The First Kicks

Lately I have been feeling little things that I could swear were tiny baby kicks, but I didn't want to believe it. I mean, I am only 13 weeks pregnant and last time I didn't feel them until about 18 weeks. Kind of crazy early. Last night, however, it became undeniable. I had an awful headache and was laying in bed trying to fall asleep when I felt the familiar little fluttering's. I excused it as digestion when all of a sudden I had a little "pow, pow!". I thought, "Aww, a little baby kick!" but it must have been a baby hand because a few seconds later I felt a much more swift "bam, bam!" on the other side of my belly. I got so happy that I forgot about my headache and fell asleep soundly with visions of my wee-baby sugar-plum dancing in my head.

ABC Appointment ~ 10 Weeks

Yesterday was my first appointment at the birth center and it was such a nice visit. Leslie was working, which was so much fun, and I got to hear the happy little heartbeat for the first time. Augie was a bit of a mess and kept trying to put toys on Leslie's desk and on me while I was stretched out on the table, but he was also cute so he got away with it. She drew my blood to make sure I am not suffering from any unknown ailments and that was that. I can't wait to go back next month and maybe not feel so ill then. I purposely made my next appointment around lunch time so that I can stop by Schlotzsky's on the way home. Always thinking ahead...

Weight Gain: -3lbs

Cravings: Not much. I am still quite nauseous.

Sleep: I sleep a TON. about 11 hours at night plus a nap. Same as Augie, who now has his crib in his            own room! 

Moods: Weepy or comatose. 

What I am looking forward to: Not being ill and looking pregnant. 

Milestones: Heartbeat!

Corpus Visit

This week we took a little plane trip to visit Moo and Baba. Augie got to go to the Aquarium and the beach, twice each! We ate a lot and had so much fun.

The Heard Museum

This morning we went to the Heard Museum. It is really close to our house, so we have a membership. I brought my camera along to see if I could catch Augie smiling, but as per usual I have a stoic little man. 

Ready to go!!

I want to play with the Ring-Tailed Lemur!

We had a fun morning  : )

Big Boy Bed

I have been slowly taking steps to eventually have Augie sleep in his own room. I decorated it, organized it, and so on. I am not going to transition him until we are both ready, because there is no sense in both of us not being happy to fit into a pointless social convention, but today we took a big step. I finally purchased a bed-spread that might tantalize him into wanting to sleep in a big kid bed. Lately I have been day-dreaming about watching movies at night, in the winter weather months, tucked away in bed next to Forrest... which obviously can't happen with a sleeping Augie in the room. We will see if my dreams become reality this season...

BBQ Pulled Chicken

Okay, peeps. Get out your crock pot and hold onto your socks, because this recipe will knock them OFF!

3 chicken breasts

1.5c ketchup 

(I like the kind made with cane sugar instead of HFCS because I like to keep it real)

3T brown sugar

1T soy sauce

1T Worcestershire

1T apple cider vinegar

1t garlic powder

Dump that junk in, crank it up to high, and walk away for at least 4 hours. Has it been four hours? Good. Stir it up to break it down into shredded deliciousness, and slap it on whatever vehicle you choose. Buns. Lettuce wraps. Tortillas. Shoot-- Take a bath in it, and you will still have a yummy time!

**If you choose the last option, please don't share the leftovers**

Blocks with Moo

My parents are in town for a few days this week and we are having a nice time. I heard so much giggling coming from Augie's room this evening that I ran and got my camera to catch this cute moment on video...

Rain Gutter Bookshelves

Today Forrest and I finished Augie's new book shelves. They are made out of-- you guessed it!-- rain gutters. This project was cheap, simple, and cute. I would link a DIY site but if you just Google it you will find page after page of instructional's on how to do this. 

Oh yeah, I also painted the walls sky blue and painted a tree on the wall. I decided that I wanted to stick with something simple and relaxing. Ahhh. I love laying in here to play with him. I wondered in THIS post from when I was 4 weeks pregnant with Augie when I would get the "nesting urge" to create a nursery. Well, he has lived in our room up to now and I have never decorated a room for him. Until now. I guess this is my mind and heart realizing that soon it will be time for him to transition. 

One last funny thing: This is how Augie insists his shelf (well, the only one he can reach so we put the board books in) must be kept. I kept trying to lay out the book nicely, and he kept fixing it back this way. Sigh. Love that boy. 

Garden Update

For a while there I was getting kind of worried about my crops. Yes, I call them my crops. My tomato and pepper plants were producing flowers that would wither off without producing fruit, but recently I started spying some teeny baby fruities! 

Heirloom tomato-ette

The itsy-bitsy watermelon vine that didn't grow for two months has suddenly, over the course of a few weeks, become a mammoth!

The zucchini plants aren't doing too bad, either.

Have you ever seen a baby watermelon? Not the kind they sell at the store, I mean a real baby watermelon. As in, an inch long.

Cute and fuzzy!

And of course this post would not be complete without a shot of my little dirt-eater. 

