Our Mini-Cation to San Antonio: Day 1!

Last week, we headed to San Antonio for an overnight stay while David was doing some interviewing and meetings for his graduate program. Ava and I busied ourselves being tourists and enjoying some mommy-daughter time, and it was awesome. There were some mishaps - pouring rain and hail the morning we woke up to go to the zoo, that thankfully passed during breakfast and didn't ruin our day being amongst them - but, all in all, it was a great trip! 

Our first afternoon and evening, we spent time on the Riverwalk chowing down on Chinese and Haagen Daaz (Ava loves their sorbet and it's dairy-free friendly!), and took a tour of the Dinosaur Quest museum inside of the Rivercentre Mall. D's dinner took longer than our plans, so then we hopped onto a riverboat for a tour of the Riverwalk and downtown San Antonio- Ava loved the boats!

Sad to say, Ava didn't love the Dinosaur Quest. She liked it decent enough, but it was both dark and loud, and rather small, and she was bored easily and a wee bit scared. Luckily, that left us time to hit the boats and grab dessert before heading back to our room at the Hotel Valencia to meet daddy!

Pretty joyful look, right? Somebody loves being on the water!

Our delicious dessert:

Unfortunately, the baby still doesn't like ice cream :( Oops.

More to come on our trip to San Antonio later this week!

Happy Mother's Day!

Thanks to this day, my life changed forever. 

I have never been happier than I have found myself in my role as a mother, and cannot wait to welcome our second (and final!) baby and celebrate with him/her next year as well!

School's Out for Summer!

Ok, so technically Plug and Play doesn't close in the summer, but yesterday was A's last day of school for the summer, since the girls and I do such fun things during the hot summer days and I didn't want A to miss out on the fun! It was originally going to be this coming Wednesday, but we rescheduled our gender ultrasound for that morning, and I wanted her to be able to be there, so May 8th it was!

We had such a wonderful year at Plug & Play, and it was a great environment for Ava to really learn about school, the routines associated, and how to play well with others of different ages. She really learned and grew a lot!

Here's a picture of her from the first day of school, back in October:

And just a mere seven months later, she looks like a big, big girl! 

I can't wait to compare each year's before and after photo!

Also, if you're curious about Plug & Play, check them out in yesterday's Wall Street Journal! 

15 Weeks: Our Little Orange!

How far along: 15 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: 2 lbs. even.

Maternity clothes: Nope, and proud of it :)

Stretch marks: Praying I can stay stretch-mark free again! (Fingers crossed!!!)

Belly button: still an innie 

Sleep: I've been waking up around 5 or so, and then not being able to fall back asleep until right before I have to get up, causing me to feel reallllllly drowsy and out of sorts when the alarm/Ava goes off! Bleh. It's also getting a bit weirder to sleep on my stomach, which is a huge problem for me, because I can only sleep on my stomach. 

Baby movement: As I lay falling asleep last night, squishing the wee little thing since I'm a stomach sleeper until it becomes impossible, I felt DEFINITE movement! It may have been a while since I did this whole pregnancy thing, but that is a feeling that you never forget!

Gender: 7 days until we know for sure! 

Food cravings: Sour candy from my high school days - shock tarts, chewy Sprees, Sweetart Jelly Beans. And pasta. Seriously, this baby is a carbaholic.

Food aversions: Anything that smells bad at the time, red meat, too much sugar (ironically, given that I crave candy, but maybe the sour offsets it?)

What I miss: a flat stomach! And bummed I had to take Zofran again this morning. C'mon, second trimester relief and energy boost! I've been wanting to sleep ALL. DAY. LONG.

Looking forward to: finding out the gender! And hopefully nausea getting a bit better - it's been an issue a bit this week again...

Best moment this week: anytime I'm asleep. It was a rough week - I was sick, exhausted, working a ton, and just in general need of a break.

Milestones: baby can now move all of his/her joints and limbs! 

My Own Call to Action: Same Love.

My guest poster on Friday wrote a great post about how meaningful breastfeeding is to her, and to the greater community at large, and the ways in which our community is needed to help breastfeeding legislation. I completely agree, having nursed long-term myself and readying myself for round two with this little one. It also, however, got me thinking about my own call to action - and what I want to encourage you all to take action and stand up for today.

If you've yet to see this video, please, I implore you to watch it in its entirety. And, if you're not the video type, the lyrics are below. This song moves me every single time I play it, and rallies both my hope for the future and my need to be a part of what moves us forward.

