It's been a long time since I've come around.

Well hello there! I know, I know, it has been far too long since I've updated on here, but life has so busy these past few weeks (aka we've been nesting) and I didn't manage to take very many pictures so I kept putting this off...but at this point before this blog goes moth-eaten and outdated like half of my closet I haven't been able to wear for 9 months, I figure I can at least give you a condensed rundown of what's been happening even if that means I have to steal a couple of Miles' instagram pictures.

So here we go...

Father's Day came and went and it was so exciting to celebrate Miles on his very first father's day! I had no idea what to get him until I came up with the perfect gift. Did I ever mention my husband is 26 with 80-year-old man tendencies? Well if I didn't, he is. Just a few examples--he enjoys watering his garden daily, sometimes even bi-daily, shopping for the perfect bird feed and then excitedly spying out the window to bird watch as the finches indulge in his sunflower seed blend, and if you haven't been convinced yet I'll top the list with the fact that his favorite breakfast is corned beef hash...out of the can.

I knew the one bird feeder he has had been trafficking a lot of birds lately so I decided to get him a second feeder. The local pet store had a really lame selection as far as colors go, so I bought one I could pizzaz up myself to add a personal touch, and it actually came out really great! He loved it! There was also a corned beef hash breakfast. He was happy as a clam.

 ...before...

...after...

...here they are in action...

Speaking of Miles as a father brings me to the latest news concerning our bun in the oven. We are just under 37 weeks which is full term! I could go into labor anytime in the next 3 1/2 weeks, which is totally crazy right?! At our last doctors appointment we found out the baby is head down, measuring at about 6 lbs, and everything looks really good and healthy. We've spent the past few weeks organizing and settling all the last minute details. I can now relax and officially say we are ready. I've been taking daily walks, all his clothes have been washed, my hospital bag is packed, the carseat has been installed, all his baby accessories are assembled, and most importantly we have a full tank of gas to get me to the hospital for when the time comes. Now we wait. 

Baby Bib

My first completed sewing project on my new machine!

I also have to mention how great this company Cadia is, we didn't know much about them before but now we are totally hooked. About a year ago Miles posted a photo on instagram of his friend Shawn and him eating lunch at Jimbo's. In the picture you could see a bag of Cadia veggie chips. We have no clue as to how, but somehow Cadia found Miles' photo and tagged him as their fan photo of the week! We emailed them, and they sent us a whole box of groceries with a handwritten note thanking us for our support. They were so good to us! All of their products are certified organic and are made with all natural ingredients. We loved everything they sent but my favorite item was the box of gluten free animal cookies. You could eat 10 cookies for 130 calories or something ridiculous like that, and since this pregnant bod is about to go postpartum you know I can use all the low-calorie snacks I can get my swollen little hands on (no joke, I think my elbows are starting to get dimples). Anyways, you can check them out here and find out if there are any grocery stores near you that carry their products. 

Lately I've been on a sewing grind. I was determined and succeeded to make Miles some comfy sweat shorts for the summer and with all the extra material I have left over I'm going to make the baby a matching pair. These shorts weren't so easy to master. You should have seen the first pair I made. I wasn't following a pattern but using a pair he already had as a reference and I accidentally pieced together the two leg portions as the waist. So I ended up with these shorts that had really skinny leg holes, a super large waist piece, and somehow a hood looking part in the crotch. It was pretty comical.  Miles took the photo below and captioned it, "we're not amish but we make our own clothes." Clearly, the two of us have been watching far too much "Breaking Amish," you know the TLC show where those kids leave their amish communities and branch out into the world? Not ringing a bell? Yeah, I was pretty certain we were the only people so fascinated by drama surrounding bonnets and buggies.  So here I am folks, 9 months pregnant and in my element.

This week we also went to dinner at our favorite thai restaurant with our wonderful friend Ms. Gail Lee. Gail has known Miles for years and years. We wanted to catch up with her for a bite before the baby is born and before she left on her summer vacation to NY. Gail is the best. She's sharp tongued, extremely intelligent, overly generous, and an incredibly kind and loyal friend, teacher, and mother. She's just an overall inherently good, brilliant human being, and we are so lucky to know her. Life is all about surrounding yourself with beautiful people who better you, help you to grow and advance you to be the best version of yourself, and one thing I can say for certain about my life is I have always been so fortunate with the company I keep. 

