The Bodily Woes of Pregnancy

It seems that once you become pregnant, all hell breaks loose in your body. Yes, there are the upped number of hormones making you even more emotionally unbalanced than was already happening just because of your shear womanness. There is the hyper-production of serotonin that sends your inner ear, brain, and stomach all out of whack. That's the lovely stuff that makes you sprint to the toilet and cling to the porcelin rim as if it were the last life preserver on the Titanic. Yes, there is the gassiness and the back pain and the disturbed sleep. We all know about this litany of woes. And I won't even begin the discussion of what my breasts have been through with pregnancy, breast-feeding, weaning, and pregnancy with no break in patterned cycle in sight for years...

But now, my second pregnancy in I'm learning about new ones. Like, what is this sudden shot of pain in my groin that makes my leg buckle beneath me? And WHY does it feel like my hip popped out of it's socket and somone is kicking my knee in at the same time? These are new and they HURT! Are you kidding me? This second one has happened on and off, but today it happened so painfully I was calculating the cost/benefits of a trip to the ER and picturing myself in some sort of hip-to-toe brace. So maybe that was a dramatic thought, but it was painful.

Nate talked me through waiting out the pain and letting it relax for a few minutes. Through his athletic knowledge of anatomy and sports medicine and my wicked Wikepedia skills, we have self-diagnosed that this is a problem with my iliotibial band. Usually reserved for runners, cyclists, and weight-lifters this gives lateral pain in the knee. However, there are those of us who are lucky enough in pregnancy to have this pain come on sharply and all the way from the hip through the knee and below where the it band attaches to the tibia. Excellent.

"ITBS can also occur where the IT band connects to the hip, though this is less likely as a sports injury. It commonly occurs during pregnancy, as the connective tissues loosen and the woman gains weight -- each process adding more pressure." -Wikepedia

I finally figured out why the arches of my feet have been cramping. I need more arch support because I'm increasing the weight and pressure on them. Now my I.T. band is sending me to the floor. Basically my body is rebelling against me getting "fat". I'm trying to tell it that this is only temporary and for a good cause!

What's In A Name

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet." -Juliet

It's that time. That time to seriously start considering names for this new baby. For a little boy, it appears that this is easier said than done. With our daughter we had three names Nate and I both really liked, but Selah Grace was always the clear winner. I have a couple more girl names saved in my back pocket if we ever find ourselves needing a pink name again.

But boy names...Nate and I just can't agree. I've been teasing him about giving the kiddo a cowboy-ed up name to continue in the pro rodeo business like his second cousin, Hunter. We have Levi, Earl, Wyatt, Cooper, Colton, Buck, Reno, Walker, and Dallas on that list. I think I have cousins with a lot of these names. And to tell the truth I like a lot of them myself. There are also some awesome names in the genre of famous cowboy star horses; Pardner, Trigger, Champion! So many possibilities!

Selah was (lovingly) nicknamed "The Beast" for a while by some friends before she was born because she was making me so sick. That has a nice ring to it.

The boy names I like in earnest are ones Nate doesn't like and vice-versa. My theory is that this marvelous little child already has the perfect name that is his and we just haven't discovered it yet. I'm sure it will hit me when it is revealed to me and I will just know that this is my baby's name!

Hopefully it is sooner than later or else we'll have to take our old pastor and friend, Brian's advice and name the kid Bach. Coupled with our last name, we'd have a little slice of baklava!

A Christmas Miracle

Please appreciate the asymmetrical Arsenio Hall cut on the troll with hot pink hair. I was definitely in safe hands when Nate was my cut stylist in Malawi!

Last night we had our community group Christmas party, complete with the white elephant gift exchange. Some gift items included: snorkels, a used dog scratch-prevention collar cone, and what was dubbed the "before, during, and after" packet replete with tic-tacs, condom, and cigar. We ended up getting a used Jenga game (which I am actually very excited about growing our family game stockpile) . What did we give? An awesome collector's edition of troll dolls from Nate's childhood. There was just about one for every holiday, plus others with the bonus of one-of-a-kind haircuts Nate gave them sometime back in the late 80's, early 90's. Who wouldn't want that? Not me! I was so glad to gift them away. But a Christmas miracle happened. As I was cleaning up from the party after everyone had gone home I kept remeeting these curious little guys! In the silverware tray. On the spice rack. In the shower. Behind the t.p. tray. (Still missing a few but they're less worrisome than the real pumpkins we can't find from the autumn decorations of last month.) I thought I had finally gotten rid of these little ones after taking up space in boxes for years, but now they are back. They apparently are in our home to stay. Obviously I am forcing something that isn't meant to be. Maybe they will be seen again next year as the white elephant. Maybe I should just throw them in a bag with Nate's Ninja Turtles that are sitting on a shelf, waiting until our kids are old enough to play with them. But from now on, you might want to guard your coat pockets when you come over to our house. You might just walk away with a new fluffy-haired friend!

