Sunday Stroll

In lieu of Friday date night (thanks again Mr. Snow), we headed to Asheville Sunday after breakfast in hopes of finding Travis some work boots. After a successful trip at Dick's we headed to the Barnes & Noble located in the mall. Upon entering the mall the alluring smell of Starbucks hit our nostrils. I need to clarify that since little p'nut took my body over; the thought of coffee makes me sick, not to mention the smell. My morning coffee was a thing of the past, having forgone caffeine for the past 20+ weeks and with no intention of drinking it now even though everything I read states that one cup of joe is A-Ok! I completely surprised Trav when I asked if he wanted to get a coffee. He quickly agreed, we went in, ordered a Skinny Vanilla Latte for him & a Skinny Vanilla Decaf Latte for the pregnant lady. With Latte in hand I approach a Barnes & Noble employee for assistance, the layout of the B & N in the mall is so different from the regular one (I was confused). I asked the nice boy if he could point me to the Pregnancy Book section. The look on his face was priceless when he glanced at my baby bump then to my hand that was carrying my Latte. He must have been thinking, "Yes, you obviously need all the pregnancy reading material written and by the way, how dare you be drinking caffeine right now!" I just smiled and went on my way. Once at the Pregnancy section I began looking for a few books I had in mind. I kept noticing that the people heading to the bathroom (bathroom located right by the Pregnancy section) were giving me disapproving looks. I wanted to shove my Latte (which stated decaf on the side) in their holier-than-thou faces but I just kept on with the task at hand. Once we paid for our books & headed to the car, Trav confirmed that I was not imagining it, people were in fact judging me because I am pregnant and was drinking a coffee. People please mind your own business and don't judge me, I promise our babies health is my top priority. Geez!!!

~ Outward judgment often fails, inward judgment never. ~ Theodore Parker

The Best Lasagna I Ever Ate

Well for starters I forgot to take a picture of the finished masterpiece so I am currently a little peeved at myself! Maybe if I eat another piece I will get over it.
A little background information, I love pasta.... angel hair, fettuccini, farfalle, penne, ok you get the point. Thus why I usually pack a little extra flab around the waist line.
Our friends The Seymour's invited us over for dinner a few months ago, lasagna was on the menu that night. There isn't anything Katie Seymour whips up that I don't like. Her meatloaf made me start eating ground beef again if that tells you anything.
My family always requests lasagna, especially my Stepdad, it is not one of my specialities by any means but it is edible. I don't have a special recipe, it's kinda mediocre and I use ricotta.
I asked Katie for her recipe because it was oh so good. In good judgement I am not going to give her recipe away but I will tell you she uses cream cheese instead of ricotta. Cream cheese makes for a creamier lasagna. I gave her recipe a shot a couple nights ago since I was having my family over for dinner. I started to think that maybe I was hyping this lasagna up too much, maybe my pregnant taste buds were exaggerating! But when they all came short of licking their plates I knew we had a winner on our hands. I couldn't take credit for it though, Katie you are a culinary genius! Delicioso

30th Birthday

Well folks I turned 30 last week. I always thought I would be sad when this day came but I am actually quite happy & excited to see what is in store for me. Since we are having our first baby this year I know my life will forever change but it will be a good change! I am ready to be someone's mommy. I know my husband will be a great father and I am more than excited to start this new journey together....in our 30's! That's right I no longer belong to the 20 something club, I am now a 30 something!!! I had several birthday celebrations and all of them were so special. Here is a picture from Deerpark at Biltmore :)

We are having a baby boy!!

Sorry this isn't new news, we found out a few weeks ago but I haven't had time to update my blog!
We are so excited! My next appointment is January 12th & our 3D ultrasound is scheduled for February 28th! Can't wait to see my lil p'nuts face! I know some people are like, "can't you wait until he is born to see his face?". My answer is, "well yes but why wait if I don't have to!". This little guy is growing inside my belly and I already feel such an amazing bond with him. I lay awake at night (because I can't seem to sleep) rubbing my belly, as if I was rubbing his little back. Here is his second portrait.

Miracles Really Do Happen!