Here's a photo of Miles' thai iced tea and me listening to one of Gail's many wonderful stories. How good does that boba look?! I would have ordered one as well, but I gave up caffeine of any kind for my entire pregnancy (crazy right?). I know some people allow themselves a cup a day, but that didn't resinate with me. I know it sounds silly, but giving up coffee was one of the hardest abdications ever, especially because I really love my daily cup of coffee and I haven't had a single taste in over 36 weeks--not even decaf! It's not even the caffeine that reels me in, it's the entire process of brewing, smelling, tasting, and sipping my coffee. There is something so comforting about the ritual of it all. Oh the sacrifices mothers must make before our babes are even here! But fret not, for very very soon I will be losing myself in what I envision to be the best cup of coffee I've ever had. 

Well, that is all I have for now. I will keep you all updated as to whether or not this seed decides to make an appearance anytime soon. I'm really nervous and anxious, which I know is normal. And I have that Beach Boys song stuck in my head, but I really should take their advice "Don't worry baby, everything will turn out all right." I know, I know, everything always does. 

P.S. Are we friends on instagram? If not, we should be! @theworldsmyoyster

The Three Day Weekend.

It truly has been a long weekend. I've been really sick with pregnancy related nausea since wednesday and as I called the nurse helpline begging for some kind of miracle remedy, she explained to me that the best thing I could do for now is to keep to the "b.r.a.t diet," nibbling every few hours. To paint a picture, this nausea feels as though I've been stuck in the middle, back seat of a smart car (do smart cars have backseats?), surrounded by sumo wrestlers, caravanning through the mojave dessert, with no a.c., mid-august, down a windy road, wrapped in heavy coats and scarves,  for 8 hours, completely carsick... and I could go on, but I'm sure you've got a visual. On the sunny side, this road trip has only--give or take--8 more weeks before I reach paradise.

For those who don't know, "b.r.a.t" stands for bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. Basically, basic, basic foods. What they should call it is "the bland diet" or "the most boring selection of food known to man diet" because either variation stands true. Now I may have thought way too far into it, but I'm thinking the acronym spells out 'brat' to imply that any person who holds their diet to such limited selections is a picky brat? If this is so, I'm calling crap! We are not brats! We definitely didn't choose this! And just so you know, if I was going to restrict my diet to such specific items, I'll tell you right now, cheese is definitely making the cut. Unfortunately, since I don't actually know why the b.r.a.t diet is called what it is, and I have successfully given you an accurate sample of how stir crazy I'm going, I'm just going to give the founder of the diet the benefit of the doubt and say 'brat' was just his or her clever way of rearranging the initials to spell out something people will remember. If you have any insight as to the true history of this savage diet, do please share your wisdom, all comments are welcome :)

In far more fun news from our week, Miles gave me a sewing machine! It was an early birthday present so I could work on some projects before the baby comes, and also because it's been getting pretty warm and he really wants me to hem some of his pants into shorts. What can I say, it's a gift of the best sorts, a gift that keeps on giving! I love it, and can't wait to share with you the projects that stem from it! Also this week, one of my favorite authors, Khaled Hosseini, released his third novel. I'd been anxiously waiting for its release and I immediately downloaded it onto my kindle. I'm only on chapter two, but am already so hooked! Whenever I  can find a good book, especially a page-turner, I'm in bliss and just have to share with somebody. I really should join a book club. Right now in my book club it's just Miles and I, problem is Miles doesn't know he's in a book club and I'm the only one who reads the book. I don't mind though, Miles is a great listener and after I summarize each chapter, I'm sure he feels like he read it too. It truly is amazing how detailed and elaborate my synopsis of a story can get.

