Pregnancy Comments

I was reading this article about things you should never to say to a pregnant lady and I almost couldn't contain my laughter. Here's the link in case you're interested.

I've gotten a few of those comments (Was it planned? Can I touch/see your belly? Enjoy ___ now because once the baby comes you can kiss it goodbye. You shouldn't eat/drink that or Are you sure you can eat/drink that? Get an epidural!) While these comments can be mildly annoying nothing compares to the comment I got last week from a perfect stranger.

Alex and I went out to eat wings with some of his co-workers. I was sitting across from this one guy who is a friend of a co-worker. We had never met before, but he seemed nice enough. We chit chatted about various things and I mentioned that I was pregnant. The evening went on normally.  At the end of the night when Alex and I were getting ready to leave this guy stops me and says, "Hey, make sure you're getting enough calcium, because if you don't it can ruin your teeth and bones, so you have to make sure to get enough calcium. Basically you have a parasite growing inside of you, so you have to make sure you get enough calcium. And iron. You need a lot of iron. I know I'm not your doctor, but I'm just concerned. So take a lot of iron, and vitamin D."

What?

This guy was dead serious. He wasn't joking at all. He was seriously concerned for my well-being because of the parasite growing inside me and stealing all my nutrients. Umm, wow. All I could do was kind of laugh and say thanks. Does this guy think that all pregnant women are at risk of serious malnutrition? I know I need extra vitamins and all, and I'm definitely doing all I can to nourish myself and my baby in a healthy way, but I'm not dying. I'm just pregnant. It's perfectly normal. And what makes him think that I don't know how to take care of myself? And no, you're not a doctor, in fact, you're not a doctor at all, which is probably why you're so neurotic.

And my baby is not a parasite.

Have any of you pregnant ladies or mamas received any crazy or rude comments?
And I must say, if I ever said anything to offend you while you were pregnant I thoroughly apologize. I know how it feels now and I'll definitely be more careful with my words in the future.

Week 16

It's hard to believe I'm four months pregnant already! Where does the time go?
I have to say that I am really loving being pregnant. I've been blessed with an easy pregnancy. No morning sickness, not very many annoying symptoms. The biggest thing I've been dealing with lately is lower back pain, especially on my left side. I've been experiencing it for a while, but it's gotten much worse over the past couple of weeks. I'm thinking I'll give my midwife a call if it persists. For now, I have my eye on one of those nifty "birthing balls." I'll probably purchase one soon.

For this week's picture we headed down to 16th Street Mall. It's an outdoor pedestrian mall just over a mile long that runs along 16th street. It's filled with restaurants and shops. If you're from Miami, think Lincoln Road. I love going down there because it's always filled with people and there's always something interesting going on. We took Jaxon with us this time so he gets to make a cameo appearance in this week's photo. I think he's going to make an excellent big "brother" to Baby Ace.

I'm wearing a loose-fitting top so it's hard to see any belly action, but it's there. I kind of love it because it's a tangible reminder of our baby and I know he or she is growing and safe in there. 

Miami Baby Shower - Save The Date!

I am so excited about my upcoming baby shower in Miami! My mom, sister, and mother-in-law have already gotten to work planning it and I've seen a little of what they have in mind. Let me just say, it's going to be one gorgeous baby shower.

We will be mailing out formal invitations to all the invited ladies soon but Alex made these cute Save The Dates so you can keep it in mind as you plan out your summer.

P.S. Just so we're clear, as much as I love my guy friends in Miami, this will be a girls-only shower. I'm sure no guy I know is boo-hoo-ing over this, hah, but I just wanted to put that out there. 

February Update - The Summit Church

Here's a little update video, put together by my talented husband, that talks about how our church plant is doing so far.

And if you have questions about the name change click here to read about it.

What I do all day...

The funniest question I get from people these days is, "What do you do all day?"
The question sounds a bit rude at first, but I'm honestly not offended. I would wonder the same thing if I were someone else looking at my life. My usual response is, "Whatever I want," but I thought I'd go into a bit more detail here.

The husband works all day at Apple, leaving me at home with our beloved pooch, Jaxon. We have a lazy morning, I take my time eating breakfast, showering, etc. I usually watch an episode of "DogTown," while getting dressed...Jaxon loves it. Then I have lunch (I'm hungry all the time...so I eat a lot throughout the day, gotta love pregnancy!). Then I get to work... I do actually have a job that I do from home. I make newsletters and displays for a company in Texas (where my parents both happen to work). So I'll check my e-mail, work on the latest newsletter, tweak whatever needs to be tweaked, and submit my work. I'm thankful for this job because I am able to bring in some income to help out our family.

