Baby and Me: 30 weeks and 3 days

Today, my bump bumped us to the front of the line at the store, which was a nice perk. The cashier that cut us in asked when I was due. When I told her April 8th, she looked perplexed. She then asked if I was having twins ... uh oh! And I still have 10 weeks to go.

PS - Happy Birthday to my dear friend Erika!

Bye-Bye Belly Button!

At 30 weeks, my belly button has pretty much closed. Now, we just wait for it to pop out like a turkey timer and we'll know she's almost done :)

Oh, How I Love Pasta!

I have always liked pasta. Probably because I grew up on it. If I'm not mistaken, I think one of my first foods was pastina with butter, which is still one of my favorites today. There was a time when I got bored with it, maybe because it was always around. But, since I have been pregnant, I have a new-found love of pasta.

I have to limit myself to only eating it once or twice a week. If not, I would eat it everyday. And, I have to watch my portions because I am completley out of control. If you put a bowl of pasta in front of me, I'll eat it. If you put a serving platter on the table, I will finish it. If you make a pound of pasta and give it to me, I bet you I could eat the whole thing.

While pasta can be a very healthy dish, it can also be a plate full of carbs, sugars, calories, and fat. So to satisfy my love (and our baby's love!) of pasta, I have created the "pasta fake-out". Here are my tricks.

1. Everything in moderation. I try to only eat it a couple of times of week and never for dinner. I learned that it is much healthier to eat it mid-day because it gives the energy your body needs and the time you need to break it down before going to bed.

2. Measure, measure, measure! I cannot estimate for the life of me how much dry pasta is enough for just one or two people. My mom never makes less than a pound but that's because we are an army and there are always leftovers. I learned that 65 grams of dry pasta is the appropriate portion for a woman (not pregnant). So I use that as a starting point. I try to stick pretty close to it, though, maybe going up to 70 or 75 grams now.

3. Watch the sauce. The lovely cream, cheese, and meat sauces that we all know and love are what will get you when eating pasta. I try to stay away from those as much as possible. (Not to say I don't enjoy a nice bolognese or tomato cream every once in a while.) I like to use fresh tomatoes and basil or satueed vegetables as my toppings. They are equally delicious and much more healthful.

4. Add a protien. Always try to eat a protien with your pasta to keep your meal balanced. While I am not a big fan of tuna and pasta, it is a good option, as is deli ham or turkey or a piece of chicken. You can also consider substituting whole grain pasta for regular pasta. I found a wholegrain vegetable rotini that is nice. But, I am not going to lie to you; it's not the same.

5. Pasta as a supporting role. The golden rule to a "pasta fake-out" is to make the pasta only part of the dish. For example, I like to sautee a whole bunch of vegtables (whatever I have in the fridge) and toss them with pasta. This way, the dish shifts from "Pasta with Vegatables" to "Vegetables with Pasta". Or, instead of a traditional pasta salad that doesn't have any lettuce and comes in a rich dressing, make a nice garden salad, toss with olive oil and vinegar, and add pasta to it. Try it; it really works!

One of my "pasta fake-outs": Sauteed vegetables with linguine.

Birds Nest Evolves Into Beaver Dam

One of the things that I love about Oscar is his sense of humor. Last night, after getting ready for bed, I came back to this ... Oscar's interpretation of how I sleep during the third trimester:

I bet you can't guess which side of the bed is mine, huh? At first, I laughed hysterically and joked about how much he exaggerates everything. But then, when it came down to it, he wasn't too far off. (Although, I don't pile them up high as much as I do all around me.) He really doesn't sleep with that little decorative pillow; he does use one - yes one - real size pillow. But, the truth is, I do use the rest.

In total, I use 5 standard pillows and one of the decorative pillows. I have been trying really hard to only sleep on my sides and not on my back. The only way I can do this is if I pile up pillows all around me so I don't have much wiggle room. I guess I have to face the fact that my sweet, innocent, little bird's next I used to sleep in has now evolved into a large, purposeful beaver's dam.

A Lovely Weekend

Oscar and I had a lovely weekend together in London. While we didn't do anything extravagent, we took advantage of it being just us to spend some quality time together and we had such a good time. We didn't have anything planned but played the weekend by ear and it turned out to be wonderful.

On Friday night, we went to see the Sherlock Holmes movie. Neither of us were that interested in seeing it but there is a funny story about how we got there. There is a tiny movie theatre about two blocks from our flat on Baker Street. It used to be old and rundown but over the holidays they renovated it and, little did we know, it is a really neat place now. We were going to see a movie there last weekend, just to check the place out, but everything (all two screens!) were sold out. This sparked our interest even more to see what it was like. Then, since Sherlock Holmes "lived" a couple of blocks away (closer to our flat) on Baker Street, we figured what better place to see the movie than at this theatre.