Puerto Rico

Before I get into the details of the trip, it is worth noting that many unfortunate incidents occurred right before and during the trip. Two of which were my camera breaking the day before we left and me forgetting the charger to the camcorder (which all of my pictures on this blog are from) so I was really only able to get pictures of the first half. Sad times. In fact, just to get them all out of the way I will list all of the other foul-ups that took place.

• Augie got Hand Foot and Mouth disease right before the trip, and we were still getting over it when we had to travel on the plane.
• Forrest contracted HF&M as well, though his "adult" version only lasted about 24 hrs, he did run a good fever on the 5 hour plane ride and felt rather cruddy. 
• I also contracted HF&M about day 2 of our trip and had to spend a day lounging and napping. 
• My dad twisted his knee a little bit on one of the first days, and used a funny cane for the rest of the trip.
• My mom completely fell going down a slick ramp (oh yeah, it rained most days we were there) in a fort we toured and sprained her knee and ankle. She was hurt so badly we took her to the ER to make sure there were no fractures and her leg swole up like a sad balloon. (I know swole isn't a word, but I am a Texan, so it is.)
• Forrest re-injured a calf tear/sprain and his calf swole up and got hot and red. He was in a lot of pain for the second half of the trip and had to ice his calf a lot and prop it on pillows. Also sad.
• I got sick again a few days before we came home and am still recovering from the worst virus that I have ever had in my adult life. This time, I had to take a 5 hour plane ride with a toddler while very ill.

Okay. Now onto the "meat" of the trip. 

We spent a total of ten days in PR, the first half staying in San Juan and the second half staying in a little beach town called Rincon. While we were in San Juan we did a lot of walking. It is a very historic area (we stayed in "Old" San Juan) and there were a couple of Forts/Castles to tour.

This is Castillo de San Cristobal (where my mom fell!)

During the San Juan half of the trip we took a couple of excursions in a rental car. The first was to the El Yunque rainforest. It was absolutely beautiful, but I DO NOT recommend taking a baby in a stroller on  the "easier" trail to the waterfall. Not easy. Not safe. Wouldn't even recommend taking the old people you bring. Luckily the old people stopped early, found a bench, and waited for us to make it back to them. There were actually two waterfalls, a small one that was easy to see from the road and a big one to hike to, and this first video is the smaller one. 

The other side excursion we took was to the "Pork Highway". The Puerto Ricans call these restaurants Lecharones and it is where they roast whole pigs and serve it with local side-dishes. Forrest saw this on Food Network and it was a trip must-do for him. 

The second half of the trip was beautiful, but unfortunately I have no proof! We swam at calm, amazing beaches and drove around the small town discovering neat things to eat. We also made an excursion on this half of the trip to tour a coffee plantation up in the mountains. It was a hour of winding road there and back, and I got very carsick. Not my favorite part of the trip, but as a coffee lover I am still glad we went!

All in all, I think Puerto Ricans as a whole are exceptionally sweet, helpful, and country-proud people. That being said, they are horrific drivers. Also, I am an equally horrific camera-woman, so sorry if anyone feels motion sick after reading this!

The End!

Señor Gringo

This is our new bird, Gringo!

Our family had no intention of adding a feathered friend, but this was just fate. A while back at the park I found this bird sitting on a handrail in the middle of a bunch of kiddos. When I asked the moms standing around me whose bird it was, they all said it was not theirs. I then took it upon myself to save his little life. I wrapped him in my over-shirt (I am not fond of birds and did not want to get bitten) and  put him on my passenger seat. I strapped Augie in and we were off to get him some water and food. I called Forrest and he said we should keep him until we could find out who his real owner is. On the way home from the Petsmart I stopped at the Chick-fil-A drive through and got some food and a little cup of water for Gringo. He gulped it thankfully, hopped onto my thigh, and whistled a cat-call at me. That was the first moment I realized that this bird might not be Satan incarnate like most; any creature than can recognize my beauty, even when un-showered and sweaty must be a winner. Anyway, I brought him home and started researching what kind of bird he was, what he needed to live, and the best ways to find a lost bird's owner. For a few days I searched for the person who lost him, to no avail. In the mean time, I got to know him and as it turns out, he really likes me. As it also turns out, it is really hard to hate something that really likes you. Tertiarily, it turns out my husband is a big fan of birds. We are now bird owners. I knew we would end up keeping him when Forrest and I both started spending money on creature-comforts for him, unbeknownst to each other. 

He had a bit of a rough time bonding with Augie and Forrest at first, but he has calmed down about both of them since. 

Isn't my husband handsome!?

He is a low-maintenance, chilled out sort of person bird and he makes a few fun little sounds, including mimicking the song our washing machine makes upon completion of a load. We intend to take him to the vet to get checked out, sexed, and find out about how old he is. 

I have to admit that at first I desperately wanted to find his owner, because I don't like birds and did not want to be responsible for him. I was even intending on eventually finding a home for him if we didn't find who lost him. Now I have completely changed my mind. He is a super little love bird and I have adopted a finders-keepers sort of mentality.