August update

My hopeful once a week updates are now turning into a monthly routine.  We have just been so busy!  We are still searching for a home.  Time is just slipping past so quickly that I’m not sure we’ll have one before this baby is born.  I certainly hope so, though!

Sprout has been keeping me on my toes and leaving me with little time to think much about this pregnancy.  The tiny little bean won’t be outdone, though.  He or she is kicking away in there and making himself or herself quite comfortable.  I’m focusing on my diet and making sure I’m getting everything this little one needs, plus enough for me and sprout.  He’s cut down on breastfeeding tremendously lately, but he still nurses for naps and night-times.

We’re also in the process of night-weaning Sprout.  It was a tough decision, but he’s transitioning quite well.  We’re using Dr.Jay Gordon’s plan, which is very similar to what’s written in the No Cry Sleep Solution.  Sprout’s last nurse session is when he goes to sleep or anytime before 11pm and he can nurse again around 6 am.  The first night I nursed him twice in that time frame, and the next none at all.  It just worked out that way.  He had some cereal and water the first two or three nights, but hasn’t needed the cereal since.  He still drinks water on occasion, but that has slowed down as well.  At this stage, he’s waking up once a night - usually around 3 am and it’s taking 5-10 minutes to get him back to sleep.  Of course, because I’m typing this, he’ll be up all night tonight.

I finally had my first midwife appointment!  I thought that I was at about 21 weeks, but she said I was measuring 23 weeks.  Eep!  That means I might be due sooner than I expected and that time really isn’t on my side.  I’m contemplating doing a dating ultrasound, even though it’s a bit late and the accuracy may be questionable.  We heard the heartbeat and it was in the 140s and low 150s.  Sprout’s was in the 150’s around this time if I’m remembering correctly.  Everything seems to be great and I hope that I’m looking at another uneventful pregnancy and healthy birth and baby.

First mendhi

I took my BFF (I have 2) to get her big, prego belly all mendhi’d up today. It was part of a gift to celebrate her new babe along with the blessingway I threw her last month. Her belly is now adorned with a beautiful lotus flower. I thought that I may as well get a little mendhi, too, and got a peacock just above my ankle. I originally wanted it on my hand, but I wash them so often that the design would have faded fast.

We went to the original henna company in the heights. Soniya is so sweet and is such an amazing artist. She is super fast, as well! I forgot my camera and Soniya was nice enough to take some photos of us and our mendhi and email them to me. (The photo above was taken when I got home.) She definitely went above and beyond. I will definitely be back to get some henna on my belly when it is nice and round and ready to pop. I can’t wait!

random updates

We’re back and have been for some time.  We’ve just been busy, as usual.  Orlando was really fun and even better because our friends were there.  I took tons of photos of sprout and am going to do some scrapbooking soon.  I was able to eat at every veg place that I wanted to go (Austin’s, Dandelion, Ethos) with the exception of the hot dog stand because of its crazy hours (10pm-3am).  We made our way to the Orlando Museum of Art, Leu Gardens, Disney Marketplace (free), Disney Boardwalk (bleh) and the grand opening of a Whole Foods in Orlando.  The only place that we had to pay to get into was the OMA, but it was only $8.

I’m still pregnant. ;)  I’ll be 17 weeks tomorrow and Sprout will be 17 months - all on the 17th day of the month. heh.  I finally made time to interview a midwife today.  I really like her, but am still going to interview one more before making a decision.  My husband seemed to like her as well.

We’re also still house hunting.  It’s slowed down tremendously because we’ve had company over every weekend since coming home from Florida, but hopefully we can have another look this weekend.  I’m really ready to have a home and to not have this to worry about anymore.

Other than all that, not much to update.  Sprout is teething and needs a ton of distractions to keep the pain away.  I’m doing my best to keep him busy and entertained while still trying to take care of other family needs.

