23 weeks & 5 days; vita mutatur, non tollitur.

So, this morning, I woke up abruptly at 7:35 AM, exactly 30 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off.  Not shocking since my body jolts me awake to pee every so often throughout the night, but this time, I woke up because I realized I was sleeping soundly... flat on my back.  I hate that because I have no way of knowing how long I'd been sleeping like that.  I quickly flipped over to my side and felt a little panicked and a lot guilty.  (Here's why... skip to the bottom of that page!)  As I lay there, Presley started kicking like CRAZY and consistently did that for the next 20 minutes - which has never happened before - or so as I tried my hardest to fall back asleep before my alarm went off.  I thought, okay, maybe she is spazzing out in there because I hurt her by lying flat on my back or maybe she was just letting me know not to do that anymore.  Or maybe she was just waking up as well.  I got up with my alarm, got ready, and went to work.  While at work she continued to give me a few kicks here and there -- but nothing major.  So I was comforted that 1) She's still there and 2) Seems to be doing just fine.  This whole first time mom thing is already working my nerves in ways I didn't quite expect....

In other events, I just tried a delicious banana smoothie recipe tonight for the first time and it was a success!  Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it:

Banana Smoothie

• 1 medium ripe banana
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup yogurt or buttermilk (I used strawberry mango yogurt I had on hand-- YUM.)
• 1 tsp. honey or sugar (I opted for the honey.)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (yuummmm.)

Then, I blended it until everything was smooth.  SUPER easy - not expensive - very delicious and definitely sweet enough!  Next time I might add some frozen strawberries or something, just to add a bit more flavor to it.  

Other than that, just another glorious day.  Tony and I went grocery shopping today at a local grocery store (Jewel Osco) we usually tend to shy away from because their prices seem higher than the local competition (Hyvee) but I feel like we got a LOT of good deals tonight!  Ended up saving $6 in coupons & $12.35 in store promotions.  I also stumbled upon a good deal on a pair of winter boots tonight at the mall; $54 boots marked down to $21.99!  The funny thing is they are actually kids boots - I fit into the XL size and best part is they are black and hot pink so they match my new maternity jacket perfectly!!!!  And, for dinner, Tony and I went to a Chick-fil-A in town that has a deal on Tuesday nights when you buy a spicy chicken sandwich  you get fries & a drink for free!  So we ate a filling meal from there for a whopping $6.96 -- today was officially the day of good deals! :)  I'm very glad and very lucky to have someone like Tony who thinks those kinda deals are cool and a day like that fun!

Speaking of Tony... he felt Presley kick again today!  (I'm telling you, she is really kicking today.)  We were riding in the car and she was kicking me so hard that it would make me gasp almost so he put his hand where she was kicking and sure enough he felt her several times.  He told me that he loves it :)  I really love seeing his expression after he feels her kick and loving all these firsts.  It really makes me wonder how the second time around will go - if and when we have another - I hope it will all be this special with each pregnancy.

Alright, it's getting late so I better get winding down or I'll be up for hours.  Goodnight bloggies, love love love.