Now I don't know how I can go from drooling over a Hosseini novel to genuinely being excited about the season premiere of The Bachelorette tonight, but somehow it happens. It's one of my terrible guilty pleasures. Awful to admit, but I couldn't get enough of Tiara and her crazy eyebrow last season, who knows what kind of drama awaits me tonight. I even texted my Granny reminding her to record it, she indulges in that sort of thing too, which in turn makes me feel a lot better since she is a really wise woman who wouldn't waste her time with something if it were so terrible. Being stuck at home for the weekend, Miles and I watched our fair share of really ridiculous TV shows, some appalling, some intriguing. One of our late night favorites is Hoarding: Buried Alive, mainly because it makes us appreciate the beauty of good hygiene and cleanliness. I thought I had seen it all when someone found their 'lost' cat's skeleton buried under years of unwashed laundry, but I was mistaken. We caught the most absurd episode ever the other night where this woman, Janet, literally had buried herself in her clutter. The social worker came over to help her, and was shocked when she found Janet's tiny head barely peeking out amongst the mounds of litter. It was like a sad version of Where's Waldo? We couldn't resist snapping a photo:

Janet had no working plumbing, leaving her to use the completely exposed side of her house as a bathroom (so gross!). Sometimes she couldn't make it outside due to the many mountains of clutter she would have to trek in order to get to the door, and she would just opt to use a jug or doggy bag it and toss it among the rest of her clutter. Jaws dropped, we could not believe our eyes. And it got worse when no joke, her son actually stepped in a fresh bag of her mess while trying to clear out one of the many heaps of rubbish. It was complete chaos! It puzzles me, why is it that are we so interested in other people's issues?! I can't seem to justify the fixation, but I also can't turn away! I'm really going to cut back on watching TV so I'll have more substantial things to talk about than hoarders and their bathroom patterns, but not before I see who Des picks as her knight in shining armor on The Bachelorette!

Getting Showered.

Over the weekend, my mom's side of the family threw me a wonderful baby shower up in Riverside. Naturally, it was a girls only soirée so Miles went with my uncle and cousin to the Angels game where they showered themselves in hot dogs and beers. I love me a girls day, and when you put that group of women together, there is no doubt it will be a good time. Of course the best part of the day was being able to see all of my beautiful family and friends, and with the delicious food and amazing weather, the day just could not have been more perfect.

There is no denying it, this baby got totally spoiled. He was given tons of beautiful clothes and toys, and both of my grandmothers handmade him blankets, one crocheted and the other one quilted; they were so intricate and personal, and I just know he'll treasure them forever. Everyone included in their gifts their favorite baby book to jumpstart Luca's book collection, remember "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "The Bernstein Bears?!" Oh I cannot wait to re-experience all of those classic stories again that brought such joy to my own childhood. What a great idea that was, and so appropriate for this literature enthusiast :)

My cousin's girlfriend, Vivian, made cake pops that were too cute to eat (well apparently not cute enough because everyone gobbled them right up)! And my sister brought cupcakes adorned with adorable little lions. Yeah, we indulged, and it tasted so so good. We also played a few games, my favorite of which was one where everyone took headshots of Miles and I and they cut and morphed them together to try and predict what our baby will look like. It was too funny, and yet really scary at the same time. It definitely was enough to trigger those third trimester nightmares where you dream your baby comes out with a mullet and three eyes or something hideously ridiculous. To my relief, they spared me of the "guess how big mommy's tummy is" game, and I thanked them. Whoever came up with that one must have never flaunted a pregnant belly before. I nearly cried as I surpassed Miles in weight recently and am beginning to lose sight of my toes, need I a reminder of how round I am? I think the pregnant waddle speaks for itself.

Tons of girl talk took place, and everyone offered valuable motherly advice and encouragement I know I'll be needing really soon. With the intense emotions and hardships I've been going through with this pregnancy, it was so nice to be surrounded by women who know exactly how I feel and who have been through it before. That night I felt strengthened and renewed and even got a little pep in my step to get me through these final weeks. I am a lucky lady who is so fortunate to be loved by so many great women. I was so overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and support, I now feel really ready to bring this little one into the world!

The matriarchs

As seen here, all attendees had a great time!