More Orlando awesomeness

Ok, at this point in my research, I seriously can.not.wait to get to Orlando. There are two all vegan bakeries, as far as I know, in Orlando. Sweet Tooth Vegan and The Fat Vegan sell their goodies out of Austin’s Coffee )and some are sold out of Dandelion). I’m talking vegan donuts, people! I haven’t had a donut in over 3 years! Austin’s even has some yummy vegan dishes on their lunch menu. I also spied some Oregon Chai to be had. I.can.not.wait.

Small hiatus with updates

I hated to do it, but I had to take a small blog break. There has been a ton going on and it would have been really difficult for me to blog and not talk about it. Now that most of the family have been notified, I can feel free to say what I please here.

I think that a few posts back I mentioned that I hadn’t been feeling well. For a while there, I was chalking it up to some bad chinese that even made my husband’s stomach turn. However, food poisoning can only last so long, and a week is a bit of a while for that. Finally, we realized that I must be pregnant (May 4th). My BFF and I went to Walgreens and bought a test and, well, I AM pregnant. Surprise! As of today, I’m exactly 13 weeks pregnant. I’m due on or around December 25th. Craziness! I’m still trying to decide if I should pity the kid for having a birthday with so many other holidays around it, or if he/she will be excited to be born around such an exciting time of the year. I love the holiday lights, smells, and gatherings. Hopefully, this little one will, too.

All that said, my clapotis will now become a baby blanket. I think I have just the right amount of yardage to make the big bad baby blanket from Stitch ‘n Bitch. I won’t be wearing a shawl much with a new baby anyhow. I’ll have him/her in a wrap or ring sling most of the time.

House hunting has been going ok, I guess. We’re 2 months into looking and have only found one that we were really considering until we learned it had been a grow op. If you don’t know what a grow op is, google is your friend. We’re looking at two more prospects on Saturday and I really hope that one of these is ‘the’ one. I’m so tired of looking and would really like to get this done so that we can become nice and settled before the new little one arrives.

Sunday, we are flying out to Orlando for a week. My husband is attending the Cisco Networkers conference. The previously mentioned BFF will be going with her husband as well, and we will be hanging out with our little ones while the guys are at the conference.

There are some definite places that I’d like to check out while we’re there. The first is Ethos. Their menu looks amazing and super yummy. Second is Dandelion. It looks like a super hippy, earthy place with a great vibe. They even have drum circles on full and new moons. Summer solstice is tomorrow, though, so we won’t get to participate in any while we are there. Finally, there is a vegan hot dog stand called, Sah Nevaeh (heaven has?). Really, it must be a piece of heaven. I had no idea a vegan hot dog stand existed! Happycow.net says it’s located at 114 N Orange Ave at Washington. I hope I can find it!

If there is anything else that we shouldn’t miss in Orlando, I’d love to hear about it. I definitely need some kid friendly free stuff to do there. We’re going to check out the Lego Imagination store in the disney marketplace area. I think/hope it’s free to get to. Oh, I just found this site with links of free stuff to do. Forgive me for all the links, but I’ll probably refer to this page during my trip.

House Hunting

How I loathe, thee. Really, house hunting is stressful, time-consuming, and a figurative thorn in my side. I will be glad to finally own a home and actually live in it, but the process is just exhausting. We were able to check out the inside of one home that I particularly liked on Saturday, but my hubby wasn’t into it. The yard was a little small, so I guess I’ll let it slide. The main issue that we have is that we can’t afford to live where we currently rent. I love where we live now. We’re less than 10 minutes away to just about anything - parks, shopping, downtown, museums. We can even walk to a couple of places. Unfortunately, homes that have a decent yard in this area are closer to the million mark. I’m determined to keep a positive outlook, though, and we will find something that is just *perfect* soon enough.

We’ve had a lot of visitors lately, so we’ve squeezed in home shopping whenever we can. Last weekend, my MIL stayed over. This weekend my mom and step-dad stayed over. Next weekend, my dad and his gf will be over. When they leave on Sunday, we’re going to book it over to an open house and then go driving around to look at other prospects for a bit. The yummy yarn for my clapotis is calling me, but I just don’t have the time right now. I haven’t even finished my test swatch!

