As the world turns

So, I've been packing around this basketball on my front side for the last little bit and it's still got about 6 weeks to grow/go before Zoe gets here. Bending over is becoming more of a challenge and turning over in bed requires me to rock back and forth, gain a little momentum and flip myself like a pancake on a griddle. Last night we decided to have a little fun with the belly. We looked around a little online and discovered that belly art work is more popular than we thought. While those professional drawings cost a pretty penny, we decided to go the free route and see what a couple washable markers could do. Art is not my forte, especially upside down art, so what you see below is Ryan's creation. I like how my belly button adds some 3-d effects to the map and almost looks like a volcano coming out near Brazil. There will be more drawings on the belly, but this was the first, and of course, had to be shared.

C is for cankle

I have been enjoying this pregnancy and can't wait to meet little Zoe. I have so much fun lying down and feeling her move around. It's such a neat experience. While my belly and hips continue to expand (I've always believed I had child bearing hips and now it's come to pass), I'm noticing that other parts of me are changing. I'm going to stick with just one aspect and show you how much difference 6 hours can make.

Notice the picture below. Pre-pregnancy that's what my foot usually looked like. Well, in the past couple of weeks, those beautifully sculpted ankles have gone by the wayside. That picture was taken at about 6:30AM on Monday of this week.

Now this picture was taken the same day, about 6 hours later. I hope I don't have to state the obvious. Had I waited until 6:30PM of that same day, it would have been even worse. By the end of the day, I feel some relation to the Michelin Man.

One of the bright spots of my day is now waking up in the morning and looking at my ankles, knowing that they are still there and that they will make a come back. My older sister told me that hers got puffy after her baby came. If mine get even more swollen after Zoe comes, I don't know what I'm going to do. Thank goodness it's summer time and I don't have to wear any constricting shoes. Sad thing is that I'm noticing difficulty in even putting on my flip flops. At least I don't have to tie them.

Enjoying the ride

When I first found out we were pregnant, I got myself hooked up with a website called babycenter.com. It gives me a weekly update on how big our baby is (size compared to a fruit or vegetable, weight, length) and what changes she's going through that week. My mom has called on more than one occasion asking what fruit/vegetable the baby is that week (she's about the weight of a head of cabbage this week, just in case you're wondering). It's been a great resource for me and for Ryan. Through this website I also found out that tingling in my fingers is normal and that those weird dreams where the aliens come and abduct me is perfectly fine. Ok, just kidding - I haven't been having dreams like that.

About 5 minutes ago I read an article they had on there titled "The 12 things you miss most during pregnancy." Some of the items I expected to see: cute shoes, peaceful sleep, off-limit foods, etc. But then I came across some such as: feeling sexy, emotional control, feeling strong and independent. Those ones I was more surprised by. I'll admit that it's not fun not being able to fit into my jeans (but then again, it's summer - who cares?) and yes, I do miss a lot of my cute shoes. But those are things that I think pale greatly in comparison to the miracle that is taking place inside my ever expanding belly. What made me sad for a lot of these women is how they now feel left out of things or not as attractive as they once were. Oh, I certainly have my days of just feeling like a heifer, but those feelings fade quickly. One thing that is helping me feel so great about myself is the support and encouragement I'm receiving from Ryan. He has been so great and makes sure that I know how beautiful I am. There's no denying that the surface of my body is changing in permanent ways, but I truly feel blessed to have such a supportive man to help me at this time. The funny thing is, he's not even here. Ryan has been in Vegas since Father's Day, yet on a daily basis he helps me to feel attractive and sexy and powerful. I certainly can't do as much as I used to be able to do, but when I tell him about my day's activities, he makes me feel so proud of myself for what I AM able to do.

I still have 2.5 months to go on this pregnancy and Ryan will be here for most of the remainder of that. And he'll certainly be here for the most important part. I just feel so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who supports and loves me (even from afar) and makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.

Elvis was wrong

There's no way I would live in Vegas or stay there any longer than a week. Ryan is currently there for some training that he's been wanting for a while and I had the opportunity to visit him earlier this week. We'd gone there a little over a year ago so things weren't as new for me this time as they were then. I was just looking forward to spending time with Ryan. We decided to spend the majority of the day on "The Strip." With my heavier and rounder state, I wanted to stay as cool as I could and I must admit that our little experience that day did allow for me to stay mostly indoors. The sad part is, I realized how much others thought my time was worth.

