to: Finding out the baby's gender in a few weeks :)
Milestones: reaching the 2nd trimester

In other news, guess what Joe sings in the morning when he wakes up...(when he's not whistling)

The Canadian national anthem.

Let that sink in.....

I HAVE to delete the NBA all star game off the DVR...like, NOW!

12 Weeks

This week, Baby Robinson is about the size of a peach. So, why is my abdomen the size of a peach pie?



Hmmm.......

I think this picture captured the least flattering angle possible. I also think the outfit had something to do with it.

I am outraged. No. Not really :)

Instead of wondering how I grew so dramatically, lets talk about my hair.

This hairdo happened completely by accident but I love it. I am going to try it again to see if it was just a fluke. This was the most effortless thing I have ever done to my poor hair. It was the result of 1. not drying my hair before bed, and 2. messing around too long to straighten it in the morning.

In addition to having a very good hair day, I came across the jewel of the Nile today. There is a resale shop in Pelham called Encore. I thought they only sold furniture and stuff but it turns out they have a very good sized selection of clothes.

There was a small maternity rack that I thumbed through and found a pair of jeans and some Old Navy bermuda shorts. I though I had done pretty well since maternity consignment almost always yields early 90s pastels and shoulder pads. So I get up to the register and one of the employees says they have just received a bunch of maternity clothes but haven't had the chance to price them or put them out but that I could come in the back and look.

Sure, I say.

My lands, this was one fashionable pregnant woman who consigned these beauties!

Not a shoulder pad or tent like empire waist in sight! I may go back and get a few more things. So in all, I got 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of shorts, 1 skirt and 4 shirts for 43 dollars!

Nothing makes my day quite like reaping the benefits of my cheapness!

Actin' Up

I have two totally unrelated things to discuss today.

1. This is me and my large plum sized baby at 11.5 weeks:


Now, you're probably saying, "Wow, she's huge...I wasn't showing until blah blah blah..." Put a sock in it.

I was very skinny when I got pregnant with Joe and didn't show for probably 5 months. As you know....not so skinny this time. I KNOW some of it is pre-existing flab, but dadgum, my belly is actually firm. I don't think I've gained any weight so I'm calling it baby belly. So there.

Okay, topic number 2.

There are many 'southernisms' that I adore. Some of them are overdone (just go in any cracker barrel gift shop and you'll see the t-shirts). But some of them, I do declare, are more subtle and you might not realize you're saying them.

Everyone knows we say y'all.
Everyone knows we say fixin' to.
Everyone knows we say Bless your heart.

But did you know we say 'actin up?'

It's one thing for your kid to be actin up in the grocery store or church, but I (like many of you I'm sure) have applied that term to even the most inanimate of objects without realizing it.

This goes beyond your car or your arthritis actin up (which you know it does).

Do you know why I wanted WalMart gift cards for Christmas?
So I could get a new quilt that I'd been eying.

Do you know why I needed a new quilt?
Because my duvet had been ACTIN UP and it wouldn't lay flat inside its cover!

I said that exact phrase to Jason and he didn't even flinch!

Now, I've been very conscious of that delicious little phrase.

Has anything been actin up for you lately?

IMPORTANT!!!

I have had some really weird searches on my blog lately according to Google Analytics and I want my friends/normal readers to still be able to access my blog.

It's the pervs I want to keep away so I am going to make my blog private.

Please please please message me or comment on this post if you would like to continue to view my blog.

Even if I do not know you personally, if you are a faithful reader/commenter (Jenn, Jamie, I'm talking to you) I will add you. My main concern is the people who are searching for weird things and finding me.

It's That Time of Year Again!

AMERICAN IDOL!!!

Yep, I said it. I LOVE American Idol. I don't love the auditions though. I really only like watching the good musicians compete, not the horrible exploitations of the really terrible and delusional people.

I have watched every season of American Idol except the first one, which turns out to be fine since I can't STAND Kelly Clarkson. She just seems so arrogant. Also, she should really fire her stylist. I'm okay with her not being skinny (even though if I had her money I certainly would be) but the problem lies in the fact that NOTHING she ever wears is flattering to her body type. She always looks like a stuffed sausage! Believe me, with my lack of maternity leggings, I know what a sausage looks like!

I'm sure I'll get some hate for that one, but I'm pregnant so I get to say what I want right?

Nope.

Anyway, I think this season of AI has some great and really diverse talent. So far, my favorites are:

Mike Lynch (Big Mike)- I think he's immensely talented and he totally dwarfs his guitar! It almost looks like he's playing a ukulele.

Casey Something...Johnson maybe? Anyway- Hanson hair + Cowboy boots + awesome talent is pretty much the trifecta of good gracious for me :)

Crystal Bowersox- She has some of the best raw talent I have ever seen. At first I thought she was your typical bar singer. But when she sang "Natural Woman" I knew she was much more than that.

It's kind of sad, but I always hope my favorites don't win. Unless they fit just right into that American Idol box, their talent is manipulated in such a way that they can no longer be "themselves."

I can't vouch for this, but I'm pretty sure the first CD for the winner of the show has already been written and is just waiting for a face to go on the cover. The only exception I've seen to this is Carrie Underwood. They sort of let her do her own thing (country) and look at what she has become. I like Carrie (so does my Husband but that's beside the point...) but I don't like ALL of her songs.

Man, I'm really rambling....

Oh well, get used to it because I LOVE to talk about American Idol!

See y'all soon!