When I was a little girl I planned out a very unrealistic plan for myself. By age 21 I would be out of college, married and by age 25 I would be a mom. For starters, I am Hispanic so all my cousins had babies way before my timeline. I didn't meet the love of my life until age 21, and we married at age 25. About a year into our marriage we decided we wanted a baby so I went off the pill. Little did I know I spent a fortune on birth control when in fact I didn't need it. My ovaries were my own birth control. After trying unsuccessfully for a year we made an appointment with a fertility doctor and was shortly diagnosed with Polyscystic Ovarian Syndrome. The doctor said it wasn't impossible to become pregnant but it would be harder since I only ovulated like 3 times a year. We didn't lose hope. We tried various treatments but nothing seemed to work. At our last doctor's appointment we were told the next step would be IVF, this scared me. I told my husband that I didn't have it in me anymore and needed a break from all the tests, drugs and doctor appointments. He was so supportive and understanding. For several months we didn't even speak the word "baby". We continued with our routine but there wasn't a second of the day that I didn't think about the situation we were in. I worked very closely with pregnant women and their children, so I couldn't escape it. Last year around this time I was promoted and am longer in the clinic day in and day out, breathing, thinking pregnancy & babies. After settling in to my new position, I communicated to my husband that we needed to think about our options because I really didn't think I could face the disappointment if IVF didn't work. On our 5 year anniversary we headed to the beach for some relaxation. Months had passed with out a period but wouldn't you know I started one that weekend. 4 more months went by until another period in August. 2 weeks after that menstrual cycle I started having period symptoms again, I remember commenting to my husband that I might have 2 periods in a row, a rarity for me. Well the time came and went for my period to start and I was still having symptoms. On a Thursday night we met up at a Mexican restaurant with some close friends for dinner. Having grown up eating Mexican food my whole life and enjoying spicy food, it struck me as odd when I got the worst case of heartburn after dinner. My husband and I starting thinking back and he pointed out that I have been very tired lately. He said he noticed that I didn't order a beer with dinner or had for a while now. He suggested I take a pregnancy test. I told him there was no point because they were always negative. I said something must be wrong with my stomach and that I would make a doctor appointment the next day. That night I couldn't sleep, I was so sick. I tossed and turned all night. The next morning I thought back to what my husband said and remembered I had a pregnancy test in the cabinet. I took it out of the pack, read the directions, like I hadn't done this 5 million times before. After completing the test, I set the test on the sink and proceeded to shower. When I was drying myself I didn't dare look at the sink, I kept telling to myself it was negative. When I finally glanced at the sink I saw the darkest pink little lines (for the first time in my life). I picked up the test and shook it, (why I don't know) I stared at the lines for what seemed like an eternity. I can't possibly express what I felt that very moment. I walked to the bedroom put some panties on and grabbed my phone. I took a picture of the beautiful little pink lines and sent it to my husband. In my text I told him not to freak out, that it may be a fluke. For some reason I always think the worst so I am not disappointed. He text me back and said that I was going to have to explain how not to freak out! When I got to work, I called my doctor and made an appointment for later that morning. I took another test at the doctor's office and within minutes the nurse came in and hugged me. She knew how long we had been trying. I was speechless! That was the beginning of our wonderful pregnancy! I use the word wonderful lightly because it has been quite awful but I don't care, it will all be worth it! Since week 6 I have been ONE with the toilet. After every meal I vomit, the nausea lasts all day long. I felt so weak and tired. All of that was irrelevant when we got to see and hear our little peanut's heartbeat. It became so REAL for me that day. We are now approaching our 17 week and I am starting to feel much better, the vomiting episodes are less and less. Our next ultrasound appointment is next week......what will little peanut be? A boy or a girl? Only time will tell for sure!

Freaky Friday

Our second Halloween Costume Contest at work was a flop! I was really the only one who dressed up. Two co-workers kinda thru something together but I went all out. Winning this year was a piece of cake!

This little girl makes my heart melt!

Little Cheli is technically my second cousin but she calls me Tia. Her mom is like a sister since I grew up with her. Anyway, we just celebrated Cheli's birthday a few weekends ago. She is the littlest child in our family right now so she is spoiled rotten! When my mom asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said "a cellphone, a real one", mind you she is four years old. I had already purchased her gift; which consisted of clothes and one toy, a sufficient gift for a four year old I thought. Boy was I wrong. My mom and stepdad actually bought her a cellphone! Everyone at the party couldn't believe that a four year old got a cellphone..... yes folks, that just happened. I just shook my head at my mom and stepdad, as I thought "those suckers"! To make a long story short when the party was over and we were cleaning up, Cheli ran over to me and asked me to pick her up. I did even though she is too heavy to pick up, then she brushed my hair away from my face with her little perfect hand and said, "Tia Clarissita when I grow up I want to be just like you". I was speechless for a second, I would have gave her my car that very moment if she asked me for it. Who is the sucker now?