Wednesday, February 27, 2013

14 weeks

tyra would be all over that (accidenal) booty tooch

Second trimester! Say what?!
We heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time last Thursday. Not getting to see the baby at every appointment is torture! Sometimes I'm amazed at how fast the time has gone so far and other times I'm overwhelmed at the thought of having to wait six more months to meet this lil one. Though, I'm probably going to need that entire time to clear out the future nursery. 

Some week 14 milestones...
-I officially found a pair of maternity jeans that I like. Somehow I've managed to continue wearing a few pairs of regular jeans and a couple of corduroys, but most of them are juuuust high enough to push up against my rapidly growing uterus.
-I'm considering moving into the bathroom because, well, isn't it obvious? I thought this wasn't supposed to happen until much later? Gah!
-We went to Babies R Us with our preg friends Matt and Leslie and we did the thing that I've always thought of as a big moment in baby preparation. We tested strollers. :) Looking at rows and rows of bottles, breast pumps, bath toys and crib sheets made this whole thing soooo real. I got very overwhelmed and had to sit down for a bit to calm down. Baby, I hope we get you what you need, a few fun extras, and then nothing else but lots of snuggles and kisses.

Baby, I'm glad you're growing, but can we please put an end to this nausea? Also, where did these mood swings come from? I have this inexplicable inner rage that makes me want to scream at people for NO GOOD REASON. The nausea and anger combined made for one interesting day yesterday when I was a substitute kindergarten teacher... those kids were crazy! I had to take many deep breaths and bites of pumpkin muffin to keep myself from losing my mind. Oh, and the tears! I cry over the most ridiculous things! The silliest example is when I was driving down a road that has a one lane bridge near the end of it. I sat and waited my turn as a car went over the bridge, and I expected that the car behind it would speed up and sneak in behind him instead of following the one-at-a-time rule. I was wrong, though, and that car waited as I passed. I lifted my hand in thanks and he lifted his hand in response. I burst into tears. (I was all, aww, there ARE nice drivers in Maryland!) I'm telling you, these hormones are outta control.


looking back on week 13...
best meal: Sardi's chicken with fries and rice and pinto beans smothered in yellow sauce. I'm considering having Sardi's cater the rest of my pregnancy.
worst meal: Eating Chick-fil-A was awesome. Losing the entire meal wasn't so fun. On the bright side, it's almost as if those fries never existed...
happy moments: I got to watch your dad's basketball team win their championship game! I'm so proud of Andy for working hard and practicing every week. Spending time with friends over the weekend also lifted my spirits.
baby moments: Hearing your heartbeat was the highlight of the week. Even though going to Babies R Us was overwhelming, it was fun to see your dad show excitement and interest over everything.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

the best leftovers

I never know what to say after someone tells me that they hate leftovers. In my head I'm thinking, what would my life be like without leftovers? My husband LOVES them, and he's turned me into a believer. Soup is an obvious leftover because it's easy to heat, but I used to struggle with re-heating meat, particularly chicken. My sister suggested that I microwave leftovers for a longer time using less power. This method warms the food up more evenly, so I don't have to worry about finding random freezing cold pieces of meat or vegetable.

a few of our favorite foods to have leftovers of:

Breakfast: pumpkin muffins and quiche
Lunch: turkey taco chilichicken burritos
Dinner: chicken and zucchini casserole, eggplant with turkey bolognese

I made the pumpkin muffins on Thursday (though I halved the recipe) and the chicken burritos yesterday. Yummm. It's been great to throw a couple of muffins into a ziploc to take with me when I leave the house. The chili, burritos and chicken and zucchini casserole are probably our three favorite meals. They're so easy to make and it's awesome not having to worry about what to make for lunch or dinner the next day.

Got any great-for-leftovers recipes to share?

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

13 weeks

oh boy, this belly thing is really happening.

Sooo I'm officially in that awkward looks-like-muffin-top phase. Wahoo! :-/ I'm beginning to wonder how much of that weight is baby and how much is bagel and cream cheese... for some odd reason, my puking has gone way down but my nausea has gone way up and I'm eating like a mad woman! I was grateful to get some real meals in my belly while we were at the cabin with my family. We had flank steak, steak salad, ribs, Italian sausage sandwiches and Korean short ribs wrapped in lettuce with rice and spicy paste. Mmm hmmm we likes our meats. (We did have some fruits and veggies too, but the meat is more fun to talk about. Oh yeah and breakfast, too.)

I think the key for me to eating a balanced meal right now is having someone else prepare it for me.

looking back on week 12...
best meal: everything we ate at the cabin! but before the cabin, chicken tacos from Chipotle hit the spot.
worst meal: before going to the cabin, I pretty much lived on cottage cheese with pineapple, crispix and grilled cheese. I don't think anything I ate affected my stomach in a bad way. 
happy moments: the whole cabin weekend... watching the snow fall and waking up to a winter wonderland, drinking decaf and munching on toast, finishing a book, reading a book and starting a third, playing "Ticket to Ride" whenever I wasn't eating or reading, watching the dogs run free in the woods, snugglin', teasin', laughin', eatin'.... it was all good.
baby moments: all last week your daddy has referred to you as his little lime. on Saturday he asked me to look up what food you'd be (size-wise) at week 13. The first website I went to said "medium shrimp" and the whole family made faces and laughed. It was way too weird to picture you as a shrimp, so I checked another website and it blessedly described your size as that of a peach. MUCH cuter! Plus, we happened to have a peach in the house when we snapped this shot yesterday.


see week 12 here

Monday, February 18, 2013

when worry strikes

JDC 
I called on the name of the Lord over and over this weekend. Oh, Jesus. Please, Jesus. Hear me, Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 is a passage that I often call to mind, but I think I must have quoted it multiple times each hour last Wednesday. I had painful cramps all day and eventually called my doctor's office in the evening. The doctor suggested I do my best to not worry or go to to the ER, but instead to rest and call her the next day if I felt the need to schedule an appointment. I burst into tears after hanging up the phone because I was so relieved to hear her sound completely calm about the situation. The next morning I did wake up with cramps, but I prayed, petitioned, and gave thanks, and I felt confident that God would give me the ability to continually choose peace over anxiety. I had a restful morning and was able to focus my attention on rejoicing over the coming weekend with my family. My brother and his wife Sky are in the States for a few weeks (they live in Korea), so it was truly a joyous occasion.

