I loves me a Dr. Pepper...

Apologies if you've already heard this one.

When I found out I was pregnant last December, I decided that I would give up caffeinated beverages altogether. It wasn't a big deal because I limit myself to one carbonated drink a week which is usually always Dr. Pepper. Sometime mid-January I realized that knowing that I was not "allowed" to have my DP for the week somehow made me crave it more. I doubt that I was addicted to caffeine prior to being pregnant (come on, one a week is hardly excessive) but I all of a sudden really really wanted to be! (PS: Non-caffeinated DP is just not the same.) As I would meet my parents for our weekly lunch, I would look wistfully at the DP and resign myself to getting rootbeer instead.

While we were on our trip to Lake Powell a few months ago, I started getting these terrrrible headaches. I've never had headaches before (thank goodness) and these were nearly debilitating. All I wanted to do was sleep. After the 8th day of misery I decided to call my doctor's office (yes it took me 8 days to decide to get help.) His nurse told me to take Excedrin and that if that didn't work, they would prescribe something stronger for me. I've never even taken aspirin before. I kinda always assumed that aspirin during pregnancy was a no-no, but she didn't seem too concerned so I went ahead and took it. It worked BRILLIANTLY! After a few days of Excedrin and some good quality of sleep, I felt back to my old self.

As you know, Excedrin consists of three main ingredients: acetaminophen, aspirin, and CAFFEINE! (You should have seen me the first morning after I took it. I was bouncing off the walls and jabbering away a mile-a minute.) I went to see my doctor for my regular appointment a week later. After reassuring me that the risks of me taking Excedrin were minimal, I said, "Here's the deal. I've been reeaaally good about not having any caffeine at all during this pregnancy. It doesn't seem that you are that concerned that I just loaded myself up on a bunch. Would it kill me to have, like, one Dr. Pepper a week?" He started to laugh and said that they usually recommend laying off the caffeine at the beginning of a pregnancy if the person has major caffeine-addiction problems, but that it is really harmless at this point and that if it makes me happy to go ahead and do it. After all, as he put it, anything that makes me happy at this stage of pregnancy should be indulged in.

So there you have it. For the last month and a half, I have gone faithfully to the DP once a week and enjoyed every sip. S usually knows when this will be happening and will call and ask how the DP is that day.

I say, "Wonderful."

Does anyone else have this problem?

My cat, Billy, is addicted to water. Whether it is a rainstorm, shower, me refilling his water, whatever. He is absolutely intrigued by water. The rainstorm thing is funny because he will just stand in it, like, maybe I should go inside, but he doesn't. The shower thing is unnerving. If I forget to shut the bathroom door, I suddenly see ruffling on the outside of the curtain and feel like I'm being watched. The water dish is frustrating. Usually after I clean out the water fountain (yes, our cats a fountain) and fill it with fresh water, it's a matter of minutes before water is spilled on the mat and the culprit's paws are wet. I don't get it. I thought cats were supposed to be afraid of water. We came home from our trip not to long ago to find Billy's head wet. I figured it was their water dish again, until I went in our bathroom and realized that the water faucet was dripping. And there was black cat hair in the sink. Hmm, best I can tell he actually figured out how to turn the water on himself! Weird...

I have interesting cats for sure. Mally is starting to really get on my nerves. She is so NEEDY all of the time! At the first sign that I'm awake, she is in my face purring, demanding her morning rubdown. It is something that she has always done, but has suddenly become very annoying. Which concerns me (some of you may already see where I'm going with this.) A cat that is self-sufficient in most ways (minus the obvious) is getting on my nerves. Am I going to be able to handle a baby?! I would like to think that I'm a very nurturing person. I like having people depend on me, but I also like to be independent and free to do my own thing. I haven't had those "maternal instincts" kick in yet. S has been nesting to a certain extent (finishing up projects around the house, furnishing and decorating areas of our home that we haven't gotten to.) Other than crafting a few onesies, I haven't felt the urge as much as I thought I would. The novelty of being pregnant is starting to wear off, although I found that buying cute clothes that actually fit me is helping. I miss parts of my pre-pregnancy routine. I'm anxious for this to all be said and done, but at the same time anxious as to whether or not I will be a good mom and hoping that I can do this! I try to remind myself that if having children weren't such a wonderful thing that the human race would have ceased to exist long ago. I also try to remind myself that I must have maternal instincts somewhere in there and that eventually, they will make themselves known. In the meantime I'm just trying to be patient and not kick Mally off of the bed.

When you give a moose a muffin...or a cupcake...

I guess this secret is too good to not share (and when you read the recipe, you'll realize it's no secret at all)! Here is the recipe for those cupcakes. Enjoy!