I also read blogs. I'm definitely addicted. Lately I've been reading lots of "mommy blogs." It's fun to read about other women going through their pregnancies or talking about their young children. That's how I've learned so much about cloth diapering, natural childbirth, how to make baby food, etc etc. Blogs are an invaluable resource. Today I was reading a blogpost by Melissa from Dear Baby (One of the best mommy blogs! I highly recommend it) about natural childbirth that I found to be so encouraging. If you're an expectant mama you should read it. I've also been reading about different baby carriers on the Prayer of Hannah blog. Alex and I definitely want to carry our baby as much as possible (mostly because strollers seem to be a real pain, and there are a lot of benefits to baby-wearing that maybe I'll get into later). So it's been good to learn about the different types of carriers and what real mamas think of them. That's just a bit of what I've been learning from the blog world lately.

Jaxon and I usually take a long walk to the park in the afternoon. It's fun to get a bit of exercise and get outside instead of being cooped up all day. I can't wait until the weather really warms up so I can enjoy our walks even more. Some days I'll squeeze in some prenatal yoga into my exercise routine as well. I've never been very active, but I always liked pilates/yoga because it's slow-paced and it just suits me. I thought I'd give this prenatal yoga DVD a shot and I really like it. Besides helping my flexibility it really helps me to relax and focus on my baby for that one hour.

Some days I'm able to meet up with friends. Mostly everyone I know works fulltime, so it's not always an option, but it's nice when I can get a chance to spend time with someone else for a little while. I mean, I love Jaxon, but he's not much of a conversationalist.

I also do chores...laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc etc. You know, all the glamourous things that everyone loves doing around the house. I haven't mastered cooking yet, but I try...sometimes.

I'm not gonna lie, the rest of my day is filled with netflix movies and listening to music. I love love love that we have a netflix account now and the instant play feature is awesome. Yesterday I watched a powerful documentary called "Dear Zacahry." I cried like a baby. I can't even describe it or tell you much about it because I don't want to give anything away. It's just a powerful and moving story that you have to see for yourself. You should hurry too because they're going to remove it from instant play soon.

The best part of my day is when Alex comes home. Jaxon gets so excited to see him and I'm just relieved to have my best friend back. I love him.

So that's what I do in a nutshell. It may seem boring or useless to other people looking in, but I'm actually really thankful for this slow-paced season in my life. With a baby on the way I'm sure life will never be this easy-going ever again. I'm glad that I have the time to rest up and really prepare for Baby Ace; emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally. I'm blessed and I really have no complaints about this life.

Week 15

I think I'm definitely seeing some growth in my belly this week. Alex says it's definitely a preggo belly...buuut to me it just looks like a weird pooch attached to a skinny body, hah. Oh well. I'm excited to see it get bigger, though I'm sure once I'm really big I'll be ready for it to be gone.

We went to the corner of 15th street and Colfax (which happens to be 15th avenue) and checked out Civic Park. It's located right in front of the Capitol building. It has some beautiful old architecture and if you stand in the middle of the park you can see the Capitol building, the amazing Denver Art Museum (which I can't wait to visit!), and the Denver Public Library. During the spring time the park is filled with colorful flowers. I will definitely be taking a trip there with my camera to capture all the beauty.

Here is Week 15:

The Belly Series:

Week 13

Week 14

iPhone House Tour

Okay okay, you've been very patient, friends, so here are a few snapshots of our home in Denver. It's a work in progress, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. I've gotten most of the major projects I wanted to get done out of the way...now it's just about sprucing it up little by little as time and funds allow.

Here are some photos I took with my trusty iPhone:

Here is our living room. It's so cute and quaint. I love our coat rack in the corner, very convenient seeing as we don't have a coat closet. And that piano is Andy's. We're holding on to it until he gets his own place. I wouldn't mind keeping it though! It's lovely getting to hear Alex play it.

Another angle of our living room. 

Across from the couch is our fireplace. It doesn't work (boo) but it's still nice to look at. 

I love this little group of pictures and ornaments. An iPhone wedding photo. An iPhone photo of Baby Ace. A polaroid of my beloved Jaxon. That little green and brown bird I brought home with me from my grandma's house in Nicaragua. She passed away a couple of years ago. She was an incredible woman and I love having this little reminder of her in our home.