Ok, so last time we were there we got a pretty good 2-for-1 deal at a buffet and we, the money savers that we try to be, were trying to find a similar deal this time. After visiting the M&M world, with nary a free M&M in sight, we got roped into listening to someone talk about how we could get a free FREE buffet. While I do enjoy the word free, I know that there are always strings attached and that the person receiving the supposed free item usually gives up something, whether it's time, commitment or soul. That day, I felt it was my soul. I reflected back to something I learned in my English class in high school and that is the saying, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." That kept rolling through my head that day as I continued to lose brain cells. So, what it was we had to do was to listen to a presentation on timeshares. What we signed up for said we needed to have 90-120 minutes available to listen. I would have been ok if that was truly all the time we gave up.

So, we meet this nice (of course she's nice, she's selling!) lady decked out in a pink mini skirt, pink stilettos, and matching pink lipstick. We play a little bit of the BRT (building relationships of trust - it's a missionary thing) and she is trying to sell us and sell us on this timeshare business. I'm nodding my head just trying to be nice in return, knowing that we're not going to buy into this and letting my mind think about what we're going to eat for dinner. Now, we did have plans for the evening (going to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian) so I wanted to make sure we would have ample time to enjoy our free buffet. I'm watching the time and wondering when we're going to get on with things and go see a sample of the timeshare condo we would supposedly be buying into. From what I understood, she'd give us the spiel, we'd go look at the condo, she and a manager would try to make things affordable to us, we'd get our tickets for the free buffet and be on our way. Well, that is kind of how it worked, it just took FOREVER!!!!! As I thought things were wrapping up, she asked us if the timeshare would be something we'd be interested in. She told us earlier that she was going to ask us 4 questions at the end and that all she wanted was a "yes" or "no" answer, not the "we'll think about it." So, the time for the questions came and what came out of our mouths? No. No. No. Like we can afford a timeshare right now; we're having a baby! In ten years, maybe. So, she brings over Alberto (I think they stole him from The Sopranos) and he works some numbers to show us how much our monthly payment would be. Unless it's a double digit and the first digit is a 1, there's no way we'd do it. He goes through a couple different payment options, walks away for a couple minutes while we go look at one more condo (puh-lease! I've seen enough and we're not buying! Let us go!) and come back and he's got it whittled down to where we'd pay only $130 a month. I guess if we want to go w/o diapers and food we might be able to swing that. Again, we tell them no. I thought we were close to leaving. Then some other guy comes over. His cover is that he's asking us how we were treated, etc. After asking our opinion about what we heard and why we weren't buying, he starts trying to sell us on a fabulous VIP hotel stay that..... that..... I don't even remember anymore. I was just furious that they were trying to get us with something AGAIN!!!!! Ryan told him straight up "NO" and when the guy asked "Why?" Ryan said, "Because you guys have been trying to sell us on too much today. We're done." That guy stood up abruptly and crumpled up the piece of paper he'd been writing all this stuff on and quickly walked away. Finally. We were free. We had to go over to this little trailer, get our vouchers, catch the shuttle back to the strip and then we were really free.

We started this little excursion around 2:30 and it was well after 5 by the time we got out of the shuttle and made our way to the Planet Hollywood buffet. The buffet would have cost us about $20 per person. After doing the math, an hour of our time was worth about $8 to them. What a rip! It's a good thing the buffet was good. And they did have M&Ms there so that part of my day was redeemed. Oh, and what is it with tipping at buffets? What is it that the people walking around are actually doing? Not hard work as far as I can tell.

We made it to Phantom on time and had a great time there. I think the next time we're in Vegas together we're going to rent a car. Taxis are way too expensive. I don't know how people can afford those day in and day out.

One thing that bothered me the most about this timeshare spiel is that while Ryan and I were there together suffering through it, we didn't get to really be together. We didn't get to talk to each other because all we were doing was listening. I went to Vegas to be with Ryan and that 2.5 hours we wasted was precious time. I'd rather eat McDonald's next time and enjoy the time with my husband.

Now that that's off my chest, here's some pictures in random order.

My little niece Kira. She's coming up on 2 and is a cute little toddler. She came and visited Grandma for a week.

Somewhere in there is little Zoe Nickel. I am in the homestretch (no pun intended) - the third trimester.

Hmmm.... what rhymes with Vegas.... oh yeah, "waste of time!"

At the bottom of our Phantom tickets was a voucher for a free (not this again!) drink at a nightclub called Livo. I think that's the name. We decided to go and get pina coladas after the show. Only problem: they don't have a blender. And apparently the voucher was supposed to be for an alcoholic drink. Come on people! You're not getting money either way! We got lemonades instead and watched pathetic drunk people trying to flirt and pick up on each other.

It's not everyday you get to see Humpty Dumpty before his great fall.

Some day Ryan, some day.

Um, self explanatory.

Kahuku for life! I met up with my friend Kara and her cute little family. Kara was my neighbor, ok, practically housemate, in Hawaii.