My mom told me that after talking on the phone with on Wednesday she quickly notified several friends and that she woke up to multiple emails on Thursday from people asking about how I was doing and sending their prayers. One friend said she couldn't sleep at all and prayed for me the entire night. It makes me cry just thinking about it. How cool is it to think that there was a network of believers petitioning God to keep my baby safe and relieve me of pain? I am blessed.

I'm still cramping, but at this point I know that at least some of it is due to gas. (Ew.) I have my second appointment on Thursday and we're both praying hard that everything will be as it should and that the cramping is simply a symptom and not a sign.

I don't write this to say look at me, I'm cured of worry! because that's not true. I wish to chronicle the triumphs and struggles that I'm going through because once I have a screaming child in my arms I might not be able to remember all these things. I want to remember these special/painful times with the Lord, and to testify to His faithfulness. I also write to encourage you to lean on the Lord and on your friends for strength and encouragement when you find yourself stricken with worry or fear.

or, you can do this... though I don't recommend it!

"Do not be calm about anything, but in everything, by dwelling on it constantly and feeling picked on by God, with thoughts like 'and this is the thanks I get' present your aggravations to everyone you know but Him. And the acid in your stomach, which transcends all milk products, will cause you an ulcer, and the doctor bills will cause you a heart attack and you will lose your mind."
-Beth Moore

Monday, February 11, 2013

12 weeks


Real baby or gyro and fries baby?
Other moms ain't lying when they say your body changes overnight during pregnancy. I had planned to start taking belly shots at week 10, but there wasn't anything to take a picture of. Week 11 was the same story. But, yesterday morning I woke up and noticed my shape was definitely different! I put on my jeans and thought, hmm, I might not be able to wear these buttoned much longer. 

The baby is a little over two inches this week. I had to stop at the produce section of the store and take a look at the limes and plums because they're apparently around the same size as my lil peanut. I stood there with the goofiest grin on my face and blinked back happy tears. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!

My "morning" (why do they call it that?) sickness is still a pain in my neck, but I've noticed my energy has gone up the last few days. Praise God! I would even go so far as to say that Friday and Saturday were great days, so things are definitely improving. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

looking back on week 11...
best meal: chicken, rice and naan smothered with yogurt sauce at Moby Dick's
worst meal: frozen beef lo mein dinner 
happy moments: making an impromptu trip to NOVA to spend time with my parents and have coffee with Becca, who flew down from Boston for her med school interview!!! 
baby moments: Your daddy talks to you every night before bed and we say a prayer for you together. We thank Jesus for you. I started crying in the car when "I Could Not Ask For More" by Sara Evans came on, because I thought about how I'm going to feel that way when I hold you in my arms.

Friday, February 8, 2013

little pleasures

I tried to write a monthly "little pleasures" post ages ago, and failed. Just like my attempt to keep up with every monthly or weekly series I've ever started on this blog. fail fail fail.

I'm not bringing little pleasures back for the long haul, but I did want to share some things that have been putting a smile on my hormone-riddled face. I don't want to look back on this time as being completely miserable, because there have been lots of laughs and cozy naps and hours spent watching the snow fall. 

Puppy antics
Casey knows how to high-five, so I asked her to high-five me if I'm having a boy. She looked away. Then I said, "high-five if it's girl," and she promptly obeyed. Goofy dog! Also, she moaned during an entire episode of The Office — the one where Pam has her baby. Casey did not like it when the baby cried. Last night she moaned dramatically when Andy started talking to my belly. Apparently the jealousy has already begun.

Husband antics
The other day Andy started laughing and pointed to my sweatshirt. "That's the most pregnant you've ever looked," he said. I glanced down and realized my Dove Bar must have rubbed up against the top of my sweatshirt. Chocolate everywhere. It was also all over my face and I had no idea. 
This morning he sang "Payphone" to the dog. "You're at a payphone trying to call home but your paws can't hit the keys...so you called China then started barking because you don't like Chinese."

Movies
We used to watch movies all the time, but then we got hooked on television series. We're running out of things to watch on Netflix (any ideas?) so we recently popped in "Juno" and "The Princess Bride." It was interesting to start "House of Cards" after seeing young Robin Wright Penn. (We haven't finished "House of Cards," so don't give anything away!) 

Maternity clothes
I've ordered a few maternity items from Gap and Old Navy, but I found some great loose non-maternity tops at LOFT and TJMaxx while I was out shopping on Sunday. I felt pretty ridiculous stuffing my sweatshirt under tops in the dressing room, though! My favorite non-maternity shirt might be the "Stars Wars" tee I found in the men's clearance section of Target. It's so soft... I have a feeling I might be living in it soon! I'm also pretty psyched that the two clothing items I purchased for the Uganda trip are perfect for my growing belly. One is a maternity tank top that I bought b/c of it's high neck, and the other is a soft maxi skirt. 

Uganda pics
The team I was supposed to be on has arrived home from Uganda and I've really enjoyed looking through the pics they've put on Facebook, along with ones posted by the American girls that live there. 

the lovely Zion Project girls (pic by Jenny Childs)