Slowly crafting

Gotta love WEBS! I got my yarn in Monday and it is gorgeous! It is also amazingly soft and will be perfect as a shawl. I’m slowly working on a test swatch, but I should really be working on some embroidery that has a deadline.

Nothing else very blog-worthy lately. I’ve been feeling a little sick, so haven’t been crafting as much as I’d like.

The toddler will henceforth be known as Sprout. It seems fitting since he is vegan and has shot up from being born at only 6 lbs 12 oz to over 22 lbs now.  I’d say that he’s growing at just the right speed, even if it seems to be much too fast.  Plus, I’d hate to call the boy a weed. :p

Yarny goodness

Happy Mom’s day to me!  I just ordered some gorgeous organic cotton/bamboo yarn from WEBS.  I can not wait to get this wrapped around my needles!

Happenings

Last night, we grilled. It was omg amazing yummy. I didn’t do all the veggies I usually do, but I had a sudden craving for grilled veggies so we went with what we had: bell peppers, onions, & mushrooms. We also roasted corn on the grill. I can not explain the awesomeness of freshly roasted corn. The toddler favored the onions and wasn’t really into the corn - which surprised me, given how much my husband and I love it. Anyhow, the adorable part is that the toddler started tossing corn kernels to the floor and I said, ‘he must be done.’ Then, the toddler, very clearly said and signed ‘all done’ at the same time!! My husband said, ‘he just said all done!’ I was like, ‘omg and he signed it, too!’ Sooooo adorable and sweet. I love hearing him talk. He’s also starting to say gentle and down.

Today we went to the API meeting and talked about cosleeping and Dr.McKenna’s book, Sleeping with your baby: A Parent’s Guide to Co-sleeping. It’s a really great book. It’s only 100 pages long, so a very easy and quick read. The first 50 pages does a lot to normalize co-sleeping and bedsharing. He gives a lot science to back up the common sense type stuff of why we co-sleep and why it’s so beneficial to not only babies, but their parents as well. The second 50 pages give lists of Do’s and Don’ts and how to co-sleep or bedshare safely. I really, really loved this book and think I may add it to my list of gifts for first time parents. I know that I’ve blogged about this book already, but it’s really worth repeating because it’s so great.

Afterwards, some of the AP playgroup moms went over to Hungry’s for lunch. I had a grilled veggie wrap and it was pretty yummy. I’m not sure what’s going on with me lately, but eating makes me sick. I wake up in the mornings feeling light-headed and having a weak stomach, but I’m not interested in food much. Even eating dinner last night, I had to stop after only eating a few mushrooms and bell peppers because I was feeling sick. I took a break so that I wouldn’t miss the yummy roasted corn though.

Tomorrow, our little vegan playgroup is meeting up at Discovery Green for a potluck picnic. I can’t wait! It looks like the weather will be nice and sunny. Hopefully, it’ll be warm enough that the toddler will feel like getting wet in the water fountains.

Beyond that, I’m not sure what we’ll be doing this weekend. Hopefully something fun!

PS. I really need to find a nickname for the toddler. It’s cumbersome to write ‘the toddler’ for everything. He doesn’t really have any nicknames, except the common endearing stuff. I’ll think on it and am open to suggestions.

Embroidery WIP and upcoming projects

I’ve been bit by the knitting bug these past few days, but haven’t actually done any. I need to finish up some crafty gifts before I can indulge that craving. So, for now, I’ve just been yarn window shopping. I’ve found a beautiful organic cotton/bamboo blend that will be perfect for my next project. I’m sure you are all familiar in some way or another with the popular clapotis. I didn’t knit it when it first came out because I couldn’t find a yarn that I just loved for the project. I’m sure she will be worth the wait.

Here’s a sneak peak at my current gift project. It’s going to take me some time, but I hope to at least have it finished by the recipient’s birthday.