I knew that my forgetfulness was baby related! I hate walking down the stairs to the main science office . . . getting there . . . and completely forgetting why I came there at all! Sheesh.

But now there is scientific evidence to back this up :
Pregnancy 'does cause memory loss'


Now what was I saying ?


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Oh, how true is this statement. It makes me think of all the people on the roads of Michigan! Or the students in mass. Please people . . . just try to think for yourself! Don't just follow the crowd! It reminds of the time I saw a bunch of kids standing outside of the classroom. I asked them why they hadn't gone in and sat down yet. Someone said that it wasn't time yet and the door was probably locked . . . but no one had bothered to check! Idiots.

Want tasty adult beverage

It's the summer time . . .It's Hot . . . It's Sticky . . . Oh, I really wish I could have an ice cold margarita on the rocks! I just don't know if I can last without the adult beverages until December! Luckily, Ruby Tuesday's makes these awesome fresh unusual lemonades that the husband brings home. I'm totally in love with the black-berry lemonade! Maybe if I pour it into a margarita glass I can pretend . . . :-)

My little baby belly

So between the bloat and my personal belly, I can definitely see and feel the baby belly! It just looks like a little curve above my pelvic bone and bellow my belly-button. Feels to be about the size of a grapefruit (though some days more like a watermelon). Hard to believe the little one in there is still only about the length of a dollar bill. Husband is quite fascinated with the protruding belly and loves to pat it with a silly grin on his face... which just makes me go "awwww." I'll post a pic soon of the traditional profile shot :-)

Science Mommies

Whew...what a weekend! I had the opportunity to attend a conference about undergraduate research in North Carolina. A fellow faculty member and I flew down at the butt-crack of dawn on Friday (4:00am) and didn't get home again until 2:30 Monday morning. Great conference! It was specifically geared to junior faculty at small schools who want to establish undergraduate research programs. We got lots of great ideas and suggestions to try to make this happen at our little school. As a tangent from this main goal of the weekend, I got to meet and talk to other mommies in academia. It was great to hear how they are/did juggle baby, feedings, teaching, and research. Quite a few of them just slung the baby on and went to lecture. One had a special sign for her office door stating P.I.P with a cow (pumping in progress). Another kept two sets of office hours...some when she had the baby and some without so that students could choose when to visit. A couple pieces of advice that I definitely wanted to remember as I headed home was:
1) Since this hasn't been done before in the recent past, I am setting a precedent and should feel that I can push boundaries. Remember to just ask for it!
2) Many of the students see me as a role-model. What I do in front of them may help them when they are in a similar situation. Women can juggle work and family and the Men can get use to a baby feeding in public.
I heard great suggestions for helpful gadgets as well. One mom suggested the bouncy-swing for the doorway and another swore by the baby play gym she kept in her office. All of them really recommended getting an automatic pump (preferably with duel pumps) just to save time. The best part is now I am building a great network of science mommies that I can chat with online when I have questions/guilt/happy news. Awesome.