It was fun to watch Ryan interact with Kara's little baby Jackson. I can't wait to see Ryan with our little girl.

While Kira was in town, we (mom, aunt, brother) went to Fairy Tale Town and then the Sacramento Zoo. Here's me and Jared trying to get people to buy a yellow brick.

June Firsts

For the first time, Ryan and I went to a Juneteenth celebration.  I heard from a couple of my students about it and they sounded pretty excited.  Neither Ryan nor I had any idea what Juneteenth was about.  We thought it was a summer celebration of sorts.  Nope.  We got to the park where this festival was going on and walked around looking at all the different vendors and booths.  I was a little upset that there wasn't anything for me to buy at the "I Love Being Black" booth.  I thought about buying a onesie there, but for some reason decided against it.  One of my students told me that he was going to be performing in the talent show so we decided to stick around until then.  The food there was, as you can imagine, expensive.  Ryan's delectables in the picture below cost $7.  My meal, for which I waited in line almost 30 minutes was in the double digits!  Crazy.  Anyway, we got our food and were able to find some covered seating right near the stage.  The voting for the winner of the talent show was done a la American Idol: text in who you think should win.  There were 10 acts and all of them quite impressive.  It was during one of the later performances that we learned what Juneteenth was all about.  In essence, it is a celebration of the end of slavery in the US.  Kind of a cool reason to get together and celebrate.

We both participated in the texting portion of the talent show and they announced that there were going to be some random winners who participated in the texting.  They didn't mention what prizes were to be given away - that's how they hold you in suspense.  My student that performed was near the end of the show, so after he went, we stayed for the rest of the show and then made a bee-line for the car.  We'd been in the car for maybe 2 minutes when Ryan got a text telling him that he was one of the winners.  My husband IS a winner, I know.  Now, we didn't know if he won a keychain or a gift card so we decided to head back.  After more waiting around for the MC to finish up his gig, we discovered that Ryan's prize was indeed worthy of others' jealousy: a bright yellow Juneteenth t-shirt.  Woo-hoo!  Lady Luck was certainly smiling down on us that day.

Another first for Ryan was Father's Day.  We're both so excited for our little girl, and while some may dispute that we're not really a father and mother yet,  I would contend that we indeed are.  Anyway, I decided to surprise Ryan with a dinner at Buca Di Beppo.  If you've never been there, it's a pricey, yet delicious Italian place.  We had our wedding dinner there as well.  Anyway, they have this one special table that is in the kitchen.  Literally.  You are sitting in the kitchen watching the food come up in the window and hearing all that goes on.  It's kind of a cool thing.  On a first visit to Buca's, they walk the guests through the kitchen and right past that table.  I had decided a couple weeks before Father's Day that that's what I wanted to do for Ryan.  I wanted to make reservations early because I knew it would fill up fast.  Working in my favor was that I wasn't making the reservations for Father's Day, but a few days before (Ryan left for Vegas on Father's Day so  we had to celebrate a little early).  Ryan loved it.  He didn't even know that table existed in the restaurant!  We had an excellent meal of lasagne, salad, and bread and went home stuffed.  It was funny to watch all these people walking past us as we ate too.  I felt like we were on display or something.  I also got him some movies that he wanted (thank you Craigslist!).  It was a great time and he said that he felt so special.  I was happy that I could make him feel that way.  He deserves it.  He is such a great man and I'm so lucky to have him.  He's already such a cute father, the way he talks to my belly and all.  Now I've gotta start planning his golden birthday.  

The view from our table.

Look, it's my name!

Cutting in to the massive lasagne.

Cheeseballs in love.

New digs

So, we moved.  We've been in our new place now about 4 weeks and we're loving it.  Our internet is a little unreliable and slow right now so I'll be lucky to even get this posted.  We are alive and things are going great.  School has been out for 2 weeks and so I'm transitioning into stay-at-home-mom mode and nesting and cooking and taking care of my sweet husband.  Ryan loves his work.  He works for a program called STARS and is a counselor for the early intervention juvenile drug court.  Our little baby girl is growing and growing and if possible I'm going to post a picture  here of my ever expanding belly.  The Lord has truly blessed us and we are so humbled by that.  Hope to get more up here soon!

We went to San Francisco for Memorial day and Ryan got to walk across the Gold Gate Bridge for the very first time.  We got decently wind and sunburned.

Definitely not a glamor shot - just a belly shot.  Due date: September 24th.

News!

Posted at the cracker Nazi sandwich shop in Visalia.

Beef that thinks inside the box.

How we know we're having a girl.

Profile of our little one.

Little one's got an itch on her nose.