Funny Texans

One day this week while sitting at work my co-workers and I were talking about our favorite way to eat chili. (I know, exciting.) Apparently people down here put Fritos in their chili and top it with cheese and call it Frito Pie. Sounds yummy, huh? They will even sell it at football games by opening a small individual sized bag of Fritos and pour some chili on it. Yum. I need to go to a football game down here. :)
The day after we talked about this, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I had to tell them all how damn funny their accents are. When they say Frito Pie it sounds like "Free-TOE Pah". LMAO!
My friend Shanna kept repeating it because she couldn't hear it in her voice. After telling her that her accent is not that strong at all, our co-worker Donna walks into the room and sits down. I whisper to Shanna to ask Donna to say Frito Pie because she has a THICK accent. What does she say? Free-TOE Pah. She and I both about fall out of our chairs laughing our asses off! Maybe it's not funny to read but MAN do I wish you could have been there to see it and hear it for yourself. :)
I work with another woman named Dana, whose accent is SO strong that sometimes I mistake what she is saying for something else. For example, when she would call our co-worker Wayne it would sound like she is saying "wine". LOL
When I (finally) get to come home I am pretty sure I would be lying if I said I didn't miss it here at least a teeny bit. The people here are cracking me up! I work with a little lady named Bennie, who is in her early 60's and I swear she makes me look old. She was telling us a story about how she caught a rooster to give to one of our general surgeons, Dr. Watkins the night before. Yes, she had a rooster in the back of her truck to give to the doctor. And that doctor wears cowboy boots to work. And BIG belt buckles from rodeos. :) I swear to you Michiganders it is a different world out here! But not always bad. Don't get me wrong, I would leave in a heartbeat to come home because I am SO homesick, but the people are so incredibly nice.
OK, gotta go. Off to the fish fry at the local Knights of Columbus Hall. We might not be good southern folk but we can pretend. :)

Cletus Update

As of Friday I am 18 weeks pregnant. I feel fine apart from the occasional (weekly) headache (which I desperately try in vain to keep as a headache and not progress to a migraine) and getting more tired again. I assume the fatigue is due to my hemoglobin dropping. At my last blood draw on Feb. 3rd I am down to 8.6. Dr. White said he wants to keep me above 8. I think it is probably lower than that now because in the last week or so I am more tired than I have been. It feels like my first trimester again. People always say how good you're supposed to feel around this time. I think you're all liars! haha. Just kidding. But seriously, since my second trimester started I have felt worse. Oh well. 22 short weeks and this is all history anyway!
The most exciting part of the story is this... I was sitting at work yesterday and I felt (what I believe to be) the baby kick for the first time! I felt something that I would compare to little fingertips (not the baby's, that would be creepy. lol.) very gently tickling the inside of my tummy. It was over almost as quickly as it begun, but it was definitely there. I have had a couple confirmation tickles today as well. So either I have a wonderful, growing baby or a HORRIBLE case of worms. LOL.
Feeling Cletus move makes this even MORE real now. Not that is wasn't before, but now there is an actual reason behind the ever growing gut. I don't just feel fatter anymore. I feel like there really IS someone in there. It's making me do a lot of thinking too.
1. It's crazy that you can begin to love someone before you ever even know them. I feel so privileged that I get to know this person from the beginning, before anyone else gets to know it. When the world sees my baby for the first time with their eyes, they are seeing someone I have known for months. What an advantage a mother has when compared to the rest of the world!
2. I worry that I am going to be a crappy mother. Waiting for baby to get here is like waiting to meet your new boss. You hope it goes well from the start and that there is no awkwardness. Although I am sure there will be much awkwardness because this is me we are talking about here. :)
3. Even though this little person will come out completely defenseless and dependent on Aaron and me, how come I am a little scared of it? I know I must sound like such a loser but I am a little scared. Both of our lives are completely at each others mercy. Cletus will eat when and if we feed her/him (which is a horrible thought, as if I would anything other than what's best for her/him) and I will sleep when and if Cletus feels like sleeping.
Well I am done writing for now. I want to go lay back down on the couch. I only feel the baby when I am very still. And nothing in the whole world is cooler than that little feeling. :)