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!

Just Little Things.

Yesterday I stumbled upon a book at Barnes & Noble called "Just Little Things" by Nancy Wu.  This little book was filled with hundreds of little jollies and occurrences that make us feel good. As I skimmed through it I found myself completely agreeing with nearly every page. Sometimes all I need is a little reminder to acknowledge all that makes me feel good, don't you remember my recognize when your happy campaign?? Anyways, I ended up finding the list on Nancy Wu's site here. Check it out, I know you'll appreciate at least one little thing, and if you don't well then you're just a scrooge.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

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!

A Stroll Down Memory Lane.

It is a complete toss up as to who our baby boy will resemble more. Miles and I couldn't be more at variance as far as physical features go. Our only common thread is that we were both what you would call 'baby butter balls' weighing in at 9 lbs a piece at birth! I'm hoping for my sake, our son doesn't follow in that pattern, although no one sports a double-chin, rubber band wrists, and cankles better than a baby.

A Good Day.

Although our baby wasn't here in time for mother's day, Miles still made a special day of it for me.  I awoke to the smell of homemade waffles, and a lovely bouquet of purple orchids on my nightstand. I then wandered into the kitchen to find a second bouquet of vibrant orange sunflowers and magenta colored daisies. He said he couldn't decide which flowers I would like more so he went for both, one of the many reasons I love him. Already feeling entirely too spoiled for it not to be my birthday or something, and following one of the best breakfasts I've ever eaten, Miles gave me a beautiful silver necklace strung with an "L" pendant for baby 'Luca' and I was as pleased as punch.

Miles asked me what I wanted to do for the rest of the day and I decided I wanted to stay in and keep things low-key with a puzzle.  In reaction to my answer, he looked pretty puzzled himself, but went along with it anyway. We picked out a 550-piecer that ended up taking us the rest of the day to finish. Luckily I'm no amateur to a challenging puzzle, and we were able to complete it just before midnight. I got so entranced by the thing, I completely skipped dinner (see what I mean by "no amateur").  I thought punching in the last piece would feel like more of an accomplishment than it did, but the killer back pain I had from hunching over the puzzle all evening really dimmed my enthusiasm. I still felt fulfilled though, as I laid down to sleep. Miles was already half-out as I kissed him goodnight. What a day I had, I closed my eyes and drifted off. If this is what mother's days are like, I cannot wait to enjoy many many more.

Happy Mother's Day

Here's a photo of my mom looking 90s fabulous sometime shortly before she had me. She was the best type of person who loved unconditionally, freely, wholeheartedly, and any other which way you could possibly imagine. Extremely simple and unassuming, no one was ever too young or old or too insignificant to be her friend. Never judging, she could pinpoint the good in everyone. She had such a way of making you feel important and exceptional. And what an exceptional human being she was.

I hope she is having the best mother's day wherever she is, serving aces on the tennis court, having a cadillac margarita, listening to 'the best of the 70s', and feeling the energy of all of those who love her. Here is to all the women who so wonderfully fill our lives with their motherly love, wisdom, and compassion. Happy Mother's Day from me and mine to you and yours!

I know it's friday but...

I thought I should share with you that I only slept for a grand total of three hours the night before last. I woke up at one point to fill my cup with water and somehow never found my way back to into slumber. Apparently I had better things to do such as googling things like 'baby sign books' and 'raspberry leaf tea benefits' (I know, much too exciting to put off til morning) I really started to feel guilty when I found myself playing the absurdly addictive 'candy crush saga' at four a.m. I remember thinking how bad it would look if Miles were to suddenly awake and catch me in the act. If you don't know what 'candy crush' is and you consider your free time valuable, or at least more valuable than I apparently do, you're probably better off being left in the dark...If at this point your curiosity is just taring through you, go ahead and give it a search (don't blame me for your future enslavement though).