Close up of our Polaroid coffee table. I love it! It was a really fun project.

Moving on from the living room, here is our dining room. We dream of changing out that light fixture and getting one of those big square dining tables that fits eight people. Having more than two people over for dinner at a time always poses a seating problem. 

Kitchen! Isn't it lovely? I love the stainless steel appliances and all the cabinet space. 

And  here's Alex being a good husband and cleaning the kitchen. I married an excellent man.

Our bathroom. In case you couldn't tell.

Laundry space in our bathroom. I want to hang curtains in front of this to hide this space so it's not so obtrusive in the bathroom.

Our bedroom. Drew painted the walls gray for us. Thanks Drew! I want to make (or purchase) an upholstered tufted headboard when we get the chance. 

Other side of our bedroom. I don't know where to put that laundry hamper...soo that's where it stays for now. We'll see if I can stick it somewhere that it doesn't look so...ugly, hah.

Jaxon says hello. :-)

Down the stairs to the basement.

Jaxon's corner behind the stairs.

Our office. Drew also painted these walls gray. Thanks again Drew! We want to sand down these chairs and paint them white and reupholster them. We also want to add shelving above the desks and just...organize this room better. 

The other side of the office. Eventually this will also be the nursery. So the purple chair will be out and we'll have to figure out how to fit some baby furniture in here. I'm sure my mom and sister will be a big help in getting that done when the time comes!

Hallway from the office to the rest of the basement. 

A fun little window display. 

TV Room. We got that couch for a great price at the American Furniture Warehouse. We couldn't pass it up. Mostly because watching tv while sitting on the floor gets old fast.

Alex's music corner. We got the rug in Turkey on our honeymoon. We got the poster when we saw the Police live in Miami. My friend, Tammie, made those paintings. And the floating shelf holds all the rest of Alex's quirky little instruments (maracas, harmonicas, etc). It's a fun little space for Alex.

TV. I love TV. :-)

Little Library. If I get any more books we'll have to get another shelf. It was tough getting everything to fit in there.

Floating books! It's magic. That white thing on the floor is a lamp we got at Ikea. Haven't decided where it's going to go yet. I'm leaning towards the office/nursery.

My lovely little camera collection (not counting our Polaroid, Holga, fish eye camera, and 60D). I love these babies. They all work just fine except for the Kodak and the Yashica. The Yashica (a wedding present from Alex) was working for a little while but now the little crank advance thingie gets stuck. Sad.

Jaxon says hello again.

Hallway that leads to the back of the house to the garage and backyard.

Second bathroom. Love the colors in here. It reminds me of the beach. And Lord knows there's no beach around here! It's also the warmest room in the house. I wish I could just hang out in there all day...but that would be weird...and boring.

Well, that's it. Thanks for taking a peek at our home. We love it. We feel so blessed to be homeowners and we hope that when we have visitors they will feel welcomed and comfortable. So come visit us soon!

Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos

You all know I'm not much of a cook, but I'm trying to do a little more in the kitchen. Since I got pregnant I have not been craving meat (especially steak) and even chicken is a little iffy for me sometimes. So I'm trying to explore the world of vegetarian cooking.

Alex's co-worker and some of his friends took us to this delicious vegetarian restaurant called Watercourse.  Seriously, everything we tried was amazing. They have a lot of vegan options as well, in case you're hardcore like that. Alex ordered the sweet potato black bean tacos and I was instantly jealous that I hadn't ordered them as well. So I hunted for a recipe online and found this one from The Mama Bee. It seemed easy enough.

One of our college church plant team members who is finishing up her degree at UNC and is a pescatarian was in town last weekend so we had her and the Barleys over to try these delicious tacos. (I think Bryan was a little shocked that there was no meat in his dinner, but he enjoyed it)

I'd say they turned out pretty well. I will definitely be making these again, with a few changes to the recipe. I'll probably try adding some peppers and some sort of lettuce/tomato/slaw mixture.

I served these tacos with a side of cilantro lime white rice (inspired by Qdoba) and Megan was kind enough to provide a salad with some yummy avocados. Try this recipe out, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

P.S. I hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine's Day!

Week 14

Here we are on 14th street in the 14th week of my pregnancy.
I'm standing in front of Larimer Square in downtown Denver. Larimer Square is full of fun restaurants and shops. It's where we went to eat frog legs. It's fun to just walk around and check out all the quirky little shops. I'm dying to get a little something for Jaxon from this doggie boutique.