The Turquoise Dresser

Some people rescue shelter dogs. They maybe start off with one or two and then before they know it they have 13 dogs packing around their home, all saved from the brink at the local shelter. I am becoming somewhat of a rescue furniture owner. I have a big soft spot for tired, old, free furniture that is sitting around mangled and down-hearted.

This is a dresser that Nate's parents gave to us when we moved back to San Diego (thank you!) which they had in turn been given from a neighbor about 20-25 years before. I think we can all agree that it isn't doing much for the energy of anyone looking at it. One day a few weeks ago I got a crazy hair to paint it turquoise! A coat of primer. A coat of turquoise. A rub down with some sandpaper for "old worldy" effect. A final coat of sealer. And tada! A brand new piece.


This is our "new" dresser in turquoise. It's just fun and vivacious to have a large piece of turquoise furniture welcoming you into a room. In my mind's eye it has new, simple silver hardware but new hardware costs money and I don't care enough about the hardware right now to pay for it. Before the remodel I really didn't like the hardware, but now I think it makes more sense.

Some other recent projects have included:
~A free end table we got from the gal who's wingback chair we bought off Craigslist. The table was dirty and it's legs were detached. I cleaned it, repainted it with paint left-over in the garage, and spent a few cents on washers and bolts and now it is sitting pretty in our guest bedroom. It kills me to see people throw away great furniture. I love the free section on Craigslist!

~ An interior 6 panel door. My original thought was to turn it into a headboard, but it wasn't quite right in our room, so now I think I'm going to turn it into a laundry table for the garage.

~ We have a broken bedside table that I'm itching to redo.

I promised my husband and myself that I wouldn't spend all my spare time on the Craigslist free section looking for needy furniture to bring home...only occasionally. And Nate, good man that he is, knows it is really futile to ask me why I would choose to bring broken furniture home, or why I would choose to paint them turquoise. I don't know. Because it sounds like fun!

Christmas Elves

Last week I got bit by the Christmas bug and flurried into a crafting frenzy. A glue gun and some floral wire can go a long way! Here are some of the things I made on a tight budget.

Fresh Front Door Wreath

Here's a fresh douglas fir wreath. I cut out a rectangle from one side of a large cardboard box we had in the garage and wired on the branches we trimmed off the bottom of our Christmas tree. It's so fun to have a huge wreath on the door. Plus it smells lovely! And the best part? It was completely free! Cost: $0

Christmas Ornament Wreath

I stole this wreath idea from my friend Hillary who in turn had stolen it from a crafting blog. Thanks Hill! It looks really pretty hanging up and is a very simple concept to make, but it proved to be a bit more of a beast than anticipated, mainly because the majority of bulbs on there are plastic flimsy things from the Dollar Tree. But I still want to make more if that is a litmus test of whether or not you're willing to try. All you have to do is take a wire clothes hanger and shape it into a circle. Gather approx. 80 bulb ornaments in varying sizes. You can do whatever color scheme you want. I think for the next one I'm going to do all silvers and maybe some light blues. HOT GLUE the tops down where the hangers attach. Then, string the ornaments onto your wire wreath base. I added a large bow on top mainly to cover the large gap that occurred after I accidentally dropped my wreath on our hardwood floor and sent quite a number of ornaments flying. Including ribbon and ornaments, Cost: $12

Timeline of Christmases Past

I stole an excellent idea from a friend and hung a timeline of Christmases past in our marriage on the fireplace above our stockings. There are a few gaps right now. Apparently we didn't take pictures during our third Christmas together. My goal is to get some stills made from video we have of that year together. And I'm waiting to add this year's pic after I get them from Costco tomorrow. It's already fun to see our Charlie Brown christmas tree our first year of marriage together decorated with Nate's birthday garland b/c we didn't have ANY Christmas decorations all the way up to this year as we wait in expectation of making our family grow to a family of four. Cost: $0.19 for picture development

