Am I really suffering?

This year I decided to give up chips for lent. All chips. In the past I have focused on a specific kind of chip, usually based on an obsession of sorts (one year it was Pringles Light - yum). My latest obsession has been Cheez-Its. The baked cheesy saturated fat goodness that calls to me every time I even consider walking near Vendo-Land. This is a very hard thing to avoid since the women's bathroom is right near Vendo-Land and while the pregnancy bathroom breaks haven't yet gotten out of control I know it will in the near term. This year I fear that if I do not give up all sorts of chips I will find myself replacing my beloved Cheez-Its with something else (Baked Lays, Fritos, Cheetoes, etc.). Cold turkey on the chips. Pete couldn't come up with anything he wanted to give up but finally settled on ice cream. One year he gave up coffee - the year I was working at the coffee shop. He would come and smell my hair after I got off shift and ask me what beans I measured out before leaving. I swear I felt him salivating some times on top of my head. Last year he gave up chewing tobacco (whoo-hoo!). Those really are his two major dependencies so he was left trying to find something he felt would be an actual sacrifice. We have decided that during this time of roller coaster pregnancy hormones it might not be the best decision to have him give up coffee again. He was hard enough to deal with the first go around.

We took some pictures of my belly this week which I will post this weekend. Sometimes it feels huge but when I look at the clothing I got from my sister and Robin I realize I am nowhere near huge yet. I have gained just over 10 pounds (cripes!) so I know I have a long way to go. I can also tell you where quite a bit of that weight has landed. Made an emergency trip to Victoria's Secret this week and found myself making a purchase on some goods I never thought I would see myself wearing. Needless to say the hubby is pleased by this by-product of pregnancy. And they will only continue to grow!

We had spring for a few days this week - glorious 40 degree weather. We lost nearly all of our snow and it was wonderful to smell the earth again. There is something about everything being covered for several months and the smell of the thaw. Earlier this week I saw 5 male cardinals sitting on the deck eating some seeds we had thrown out earlier in the winter. They were so excited and chirp, chirp, chirping away. But, as any good Minnesota native knows, spring isn't really here until after state hockey and basketball tourneys. And we're under a winter storm watch at the moment. Rain, ice and snow - perhaps 8 inches by the end of the weekend. Oh well... I know we need the rain/snow because we are so behind so I'm going to grin and bear it and patiently wait for spring.