I had my second midwife appointment last Thursday. We got to listen to the baby's heartbeat again. It's seriously the most beautiful sound in the world. You can't imagine how reassuring it is to hear that sound. I love hearing it and knowing that the baby is okay. That he or she is doing just fine in there. I also can't wait to hold that little baby in my arms! Just six more months to go...

We had to take this week's photo in a hurry because we were kiiind of illegally parked. So we just jumped out, snapped the photos, and hopped back in the car to take off. So I feel like my belly looks slightly bigger than it does in real life because I'm slouching slightly, lol. Oh well...enjoy!

Frog Legs

Alex and I haven't really been out much since we moved to Denver. He's been working really hard and the first trimester had me exhausted. Most nights I was in my pajamas by 8 o'clock. Plus, we have been taking advantage of every spare moment to fix up our house (pictures soon, I promise!).

But last Friday night Alex whisked me away to a fun dinner downtown. We went to Bistro Vendome. It's a cute little French restaurant in Larimer Square. We decided to be a little adventurous and try the frog legs as an appetizer. I had my doubts at first, but they were absolutely delicious! I don't know what spices they used, but they were so tender and juicy and the sauce it came with added a little bit of sweetness. It was perfect.

I just wanted to encourage you, if you've never had frog legs before, give it a try. And let me know what you think!

Week 13

Well, here we are, my first weekly belly photo. There's not much going on but I thought we might as well get started and hopefully the photos will only improve over time.

I thought it would be neat to feature different parts of Denver as well since we just moved here. Today we were driving down 13th Ave (Get it? I'm in my 13th week of pregnancy!) and we noticed this view of the capitol building and we thought it'd be a great first weekly belly photo...to introduce the belly and to introduce our new city.

[Shout out to Megatron for contributing this idea, by the way!]


So without further ado, here's my 'Week 13' photo.

Snow Walking

Denver has fickle weather. Just a few days ago the sun was shining and the high was in the low 60s. Gorgeous! I was laughing at all the people who said I would never survive Denver winters. It felt more like spring than winter.

But then...it started snowing, I mean, really snowing and temperatures dropped to the negative. I have to admit that when it gets that cold I don't even bother stepping foot outside (thankfully I don't have a job I need to go to). I wrapped myself up in blankets and watched movies with Jaxon. Yesterday, however, Alex encouraged me to take Jaxon for a walk in the afternoon. I have to admit, I was going a little stir crazy...and I'm sure Jaxon was tired of napping all day. So I put on layer upon layer of clothing and headed outdoors for a walk in the snow.

It wasn't so bad, especially because the sun was bright and shining...but do not be fooled, any part of my skin that was exposed was feeling the pain of the zero degree temperature. I'm verrry thankful for warm coats and the Sorel boots my parents bought me as an early Valentine's Day present.

All photos shot with my iPhone and edited with Instagram...you should download this app...it's the best.

Not Ready

It's funny how many people say to me they're not ready for a baby once they talk to me about my pregnancy. They usually have a look on their face of fearful amazement.

Well, actually, I'm not ready either. I'm not ready to wake up to a crying baby every two hours instead of sleeping peacefully all night. I'm not ready to be spit up on everyday. I'm not ready to change poopie diapers. I'm not ready to give up my freedom. I'm not ready to live on a baby's schedule instead of my own. I'm not ready to give up my selfish ways. But it's happening. I don't think anyone is ever really ready.

I'm not saying you should go get pregnant right away even if you don't feel ready...because even though I'm not ready, I kind of am. I'm excited about this journey we're getting ready to embark on. I know it's going to be difficult and there will be days that I will want to rip my hair out and cry because of how exhausted and frustrated I am. I'm not ready...but I am. I know the moment I lay eyes on my little one it's going to be one of the happiest moments of my entire life. I know when I wake up in the middle of the night to a hungry baby, it'll be a special privilege to be able to give him/her nourishment. I know when I change a nasty diaper, it'll be to keep my baby healthy and comfortable. That's what I want. To really give myself to someone else, to my child. I want God to peel away the layers of selfishness that have built up over the years.

It's not going to be easy...and I'm not ready...I would much rather be spoiled for the rest of my life...but at the same time, I am ready. I'm ready to grow up...to love...to care for my child. And when you're ready, you'll know it too.

P.S. I began my second trimester today. Praise God! I have my next midwife appointment a week from tomorrow, so please pray for a healthy Baby Ace. 

[cute print from etsy]