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Craft Left-Overs Doohicky

This is a bit of Christmas wimsy when I got an itch to make something decorative the other night but didn't have anything on hand. So, I took an old picture frame, hot glued some left-over ribon around the edge, wired on some scraps of decorative spray, decopaged some old christmas cards to dangle down the center, and added a large bow we had on a gift last year. I don't know what it is either if you're wondering. Just some holiday cheer. It was one of those things that was more about enjoying the process of being crafty than needing the end result to be wonderful.
Cost: $0

Poinsetta Spray Wreath

JoAnne's Fabric was practically giving wreaths away last week for $2 a pop. I got to make four wreaths for our four big windows in our back room by just wiring on some poinsettias and ornaments. They make me happy. Total for four of them: Cost: $12

Advent Wreath

Here's our advent wreath. Depending on who you talk to in the family it is either inconveniently or very conveniently sitting low on the cedar chest for optimum toddler intervention. I made a wreath to go around an otherwise boring gold advent candle holder and then added the "Christ" candle in the middle. Selah like to challenge herself by taking the candles out and putting them back in the little holders. It's a fun toddler game. She hid the pink candle in the house somewhere. I'm still looking...By the way, do you know what the four candles on the advent wreath represent? First Candle: Prophet's Candle, signifying the hope of Jesus' coming. Second Candle: Bethlehem candle, in honor of where Jesus was born. Third Candle:Shepherd's Candle. Fourth Candle: Angel's Candle, because of the joyous proclamation at Jesus' birth.
Cost: $4

It's A....

There you have it! Our baby!

Gender Guessing

Will it be snips and snails and puppy dog tails or sugar and spice and all things nice? We find out the gender of our baby tomorrow! I usually have a pretty good gut feeling, but in guessing the gender of this baby I feel like my superpowers are askew. I think the problem is that I'm trying to compare this pregnancy with my pregnancy with Selah Grace in Malawi. The external circumstances are so different though that I can't get my bearings on what is this pregnancy and what is being in San Diego.

If I had to choose what I think this little one is, I'd say girl. But maybe this is being swayed because I only know myself as a mom to a daughter. Plus, I can totally see Nate being that guy, that wonderful guy, with a wife and a car full of daughters. He will definitely need his mancave built for him full of workout equipment and playstation games if that turns out to be true. It sounds like a blast though!

What do you think the gender is going to be? Here are some clues:
* I'm still nauseas and throwing up this pregnancy, but usually only every other day instead of every day. HOWEVER my doctor gave me some anti-nausea medicine so that could be the difference in the change.

* I'm carrying slightly lower than last time.

* I want to eat all the dairy products and spicy foods I can get my hands on.

Most of our community group friends think it will be a boy. Most of our family thinks girl. We'll find out tomorrow!

Thanksgiving at the San Diego Zoo

Meeting Mr. Goat in the petting zoo with Auntie.

Little gorilla girl.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...Skyfari Buckets!

Over the Thanksgiving break my mom came out to visit and experienced the new Leboffe family tradition of Thanksgiving Day at the San Diego Zoo. Going to the zoo is so fun for us these days. Selah Grace runs from exhibit to exhibit squealing and laughing at the animals while the rest of us chase behind her and squeal and laugh at the sight of her delight. Then, it's time to eat the very large and yummy Thanksgiving buffet at the Treetop Restaurant in the zoo. It was delicious and none of us did the dishes afterwards!

Christian Catch Phrases

The other night during our marrieds community group Nate gave the every-familiar instructions of, "pray as you feel led" and had to stop to comment on the awkwardness of saying and hearing what has become such a trite sounding phrase in Christian circles. We then detoured into a brief tangent on other overly used phrases by our generation in the church circle here in southern California.

Here's what we came up with:

- "Pray as you feel led."
- Wanting things to be "organic" (Not as in food, but as in meeting people or beginning new ministries). Our friend Katherine called a spade a spade and revealed that this is usually just code for unorganized.
- "living in the tension" between two things in life you're trying to balance or figure out.

Are there any Christian catch phrases that make you wish you had a dime for every time you hear it?

You Know You're Pregnant When...

...you have to choose to eat unpurchased snacks while grocery shopping or die.

...you use red lights as opportunities to throw up.

...you big, snotty, ugly cry through comedies like Cheaper By the Dozen 2 and Bride Wars.

...you have to buy new underwear because the bikini briefs that used to do the trick seem to only cover one hemisphere these days.

......you eat grapes, 2 chicken corn dogs, fig newtons, 8 jumbo shrimp with hot sauce, and 1/2 an entire green bean casserole for lunch, while washing it down with a liter of iced tea.