So we stopped by the theatre at 7pm and got the last two tickets for the 8:45 show. Then, we went to a new restaurant just down the street for a light supper before heading back. The theatre was so neat. You walked in and went straight downstairs to a bar/lounge area where they served everything from beer, wine, and coffee, to snacks, sandwiches, and ice cream. It was very cozy and the perfect size to fit the guests waiting to see one of the next two shows. We had a great time and actually enjoyed the movie more than we expected. Maybe it was the atomosphere :)

The new renovated theatre.

On Saturday, we got up and went to look for a baby carriage. A lady from my prenatal yoga class recommended that we go to The Pram Shop in Notting Hill, where she had gone to buy hers. We had looked at lots of different ones but none of them convinced us. I think we went with a little doubt that we would find "the one" here but we did! It was a tiny little shop that only carried three brands. The owner was the only one there and was very helpful and patient with us. A few couples came in and left while we were there but we just kept looking. We fell in love with a brand called Emmaljunga from Sweeden. We had never heard of it before but it is very traditional and elegant but at the same time durable and practical. We ended up going back today to order it! More on the baby carriage later ...

Then, we walked around a cute shopping area in Notting Hill and stopped for brunch/lunch at an adorable little cafe. It was actually inside a clothing store. It was very neat how it was set up and we were lured in by the line that kept forming to be seated. We had a lovely lunch as oohed and ahhhed over the catalogue of the baby carriage. We walked around a little more after lunch and then headed home. I was exhausted and needed a nap! We went to Mass on Saturday evening because we knew we were going to be out and about Sunday morning. We stopped at the grocery store on the way back and I made a homemade calzone for dinner, which was delicious. (I will post more on that later!) Then, I talked to my mom. It was so funny to hear that she had just made a calzone herself for some company they were having over for dinner. She truly is my other half!

The cafe we had lunch at in Notting Hill.

Sunday morning, we got up and went to the British Museum. I had already been with my parents but Oscar had never been. We had been given tickets to an Aztec exhibit but we didn't make it because it was the last day it was open and they were booked until late in the afternoon. So we saw the rest of the museum ... or at least hit all the high points. We saw some amazing pieces like the Rosetta Stone, the mummies, remains from the Greek Partheon ... none of which I saw with my parents. I felt awful! I couldn't believe that we didn't see these things when we went the last time. I just came to the conclusion that they will have to come back and see it again!

Then, we went to lunch at one of our favorite Spanish restaurants, Iberica. We have been a few times for tapas and really liked it. We learned that on Sundays they serve roast lamb and paella so we were enticed to give it a try. We had a long, leisurely lunch - Spanish style! - and had a great time. On the way home, we stopped at a cute baby shop on Marylebone High Street and bought pale pink long sleeve onsie and some "lounge wear" for our little one :) They were half off and reasonably priced. You wouldn't believe how soft they are! We lounged around the rest of the evening. We were still full from lunch when dinner time came around. So we had some mixed fruit, popcorn, and peanut M&Ms as we watched a classic movie, Scarface. It was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend :)

The British Museum

Come to the Water

At my Taize prayer group this week, we revisited the topic of silence. The opening thought was:

"At times prayer becomes silent. Peaceful communion with God can do without words."

More times than not, I find myself praying a laundry list of my needs and wants and failing to be quiet and listen what to what God needs and wants of me. I took advantage of this time to clear my mind of distracting thoughts, to focus soley on Him, and to just be silent. It was amazing how good it felt.

As soon as I did, God put the most beautiful image in my head - me and Him sitting side by side on the bank of a flowing river - and a beautiful song in my heart - "Come to the Water". It was so peaceful and safe. I truly felt His presence.

As I walked home, I started to think more about water and what it represents in scripture. I felt that there was a deeper meaning to this vision and that God was trying to tell me something. I always knew that water was a symbol of many things in the Bible - destruction through the flood, cleansing through baptisim, new life through creation - but I wanted to know more.

What I found was beautiful. I came across several interesting reflections but there was one that stuck out to me from the American Bible Society.

"Water is important in hope-filled visions of the future. John's vision of life-giving water flowing from God's throne in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22: 1,2) is similiar to the life-giving stream that flows from the temple in the prophet Ezekiel's vision (Ezek 47: 1-12). And, both are reminders of the river that God made flow out of the ground to water the beautiful garden of creation (Gen. 2: 10-14)."

