a "faire" amount of stress

So my Renaissance faire is in five days and I'm really starting to feel the pressure. Quite naturally so- this a full fledged Renaissance faire- not a birthday party. Not only am I feeling the pressure, but I'm getting quite tired of my house looking like Henry VIII's storage shed.

I've done pretty much all I can do right now but the things I do have left to do are actually pretty urgent things to deal with. The problem is, I can't deal with the issues until tomorrow so I've just got to find a way to keep myself calm until then.

My "to do" list for Monday - Thursday
1. newspaper interview at 1pm
2. The find the rest of the sound equipment for my stage acts
3. Correct an issue with an entertainer's hotel stay
4. Get a "just in case my faire sucks" loan
5. Finish letting out my gown (making way for the bump), repair loose beading, mend my chemise and my husband's shirt.
6. Try to figure out why the heck the people of the grounds I'm renting won't get back in touch with me. I've been working with them for A YEAR now and the closer my faire gets, the more distant they become. I'm really trying to be patient and understanding with them, but my patients can only go so far when they refuse to answer my emails and calls. I'm already prepared to do this faire again next year and for as many years that I can handle... but I don't think I'll want to do it at the same location. I am VERY displeased with the way they are handling their business... or rather... NOT handling their business.

I know that sounds like a lot to do but I work fast and I'm pretty good at staying calm. I wouldn't mind a few prayers for the continuation of my peace and patience during this rough week though.

In the photo on the left (taken last month) I'm trying to cover up my poor ripped gown. My bump and growing bosom made the dress waaay too tight and I busted right out of it when I sat down. I'm adding some extra material in the back to give me some much need room.

French Bread Pizza

Sooooo... this is what I made for dinner Saturday night. French bread pizza. I found the idea to do this on Pinterest and I was like, "Duh." So cheap, so quick and so easy to make... aaaaand muy tasty. 

So, alls ya need is a loaf of French bread, your choice of pizza sauce, shredded cheese and toppings. You'll find that you probably need more cheese than you think - like one bag per half loaf. 

So anyways, cut your loaf in half long ways, top that sucker any way you like then bake it. I baked mine on 350 for about fifteen minutes - any longer and the bottom of the bread would have been waaay too hard and crunchy for my taste.

And the last step: you eat it and enjoy it.

Yeah, I know the foil looks pretty redneck, but we still haven't unpacked a lot of our baking ware from when we moved in our new home about five months ago. Lazy.

Awww....

From Pregnant Chicken. Just had to share!

Whimsical Maternity Apparel from Zoe's Balloon

I'm in loooove...
Just in case anyone is feeling a bit generous, I wear an XL and you can email me to get my mailing address. Ok, thanks.

me... at 1:00am

So for no reason at all I turned on my webcam while waiting for a site to load. What I saw in my computer screen was rather disturbing. Hair uncombed, no bra, stuffing my face with donuts at one in the morning...  I look like a hobo... a hungry pregnant hobo.

Friday Funny

TiCCi Rockabilly Clothing & Maternity Wear

I'm not a huge fan of the rockabilly and pinup style but I do appreciate it. It fun, it's unique- just not my style. I came across this seller on Etsy and you've got to check out the rest of her maternity wear. It's super cute and it makes me kinda wanna be a fan of the style now that I've seen it on a cute pregnant chick. I wonder if I can pull this look off... hmm....

my first baby buy

Whilst running errands a couple of days ago, I went to Ross (dress for lessssss) to walk around and to sort of clear my mind. Something about low, low prices on amazing fashions relaxes me. I wondered into the baby section and found myself pretty disappointed with their selection. First of all, none of the baby clothes were sorted. Everything was mixed up: sizes, gender, season, style.... everything. Second, it seemed to be just large amounts of the same six baby garments and layettes. Third, the prices were not "dress for less" prices. I was just about to give up when a package of the cutest onsies I have ever seen crossed my line of vision. You may not think they're all that fantastic  but to me they're perfect. No footballs, no puppies or dinosaurs, no tractors or any gender specific crap that I loathe. Just simple cuteness. And the best part? $9.99 marked down from $26.99. Now THAT floats my boat!