On another note, Miles and I finished our baby classes yesterday. Well, almost. We made it through the first hour, but I felt so sick I up and walked out. I felt like I was back in high-school again as I texted Miles from the bathroom asking if he wanted to bail with me. Fifteen minutes later, he met me at the car explaining how he was waiting for the teacher to let us out on break to make his grand escape. What a good student he is, somehow I think he secretly couldn't get enough of "the proper breastfeeding latch" and "delivering the placenta" (do I need to say jk?). We made it home eventually and straight to bed I went. Honest to goodness, I cannot wait to feel good again...30 weeks of feeling awful has really been enough for me and I'm about to lose my marbles. 10 more weeks to go at this point, which good news for both of us means these posts may actually begin to sound more lucid as I begin to see the finish line in sight,  I'm not making any promises though.

Well if the bad grammar and syntax and excessive amount of parenthetical citations weren't enough to steer you away from reading this far, I really appreciate you listening to my ramble. Sometimes a good vent and a listening ear is all one really needs. Even if you just pretend to read my blog, you make me feel good about myself, and for that I thank you. So without further adieu, I'm off to take a nap and then potentially delete this post following me gaining some consciousness and popping in my contact lenses.

Sew you broke your toe, huh?

So I realize its been a few days since I've been on here, but this week has been pretty hectic for us. I've been feeling pretty bad with morning sickness for a good portion of the week, and on days where I'm not feeling well all I want to do is crawl into bed and lie there undisturbed until the episode passes. Poor Miles has been such a trooper throughout this entire pregnancy, always swaying in whichever direction the wind of hormones seems to blow us.

By Friday I was feeling a lot better and running all the errands I had neglected throughout the week, and in the midst of all the commotion I snagged my left pinky toe on the couch and completely broke it. I tried to go about the rest of my day thinking it was a bad stub, but the pain kept intensifying and by the time Miles got off of work the bruising and swelling spoke for themselves, not to mention my mini breakdown and flood of tears. I know the baby toe has to be one of the smallest bones in the body, but why is it that the smallest injuries always tend to hurt the worst, i.e. paper cuts, bee stings, tetanus shots, etc.? It could also be that maybe, quite possibly, I'm the world's biggest baby. Miles keeps reminding me that I do in fact have to give birth to a child in t-minus two months or so, and each time I just give him the "are you kidding me?" expression followed by the "you think I don't worry about that every day of my existence?" look. He makes a very valid point, but I'd rather live in my own fantastical world believing that the pain of my broken pinky toe far outweighs any discomfort to be caused by squeezing a watermelon out of a walnut. Even if I'm totally kidding myself, at least we got some good laughs from my chubby foot, and I'm preventing myself from having a full-fledged panic attack, for now anyhow...

In the mean time I'm simply going to work on healing his toe. Unfortunately, there is nothing a doctor can do for a broken toe that you can't do at home, so I didn't even bother with urgent care. Thankfully Miles, having his fair share of broken toes from skateboarding, had a sleeve-full of home remedies and for the rest of the weekend I alternated between epsom soaks, icing, and elevating, all of which helped tremendously.  I was pretty bummed to be couch-bound for the weekend, especially when I had been home all week, but on the upside, I found the cutest pattern and went on a crafting binge hand-stitching a mobile for the baby's crib. I was very pleased with the finished product and can't wait to hang it in the nursery. If you feel inclined to get your stitch on too, you can find the free pattern on this blog here.

In between all the needlework, we watched a few movies, had breakfast for dinner, refurbished Miles' childhood robot-shaped fan which he appropriately had named "robofan" sometime in the early 90s, and even managed to take a walk on the beach. It felt good to dip my feet in the ocean, the ultimate salt-soak, and the soft sand wasn't too bad either. There is something so freeing about looking out at the pacific ocean and imagining the stretch of nothingness between us and the next land mass. It is so grounding and humbling, at least for myself, remembering that there exists something so much bigger and so much more powerful than little ol' me, and I love being able to call that reminder my "home." Who knows where we will be living in the future, or even a few months from now, but as of now I can say I love where I live. What started out as an unfortunate week of events, turned into a great weekend at home, and nothing compliments a great weekend better than spending it with your best friend. And we keep floatin' on...