Is it October yet?

I'm dying in more ways than one this week:

1.) the relentless heat + humidity (triple digits + heat index = kill me now)
2.) starting to waddle
3.) our argentinian ant friends are back (so is my Windex!)
4.) hormonal meltdowns

Right now it seems most of the country is experiencing ridiculously hot weather, but when you live in the deep south, it seems a whole lot worse. We've had high temps forecasted at 100 degrees nearly everyday, add a healthy helping of southern humidity that will choke you and heat index, and you'll have temps of 106 to 115. Pretty much a recipe for disaster. Add a pregnancy and you have a unhappy, waddling, sweating, lady that is hotter than hell. Literally. By tanking water & staying out of the heat when possible, I seem to fare ok. However, I highly dislike getting into my sauna of a car and reading the temp at 111 or higher when I turn it on. I'm just waiting for the car to say, "Screw this, I quit!".

We've also experienced an unannounced visit from our pesky Argentinian ants again (aka 'sugar ants'). We had our first problem last summer with them and hoped it was our last. Luckily, they do not harm - meaning they don't bite or sting - but are simply a nuisance. Just like people, they seek cool shelter in hot weather, dry shelter during rain and seek carbs & sugar. You'd think with that much in common, we'd invite them to dinner, but when they bring hundreds of their friends, the novelty of what we share in common tends to wear off! With all this HOT weather, we noticed a few in our guest bathroom and most recently in our kitchen (cue Julie's meltdowns #34 & #35 here, respectively). I have become BFF's with our pest control company since they've kindly paid us a visit once a week for the past 3 weeks! I have also become the crazy Greek lady with the Windex (if you've seen "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", you know how Greek women LOVE windex). Per my brother, Jim, who used to be in the pest control biz, he told me that if you have an ant problem, simply spray windex (it has ammonia in it) and it will kill ants on contact & also kill the pheremone (sp?) trail they leave for other ants. Genius! I was spraying everything that moved - in reality, Cook's should've paid ME....oh well. We're hoping that the problem in 'under control'. However, I'm so paranoid that every spec of something I think is an ant!

Lastly, I'm starting to waddle. Yay. Looks like I've made it to the 3rd and final trimester - as of yesterday, I hit the 28week mark. We only have 12 weeks til we meet sweet Camilla! We've ordered her furniture & bedding, so now the pressure is on to clean out the guest room and begin the transformation. It may be a small room, but at this point it takes very little for me to feel overwhelmed! Once bedding arrives, we'll be able to match up some wall paint and begin that task. I'm really wishing my Fairy Godmother would quit joking around and show up with her magic wand to get it all done asap....hmphf!

I'm also starting to tire very easily, but with working full-time, and chasing Sophia (who is VERY busy these days), it's easy to understand how I can be exhausted by dinnertime. I think I have a pretty good reason though as Camilla is quite busy herself these days getting her 'grow' on:

• Camilla should weigh roughly 2.25lbs
• She is stretching somewhere in the neighborhood of 14.8" from the top of her head to her heels
• Camilla can open & close her eyes, which now sport lashes! This movement is more a reflexive 'blink', moreso than a deliberate opening/closing
• 84 days to go!!

I can feel her quite a bit now - she is most active when I first lay down in bed...it's really fascinating to feel her dance around in there...until she really kicks you in the bladder or gut. I also went in for my standard 28wk glucose test, where they test you for gestational diabetes. Results are due Thursday and no news is good news....so say a prayer! I didn't have gestational diabetes with Sophia, and I'm hoping I don't have it with Camilla. Getting your blood drawn twice in a matter of 1.5hrs is no fun though - nor is getting stuck in the hip with a RhoGam shot b/c you are Rh-negative! Ah, the things I do for my girls! Luckily, according to my other stats, the Dr & nurses could tell I've been eating right (guess that DQ blizzard from Saturday didn't show up!) and my weight gain so far is at 20lbs. I've been concerned about weight gain since I hardly have an appetite and get full on very little - I've been making sure that I've been gaining enough. Check, check!

Sophia has really grown up too - she got her first 'big-girl' haircut this past Saturday. She chickened out at the salon and opted for Mommy to cut it at home instead. I'm not sure in the course of 1 haircut how she went from 3 to 13? She wakes up requesting a hairbrush "Because my hair got all crazy while I was sleeping" and "I need to look in the mirror to see if I'm stylish". Yep, you read that right. She's concerned about her stylish-ness. Yikes. She does love to be Daddy's big kitchen helper too:

Eating her latest fave: hard-boiled eggs!

Helping Daddy marinate the chicken

Giving the asparagus a good shake!

"Just like this Daddy?"

Sophia & her big girl haircut!

Chef Daddy & Sous Chef Sophia

I've also been pining over new lamps for quite some time, but could never settle on the 'right' ones. Or I could never find them in pairs like I needed. I never wanted to order from online as I'm a real freak on being able to see it and touch it before I buy it. Or some people call that picky! I finally found the winners IN-STOCK at Target for $39/lamp and then found the drum shades for $25/shade for a grand total of $64 per lamp! My inspiration came from Restoration Hardware (who doesn't love that catalog!?)...however, theirs would cost me a fortune just for one lamp and then tack on another hefty price for a shade. The economy stinks people, and I'll find the same look for LESS! I was THRILLED with my new lamps and poor Rod wondered if I had hit the sauce b/c I was so giddy over it! Poor, poor Rod....he's such a good sport to listen to me flip out over lamps. They completely rock my world.

Target version = $64 total for lamp & shade

Restoration Hardware Lamp ONLY = $239

I'm super proud of my thrifty-ness and how I finally got the "look for less"! Now onto my next project....