Oh yeah! If you like my blog you can vote for me on Top Baby Blogs!

my fair faire

Well party people,  my Renaissance Faire is next week and I am panicking feel surprisingly calm. There are just a couple of things left to do.... er, important things that should have been done loooong time ago- but I know I'll get them done in due time. I love event planning and I've planned my fair share of parties, fundraisers and a couple of weddings but this is the muthah of all events. I'm very proud of myself for actually doing this! This is the kind of thing that I used to just sit and dream about doing... and this time I actually did it. What super crazy about this is this event will determine the rest of my future. Woah- heavy, I know. I mean, if it's successful, then I will do it again and I will continue to do it until I am able to buy land and make it a permanent structure in Texarkana and run it until... well until I get sick of it I guess.
If you're from this area or plan on being in this area around October 5-7, come see me! I'll be the pregnant chick in the black and ivory Tudor style gown running around with an axe in one hand and a cell phone in the other. Wish me luck!...eh, forget luck... pray for me.

pepperoncini-tini

When the baby comes, instead of champagne, I think this will be our celebratory drink: The pepperocic-tini.

I think it's pretty appropriate because pepperocini peppers were the first and really the only unusual craving a had during the first four months of pregnancy. I wanted pepperocini served on and with pretty much everything except my breakfast cereal. 

January 15, 2013, we will toast with a pepperocini-tini!

Drink recipe from Santa Barbara Chic.

24 weeks

Cravings

Sprite, Taco Bell, strawberry instant oatmeal and pastries of any kind. Especially donuts. 

Physical Symptoms

Thank God no new stretchmarks, just pre-existing ones becoming very angry.

I'm still sleeping about 10-12 hours an night. I thought my excessive sleeping was due to my anemia, but I'm still sleeping like that even with all the iron supplements and stuff.

I am very hungry, especially at night.

I haven't weighed myself in months, but if I had to guess, I'd estimate I've gained about 10-15 pounds total.

Emotions

I had my first hormonally charged crying jag Sunday. I really hope it's my last. I spent the rest of the day recovering from the post-bawling runny nose, swollen eyes and headache. Other than that, I'm not cranky, snappy or weepy. Mmm... well I kind of take that back. If a person got on my nerves before I got pregnant, they REALLY get on my nerves now.

Fashion

The only time I go out is to go shopping for groceries and to deliver flyers for my faire. When I do go out, I usually wear a dress with detachable sash to give the dress shape. If the dress get's too hiked up by the bump, I just wear a pair mid-calf legging under it.

Baby Movement

It's a dancer! Especially after my first meal of the day. I found out a couple of weeks ago that I can see the baby's movements outside my belly and my husband and I love watching  that little one dance.

What the Midwife Says
Baby's heartbeat is great and my anemia seems to be doing better. We'll be going another blood test at the next visit to make sure.

Awkward Pose

This photo was taken 9/22 at my Mother's shindig for her publishing company. I'm starting to love my little bump now this is looks more like a pregnant belly instead of a beer belly... but this pose makes my bump look like a cannon ball under my dress! It's so awkward, all I can do is laugh at this photo! The event was formal, but all I had to wear was this outfit here. It's a stretchy satin material and it's the last dress in my closet that I can zip.

My figure looks much better from this view. I love this photo. This is me and my 87 year old grandfather. He's a hoot and a half. 