That was it ... hope-filled visions of the future, life-giving water, and creation. There are days when I worry about how our little one is doing. I am always filled with joy the days she is really active but, when she is not, I start to question and doubt. I know deep down in my heart that He is in control and taking good care of her. All I need to do is trust in Him. I believe that God gave me this beautiful vision of us by the river as my refuge ... to be my safe place to go when I doubt ... to remind me that He is our life-giving water, our creator, and He fills our futures with hope.

I have always loved the hymn "Come to the Water". It is one that I remember singing in church since I was very young. You can listen to a version of "Come to the Water" (very well done, by the way) by Matt Maher on YouTube. It is also a good one for all those who are suffering in Haiti.

Finally, I wanted to shere with you the closing communal prayer from our Taize meeting this week:

"Look, here I am, with all that I am; you understand who I am, more than I do myself. Make me as you want me to be. I long for your presence of love, of trust. Give me all that I need to live through you."

Ahhh ... Much Better!

A little over two months later, we finally took down our Christmas tree. In our defense, we really only were able to enjoy it for about a month, if you add up all the time that we were travelling. So, I guess, it's not that bad.

I move a little slower these days but taking down the Christmas things was first on my list when I got back in town. I am so glad to have it done. (Our living room looks so much bigger now and so clean!) We really love Christmas and loved our decorations but we are ready to move on to new things like ... Spring and all the joy it will bring :) (This new found empty space is going to be just perfect for the baby's "pack and play"!)

Priceless Artwork

Illustrated by Miss Monica

This has to be one of the sweetest things I have ever received in my life. My adorable goddaughter, Monica, drew this for me last week when I was in Madrid. It is a picture of Oscar, me (holding our new baby!), her older sister (Sandra), and herself.

I love how I am holding the baby and that the girls are wearing dresses and Oscar is in pants. And, I like how we are different heights according to age. I am fascinated about how a child's mind works. She did such a good job and I know she put a lot of love and effort into it.

The best part of all is that, in her eyes, she already sees me as a mother :)

Baby and Me: 28 weeks and 3 days

S*N*O*W*

The other day, to my surprise, I woke up to a fresh new blanket of snow. It has snowed quite a bit here this year - much more than the ususal - but we thought that it had passed.

I had gone to a small group at church the night before and was surprised that there were only three of us there when normally we are a group of about ten. The group leader said that maybe people didn't come due to the bad weather that had been forecasted. That was the first I had heard of it. I made my way home and it didn't seem like any more snow was going to come. But, it sure did!

Snow on Dorset Square

My footprints :) I was the first one to walk on the freshly fallen snow in our community garden.

Paddington Gardens

View from our flat.

We Are Fam-i-ly!

I'm back! I took a short break from blogging because I was so entertained over the holidays. I believe Dorothy said it best in the Wizard of Oz when she said, "There's no place like home." I had such a wonderful time with my family and I am so thankful for the time we had together. There is just something about being around them that lights me up inside.

We didn't do much out of the oridinary - just relaxing, cooking, and shopping - but it was absolutely perfect. Our oven broke the day before Christmas Eve, which made for some good laughs. Thankfully, Angela let us pack everything up and go to her house for Christmas Eve dinner. We did our traditional Christmas puzzle. My only contribution was purchasing a puzzle of London and giving it to the family. I couldn't believe how fast they finished it - 1000 pieces in just over a day. I am sure they could've finished it in a day but Christmas dinner and opening presents got in the way :)

As expected, I became attached at the hip with my mother. She truly is my other half. I don't think I left her side for more than four hours straight the whole time. She took really good care of me and our little one on the way. Besides making me homemade soups during the day and mini chocolate shakes at night, she even peeled and sectioned about 20 grapefruits for me. Now that's love! One of my favorite times was when she would come into my bed at night or in the morning and feel our baby kick. I miss her so much already. I am counting the days until our baby is born, not only to have her in my arms, but to see my mom again.

December was a big month for our baby. She grew quite a bit in such a short time and I definitely popped. I didn't see Oscar for three weeks and when he came on Christmas, he couldn't believe how big my belly was. It was so much fun to share that special time with my family.

Another fun thing we did over the holidays was take a family picture. Chris and Kellie organized everything and it turned out great. It had probably been over five years since our last one so we were long overdue. I was 25 weeks pregnant when the picture was taken. I am 28 weeks today so I should probably post another belly pic sometime soon.

Happy New Year to everyone!

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