Same Love

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Mary Lambert

When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay
'Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight
I told my mom tears rushing down my face
She's like "Ben you've loved girls since before pre-k - tripping, "
Yeah, I guess she had a point, didn't she?
Bunch of stereotypes all in my head.
I remember doing the math like, "Yeah, I'm good at little league"
A preconceived idea of what it all meant
For those that liked the same sex
Had the characteristics
The right wing conservatives think it's a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don't know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago
I don't know

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
I can't change
Even if I try
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
"Man, that's gay" gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we're saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don't have acceptance for 'em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourself
When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren't anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that's not important
No freedom till we're equal, damn right I support it

(I don't know)

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm

We press play, don't press pause
Progress, march on
With the veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
Till the day that my uncles can be united by law
When kids are walking 'round the hallway plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are
And a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all
But it's a damn good place to start
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it's all the same love
About time that we raised up

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
I can't change
Even if I try
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is patient
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
Love is kind

A Call to Action.

What moves you to action?

We're constantly inundated with opportunities to support one cause or another in a variety of ways - through awareness raising or fundraising or letter-writing or phone calling.  We can't possibly respond to everything. 

So which things catch your attention?  Often an experience of our own compels us to act for a particular cause.  Perhaps you lost your mother to breast cancer so breast cancer awareness is where you put your time.  Or maybe your husband has diabetes and you always support fundraising for diabetes prevention.  Maybe you lost a baby cousin to SIDS, & you share every "back to sleep" article or graphic you see on social media. 

Actually, those are all close to home for me.  But my passion is breastfeeding advocacy.  Maybe in part that's because breastfeeding reduces risks for breast cancer, diabetes, and SIDS, as well as a myriad of other life threatening illnesses.  

Breastfeeding has long been treated as a lifestyle choice, but after ages and ages of recommendations by all of the major physician organizations, it is now beginning to be treated as a public health issue.  As such, our society is faced with trying to adjust to the notion that if we want moms to work and we want moms to breastfeed, we must support their efforts to express milk at work.  And to the notion that if we want moms to support the economy and we want moms to breastfeed, we must accept and support that we're going to see them nurse their babies in grocery stores and restaurants.  

Currently there is legislation that would support mothers' efforts to breastfeed at work and in public, but the bills may never see a vote if they're not set for a date on the House floor by the end of the day Monday, May 6th.  

And here's where you will hopefully be moved to action: YOU can help.  In just a few minutes, you can contact legislators and ask them to put HB 741 and HB 1706 on the calendar ASAP.  Whether your cause is postpartum depression support, obesity prevention, child and maternal health, standing up to discrimination, women's rights - the list goes on - advocating for breastfeeding mothers and babies is a cause we can all get behind. 

Please go to TXBFLeg.com and see how you can support nursing moms and babies today in a way that will impact them for so many tomorrows.

14 Weeks: The First Trimester Didn't Kill Me!

I survived! And lest you think I'm being dramatic, the past fourteen weeks saw a stomach bug, a bout of strep that I'm still getting over, nonstop morning sickness that required twice daily zofran to get through, gallbladder issues, my normal crazed anxiety over miscarriage, all while working daily, trying to help A adjust to the idea of sharing mommy, and my husband working full-time and being in grad school full-time. So yes, I am actually somewhat surprised when I say that I have arrived at the second trimester in one piece!

Here's where we are as we start the second trimester:

How far along: 14 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: up 1.2 lbs - likely down from the past couple weeks due to being sick the past few days!

Maternity clothes: no, but was handed down a ton last Wednesday, and am almost excited (gasp!) to wear them!

Stretch marks: nope

Belly button: innie

Sleep: still could sleep all day, everyday. It's a wonder if I see 9 p.m. these days!

Baby movement: I still swear I'm feeling the baby move occasionally, but maybe I'm just insane?

Gender: Still rooting for girl #2, but basically accepted it's going to be a boy. We find out for sure 5/15!

Food cravings: pop-tarts. This baby isn't going to be my healthy eater, I can already tell!

Food aversions: so many things still. sigh.

What I miss: not feeling sick every. single. day.

Looking forward to: finding out the gender in two weeks! 

Best moment this week: Not having taken Zofran since Saturday night!

Milestones: Baby can now suck his or her thumb, though knowing my kiddos, they're already looking for a baba!

And a belly pic, if you can call it that at this point :)