Business Carnival

The husband and I met up with a potential sound guy for our Renaissance Faire last night. The place of meeting was the Four States Fair. I couldn't ask for a better meeting place. I forgot how much I love carnivals. The lights, the sounds, the smells! Well, this is Texarkana so the sounds were mainly poorly covered country rock songs and the smells were a disturbingly pleasant mixture of cotton candy and horse manure. But it was nice to get out, walk around and stuff myself on under-cooked corndogs and mushy fried fruit pies. Being pregnant at a carnival I was for sure I was going to want a funnel cake or two... or three... but I didn't want one! Funnels cakes are my favorite food EVER (second to sushi). How could this happen to me? Maybe my appetite had been ruined by the mediocre appetizers I had consumed previously....

The sound guy was working the sound for the live bands at the carnival so we actually had a little time to wander about while we waited on the longest set on earth to end. I've been to this carnival before (mostly to work the booth for our local pregnancy center) but this was the first time I actually got to go into the area with the rides and colorful lighted things. Giddy, giddy, giddy!

Because of the incessant rain lately, there was a wee bit of mud to battle at the entrance. I took dainty steps over a sloppy pit I saw ahead but I failed to warn my husband about it and he got taken in ankle deep. Hee hee!

In the end, we didn't get the sound guy. We couldn't offer him the kind of pay he really deserves but I know we'll find someone soon! Well, we have to... the faire is in 16 days.

If Etsy had a baby registry...

Why, oh why doesn't Etsy have a baby registry? C'mon, they waited two years too late to introduce the wedding registry are they going to do that to me again? Please, please, please Etsy! Hear my cry! Etsy baby registry for all!! Who's with me?? Anyways, we'll work on that petition soon. But if  Etsy did have a baby registry, here's some of the things I'd register for. We don't know the gender of our baby and I'm not sure if we will  find out (well, we will eventually) so everything is pretty gender neutral. Click photos for info.

You get what you pay for.

I bought some 1-ga horn spirals from a Chinese company on Ebay for like $1.50 plus shipping. I was soooooo stoked... until I got them in the mail today and found out they're plastic. PLASTIC. I hear you're not supposed to stretch with plastic but I'll never get to a 0-ga without a 1-ga first. That's a huge leap and 1-ga's are hard to come by. Wish me luck and let's pray my ears don't get infected and fall off.

To Baby Ramsey: Your parents are weird.

Dear Baby Ramsey. I put this blog post together to show you what you're getting yourself into. I'm not going to apologize for me and your father's lifestyle- we don't regret how we are. I just want to try to prepare you for the fun times ahead. Oh, little one, your life will not be boring. Enjoy. 

Oh, and PS: can you kinda move over to the right a little? You've been camping out over there for a few weeks now and you're making my belly lopsided. Thanks.

Engagement Photos - February 2010

Wedding - May 2010

Family Reunion - August 2012

Your dad bought me this Sari and the jewelry for my birthday in 2009. If you're a girl, I'll be more than happy to pass it on to you. If you're a boy, I'll wrap you up in all 20 yards of it like a burrito and film how long it takes you to get out of it... then I'll put it on YouTube and laugh at you.

Kidding.

My 26th birthday bash... or 27th. I can't remember. We throw a lot of parties.

This is me and your dad promoting our Renaissance Faire for the very first time in 2011.

Our first year anniversary photos were pretty last minute and not very well thought out. We've no problem with spontaneous photo sessions.

We threw a steampunk Christmas Ball to raise money for the Faire. We're not steampunk fans, but boy do we love dressing up. We might make this an annual event so maybe one day you'll get to go.

Getting ready for an 80s party. Like I said- we love dressing up.

Your dad LOVES camping and doing outdoorsy things. I don't. This pic was taken at my first camping trip. Eh, it just wasn't my cup of tea. But I hope you grow to love the outdoors so you and your dad will have something to you know... bond over.

This is our most recent photo- and look! You're in it! I'll never forget this day: It was the 2012 Arklatex Comic Convention and I underestimated how much you had grown and got laced into my gown too tightly... needless to say the dress busted open in the front. See me trying to cover it up?

Supreme Little Boy's Fashion Inspiration

I am in love with these styles for boys! All of these photos came from the Children With Swag Tumblr page.