An open letter to 'peanut'

Dear Peanut

It is hard to believe  we will meet you in a few short weeks …  It's been a wild and amazing ride.  As excited as I am to meet you, I feel like I already know you in so many ways.   Pregnancy has its up and downs but overall, it has been amazing. I have been fortunate in so many ways and will carry many memories with me. Here are just a few …

• Feeling your movements so intensely … every time you wiggle, stretch, re-arrange, do the jitterbug, or punch (mostly my bladder these days) I feel it very intensely. It can be a bit annoying (the bladder part) but mostly I love the feedback that you are 'there' and doing well.
• Learning what foods you enjoy by your reactions. You LOVE strawberries and almonds. It is funny, but this combination always gets a reaction from you … strawberries and any protein, but almonds seems to be your favorite
• Knowing that you sleep well while I am running and riding. Perhaps this will carry over post-birth. If so, I am guessing I'll have to get back into shape quickly ;-)
• Getting to know you … you have no problem letting me know when I do something you do not 'approve' of … for example:
• If I sit or move into a position that you don't like you punch (usually it is a sitting position you do not approve of) me .. Usually in the bladder … with your little fists until I adjust properly. I can almost hear your sigh of relief when I move into a better position
• you are kind of a picky sleeper at night :) You prefer me to be standing, it seems … or sitting.  When I lie down on the 'wrong' side (from your perspective) you jiggle and wiggle until I get up, walk around, and then lie down on the 'right' side. Then you do make a few big contented moves as you snuggle into position and drift off.  You do this many times in the night if I move into a position you don't like … or you get tired of my current position.

 

As much as I will 'miss' you being part of me, I am really looking forward to meeting you ... and know that you will be 'just perfect'.

Xoxo

We have new Neighbors ... kinda

We have new neighbors! .... well, kinda :)

Jonathan's parents & sister just moved to Redmond area from Kansas city - we are quite excited about this! Having family close by is pretty amazing - both from a mutual support and a grandparents/aunt relationship point of view.

We've already had several family dinners ... and are looking forward to a family picnic outing this weekend.

Emily is also very excited, and always asking to go to Grandma and Papa's 'new house' :)

Yes ... we are pregnant :)

I know, I know ... I am so behind on blogging that this is OLD news. But i'm going to tell you about it anyway :)

We are SO excited to be expecting a baby girl in early July. No, I am not going to tell you the names we are thinking about ... and no. I cannot yet balance a plate on my belly (a bowl, yes), and yes, I am getting uncomfortable with 10 weeks to go .... and YES, I am still able to ride my bike and run 8 miles!

It's been an amazing ride! The first trimester was a mix - for the first 6.5 weeks I had no symptoms, and in fact we did not realize we were pregnant until 6 weeks in! The next 8 weeks ... well, a different story. I was pretty sick most of the time - the only think that alleviated my symptoms was exercise. So i'd do a ride first thing in the AM and get 2 hours 'puke free' ... and sneak out for a run at lunch and get another 2 hours. Blissful :) Exercise went from 'I need to do this because i love it' to 'I need this not to puke' :)

And the sleep ... well, sleep was non-existent. for some reason I could not sleep more than 2 hours at a time. After a few weeks, this adds up ... some people say I was prepping for the arrival of little peanut ... I say I don't need that much prep when it comes to sleep deprivation ;-)

This made Brazil interesting as I am sure you can imagine. :) I don't recommend doing a 20 hour flight while being so sick.  That said, Brazil was still really fun - just different than we imagined.  A few weeks into the 2nd trimester the sickness slowly improved .. and so did the sleep.  And then I was sleeping thru the night and hadn't puked in weeks. Yay!

The 2nd trimester was much better. and it was fun ... I had been able to feel peanut kicking and moving around as early as 8 weeks ... but now Jonathan and Emily could start to feel her from the outside ... and that was pretty cool. 

Time has flown and now I am in my final trimester. I have 10 weeks to go and can't believe that time has passed so quickly. We are really looking forward to meeting Peanut!!!

Brazil - Nov 2013

Brazil!

Finally … I know, it has taken forever … but yes, Brazil was amazing!

Our trip started in Rio … a very vibrant city – the people, the culture, the food (the fruit is sooooo fresh/good/flavorful)…. All amazing!  We stayed on a hotel on the Copacabana Beach, and in a good area to walk around. We did lots of walking J  In Rio we did the usual tourist tours, with a twist – we went to see Cocovado – We knew the statue was huge, but wow, it was even bigger than we thought – check it out …

And of course we had to check out Sugarloaf – we hiked part way up and then took the gondola – amazing views …

We also did a hike of Tijuca rainforest – we hiked the heist peak (3,350 ft) in Rio – this was one of my favorites in Rio – it was a really cool rainforest with waterfalls and cool flowers … and one of the local residents did some nice posing for us. Unfortunately the weather was not super co-operative and we didn’t have much of a view (ok, no view) at the top J

Our guide also took us out to sample the night life … in Rio Scenarium – this was a super cool night club, 3 floors in total! The club was more like a museum in terms of décor – very cool/fun vibe.  We got to dance some samba (or pretend to) and the food was pretty good too. Jonathan really enjoyed the Caparinia’s … J

 

After a few days in Rio we went to Paraty. Rio was fun, but Paraty was just … amazing. If we go back to that area of Brazil, we will go straight to Paraty. It is a quaint little colonial town, which has kept it’s original architecture and streets. The streets are designed such that when the tide comes up, the water floods the streets (made of rock) and then the tide washes the streets on the way out. Pretty neat. Every hotel has rubber boots J 

 

The first day there we did a cool bike ride to some local swimming holes and around the town. It was fun to watch the local jump off the jungle ropes into the water – and our guide did some crazy high-up jumps too J We opted for the lower key jungle rope … very fun! The food in Paraty was amazing and we had trouble choosing which restaurant to go to J Also, the Ice Cream shop there was, well, spectacular!

 

There were loads of cool shops in the city and we did some good Christmas shopping while there – so many cool/local things! Our favorite day by far, was our ‘beach day’. This was no normal beach day. We did a 45min hike into a remote beach – you had to hike in, or boat in … it was so cool! There were a few little fishing huts and cantinas with amazing food – we had fresh fish, rice, and beans – delicious! And there was even a crab who decided to join us for lunch ;-)  We opted to hike another 30 min over a ‘hill’ (see below) to an even more remote beach – where we had the whole place to ourselves. It was perfect. We could have spent an entire day just hanging out there.

We also spent a day doing a beach tour by boat – also beautiful … but not as cool as the hikes J

 

We spent extra time relaxing, walking, walking and more walking J we toured Paraty and Rio both by foot – always a great way to see more of the city